Any suggestions on Spring Break that ends with Easter?

wdwplanner13

Earning My Ears
Joined
Oct 18, 2013
I know the week of April before Easter is going to be crazy, but any tips to make the best of it? What should I expect? Thanks!
 
Make sure to get ur fp done as soon as u can, and make sure to pack patience - set low expectations of what u will get done and enjoy ur vacation
 
We go every Easter for a couple of years now. It gets more and more crowded every year...and hotter. This past Easter was the hottest! I ever heard so many people talking/complaining about the heat. You must do your ADR's and FP as soon as your window opens. There is little to no availability for TS dining if you don't have an ADR. Ride lines are very, very long. We didn't get to ride many rides that weren't a FP. MDE app was horrible. Don't go to MK on Easter Sunday, it's the most crowded. Take advantage of early morning/late hours (if staying on site). If unable to get FOP, consider rope drop (and many do). Have realistic expectations and know you probably won't get to everything.
 
Suggestion? Reschedule!! It's insanity at that time. I can't do it-won't do it. You'll find Disney fans that can overlook crowd stuff and weather stuff and still have a great time. You just need to know where you fall on that spectrum. I purposely plan to avoid crazy crowds and hot weather because it makes a huge difference in our experience. It's too expensive to suffer on vacation. But that's just us. We love Disney and go a lot, it's just planned very strategically to give us the best chance to enjoy our time there.
 


Expect to be irritated at the crowds. That is just bad luck your spring break ends on Easter. Just a Disney madhouse.
 
Keep your expectations realistic and have a plan. That is the key to having a good trip during a busy holiday. Know going into it that it will be busy, and that you may not get to ride as many rides as you would if your trips was during a slower time. Make your FP and any necessary dining ADRs in advance. Decide NOW how you want to spend your day - do you want to rope drop and stay until mid afternoon and then go back to the hotel for the rest of the day, or do you want to rope drop, leave late morning for a swim/rest break, and then go back to the parks? Knowing how you want to spend your day can make a difference in how you set up your FP. If you plan to split the day, it may work better to just do rope drop and hit as many rides as you can, have lunch, and then go back to the resort. Then set up your FP for right when you plan to return to the park, with any standby again at the end of the day. If you plan to rope drop and stay until mid afternoon before you leave for the day, then you may want to schedule your FP as close to your departure time as possible (for example, if you plan to head back to the hotel after the 3pm parade, schedule your FP for 12:00-1:00, 1:00-2:00, and 2:00-3:00). It can be more tiring in the parks when it's crowded, so don't underestimate the rest you will need.

I have visited at Christmas and Easter occasionally, and a good plan and realistic expectations made for a fun time. No, I didn't get as much done as I do in September or January, but I didn't expect to.
 
It seems like a lot of responses were negative, so here’s a positive one. We always have to go my sons’ spring break week, which is usually right before Easter. We have a blast every time.
As my sons have gotten to be older tweens/teens, we commit to 4 days of rope drops and 1-2 days of sleeping in. We enjoy lots of rides between 8am (EMH) and 10/10:30, use a fast pass, enjoy a sit-down lunch in the parks, and then 2-3 more FPs. Around 2:30 we head back to the hotel for swimming and napping.
We’re always excited to come back in the evening for great food, fireworks (at the various parks) and to grab a few more rides. We don’t get on everything—but it’s a great time anyway
Excited to be going again in 2019
 


We did that week 2 years ago, and we had a great time! Plan, plan, then plan some more! You won't get to do as much as on a lower crowd day, so decide on your must-do's and focus on those. Contrary to what is often recommended for FP+ times, don't schedule them early with the intent of getting more after you've used those. Be there well before Rope Drop, since your best opportunity to do rides is the first 2-3 hours the park is open. By 10 or 11 the lines will be a lot longer. After that, we focused on shows, a long TS lunch, and our FP rides. We stayed until sometime between 3 and 5 (depending on how much there was to do in the park without long lines and what our evening plans were) then took a break at our hotel. If we'd had lower crowd trips to compare it with, we might have been disappointed with how little we'd gotten to do in comparison. But since we'd identified our must do's well in advance and had a great plan for getting to those, we were happy. We're locked into a school schedule and won't go summers, so we strongly considered returning that week for our trip this year. In the end we went with a different week because of price, but if that and winter break had been our only options I wouldn't have hesitated to go again that week.
 
