Spring break is among the busier ‘seasons’ at Walt Disney World. Crowd ranges enhance throughout college holidays, culminating with peak weeks in March and April 2023. Easter has a number of the yr’s highest wait occasions in Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. That’s not the one week of elevated attendance…and even the worst!
Spring break season kicks off in early March as schools and universities, and Okay-12 college techniques take their 1-2 week breaks, however not all dates inside that vary are equally crowded. To the opposite, as lined in our 2023 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars, some dates that fall inside conventional spring break season are comparatively good occasions to go to.
Our targets with this are highlighting weeks that can have the best wait occasions and worst crowd ranges at Walt Disney World in the course of the 2023 spring break season. In so doing, we’ll have a look at college schedules for a number of the largest districts that influence Walt Disney World, modifications to park hours, and common journey tendencies for spring break to foretell which dates will likely be “red flags” on Walt Disney World crowd calendar for March and April 2023…
If you don’t have already got Disney Park Pass reservations, we’d advocate that you simply begin by making these ASAP. While Walt Disney World theme park reservation availability has improved by leaps and bounds within the final yr, there’ll probably be many yellow–and maybe even some gray–dates all through the subsequent two months.
In specific, anticipate Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios to finish up being totally booked for a lot of days throughout March and April 2023. These are the parks probably to expire of reservations, which is presently the case with sure dates throughout Mardi Gras.
On a constructive word, Walt Disney World has been extending park hours for March 2023, with peak season hours for just about the whole thing of the month. These extensions sign that the interior attendance forecast is elevated for just about all of March, and this observe of extending hours occurs with consistency each time crowd ranges are anticipated to be above-average to heavy. So this alone doesn’t imply a lot.
Walt Disney World releases boilerplate hours for all the parks months upfront, after which extends these closings as journey dates draw nearer. As of our newest replace, April 2023 hours haven’t but been prolonged, however nearly definitely will likely be inside the subsequent few weeks. Expect April hours to finish up being practically an identical to March. The solely potential exception is the very finish of April, which might maintain shorter hours (however most likely received’t).
For most of March 2023, hours have been prolonged fairly considerably. Magic Kingdom is closing at 11 pm, and the opposite three parks have all had their opening occasions moved a lot earlier. All of that is a lot simpler to visualise on the DisneyWorld.com calendar’s month view.
As for why crowds at Walt Disney World will likely be elevated in March 2023, The most easy rationalization is that that is the week of spring break for each Osceola and Orange Counties, that are the districts in Central Florida that decision Walt Disney World house. Both districts checklist March 14-17, 2023 as their spring breaks. Normally, the Orange County School District would have March 10, 2023 as a pupil vacation/trainer workday however that’s NOT the case this yr–it’s a hurricane make-up day.
Even if no different district in the complete United States had spring break that week, it could be extremely busy at Walt Disney World on account of these two native college techniques. As we’ve seen time and time once more in the previous few years, vacation breaks in Orange and Osceola Counties have important impacts on attendance at Walt Disney World. And in truth, many different college districts across the United States can even have breaks coinciding with this identical week.
We don’t have the time, sources, or inclination to comb via the schedules of each single college district within the United States. If we did, it could most likely reveal a spread of breaks within the subsequent two months, with the majority from mid-March via mid-April 2023.
With that stated, there are a a number of particular districts in Florida which are among the many largest within the nation and have an outsized influence on attendance at Walt Disney World. In a traditional yr, these districts and their respective spring breaks across the following timeframes:
- Miami-Dade County Public Schools: March 20-24, 2023
- Broward County Public Schools: March 20-24, 2023
- Hillsborough County Public Schools: March 13-17, 2023
- Palm Beach County Public Schools: March 20-24, 2023
- Duval County Public Schools: March 13-17, 2023
Here are different main college districts and their regular spring break dates that would considerably influence crowd ranges at Walt Disney World:
- Houston Independent School District: March 13-17, 2023
- Dallas Independent School District: March 13-17, 2023
- Gwinnett County Public Schools: April 3-7, 2023
- Chicago Public Schools: April 3-7, 2023
- Fairfax County Public Schools: April 3-7, 2023
This is not an exhaustive checklist of spring break schedules. These 12 college districts have been chosen as a result of they’re among the many nation’s largest districts which are both close to Walt Disney World or feed closely into customer demographics. That’s why Chicago is listed however Los Angeles Unified, Clark County (Nevada), and Honolulu’s college districts will not be.
