April 2012 at Walt Disney World
OVERVIEW: APRIL 2012 AT DISNEY WORLD
This page reviews April 2012 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, operating hours, adds a few other notes, and ends with week by week summaries.
APRIL 2012 CROWDS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
Easter 2012 is April 8, and the weeks before and after it will have some of the highest crowds of the year.
After April 14, crowds drop to low levels and remain low the rest of the month. I rank crowds the weeks of the 3/31 and 4/7 as 11s, and the rest of the month as 2s and 3s.
See this for more on 2012 crowds at Walt Disney World.
APRIL 2012 PRICES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
April has two price seasons:
- April 1 through April 14, the Easter price season, when prices are 45-85% higher than the lowest of the year
- April 15 through the rest of the month, the Regular price season, when prices are 15-30% higher than the lowest of the year
Click the image to see a Pop Century Resort example of Disney World resort pricing. (When open, click again to enlarge.)
See this for more on 2012 prices at Walt Disney World.
APRIL 2012 DEALS AND DISCOUNTS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
You can find deals for later April 2012 here.
APRIL 2012 WEATHER AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
April weather completes the shift from the variable and cooler temperatures of winter to the warmer and more consistent temperatures of spring.
For example, at the beginning of April, 60% of the time the daily high will be between 72 and 87. By the beginning of May, 60% of the time the daily high will be between 80 and 90.
All in, April weather is as good as it gets at Walt Disney World.
Tornadoes can be an issue during this period. See this for more.
Click the image, or go to Weather and When to Go to Disney World, for more on temperatures.
(When open, click again to enlarge.)
APRIL 2012 OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
Park operating hours vary by the day, and sometimes change without notice. It is rare for hours to be shorter than Disney has publicized, but Disney may lengthen them in response to unanticipated crowds.
In 2011, it lengthened hours on multiple days the weeks before and after Easter, and added many 8a openings and morning Extra Magic Hours. This likely will happen in 2012 as well,
The best way to keep up with operating hours is to check Disney’s official calendars, usually available six months in advance, but changing during busy periods even the day before.
These calendars can be found by clicking the following links:
The calendars can be tricky to use–see this for hints on how to work with Walt Disney World’s online calendars.
OTHER NOTES AND COMMENTS ON APRIL 2012 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
The 2012 Epcot International Flower and Garden Show continues all of April and into May. For more, see this.
WEEK BY WEEK COMMENTS FOR APRIL 2012 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD BY ARRIVAL DATE
The week rankings that follow below are from 2012 weeks to visit, ranked in order, and are designed for first-time visitors who do not know whether or not they will return.
Click the image for a calendar view of 2012 weeks (when open, keep clicking to enlarge.)
3/31/2012 Easter at end of week. Beginning 4/1, prices are 45-85% higher than the lowest of the year. Crowds are as high as they get, crowd ranking is 11. Week ranking=44. Use the Easter Itinerary, but see this for required changes
4/7/12 Easter at beginning of week. Prices begin 45-85 % higher than lowest of year. On April 15, they drop to 15-30% higher than lowest of the year. Crowds are as high as they get, with some relief possible late in the week–crowd ranking is 11. Week ranking=43. Use the Easter Itinerary, but see this for required changes
4/14/12 Prices as of 4/15 are 15-30% higher than lowest of the year. Low crowds–crowd ranking is 3. Week ranking=14. Recommended week. Use the Autumn-Winter-Spring Itinerary
4/21/12 Prices are 15-30% higher than lowest of the year. Lower crowds–crowd ranking is 2. Week ranking=8. Recommended week. Use the Autumn-Winter-Spring Itinerary
4/28/12 Prices are 15-30% higher than lowest of the year. Lower crowds–crowd ranking is 2. Week ranking=9. Recommended week. Use the Autumn-Winter-Spring Itinerary
MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD
- For when to go to Walt Disney World, see this
- For the next best dates, see this
- For the best and worst times to visit, see this
- For 2012 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
- For the 2012 Week Picker, see this
- For 2013 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
- For forecasting crowds at Walt Disney World, see this
- For the 2012 Crowd Calendar, click here
- For the 2013 Crowd Calendar, click here
- For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this
- For 2012 price seasons, see this
- For 2013 price seasons, click here
- For weather at Walt Disney World, see this
4 comments
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.)
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/
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
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/
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