The Busiest Time at Walt Disney World
We recently returned from the busiest time at Walt Disney World! We traveled during their busiest time of the year with zero reservations, plans or expectations (other than crowds). What we learned, what we loved & what we’d never repeat.
Our experience during Easter week is a great example of what to expect during the busiest times of year at WDW but is by no means meant as an exhaustive recommendation on whether or not to travel during peak weeks. As always, our perspectives and recommendations on how to win at Disney World will always depend on your travel style, budget, time of year and your expectations for how much you’d like to conquer during to a visit to WDW.
Easter Photo Opp at the Wilderness Lodge
Easter was never on our bucket-list of times to visit Walt Disney World. While we LOVE to be away for Easter and Florida tempts with stunning weather, March & April are notably some of the busiest times of the year at the “Most Magical Place on Earth.” Sure, in June/July the parks are slammed with summer vacationers, and the lead-up weeks into Halloween & Christmas see huge crowds flocking for Disney’s seasonal special events (and food obviously). But the mobs during March/April extend WELL beyond the families who want to visit the Easter bunny in the Magic Kingdom or egg-hunt their way through EPCOT. Spring-Breakers, Northeast victims of winter, competitive cheerleading teams, youth sports teams, marching bands — they’re all there!
With our Annual Passes expiring May 1st and plans to take a break from Walt Disney World for the rest of 2024/2025, we wanted to get in 1 more trip on our (very expensive but feels like) free access. The only time that worked for our family’s schedule was the week leading into Easter — we had to roll with it.
The Disney obsessed & experts (including our own) know all the hacks for packing in the best rides, eating and must-do’s on whatever flavor of Walt Disney World vacation you’re looking for. If you’re a first-time or infrequent Walt Disney World traveler, be warned this time of year and our experience is NOT the way to maximize your Disney vacation time or investment. But if you’re Walt Disney World regulars and considering a visit during one of the busiest weeks of the year, our experience may help you make decision on whether or not this is the best time of year for you!
3 THINGS WE LEARNED DURING THE BUSIEST TIME AT
WALT DISNEY WORLD
Walt Disney World Resort guests have their magic bands scanned and line up in a separate area from non-resort guests to have first access into the parks.
1. ON PROPERTY OR OUT OF LUCK!
Our Magic Journeys team all have different experiences and preferences on where to stay when visiting WDW — all valid and with their own plusses and minuses. In general, off-property / non-Disney hotels can be a great bang-for-your-buck way for many families to make their budget stretch further while not being too far away from the parks. But with crowds as massive as they are in peak weeks like Easter, having on-property perks like early park access, early lightening lane booking times and closer proximity can make all the difference in reducing your stress and maximizing your ability to pack in the fun. Multiple mornings of our trip individual lightening lanes on rides like Slinky-Dog were sold out before the park even opened — resort guests nabbed them all before non-Disney resort guests even had a shot!
2. ROPE-DROP IS THE NEW LATE!
For anyone thinking “I don’t want to wake up early or have an alarm or be on a forced race for fun! I’m on VACATION!” I hear you and I see you. Unfortunately, if you’re visiting during peak weeks and have any expectations of getting on any of the popular rides, you are going to have to suck it up and pull a couple of early mornings or late-as-possible evenings. Our last 2 trips to Disney in late-August and May (after spring break craze), we enjoyed a few leisurely early-access mornings and rope-drops, arriving at the parks 10-15 minutes before resort guests could enter. We learned (the hard way) this time, to actually be ahead of the crowds you will need to be at the park, lining up for early-access rope-drop 45 minutes prior. One morning we arrived at the Magic Kingdom 15 minutes before early-access only to find ourselves at the back of a herd 500-deep, waiting to stampede for Seven Dwarves Mine Train. Another day, Slinky Dog had a 140 minute wait BEFORE the park opened to non-resort guests!
3. SPONTANEITY CAN BE REWARDING.
Different strokes for different folks, right? Disney experts and fanatics will warn you about Disney Dining reservations and they’re not wrong. If there are restaurants you simply MUST visit to call it a great trip, you need to be prepared to hit the reservation system at the earliest possible moment on your 60-day mark from your trip.