Obviously, there are greater than 12 main college districts within the United States with breaks that contribute to crowds at Walt Disney World. Notably, there’s little or no illustration from the Northeast and Midwest. This is to not say that New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Indiana, and so on. don’t have a huge effect on crowds.
To the opposite, they do–there’s a cause Jersey Week is a “thing” that crowd calendars monitor. Listing each single main college district’s 2023 spring break dates is just past the scope of this publish. (Feel free to share yours within the feedback, although!)
Additionally, our focus right here is on Okay-12 college districts, however universities have spring breaks that may trigger slight spikes to attendance. Colleges often have much less of an influence on Walt Disney World crowds on account of age demographics, however they don’t have zero influence. Notable examples embody Florida State University, University of Florida, University of Central Florida–you get the concept.
As you may see from the above lists, one-third of the foremost college districts exterior of Central Florida have their spring breaks March 13-17, 2023. In addition to that, Osceola and Orange Counties have their spring breaks that week. Consequently, our expectation is that this finally ends up being the #1 busiest week of March or April 2023 at Walt Disney World.
We anticipate that week being even busier than the week of Easter. Because March 13-17 is so “early” as in comparison with Easter, many Walt Disney World guests find yourself being stunned that mid-March finally ends up being so busy. Over the years, we’ve discovered that it’s a standard assumption amongst WDW company that ‘Easter equals spring break.’ As you may see, that’s not true.
As such, our prediction is just about a repeat of Worst Week of Winter 2023 at Walt Disney World. Just substitute all the references to Presidents’ Day and Mardi Gras with “Spring Break 2023” and that roughly is our forward-looking prediction.
In specific, we forecast that March 11 via March 19, 2023 would be the busiest week of the quarter, and one of many worst 5 weeks of the complete yr at Walt Disney World. Expect each day crowd ranges of 9/10 or 10/10 at each park throughout this date vary. Some of these 10/10 days can have notably excessive wait occasions (not all 10/10 days are equally busy–that’s simply the utmost crowd degree).
We extremely advisable anybody with flexibility keep away from these journey dates. Again, that is as a result of outsized influence Central Florida college districts have on Walt Disney World attendance, plus the early spring breaks occurring elsewhere across the nation.
As for the second worst week of spring break season, that must be the tried and true: Easter 2023. Unlike that week in mid-March, the week main as much as Easter sometimes doesn’t catch guests to Walt Disney World unexpectedly. Anyone who does any kind of planning will see crimson flags across the week main as much as Easter 2023.
More particularly said, April 1-9, 2023 would be the second busiest dates of spring break season. March 31, 2023 is a wild card–districts could have a pupil recess that day, contributing to higher crowds. These dates are additionally 9/10 and 10/10 crowd ranges, with the potential of some days/parks “only” hitting 8/10. (The numerical ranges aren’t notably useful at this level–how busy sure weeks are relative to others is the extra helpful data.)
Two particular days to have in your radar are April 3-4, 2023. Those two days are the return of Happily Ever After and opening date of TRON Lightcycle Run, respectively. We’d extremely advocate avoiding Magic Kingdom on each of as of late, and as an alternative visiting April 5 or 6. (April 7-8, 2023 will likely be worse since that’s the weekend, and can thus will draw Floridians to Magic Kingdom.)
TRON Lightcycle Run presently has ongoing previews, and can via mid-March. Thus far, these have had a negligible influence on crowd ranges, and we’d anticipate that development to proceed whilst AP and DVC previews start. No want to alter your park plans on account of those.
As for the third worst week, our expectation is March 20-24, 2023. As with the opposite dates, the elevated crowds can even embody the Saturday and Sunday each earlier than and after that week. This is predicated on a mixture of our sampled spring dates above and previous precedent–that week is often worse than the one after it or the week following Easter.
Speaking of which, it’s potential that March 27-31, 2023 will likely be a ‘sweet spot’ within the spring break season. We definitely wouldn’t advocate reserving that exact week you probably have a spread of choices, however there’s presently nothing to counsel it’ll see peak season attendance. Crowd ranges must be round 7/10 given previous precedent.
