Spring Break or late June - which week would you pick and why?

[JeninTexas]

On our last trip, we went in June and had a great time. It was not too crowded, and while it was hot, we were not bothered by that at all. We are from Texas so the heat doesn't really bother us. The spring break crowds were atrocious this year. Several bloggers posted photos of wall to wall people and waits of well over an hour for rides that are not even that popular. The the headliners were 2-3 hours. No way would I ever do that. I would not go if I had to deal with those kinds of crowds.

 

[Princess Merida]

I would choose June over spring break. We do mid day breaks too and April was a little chilly for swimming (for me) a few days. Crowds are much worse. Flights more expensive. Only advantage I saw to April was the weather. It is excellent weather if swimming is not big for your family.

 

[soniam]

June, and we have been multiple times during Spring Break.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I would pick April. June weather to me would be miserable, I would rather deal with the crowds. As a PP mentioned, this is a completely personal decision about which your family can handle better - heat or crowds.

 

[smiths02]

We have generally chosen June. I work in schools, so summer offers longer times, and it doesn't coincide with those expensive holiday periods.
We did a short adults only trip in early February in 2016 to Disney.
We did Spring Break this year for Universal because it did not coincide with Easter AND it also apparently did not coincide with the local Orlando spring break, so we didn't find the crowds nor heat unbearable.

After having been in February and early April, I doubt we will want to go back in June. The heat is just too much. We are thinking of taking a couple of days around President's Day in February to return to Universal. I think we will then wait until we can avoid Easter for Spring Break (they don't always coincide here) or we may go to Disneyland instead (in June).

 

[mshanson3121]

June. I can handle the heat far better than the crowds.

 

[saraheliz]

Depends when your spring break is. We live in MA so we have a later April vacation- tough when it matches up with Easter (like this year) but when Easter is earlier our April vacation/spring break isn't too terrible in terms of crowds (busy, yes, but probably not much different than June). But if you're talking spring break like a week around Easter, than I'd probably go with June.

 

[ama123]

We had the same decision to make this year and went with the 3rd week of June over Spring Break. The deciding factors for me were crowds and airfare being significantly less. It will be hotter and more humid, but then again last time we went was in August 4 years ago. I figured cant be worse than that heat wise.

 

[sisaaliyah]

We were there last week and while it was busy in the afternoon - you'll have no problem since you'll be taking breaks than. That's how we do, get there before park open, ride for that first hour with minimal waiting and then have fastpasses starting the next hour. Thurs 4/18 it was 91 and even my DH who hates the sun and heat said it didn't seem that warm - the humidity was only 37%. I would choose spring break if it's in April vs. March. We've been end of June too over July 4th and this trip last week was much more enjoyable! Now I've been in March too specifically March 8-15, 2011 and crowded and I said never again in March.

 

[nkereina]

By late June, nearly all schools throughout the country will be out of session and the busy summer travel season begins. While Spring Break time is busy, I know even just here in NY, the weeks the schools are off varies. Some of the schools around here were off last week, and many are off this week. A friend of mine was there for her first time last week with a party of 9 and they managed to get a lot done. So IMO, the difference in crowds could be negligible. I'd go with Spring Break because at least the weather will be more tolerable.

 

[DisneyFive]

No question for us, late June, and primarily because of crowd levels.

Crowds can take almost all the fun out of your park experience. Long lines, bumping into people, walking around people, cranky people (well that can be anytime), but you get my point...

June on average is hot (91 versus 80 in April) and more chance of rain, but I'd take that in a heartbeat versus risking park levels of 9-10 every day. We don't mind the heat, and it makes the pools usable. I don't like lukewarm days that make the pool feel too cold and not enjoyable.

Dan

 

[marsh0013]

It's so interesting to read all of the differing opinions! We went the last week of June in 2018 and just were there last week (week before easter 2019, April 13-21). June 2018 was awful weather and I'd take last week over it every single time!

The heat, humidity, and so much rain last June was just terrible for us. Every time we wanted to go in the pool in June, it was pouring. We were miserable. We still had a great time, but this past week was so much better.

This past week, the weather was perfect (except fri 4/19 those storms rolled through but after that, everything cooled off). We had our pre-booked fast passes each day, and got more after our first 3. We did have a couple of long fp lines (safari on 4/15 and kali on 4/18), but other than that, no issues. We were even able to get slinky as a fourth fp on 4/17. We don't go on rides without fp so I wasn't paying much attention to standby lines. We went to Epcot for flower and garden booths multiple days and didn't have any lines there either. Maybe we were at mostly the right place at the right time, but would pick this past week over late June for sure!

 

[disneycat321]

I’m a teacher and my spring break is always the week before Easter, so this is also a choice we make. We choose summer. As others have said, it pretty much comes down to heat vs. crowds, and despite our inexperience with humidity, we choose heat. Part of the reason for us is also cost. We’re coming from CA and flights across the country are already a huge part of our trip expense, and they are much more expensive around Easter (and every other time I have off except summer). Also, the room discounts have been good in summer. And for us, summer gives a lot more flexibility with trip dates and flights. I’m not supposed to take off days before or after my breaks, so we’d be really stuck within only that week.

FWIW, I also wouldn’t attempt DLR during my spring break, and that is only because of crowds. We can handle normal crowds, but prefer to avoid the insane variety of crowds.

 

[bdiddy]

After having just gone for Spring Break for the first time (in late March) and usually going in the summer - I would pick Spring Break 10 out of 10 times. Yes it’s very busy but so is summer. I thought the crowds were pretty much identical. The reason you should go over spring break is because of the weather! It was amazing! And that makes the trip SO much more enjoyable imo. If the crowds are going to be the same then go for when the weather isn’t as miserable.

 

[Boulie]

Unfortunately our spring break is always the week leading into Easter, so if we opt for the better weather (which is tempting) we also opt for the Easter crowds and higher costs.

I did check out some of the crowd pictures from this past week on easywdw and ... wow.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I did check out some of the crowd pictures from this past week on easywdw and ... wow.

Those pictures were pretty terrifying but if you read his posts he was still able to accomplish a lot with a good touring plan and strategic use of FP.

 

[Belleandtinker]

Spring breaks - crowds will be busy but the temperatures won’t be.

 

[Day-Day]

The OP asked specifically about the week leading into Easter. There are often big differences between other Spring Break weeks and the Spring Break weeks around Easter.

 

[LovePug]

We just got home tonight. We actually arrived to WDW the Friday before Easter. The weather was perfect...not humid, cool most mornings and warm in the afternoons. I was worried about crowds due to everyone saying how busy Easter is, but it really wasn't that bad! I wouldn't hesitate to do that week again. June, on the other hand, is just too hot for us to handle. I have to wonder if the late Easter date made it not quite as bad as usual, but I don't know for sure.

 

[TinkerPan]

June. We've been both the week after Easter, when Easter fell in April, and the 3rd week of June. Many others have mentioned weather and crowds. I'll add another consideration - cost. We found our trip in June to be much cheaper with greater flexibility of dates and accommodations available. We stayed at the same condo complex off-site for both trips and paid $100 less per day for our June trip. I believe the airfare for my daughter and family was less as well. So, I'd definitely compare costs for the alternative dates you have in mind.