As far as crowds, rope drop! The parks became unbearable to me by 1 pm but if you get there early you can have a good few hours.

I'm not sure if I would go again that week but I'm glad I did it once :)
 
It seems like a lot of responses were negative, so here’s a positive one. We always have to go my sons’ spring break week, which is usually right before Easter. We have a blast every time.
As my sons have gotten to be older tweens/teens, we commit to 4 days of rope drops and 1-2 days of sleeping in. We enjoy lots of rides between 8am (EMH) and 10/10:30, use a fast pass, enjoy a sit-down lunch in the parks, and then 2-3 more FPs. Around 2:30 we head back to the hotel for swimming and napping.
We’re always excited to come back in the evening for great food, fireworks (at the various parks) and to grab a few more rides. We don’t get on everything—but it’s a great time anyway
Excited to be going again in 2019

+1 .

Yes, it's crowded and expensive, but there's no place I'd rather be for Spring Break. Hope you have an AMAZING trip!
 
Simple things.
Get your ADRs as soon as you can.
Get your FP as soon as you can.
Go in expecting large crowds and prepare for it.
Be flexible.
Refresh FPs frequently.
 
Thanks so much for the great insight! Question: will having a sit down meal help with the mid day rest, or is it really necessary to leave the park?
 
Thanks so much for the great insight! Question: will having a sit down meal help with the mid day rest, or is it really necessary to leave the park?

That always depends on who your group is and what they want to do! My kids were 7, 10, and 12 when we went for Spring Break, and they're not go-go-go types. They're homebodies and like to relax. We rope dropped every day, so it was too much for us to be there from early morning until 9 or 10 pm. On days that we weren't attending night parades and fireworks, we did a TS and some shows for a break and then stayed until late afternoon (anywhere from 3-5 pm). There was even one day that the kids were just worn out from everything (and I'm sure the crowds were part of it, but it was also all the walking, the late nights, etc.) and insisted on leaving by 1. They didn't even want to go back later that day. On the other hand, my husband and I could have planned meals and shows for a break then stayed a lot longer in the parks.
 
When my daughter went with her High School Band, they spent all day at the parks.
It varies as to each group. Some can Rope Drop and close the park without ever leaving. Others need a mid day break and enjoy hanging out at the resort and pool. Having a TS meal at noon or dinner is not a bad idea.
 
We did the midday break from MK, leaving the park as it was really crowded by then. Then returned early evening. But I guess if it was not real hot, and your group has the stamina to spend all day at the parks, then you could maybe use fp+ and a meal break to get through that period instead.
 
Great advice here- we’ll be there the same week! Planning on a few days of rope drop until early afternoon then head to the resort. No huge expectations we just hope to get the few rides we are most looking forward to & otherwise just enjoy being away from work and the real world.
 
Our party of 5 adults and 1 child (age 9), will be there the week before Easter too. I’m hoping that the weather may not be too hot since Easter falls earlier in the month, April 14. This week is not my first choice, but since 1 of us is a vice-principal and 1 is a teacher, April 11-13 it is. I’m trying not to stress about the crowds. I have already told everyone we will be doing rope-drop for the first 2 or 3 days and then a “down day” before back to a few busy days again. I’ll keeping checking in here for any suggestions or hints...thanks!
 
Oops, previously showed the wrong dates...April is later, the 21, and we are vacationing April 11-20.
It’s late and I need to go to bed...
 
I know the week of April before Easter is going to be crazy, but any tips to make the best of it? What should I expect? Thanks!
Have you been to Disney in the past few years? Just trying to get an idea how much detail you need regarding advice for handling and enjoying spring break week. :)
 
One more thought on the midday break—
On busy weeks like spring break, the park hours are much longer than during some other weeks. Rope drop usually starts a 10-20 minutes before the official opening and you want to be in line before then. This means we often leave our hotel at 7:00, and the fireworks are often not starting until 9:30 or 10pm because it’s after the spring time change. That’s a LONG day.

I agree that it depends on the family (to each their own!) but my family prefers to swim/nap/relax on vacation a little each day, and then head back to the parks refreshed.
 

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