Although it’s not listed above, April 10-14 (plus surrounding weekends) is more likely to be busier. We’ve discovered that it is a extra widespread spring break for varsity districts within the Northeast and areas of the Midwest. Those dates are typically the ‘last hurrah’ for spring break crowds.
It additionally doesn’t assist that the runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend is April 13-16, 2023. Race weekend members are inclined to arrive a few days early and go away proper on the finish of the occasion–so that they’ll contribute to crowds on the entrance half of that. For essentially the most half, spring break season is over at Walt Disney World by April 17, 2023. Expect falling crowds simply in time for Tax Day!
The one silver lining is that this yr, Walt Disney World has blocked out the 2023 Florida Resident Ticket Deal for March 13-17, April 3-7, and April 10-14, 2023. This extra blockouts than the final two years, which have been chaotic at occasions because of the deal coinciding with spring break for sure college districts in Florida.
Still, these blockout dates will not be excellent. It most likely would’ve been higher to focus on March 20-24, as extra college districts have spring break that week this yr than do April 10-14, 2023.
Before you are concerned an excessive amount of or debate cancelling, let’s speak beating the crowds. First, keep in mind how we mentioned prolonged park hours on the prime of the publish? Well, these added hours are extremely advantageous–particularly the sooner opening occasions since most vacationers don’t wish to do the early wake-up name on trip.
By merely arriving early or staying late, you may beat the worst of the noon crowds. (Of course, that’s “simple” in principle however tougher in observe, particularly you probably have babies. That’s a giant cause why wait occasions are decrease very first thing within the morning and later within the evenings.) Beyond that, you should definitely additionally take a look at our Walt Disney World Itineraries for plans of assault, together with choices with and with out Genie+ and Lightning Lanes.
Suffice to say, it’s fully potential to beat dangerous crowds by using Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Early Entry, Extended Evening Hours, rope drop, and so on. We cowl one of the best & worst strategy for every park in Best Time-Saving Strategies for Walt Disney World. If you’re solely going to learn one planning publish, make it that. There are nice methods to beat the crowds–even on busy days–with out shopping for Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes.
Speaking of which, we’ve a ~4,500 phrase Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ for many who wish to totally grasp paid QuickPass. Weeks like this, it’s undoubtedly a very good possibility for Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT.
Overall, that’s about what you may anticipate to expertise throughout Spring Break 2023 at Walt Disney World. To summarize, our prediction is elevated ‘feels like’ crowds from round March 11, 2023 to April 16, 2023. The worst of these crowds will nearly definitely be March 11-19, 2023.
The week after that will likely be dangerous however not as dangerous, earlier than a short lived reprieve with “only” above-average crowds. Then there’s the week of Easter 2023, which would be the second worst week of this yr’s spring break season. We’d actively keep away from these mid-March 2023 and early April 2023 dates if in any respect potential, particularly you probably have scheduling freedom.
For what it’s value, early March tends to be unbelievable. We’re big followers of that week overlapping with the tip of February, and we additionally wouldn’t hesitate to do the primary full week of the month (March 6-10, 2023). That might need some spring break early arrivers, but it surely shouldn’t be dangerous. Then there’s April 17 via just about the whole thing of May 2023. Those are additionally good dates to go to, though you begin working the chance of hotter and extra humid climate.
In the tip, we wouldn’t essentially keep away from spring break season you probably have a school-aged baby and haven’t any higher choices exterior of summer season trip. Just remember that attendance ranges will likely be increased than they’ve been throughout January and February (minus Presidents’ Day and Mardi Gras). As all the time, crowd ranges at Walt Disney World have been growing throughout the board and nonetheless shock us once in a while. Nevertheless, we’re moderately assured on this spring break forecast.
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 have a look at intelligent objects 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 start out is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for all the pieces it is advisable know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you visited Walt Disney World throughout spring break season prior to now? What did you consider the crowds? Are you visiting this yr for Easter or spring break? Any different main college districts having spring breaks throughout these home windows? Anything else we missed that would influence crowds throughout March and April 2023? Do you agree or disagree with something in our Spring Break 2023 Crowd Forecast for Walt Disney World? Any questions we may help you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even while you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!