Our family doesn’t love being that scheduled on vacation. We really enjoy having as much flexibility as possible to go with the flow — something that’s NOT easy at Disney and definitely a gamble.
We made ZERO dining reservations for this trip, full-well knowing the risks. While there were a couple of times we would have preferred a sit down vs. a QSR, we did NOT regret the move to skip the scheduling AT ALL. We had complete freedom to park-hop, nap, swim and snack without worrying about making it for a reservation.
BONUS: The dining reservations on the App make it super easy to check for openings that pop up as people cancel. We saw and scored reservations at some of the most popular spots — Ohana, Cape May, Toppolino, Garden Grill, etc. Don’t bet on finding a Chef Mickey’s reservation this way but if you’re willing to roll the dice you may just be rewarded with a reservation at a top spot or the chance to discover something new you wouldn’t have otherwise tried.
2 THINGS WE LOVED DURING THE BUSIEST TIME AT
WALT DISNEY WORLD
1. ROAMING & (RIDE-FREE) RELAXING
View of the Boardwalk Resort, Swan & Dolphin from an impromptu stop to sit & swing on the Beach Club beach.
Whether you’re a first timer or a regular, it’s way too easy to fall into the ride-trap. So many great rides, so little time and things like Lightening Lanes and Genie+ which actually do make it easier to maximize how much you pack in. That said, as you’re racing rope-drops, setting alarms to book the next ride, and mapping out how to cover as much ground as possible, its SO easy to miss the non-ride magic. The crowds on this trip forced us to look beyond the rides — a reminder we needed! Some of our favorite moments of this trip were spent in the Journey of Water (EPCOT), catching the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our resort boat and enjoying the pools.
2. DISCOVERING NEW FAVORITES.
Grand Floridian Cafe dirt cup after the best breakfast we’ve ever had at WDW!
Cheshire Cat Tail pastry at the Cheshire Cafe between in Fantasyland at MK.
Following the reservation system and looking for cancelations, we stumbled upon an an opening for Easter morning at the Grand Floridian Cafe. While DFB and other members of our team have raved about this spot, it never made our list of must-do’s. Well, from now on it will! The restaurant is beautiful, service was great and food was among the best we’ve ever had at Disney. Unpopular opinion — while Disney has some great food and dining, there’s a LOT of mediocre food that gets a bump from fantastic themed settings. If you want real eggs (not the powdered mystery stuff) and a GREAT cup of coffee (sorry Joffrey’s, you don’t cut it) — this place is a WIN!
1 THING WE’LL NEVER DO AGAIN DURING THE BUSIEST WEEK AT
WALT DISNEY WORLD
The skyliner is an amazing benefit that makes it worth staying on Walt Disney World property! But be warned - lines for the skyliner can be LONG! If you’re planning on using the skyliner for rope-drop or early entry, make sure you leave extra time to wait in line!
Count on the Skyliner for Early Entry or Rope Drop. We spent the first 2 nights of our trip at Pop-Century before moving to the Wilderness Lodge. We specifically chose PC over other non-DVC options for the convenience of the Skyliner. In our opinion, the Skyliner is AMAZING and worth staying at a value (Pop or Art of Animation) over moderates like Port Orleans or Coronado. That said, we warned you about how early you need to be for rope drop. Well, add another 45 minutes to your start time on top of that if you plan on taking the Skyliner. The line to get to the Studios from Pop Century for Early Entry was INSANE. For peak timing, leave yourself at least 25 min extra to wait for the Skyliner. It might have even been longer than that! We left, grabbed an Uber and made it from Pop to Disney Studios in 5 minutes.
That’s a wrap on our experience during the busiest time at Walt Disney World. We’d love to hear your experience, tips, tricks and lessons-learned for any of your travels during Easter or other busy times of the year. Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Hey there, travel lovers! We're gearing up for an "Adventures by Disney" tour through the stunning Canadian Rockies, sharing everything we learned from the experts on what to pack for a mountain vacation.
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