Easter 2010 at Walt Disney World

By Dave Shute

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OVERVIEW

2010 Easter crowds (and prices!!) at Walt Disney World will hit a very high peak in the week beginning March 27th 2010, and be almost as high for most of the week beginning April 3, 2010. Try your best to avoid Walt Disney World during these two weeks.

If your kids’ Spring Break is a different week than these two, don’t worry, and go ahead and go during their break—crowds will be much lower.

ForEaster services, see this for places of worship near Walt Disney World.

WALT DISNEY WORLD CROWDS DURING THE SPRING BREAK SEASON

Disney World Spring Break crowds are driven by three factors—the most important of which is the timing of younger kids’ Spring Break, which, while distributed from early March to early May, strongly peaks the weeks before and after Easter.

If you can only attend during the weeks before or after Easter, use the Easter/Summer itinerary. For an alternative Easter/Summer itinerary that’s one night shorter, see this.

(You can preview the Easter/Summer itinerary by clicking the image–but follow the link for the full details, including daily guides and a To-Do List.)

My analysis of Spring Breaks at 140 relevant public school districts—covering 20% of US kids—shows that while there are mini-peaks the weeks beginning March 13 and April 17, four times as many kids are on break the week of March 27th compared to the week beginning March 13, and almost ten times as many kids are on break March 27 compared to the week beginning April 17. The week beginning April 3 is almost as bad as that beginning March 27.

Click the image for the numbers (when open, click again a couple of times to enlarge). (I’ll be posting more shortly on the details behind this analysis.)

If you can avoid the weeks of March 27 and April 3 2010, do so. See When to Go to Walt Disney World, 2010 Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World, and/or Predicting Future Crowds at Walt Disney World for help figuring out when to go.

If you only need help picking an alternative Spring Break week, see this page.

Two other factors have an impact—but much less significant–on Spring Break crowds.

Northeastern families desperately needing a break from their winter weather. The effect of this starts showing in mid-February, is stronger in March, and diminishes in April after the Easter period.
College student Spring Breaks peak in 2010 in the week beginning March 6 and remain significant the next three weeks. Most such students do not go on family vacations during this period, and do not go to Walt Disney World…but some do, so some crowding is influenced by these dates.

WALT DISNEY WORLD PRICING DURING THE SPRING BREAK SEASON

Disney, recognizing the value created by a break from winter weather, jacks up its resort prices by 40-50% beginning the President’s Day weekend (2/12 in 2010.)

At the moderates and values, prices go up even more for the two peak crowding weeks beginning March 27th and April 3rd.

Click the image (a Pop Century Resort example) to see the impact of these price increases. (When open, click again to enlarge.) (This image is from 2010 Walt Disney World Price Seasons.)

Prices go down substantially right after the two peak weeks—on April 11 in 2010.

WALT DISNEY WORLD SPRING BREAK WEATHER

During this period, the weather shifts from the variable and cooler temperatures of winter to the higher and more predictable temperatures of spring. The period ends with the best weather at Walt Disney World.

For example, at the beginning of March, 80% of the time the daily high will be 70 or better, but it will be higher than the lower 80s only 20% of the time. By the beginning of May, 80% of the time the daily high will be 80 or warmer, and it will be 90 or higher 20% of the time.

Click the image (from Weather and When to Go to Disney World) for more on temperatures. (When open, click again to enlarge.)