Over our years as Walt Disney World followers, Sarah and I’ve developed clear preferences for favourite occasions to go to and returned repeatedly throughout these weeks. That a lot must be evident from our Best & Worst Months to Visit Walt Disney World, which affords a number of advisable ‘sweet spots’ for planning your individual journeys.
We’ve additionally managed to seek out the silver linings in some peak weeks. For instance, we used to like visiting the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve for the tremendous early openings and extremely late closings. Those hours are a factor of the previous (for now?), however that week nonetheless has an distinctive vitality.
Admittedly, we’ve prevented different weeks, together with ones which have their very own promoting factors regardless of being busier. One of these has been the height week of Central Florida spring break, which we’ve tried to keep away from for the final a number of years. As has been lined at size in different posts, together with our Spring Break 2023 Crowd Calendar for Walt Disney World, we had been forecasting this to be the worst week of spring break at Walt Disney World.
Nevertheless, once I had the chance to do a keep at Walt Disney World for the TRON Lightcycle Run media occasion, I opted to increase that to “stress test” our itineraries, Genie+ and Lightning Lane technique, and extra. (I additionally opted to “stress test” my abdomen, consuming quite a lot of ill-advised meals.)
I realized quite a bit within the course of, the fruits of which might be shared within the weeks to come back over the course of content material about Early Entry in any respect 4 parks, Extended Evening Hours at each Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, Genie+ run-throughs, sizzling canine opinions, and extra.
For now, I wished to deal with some subjects that I discovered fascinating, however that most likely should not worthy of standalone weblog posts. This touches upon the entire ‘successes’ of my solo journey, with the second installment specializing in what went fallacious.
Weather – When most individuals are planning spring getaways to Florida–particularly these from snowy states within the Midwest and Northeast–they’re most likely not hoping for excessive chilly climate. I assume I’m the outlier there, as I really like doing the parks when temperatures are within the 50s or 60s.
As a lot as I really like the low crowds of August and September, the warmth and humidity might be brutal. When the temperature is colder, I can at all times add layers; however there are solely so many I can take off earlier than park safety places an finish to the occasion. I used to be thus very happy with the climate this journey, which ranged from the low 50s to excessive 80s.
Highlighting the climate as a energy might sound ineffective for planners, however that is an underrated side of visiting throughout spring break. March and April are way more more likely to have gentle and nice temperatures than are different college breaks. During the vacation season, it’s typically too chilly; in summer time, it’s too sizzling. Spring break climate is often good.
Late Nights – One underrated side of 30 diploma each day swings in temperature is that many company should not correctly ready and clothed for it. To their credit score, Walt Disney World rolls out racks of hooded sweatshirts (don’t actually know why I’m giving them “credit” for savvy gross sales of merchandise–not prefer it’s altruistic), however that’s nonetheless not sufficient to maintain folks within the parks late into the night.
Even on days that didn’t have sharp shifts in climate, the parks had been noticeably much less crowded within the final a number of hours of the evening. This is hardly a brand new phenomenon, however it’s one which I maintain anticipating to alter. I actually can’t clarify this dynamic…have the previous couple of years made everybody extra drained? I don’t ever keep in mind the parks clearing out within the night (save for Animal Kingdom pre-Pandora) the way in which that they do now.
In any case, the tip of the night continues to be the easiest way to method just about all over the place besides World Showcase. This is particularly true with Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios (one thing we actually anticipated to alter with the return of Fantasmic, however that has not occurred). It even occurs at Magic Kingdom, at the least with precise wait occasions (crowds for the fireworks and on Main Street are a unique story).
Extra Hours – I’ve a principle. Genie+ and Lightning Lanes have concurrently created a false sense of safety amongst company who use them, and a defeatist perspective amongst those that don’t. It’s as if paid line-skipping is seen as the silver bullet for beating wait occasions, and when you don’t purchase Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes, you’re out of luck. You will endure lengthy traces and prolonged waits, it doesn’t matter what.
Except that isn’t true in any respect. As famous above, evenings are superior. Same goes for mornings, albeit to a lesser extent. Then there are the bonuses hours, that are one of the best of all. I did Early Entry in any respect 4 parks and Extended Evening Hours at each EPCOT and Magic Kingdom (the one locations it’s supplied proper now). With one exception, all of those experiences had been wonderful.
Equally notable is that my worst morning occurred on the least busy day of all the week, and a few of my finest ‘runs’ in each the morning and night occurred on 9/10 or 10/10 crowd stage days. I’ll have separate studies on all of those within the coming couple of weeks, however the salient level is that you shouldn’t sleep on Early Entry, nor must you skip Extended Evening Hours when you’re eligible.
