April 2012 at Walt Disney World

30 comments

1 Janet { 10.19.11 at 1:11 pm }

A friend and I are considering a DisneyWorld trip in April 2012 – probably the 21st through the 28th. Am I reading your analysis correctly that you’d rate that week a good one, based on lower crowds? I’ve seen conflicting information about that on other sites, but none of them seem to have an analysis quite as thorough as yours. (Most of them give a kind of blanket “Avoid April” message.) We’ll have two 8-year-olds with us, and really don’t want to deal with ridiculously long lines.

That week is actually New Hampshire school break – guess we’re not on the same schedule as most of the country. (Actually, they deliberately try to put us on a different schedule from the surrounding states – sometimes that’s a good thing.)

2 Dave { 10.19.11 at 1:25 pm }

Hi Janet!

Yup I think it’s a good week. You see “avoid April” as a code for “avoid through the week after Easter” because it’s a safe recommendation. Most years, however, it’s not accurate–and in 2012 it’s not!

For more, see the chart on this page–it’s population and Disney visit weighted: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/07/11/disney-world-crowds-in-2012-spring-break-2012/

3 Carolina { 01.30.12 at 6:55 am }

Hi Dave!

I visited Disney World many times but still, your site its VERY useful. Congrats!
We usually visit around end of january but this year we had a family problem and had to cancel everything.
We are now planning to go from 4/27 to 5/5.
I spent some quality time on your site and apparently this is a good week to visit.
I just have one doubt, you describe this week as ‘lower’, this means: its lower than usually or its lower than the big crowd peaks?
We are not sure what to expect.

Apart from that, I think I’m ok RE rain, hurricanes, bad cold weather and expensive charges, right?!
Hope so!

Tks and best regards
Carol

4 Dave { 01.30.12 at 10:04 am }

Hi Carolina and thanks!

Yup, that’s a great week. I rank it the 9th best of the year. See this: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/10/20/2012-weeks-to-visit-walt-disney-world-ranked-in-order/

“Lower” is my second lowest crowd ranking–see this: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/06/29/disney-world-crowds-in-2012-3/

5 Chri { 02.14.12 at 6:35 am }

Hi,
Me and my partner are flying out to Florida on the 11th April and I am really worried about the crowds when we go due to the Easter Holidays. Is this a good time to go? We are there form the 11th to the 25 th April. Many Thanks

6 Dave { 02.14.12 at 7:09 am }

Hi, you’ll see large crowds until the 14th, but after that things should be fine!

7 faten { 03.10.12 at 10:28 am }

Hello, we are going on our first visit to wdw from April 18 to the 27 2012. Do u think its a great time to go? I have a 3 and 8 year old kids and don’t want to be waiting in lines forever. I really wanna enjoy it and not feel like its croweded. Most of my days are weekdays, does that make a difference?

8 Dave { 03.10.12 at 11:33 am }

Hi, that’s a great time to go–see this: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2009/12/23/the-most-comfortable-time-to-go-to-walt-disney-world/

9 Christy { 03.12.12 at 1:33 pm }

Hi Dave, We’re going April 14-21, for our 10th anniversary. I noticed today Disney soft opened Dumbo and the Great Goofini. Do you think this soft opening will draw extra crowds that week?

10 Celeste { 03.12.12 at 1:47 pm }

Dave,
We are planning to go April 4th and 5th to MK and Hollywood Studios with a 4 and 5 year old – do you think we will survive?

11 Dave { 03.12.12 at 2:10 pm }

Hi Christy, no I don’t! You might see a few more people around than if they weren’t open, but not enough to have a real impact…

12 Dave { 03.12.12 at 2:15 pm }

Hi Celeste!

You’ll probably survive! See this advice I gave another mom: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/07/11/disney-world-crowds-in-2012-spring-break-2012/comment-page-8/#comment-27837

BTW, there’s not much at the Studios for kids that young…I’d go to MK both days…see this: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/03/09/the-comprehensive-guide-to-walt-disney-world-rides-and-attractions/

13 Keith Foley { 03.24.12 at 5:23 pm }

Me and my family are heading down from the 1st-8th. I actually thought it was a good week?? Why do you expect such big crowds??? Is it school break week in some part of the country??Thanks

14 Dave { 03.24.12 at 8:00 pm }

Hi Keith. The most common prriod for spring break is the week before Easter, the week you are going. As a result, this is the third busiest week of the year at Disney World–after the weeks before and after Christmas. See this: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/07/11/disney-world-crowds-in-2012-spring-break-2012/

