[chetnet]

Hi all!

Trying to plan one last Disney trip as the kids get too old (too old for me to keep paying for them, ha) and am basically retricted from going any time other than their spring break, unfortunately. Was curious how crowded it may be March 13-20 next year. I was hoping this may be before the peak. In addition, we just had a neighbor return, who did MGK on the 20th, and said they only waited 30 mins max(Haunted Mansion). Was it not that crowded due to the economy or is anything before the 20th still a good time to go?

The only other possibility is going first week in June, but I think it will be too hot for my tastes.

I realize this may be a moot point with my constraints, but would love for everyone to tell me it won't be crowded. Ha! ;o)

Thanks!
Chet

[RowdyRAider]

The past 3 weeks here at WDW have been VERY busy, especially at the MK. Course, Spring Break is the 2nd busiest time of the year for us. Even with higher gas prices this year all the rooms at just about EVERY resort was booked and filled. You will be coming at a busy time. But like I always say, no matter when you come, there is ALWAYS going to be a crowd somewhere. We're the number one family vacation spot in the entire Earth. Don't let the thought of crowds keep you from coming and enjoying your time here.

[chetnet]

Thanks Rowdy!

I'm just trying to avoid multiple 60 minute waits if you know what I mean,and I do plan using fastpass as much as possible.

Is it fair to assume the mid-March dates would be less busy than Xmas week? I assume they would be.

[tonyksl]

Xmas week is the busiest week, hands down. Spring break is usually worst the week before and after Easter because that is when most K-12 grade schools are closed. Mind you, colleges have their Spring Breaks last up to 6 weeks, so all of those weeks are busier than normal, but, not as much as when the K-12 grade schools are out. Easter 2009 is April 12th for Catholic and Protestant Churches and the Eastern Orthodox is April 19th, so, your week will be a bit less than theirs. I hope that helps!

[chetnet]

Originally Posted by tonyksl

Xmas week is the busiest week, hands down. Spring break is usually worst the week before and after Easter because that is when most K-12 grade schools are closed. Mind you, colleges have their Spring Breaks last up to 6 weeks, so all of those weeks are busier than normal, but, not as much as when the K-12 grade schools are out. Easter 2009 is April 12th for Catholic and Protestant Churches and the Eastern Orthodox is April 19th, so, your week will be a bit less than theirs. I hope that helps!

Yeah, good to hear. I was hoping the later Easter would help the March 13th week, unlike this year's Easter. Thanks!

[leslieh]

Hi Chet- I would check out the crowd calendars on touringplans.com This is free if you have the Unofficial Guide by Bob Sehlinger. I can't check for you since I loaned my copy out

[mickey]

We were just there March 8 - 15, and lines were pretty short, until the last day, which was really the start of Spring Break.

Easter next year is quite a bit later, April 12. Typically, the week before and after Easter are the most crowded, I would think you should be fine the week you wanted to go. If you can go a week earlier, it would be even better for you.

[chetnet]

Originally Posted by mickey

We were just there March 8 - 15, and lines were pretty short, until the last day, which was really the start of Spring Break.

Easter next year is quite a bit later, April 12. Typically, the week before and after Easter are the most crowded, I would think you should be fine the week you wanted to go. If you can go a week earlier, it would be even better for you.

That's good to hear. It does seem to matter when Easter falls. Maybe we'll get lucky then!

Thx to you also Leslie. I know of touringplans.com but don't have the guide.

[A Goofy Family]

We were there the week leading up to Easter this year fully anticipating the huge crowds. Most of the time, we had walk-ons to rides and shows. I was very pleasantly surprised!! We got fastpasses and came back to do some rides, but others we just timed right I guess. We did have one crazy-crowded morning at Epcot, did a couple of things and left to take the kids to DtD to DQ and Pin Traders. When we came back, we walked onto Turtle Talk and the Nemo line moved very quickly. Hit our FP at Soarin' and then proceeded to hit all the things we wanted to do with very little wait time.
We've been to WDW that middle week of March 4 times and we've never been overwhelmed by the crowds. Just be ready to park hop if necessary and Good Luck! (DSis and Mom will be there at that same exact time next year too...we're going to NYC with the HS Music Group)

[Monique]

I was at WDW March 9-15 and I was pleasantly surprised that the crowds were relatively low. One day at AK the wait for EE was only 10 minutes!! I followed the "best days to visit" on touringplans.com. The weather was fabulous, too!!

[chetnet]

Wow, this is all great to hear! Thx for getting my hopes up!

Have alot of you found the touringplans info to be reliable then? Sure sounds like it.

[A Goofy Family]

We used the Crowd Predicter...not sure if that is TouringPlans or not...but we found it to be pretty accurate.
We always stay for EMH nights too, the crowds aren't so bad then...just make sure you take a sweatshirt or light jacket, some of the nights got a little chilly.

[nitaworm]

We went the week before Easter and I would say the lines where longer than we were used to during our thanksgiving holidy visit, however it wasn't as bad as I expected. Lines where about 30-45min wait. I must admit my kids an I are impatient because we are spoiled and generally go when crowds are the least. If I had a choice, I would still pick Spring Break over June, when its hot, hot, hot.