As in comparison with Extra Magic Hours, each of those choices appear to fly underneath the radar. Part of why Early Entry works so effectively is that crowds are diluted amongst all 4 parks every single day (which is large!), however equally vital is that too many guests dismiss it as a “waste of time” as a result of it’s “only 30 minutes.” To every their very own, however we constantly discover ourselves having the ability to accomplish extra throughout Early Entry and the half-hour of rope drop thereafter than we ever did throughout morning EMH…at the least, at 3 of the parks!
EPCOT – Crowd calendars have turn into virtually irrelevant for EPCOT. This has more and more turn into my perspective, however spring break actually drove this level dwelling. Prior to this go to, I shared sentiment making an attempt for example this level in a latest crowd report:
As at all times, EPCOT is the one park the place what you see might be not what you get. If you visited on February 21, you’d’ve encountered wait time ranges that amounted to a 9/10 crowd stage, however you additionally would’ve missed the tip of Festival of the Arts by at some point. If you visited on March 1, you’d’ve been there for two/10 crowd ranges in response to wait occasions, but in addition the beginning of the 2023 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival.
I’d be prepared to guess that when you requested 100 folks to stroll round EPCOT on each of these two days, and by no means had them do points of interest or take a look at wait occasions, the bulk would say March 1 was busier. More than every other park, EPCOT is the locals’ park, and that’s evident in situations like this.
If you’re a vacationer specializing in points of interest, you continue to would’ve loved low wait occasions, to make certain, however you’d’ve felt rather more congestion than the gang stage suggests. There’s no good answer to this discrepancy, apart from pointing it out. This does occurs on the different parks to some extent, however to not almost the identical diploma as EPCOT.
This is 100% true. I used to be in EPCOT on March 15, a ten/10 crowd stage day with a mean wait time of 56 minutes. It was additionally a day that many Annual Passes had been blocked out, as was the Florida resident ticket deal.
As somebody who primarily doesn’t do EPCOT for points of interest, this present day felt much less busy to me than latest 2/10 and three/10 days I’ve completed throughout the winter low season. There had been nearly no traces for the Flower & Garden Festival meals cubicles, walkways had some congestion however weren’t terrible, and the Imagination lounge was solely about half-full.
By 10/10 crowd stage requirements, it was a extremely nice day. But then once more, I say that as somebody who didn’t endure the triple-digit wait occasions for Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, or Test Track. I do know it was a busy day due to that and the prolonged overflow queues for front-of-park points of interest which are usually walk-ons, however that wasn’t my notion as somebody there to eat and wander my means round World Showcase.
TTA PeopleMover Lines – This one is area of interest, however equally, there was typically no line (or a brief one) for the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover. Again, this was the case even on 8/10 and 9/10 days in Magic Kingdom.
Unlike the above EPCOT dynamic, this truly is not one thing that I’ve seen previously. My hope is that the TTA was simply having actually environment friendly days with minimal downtime (and it appeared to be!), and never that there’s a pronounced hole within the attraction’s recognition between vacationers and locals or regulars.
Characters…Minus One – Character eating experiences are nonetheless not again to 100%, however it certain looks as if common meet & greets have now reached that time. I’m inclined to go a step additional, as the brand new additions to Disney’s Hollywood Studios plus the character caravan that goes round to resorts are issues that didn’t exist pre-closure.
I’m frankly stunned and delighted that Walt Disney World has restored the “free” character encounters previous to the “paywalled” ones, and equally happy with the standard and number of these experiences. As in comparison with Disneyland, it nonetheless looks as if free-roaming characters are the lacking ingredient, however after seeing how that’s going with the most recent addition to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge…perhaps there’s a motive for that!
Staying at All Star Sports – We are enormous advocates of break up stays at Walt Disney World, and advocate them as an effective way of experiencing quite a lot of lodging, benefiting from perks, or splurging for a part of your journey. Our personal recommendation was seemingly taken to an excessive with this journey, which began out on the Grand Floridian and concluded at All Star Sports. (I’m wondering what number of company do that specific break up keep–it might’t be many!)
Part of my motivation for staying at All Star Sports was “research,” to see if the youth sporting occasions being hosted on the resort negatively impacted the traditional visitor expertise. Upon checking in and being assigned a room overlooking the Touchdown part of the resort, I had a “what have I gotten myself into?!” second. My room was, fairly actually, instantly above the center of the soccer area. Every evening that I returned to the room–irrespective of how late I stayed within the parks, there have been dozens of youngsters taking part in on the sector.
I’m very pleased to report that this was by no means a difficulty. Aside from 30 seconds of chanting as soon as at midnight (earlier than I used to be in mattress), I didn’t hear any sound from outdoors my room. In the curiosity of full disclosure, I turned my room’s room from “auto” to “high” and was additionally perpetually-exhausted from doing Early Entry to after park closing each single day, however I nonetheless may have been awoken if the youngsters had been rowdy sufficient.
