Ten Things I Learned Going Easter Week to WDW

[chunkygal]

Very good tips.....I ALWAYS forget to make dining reservattions ahead, this time did 1 weel ahead...but I have to remember this! Luckliy with DVC we can eat in the room if nothing else.

 

[phisigprincess]

I couldn't imagine being there for my "once in a lifetime" trip.

This is exactly what I said when we were there for Christmas week. I went to the parks because I was already in Orlando (and you might as well, right? ), but I just felt awful for those "once in a lifetime" trip people who were fighting those crowds. Glad you survived!!!

 

[emer95]

Wow- that picture of the crowds is pretty amazing. We have only gone in August so I don't have too much to compare it to, but we found the crowds to be very manageable. Both my dh and I have a hard time with crowds. We'd much rather have heat. I'm a teacher too so my options are limited. So far it has worked out that our trips end right before Free Dining begins, which is fine with us!

 

[hollyb]

"we heard at least 8 different languages being spoken"

We here that everyday in the kids school alone. So it's not a big deal at all. I am still surprised that people think its unusal.

 

[gina2000]

We were at WDW President's weekend this year and the crowds were unbelievable. The only thing that saved us was the fact that we were in the right place at the right time.....coaster sensors kept getting tripped and on more than one occasion we were in the vicinity when they reopened. Just pure dumb luck on our part.

 

[DISPrincessMom]

Did anyone else notice that not ONE of the people in HopperFan's crowd pics is SMILING??? If THAT is the happiest place on Earth, well, that's just sad

On a different note...
DOING THE SINGLE DIGIT DANCE!!!!! WOO-HOO!!!

 

[Vickie46]

Wow.. thanks for the advice.. those are HUGE crowds!

 

[WDWorld2003]

We were there, too! We have been there a few times at Easter but this was by far the most crowded. We still had fun but unfortunately teens do not get up early so we always seemed to be a little behind the ball in getting to the parks early enough to enjoy some rides. We were there one day at opening of MGM and lines stretched out way outside the entry....

Loved the weather though - came home to 0 windchill.

 

[bluwater]

Susan,

I was there with you and your observations seem spot on. The only difference I found was with the busses. I found that the busses ran VERY quickly and I never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus....both going to and coming from the parks. So, I'm curious about where you stayed to see if the resort bus experiences vary that much.

I'm glad to read that you confirmed what I had been thinking about the dining plan. My DD9 is a small eater and she also has tates that tend to point more to the adult menu than the child's. We ususally just order to share....salad, appetizer and entree (sharing all three).

I, too, noticed those 180 minute wait signs and wondered why anyone would do that to themselves. Three hours to wait for ONE 3 minute ride? But, if they don't arrive in time to collect a Fastpass, I guess that's the only option.

So glad you had a nice time and were able to work around the crowds. It was really something to see so many people jammed into the parks. I'm also grateful for the chill that swept in on Thursday night. I think things would have been much worse if that hadn't happened. Sat evening was so chilly...and we were in MK. We rode Splash repeatedly without any wait (using ponchos to avoid getting wet). We had fastpasses, but the CM said she wasn't collectig them because there was no line. Thank goodness for that chill!

 

[makinorlando]

Yikes - pics like these make me glad that as a local we normally stay away during the busiest times. We spent some time at the parks during Easter week 2006 as we had guests, and except for Saturday night at MK with Spectromagic (what were we thinking?) I don't think we saw any crowds like these!

It's hard to stay away during the busy times, but I just can't handle crowds like those!

I too feel bad when folks get their one and only taste of WDW at peak times, but those "slow" times get fewer and further between each year I think!

We were there last week. We expected it to be bad, and figured...we go often....we'll just enjoy what we can. WHOA ~ I have never seen it so crowded, not even in summer time. I will not be returning spring break again. I couldn't imagine being there for my "once in a lifetime" trip. Toontown lines were 1.5 hours long.

TL on Monday was closed an hour and half after the park opened to public. Shark Reef is usually decent for a few hours....less than an hour after it opened huge lines and the sediment in water was all stirred up - yuk. Yes, DQ was as crowded as I have ever seen. Arrived before it opened, straight to Pirates for a few battles and then they were putting up temporary que lines. Forget table service. Sun pm we went to Rainforest (we have Safari card so 45 minute wait was do-able), the walk ups were being told 3 hours.

I also have never seen so much "CM management" guiding folks to food lines, helping pick up trash (they all had those long prongs), asking if they could help, hands on directing everything....that was a positive. And I must say most CMs were happy and friendly ~ kudos to them, they deserved a medal.

 

[ckay87]

Now I'm worried about June. We've always liked June - crowded but not too much so. Nice and hot - good swimming. But this year....I have a bad feeling.

I also have a teen who will not be able to get up at the crack of dawn. We might try, but I don't see it happening.

 

[tiff211]

We were there last week as well and it seemed more crowded than before (we have been Easter week 2004, 2005, 2006). I actually told DH next year we may go in June, if that will be any better. WHat helped was using TGM and FPs!! We stilll had a blast!

