Swore I'd never go to WDW during Spring Break, but now I am. What m I in for?

[blondietink]

Last year we arrived at Disney on Easter Sunday. there were no problems with traffic on I95 or I4 at all. However, we did find out that the Florida Welcome Center is closed on Easter Sunday. We really missed that fresh orange juice!

 

[mmmears]

We've been to WDW several times during Spring Break. It was very crowded, sometimes the MK and the waterparks were closed to capacity. However, we had a great time and I'd do it again. The weather was perfect every single time, too!

-- use EE and be at the parks before opening
-- we took a mid-day break and went swimming and rested
-- go out at night (the parks are open LATE during spring break)

With a good travel plan you can avoid some of the crowds and have a great trip!

 

[momimouse27]

I would never wait that long.... ever!! Did you not use FP? Get to the parks early???

Yes, we used FP whenever possible. We are not rope drop people, so we would get there around 9 or 10. I know this isn't the best time, but that's why I don't like busy times. I like to relax and not rush in the mornings. We got to TSM at about 10 am for FP, and they were gone. Peter Pan we waited 90 min.

I just hate huge crowds.

 

[MacDalt]

Thank you for bringing this up. We've been to Disney on 3 of our spring breaks so far but this one is worrying me with Easter being so early. I was thinking of splitting our drive up this trip and try to arrive earlier on Good Friday by leaving Thursday evening. This may be a good idea considering the crowd predictions. I was only thinking of the crowds in the parks until now!

I think EVERYONE is taking off on Thursday night, LOL! So there will probably lots of traffic. The last time we drove from Indiana, it was Good Friday AND Final Four basketball was in Atlanta! Stand still traffic! When is Final Four and where this year?

 

[mackabee77]

Question for Spring Break vets: If we hit the Studios at EMH park opening can we hope to ride TSM (once with FP and one standby) and ToT and then bolt over to Epcot (say around 10 am) and still get a FP for Soarin? We won't care about the FP return time. Or am I setting the bar too high?

 

[MacDalt]

Just googled it. Final Four is in Atlanta April 6. That's just on our way home. May not get a hotel room. Bummer!

 

[mommyarewegoingback]

omg, that's the day we are suppose to be driving down, through ATL too. hmm, maybe we should go night before and stop somewhere. thanks for looking it up. just fyi, if you're driving down, take the 285 pass and it will get you around downtown atl.
-virginia

 

[puffkin]

This is also our first time during Spring Break week (week leading up to Easter is always our school vacation). We also are PAP's, DVC members, and vets of 20+ trips.

We are staying offsite this trip (Bonnet Creek) to save DVC points so no EMH's for us. We are planning on hitting rope drop at non-EMH parks instead and then taking LONG afternoon breaks. We are pretty flexible with our touring style and only have a couple of ADR's so I think we should be fine.

I too was tweaking some ADR's about 2 weeks ago and was SHOCKED at how much availability there was. I saw Le Cellier all over the place and Cape May, which we couldn't get at all when I originally booked at 6 months. I also saw Be Our Guest.

We also have some offsite activities planned to break up the week. We are going to the Clearwater Aquarium to see Winter one morning followed by a Phillies spring training game. Probably doing Showcase of Citrus as well.

 

[angierae]

I went last year during Easter Week and based on our experiences last year, I would do Spring Break every single year.

I don't know how old your kids are, but I had teens with me, so we did a lot of nightime EMH. We'd hit a park in the morning - not always RD, but close to it, and hang around til things got crowded after lunch, then head back to the hotel and chill for a bit. Then we'd go to dinner, and then hit whatever park had night time EMH. We stayed at Magic Kingdom until 3am towards the end of our trip, that was so much fun!

The weather was marvelous (first week of April) and we were able to dodge crowds pretty well by doing early mornings and late nights. I'd do it again in a heartbeat and it's actually making me super sad that we have no plans to go this year or next.

 

[kayemgi]

I've been to Disney during spring break several times. It's not so bad. It is very crowded, but since you've been to Disney so many times, if you miss a few things it won't be a big deal. The worst part is standing in the long lines, so we've found going for RD is the best way to get the most out of the parks. Nothing new from what others here have said. Have fun!