Not to contort myself into turning this into an excessive amount of of a constructive, however the vitality at All Star Sports was wonderful. It jogged my memory of a extra athletic model of Fort Wilderness, with children (not simply the occasion contributors) out taking part in catch with their mother and father, younger adults taking part in foosball and cornhole by the foyer, Cast Members getting in on the enjoyable (and certain holding it in verify), and other people simply typically being engaged in actions. The resort felt relaxed and alive, however with out bursting on the seams or being overly raucous.
St. Patrick’s within the Parks – On the subject of subverted expectations, I used to be pleasantly stunned by St. Patrick’s Day within the parks. This isn’t a vacation that’s actually on my radar, and I began the day trip in EPCOT. I used to be sporting all-blue, as if in delicate protest of the green-imbued uniform of St. Patrick’s Day. In actuality, it was whole coincidence. I’d’ve dressed appropriately but in addition prevented EPCOT had I identified it was St. Patrick’s Day, frightened it will’ve been chaotic, crowded, and an excessive amount of of a celebration scene.
In actuality, the environment at EPCOT was pleasant. I’d hazard a guess that ~25% of company had been sporting leprechaun Mickey Mouse shirts (it felt like I missed a memo) with the bulk sporting inexperienced of some kind. Rather than being a celebration scene, it was convivial and family-friendly; the right environment for a vacation at Walt Disney World. Next time, I’ll be sure you actively partake by sporting my very own Leprechaun shirt–however one that includes Warwick Davis, not Mickey Mouse.
The Weekend – No, not the Canadian singer identified for his sonic versatility and darkish lyricism. I’m speaking in regards to the weekend days of Saturday and Sunday. This was already lined in Spring Break Crowds Have Sprung at Walt Disney World, however the weekend was surprisingly uncrowded.
Maybe I ought to’ve seen this coming, because it’s been a pattern we’ve been observing increasingly recently. However, there’s at all times been an excellent rationalization for that, from runDisney occasions to post-holiday crowds heading dwelling. In this case, one week of spring break ought to’ve segued into one other, as that’s often been the case previously.
I’ve my theories for this, with most revolving round pricing. Higher weekend costs for airfare and resorts (off-site and on-site), plus elevated ticket costs and the general price of holidays may very well be inflicting guests to chop days from their Walt Disney World holidays. Locals being pushed away from weekends may be an evidence, however I think pricing is the large one. Either means, it made the weekend extra nice than anticipated–and undoubtedly higher than the identical dates had been in 2019 (and even in 2021-2022).
Ultimately, spring break is just not going to turn into one among our favourite occasions to go to Walt Disney World. Even with the entire upsides recognized right here, these should not dates we’d select if given a large open calendar. However, that’s not the truth for many precise vacationers who’ve younger kids. This is exactly why so many individuals go to throughout college breaks they usually turn into crowded within the first place–an absence of higher choices.
With these extra slender parameters in thoughts, spring break truly turns into a extra fascinating time to go to. As a basic matter, I used to be stunned at simply how easily issues went and what I used to be in a position to accomplish. The journey wasn’t with out issues (extra on these quickly!), however by and huge, crowds and wait occasions had been each “beatable.”
All issues thought of, spring break is definitely higher than the center of summer time season, which generally is just not as crowded–however that’s greater than offset by worse climate. What’s extra debatable is whether or not spring break is superior to different vacation weeks. The crowds this specific week weren’t as dangerous as Thanksgiving or Christmas–however these are (arguably) greater than offset by the seasonal festivities. In any case, I’d not hesitate to do a spring break 2024 journey if it had been my finest or least dangerous choice for visiting Walt Disney World. Even throughout these peak weeks, there are many alternatives for having enjoyable and outsmarting the crowds.
For me, it was a productive analysis journey that encompassed quite a lot of technique trials and testing, plus loads of enjoyable driving TRON Lightcycle Run and seeing Happily Ever After. It’s additionally good seeing normalcy restored at Walt Disney World to the purpose that the parks are principally of their pre-closure states, and fairly near firing on all cylinders. It’s laborious to consider it’s been three years; it feels each like a lifetime in the past and solely yesterday.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Learn about resorts on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To lower your expenses on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets publish. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips publish takes a novel take a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, one of the best place to begin is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for all the pieces you might want to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
If you’ve already visited Walt Disney World throughout spring break this 12 months, what was your expertise? If you’ve visited this identical week in prior years, how do you assume this 12 months compares? Thoughts about anything lined right here? If you’re a frequent customer throughout this timeframe, what’s your tackle crowds, wait occasions, seasonal spirit, climate, and so forth? Agree or disagree with my evaluation of spring break? Any questions we will help you reply? Hearing your suggestions is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!