 

[runwad]

Yikes we were there too but only for the weekend of Palm Sunday not thru the week. Let me tell ya those pictures of the crowd that's nothing Palm Sunday at AK there where no open spaces that you could manuever thru you just had to go w/the crowd. I couldn't believe how crowded it was. One good thing CM's were just standing and handing out FP's for EE so we used our tickets to get FP for Kahli River Rapids and were able to get a few other FP's as well thru out the day. On sat 3/31 we were at MK all day then hopped over to Epcot around 4ish? and there were no FP's there to be had. We waited 30 min for TT before the line got too long and then just did the non-headliners. But we still had a good time. Just a little dissappointed we couldn't do soaring since no FP's left and the line way too long!! Those FP's spoil ya, ya know? My kids moan and groan the whole time if we have to wait in line, they'd rather not do it then wait an hour, 30-40 minutes is doable any longer than that and forget about it.

 

[dlaushey]

We were there both P-day weekend and Pre-Easter Week this year (left of Good Friday). Easter was much busier than P-day and I at the time I thought P-day was busy! Also, I thought this Easter was even busier than July 4th week 2006 (we were there then too). We were off-site so we drove to the parks each day. We always arrived before opening so we had very close parking each day. We were very surprised at all the cars we saw parked in the grass at MK and AK when we were leaving. I guess they had to use that as overflow parking?

Anyway, we had planned well and made all of our ADR's well in advance so we had another great trip. We are trying to plan our June trip now . Hopefully I can still get a few ADR's .

 

[Moomduck1]

wow....thanks for the pics....VERY crowded!!

 

[girli565]

I was there last week as well, we left Friday afternoon. It was crowded but if you wanted to have a leisurely day and not commando disney (which I'm used to) it was still a great time. Even with the crowds we got to do all the major rides, even Expedition Everest (stand-by line). I'm so used to doing commando disney that doing it leisurely was weird but my parents could not handle commando pace. I still havd a good time.

One suggestion when it's that crowded... make ADRs!! If not you won't be able to have any kind of sit down dinner anywhere.

 

[jimenyfan]

We were there from 3/31-4/4 and had alot of luck with EMH mornings, the only big ride that we didnt get on was EE. Our longest wait was 30min for TOT. We hit the parks by 8:15 each morning and left by 1:30. I felt bad for anyone entering the parks later in the day. The most crowded I saw it was at DTD sunday night, it was absolutly packed. I can honestly say that we would go back for spring break but with the realization that we wouldnt be able to do all that we normally do.

 

[alabamagirl]

. You had to have a sit down meal planned for every day and you had to make it to a counter service place every day. Many times we just wanted a hot dog and that didn’t count as either a snack or a counter service.

I am pretty sure this is not correct. My understanding of the dining plan is that the meals are pooled so that you can eat 2 CS meals in a day if you want and no TS. Then the next day you could do 2 TS meals and 0 CS meals. And so on until all of your pooled meals are used up. Snacks work the same way you don't HAVE to eat one each day, you could eat 2 one day, 0 the next...

I see what you are saying about why it didn't work for your daughter being that she is 9 and considered an adult by Disney (which I have never understood), but you shouldn't have felt pressured to make an ADR for EVERY day. I think when the dining plan first came out they let you trade in a TS meal for CS if you wanted to. Not sure if they still do or not.

Like a previous poster said you should have been able to get a hotdog at Casey's w/ the Dining Plan. Also, did you ask if your daughter could order off the kids meal if that was what she wanted? I am sure that they would have let her.

I don't mean to pick on you at all. I am just thinking that if you try the Dining Plan again these are some suggestions you could consider.

 

[destuff]

Yikes we were there too but only for the weekend of Palm Sunday not thru the week. Let me tell ya those pictures of the crowd that's nothing Palm Sunday at AK there where no open spaces that you could manuever thru you just had to go w/the crowd. I couldn't believe how crowded it was. One good thing CM's were just standing and handing out FP's for EE so we used our tickets to get FP for Kahli River Rapids and were able to get a few other FP's as well thru out the day. On sat 3/31 we were at MK all day then hopped over to Epcot around 4ish? and there were no FP's there to be had. We waited 30 min for TT before the line got too long and then just did the non-headliners. But we still had a good time. Just a little dissappointed we couldn't do soaring since no FP's left and the line way too long!! Those FP's spoil ya, ya know? My kids moan and groan the whole time if we have to wait in line, they'd rather not do it then wait an hour, 30-40 minutes is doable any longer than that and forget about it.

We also did MK on 3/31 with mid day break and felt it was doable and got most of what we wanted. Also did AK on 4/1 and waited 20 minutes for FP at EE alone. again got to do most of what we wanted. very crowded though especially midday- no break and tram operator said they had 44,000 people there that day.

MGM on 4/3 was even crazier - arrived just after opeing and really felt we just got blocked out of a lot of thinks we would have liked, even FP was not as effective for us - no break and we ended up til closing at 10 and felt we missed alot. not as much fun and we decided to not push it to fit in epcot. we are goign back in Aug and hope to get more done. My limit with young kids is about 30 minutes on a line but even counter lunches were an issue

 

[missypie]

So will Thanksgiving week be just as bad????!!!!! We arrive the Friday night before, and leave the day after Thanksgiving. I plan to follow Tour Guide Mike to the letter!