15 Kelly { 03.25.12 at 2:37 am }

Hi Dave,
I finally got my husband to agree to a WDW trip with our 2 kids, ages 5 & 8, with the promise that we would somehow fit SeaWorld into the mix. I teach school…so you know how I must feel about “those” parents who take kids out to go to Disney…but after looking at all your info, I have now become one of “those” parents! Anyway we are arriving on Saturday, April 14 and staying non-Disney and planning on 1/2 a day at Seaworld and then staying at on property beginning the 15th-20th. Here are the days planned:
MK 15th – I know about the extra magic hour thing, but the kids would be devastated if we didn’t go here first
EP 16th, MK 17th
Back to Seaworld 18th (2nd visit free) — suggestion for what to do after?
AK 19th, HS 20th, MK or EP 21st for 1/2 day
Does this even sound like a good plan? I do hope it isn’t extremely crowded!
Thanks so much

16 Dave { 03.25.12 at 6:32 am }

Hi Kelly–and yes it does sound like a good plan (other than what you already know about Sunday.) I don’t think it will be too crowded. On the 18th, honestly, I’d just take the rest of the day off–you’ve got a busy set of days laid out!

17 Amy D { 03.28.12 at 11:22 am }

Ugh..so it seems that I am going at the worst possible time of the year..April 2nd until the 7th, work schedule and what not has made this really the only time we could go. This will be our first trip. Any advice? SOOO nervous about the crowds and not being able to see anything. I am traveling with a 5 year old little guy and trying to stay positive that this won’t be a bad experience.

18 Dave { 03.28.12 at 11:58 am }

Hi Amy! See this http://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/07/11/disney-world-crowds-in-2012-spring-break-2012/#comment-28031 and also this: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/02/21/getting-more-fastpasses-faster-at-walt-disney-world/

19 Mike { 04.03.12 at 12:24 pm }

Hi Dave – Driving up from Marco Island on Wednesday, April 11th and leaving on the 12th. I know it is going to be nuts, but what parks do you recommend for those two days? Much appreciated.

20 Dave { 04.03.12 at 1:45 pm }

Mike, with the qualifier that these are the best of a set of bad options, I’d go with Epcot the 11th and Hollywood Studios the 12th…

21 Keri { 04.04.12 at 2:22 am }

Hi Dave,
My family is heading to Disney from (arriving late on 4/7), 4/8 – 4/13, this is our first trip their since my husband and I were young. We have twin boys that are 8 and a daughter that’s 9. We bought the 4 day pass without the Hopper option and are also planning on taking one day off from the parks to go to the beach. We’re thinking of doing MK two days, Hollywood Studios one day, and just deciding between AK and Epcot for the 4th day. I know it’s a crazy week, so any advice you can give for what parks to go to on what days would be appreciated! Thanks so much for your help

22 Dave { 04.04.12 at 6:24 am }

Hi Keri! There’s no great answers. The trick is to avoid parks on days they have extra magic hours, but MK has them every day. Check Disney’s calendars for the extra magic hour days from the links here: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/03/30/walt-disney-world-hours-of-operation/

23 Keri { 04.05.12 at 3:48 am }

Ok, thanks…guess we’ll just wing it and hope for the best! Have you heard anything about Big Thunder Mountain being closed for refurbishment until May. I read that on another website but the actual Disney site doesn’t say anything about it??

24 Dave { 04.05.12 at 6:37 am }

Keri, Disney’s website has said for months that Big Thunder is closed til May 27. To get to closures, you go to the park calendar, click on a day, and the announced closures show up on the lower right side of the page. See e.g. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/magic-kingdom/calendardayview/?asmbly_day=20120410

25 Keri { 04.06.12 at 4:11 am }

Sorry.

26 Dave { 04.06.12 at 7:08 am }

No problem, Keri! All this stufff is hard to figure out…

27 Lottie { 04.09.12 at 3:12 pm }

Hi I’m coming in from England I’m wondering, should I hire a car (want to go to sea world, Florida mall and the outlet mall) or just use taxis and if taxis how do I get one with car seats?
Finally what’s magical express like? Should I pay for a transportation cab or will it be ok on express? I’m staying on port Orleans thanks in advance

28 Lisa { 04.09.12 at 3:46 pm }

Hi – We are four adults planning on a visit to MK for a day on Sunday April 15th. This looks like it’s the tail end of the Spring break madness and that most of it is done by the 14th? I can’t quite tell from the charts if the 15th could be ranked as a 3 or an 11 and that’s quite a difference! Just trying to adjust our expectations. Thanks in advance for your excellent website and advice.

29 Dave { 04.09.12 at 4:29 pm }

Hi Lottie, for the Magical Express, see this: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/02/28/disneys-magical-express-at-walt-disney-world/ and for renting a car see this: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2012/02/28/renting-a-car-at-walt-disney-world/

If you can group your off-site visits into a few days, then I’d suggest renting a car for only a few days, and using Disney Transport and the magical express the rest of the time…

30 Dave { 04.09.12 at 4:37 pm }

Hi Lisa, yes, Sunday the 15th should be fine!

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