WDW during grade school spring break

[DeanOCarroll]

I'm sure this is brought up all the time, but we're planning a trip this year and it looks like our best availability will be the last two weeks in March. This is our kids' spring break ... and, of course, it's everybody's spring break.

So we know this is one of the busiest times of the year at the park and everyone loves to share their horror stories. Let's not dwell on those.

Before we had kids we lived in LA and went to Disneyland all the time. One of the things we loved about it was making the park work for us -- dealing with the challenges and getting the most out of every visit. We went during the holidays, on Labor Day weekend, spring break -- all kinds of busy times and we made it work.

So, how hard is it to make WDW work during this time of year? Will we relish the challenge, or final have to accept defeat?

 

[Herdman]

I've not been during this time of year, but I have been during other busy times. The one great thing about WDW is that if you have a plan you can go any time of year and totally enjoy your trip. If you don't have a plan it really doesn't matter when you go I feel like you will think that you didn't get enough bang for your buck. That's just been my experience.

 

[Schneewittchen]

Similar situation here. Before kids, my husband and I used to go to WDW in mid January and it felt like we had the park to ourselves.

Now that my son is in school, we're only going during his spring break. So it's a lot busier, but we make it work because we always stick to this plan:
1. Always stay on property.
2. Get to your park at rope drop. No excuses.
3. Use Disney transportation. But once we get to our park, no hopping. Going from park to park wastes time.
4. Get ADRs as early as possible. Otherwise, you're eating QS meals.
5. Get your FPs as early as possible. Lines are going to be long after lunchtime.
6. If you have "must rides", get to them from rope drop until 11 am.
7. No leaving the park for naps - that's what an umbrella stroller and a shady bench is for.
8. MK is a 2 day park.
9. Multi-task. No character meet & greets allowed. Do character meals instead.

Yes, my kids will be 4 and 6 for our next trip and I'm bringing their nasty umbrella strollers. I'm going to park them in a stroller lot when we arrive and only get them when little feet get tired or it's after 9 pm and they really are sleepy.... Go ahead and judge. But we will have had an awesome day.

Be bored by my WDW maxims:
Remember those hordes of people are there to have a good time too.
Be kind.
Commiserate with the other guests.
Sing Whistle While You Work with the kids.
Play pirates with your kids.
Indulge everyone's whims.
Make your own magic.
Dole whips - cure for what ails you and if it doesn't ail you it will fix that too.

 

[Tuvalu]

I'm sure this is brought up all the time, but we're planning a trip this year and it looks like our best availability will be the last two weeks in March. This is our kids' spring break ... and, of course, it's everybody's spring break.

So we know this is one of the busiest times of the year at the park and everyone loves to share their horror stories. Let's not dwell on those.

Before we had kids we lived in LA and went to Disneyland all the time. One of the things we loved about it was making the park work for us -- dealing with the challenges and getting the most out of every visit. We went during the holidays, on Labor Day weekend, spring break -- all kinds of busy times and we made it work.

So, how hard is it to make WDW work during this time of year? Will we relish the challenge, or final have to accept defeat?

Not exactly defeat, but if you are planning to go to WDW in 5-6 weeks during one of the busiest times of the year (Easter) and you haven't booked your resort (assuming you want to to stay on Disney property) or made any dining reservations (assuming you would like to eat at a full-service restaurant and not just counter-service locations), you do need to prepare for being disappointed that you may not get your first choices. If you are fine with being flexible and don't have strong opinions on where to eat or where to stay or what attractions you want fastpasses for (since many of the headliners will already be booked), you will fare much better.