Last minute Spring Break trip?!

[nickid]

I had a trip planned to take my foster daughter on her first trip in June, but we aren’t able to go now due to my cousin changing her wedding (in Germany) to the week before our scheduled trip. My cousin is trying to make it up by booking a trip the week of Easter (Apr 2-6). So far we haven’t found onsite availability and in looking at the crowd calendars and realizing we are way in the fast pass booking window, I am not sure this is a good idea. The idea of trying to plan it (which would ultimately fall on me) makes my head spin! Does anyone have any experience or advice in planning a last minute spring break trip? Would it even be enjoyable?

 

[Schneewittchen]

It will be fine.

It is crowded the week after Easter, but it gets better as the week progresses. You'll be there for weekdays. That is good.

You just have to get to the parks at rope drop so you can enjoy the morning quiet. Save sit down theater-y type stuff for the afternoons. Enjoy the nights after dinner. Fastpasses are only a few rides, I've visited and had a perfectly nice day either not using them at all or only having crummy ones. There are plenty of dinner reservations left, just not for the most sought after stuff. There are even character meal reservations left.

Don't sweat staying off-property. Sometimes those off-property hotels are a lot more bang for your buck anyway.

You can do this. We have faith in you!

 

[nickid]

Thanks! I was starting to panic a little lol! We have only every gone when we have been able to plan more than six months out and never on a super busy holiday week. We are going to call the next couple days to see if we can find rooms onsite. If not, will probably do offsite. And I will start looking for dining reservations this evening. It will be awesome to surprise my foster daughter with a trip so soon!

 

[DisDadWoz]

From experience we've planned a couple of "surprise" trips on as little as two days including spring break and Christmas. If you can get a room onsite, bonus, but your luck will likely be at offsite resort which is just fine. We just booked another dinner reservation for that same week so there is availability. Plus with Flower and Garden festival at Epcot there are added food kiosks. Fastpasses are limited rides so even if you had them you would be waiting in line for others so just treat it as an adventure. You'll find doing it on very short notice can be an exciting experience especially on those items you get to work out for your plans. Have fun!

 

[Nsaudra]

We just came back from a surprise trip, wdw website said sold out, but the released rooms the day of the stay on hotwire. They didnt have everyday, so we took the rooms of the nights we were going to the parks.... we needed to stay at a universal hotel one day anyways (no line pass)

Worked out nice we did not get fast passes for space mountain but the cast member told me to come back towards the end fireworks or first thing mornings and it was only 30 min wait. From a 90 min wait

 

[Epcotbob]

I was just there just last weekend in the middle of the big Spring Break crowds. It was new for me since I always try to plan for the less-busy times of year so I was sort of resigned to the parks being slam packed. I was surprised how well Disney handled it, they seem to run more monorails and buses and other things to compensate. Other than the general park areas being a little more crowded, it didn't really seem that different than other times I've been there.

 

[pug]

It’s not bad going last minute. I planned a last minute trip the week that the Great Movie ride was closing so I only had about 14 days to book everything for a 4 day trip. I did rent a car and stayed at POFQ which helped the planing. Even though it was going to be busy I didn’t really bother booking fast passes.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Sure its doable. And its a Disney trip... so you can make it enjoyable. Lots of people still book last minute trips or are surprised with last minute trips with family. You may not get the prime slots or best dining times but if you are persistent online you can luck out on some great offerings that pop up. Crowds have to be dealt with at all times of the year now so as long as you get in early/ stay late, plan as well as you can.... and be patient.... you can do a lot.