April in Orlando

[Kidd McFluff]

I'm not sure about the dining plan options for 2019 but I think that if you avoid the Easter weekend or can travel outside of the school holidays for one of the weeks you may still get the dining plan. A couple of weeks without a car sounds lovely too.

We didn't notice much in the way of better prices for Easter. Park prices were the same with the same deals. Offsite eating was pretty much what we expected. We did notice that in our second week there were more special offers to entice people into bars and restaurants as Spring break was over and there were less Americans on holiday

[gazzastag]

Thanks. I will carefully select April dates to try and get the dining plan. Definitely a must that is. I belived if you book through Disney they include park tickets so just the flights to try and get a good deal on. Cheers.

[Ridersmom]

For the record. US spring breaks vary by state and even school district. colleges and universities also choose their own week. My sister's kids were often around Easter, my kids always had the very last week of April, going into May. The week we had off was nice, not too crowded and not that hot.

American schools break for the summer anytime from May (? I think it could even be earlier in the south) through late June (my kids often got out in the 20 somethings).

The other thing that impacts Disney is they have "grad weekends" for school trips in May. When my kids were in high school the trips were Thursday through Sunday and Friday night MK would close to all but students there for the graduation celebration.

My other caveat is kids on spring break from college (a group of 18-21 year olds on their own), the kids can get pretty rowdy. High School grad nights are usually school sponsored trips so chaperoned.

[gazzastag]

Originally Posted by Ridersmom

For the record. US spring breaks vary by state and even school district. colleges and universities also choose their own week. My sister's kids were often around Easter, my kids always had the very last week of April, going into May. The week we had off was nice, not too crowded and not that hot.

American schools break for the summer anytime from May (? I think it could even be earlier in the south) through late June (my kids often got out in the 20 somethings).

The other thing that impacts Disney is they have "grad weekends" for school trips in May. When my kids were in high school the trips were Thursday through Sunday and Friday night MK would close to all but students there for the graduation celebration.

My other caveat is kids on spring break from college (a group of 18-21 year olds on their own), the kids can get pretty rowdy. High School grad nights are usually school sponsored trips so chaperoned.

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Thanks for the extra info. Lots to think about if we decide on an April visit.

Cheers

[Guest]

Originally Posted by gazzastag

Hi all. Speaking to somebody the otherday and they have always done Disney in April just after Easter. We have always done late August.

Just wondered what your thoughts were on April re weather, crowds, costs etc. Anything we should be aware of.

Would be 4 adults and 2 9yr old girls. Hopefully staying in a Disney resort.

Appreciate replies as always. Thanks.

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We have been twice, first time was last two weeks of April and this year we arrived on 30th April.

I think the timing of Easter is going to be a big factor in crowd levels, so hard to comment on that in a general sense. Personally I would not go at Easter as I don't have children so I never holiday during school holidays.

This year we had a couple of rain showers, the previous time probably a few more. I think it was hotter the first year, around 30c most days, this year we had maybe a week at 30c and then a week more like 25-26c.

[chrisblanc]

Next year will be our 4th time going from the last Thursday in April through to the second saturday in May, 16 days later. We've only otherwise been at the end of September, beginning of October.

The weather for us has always been great, we had just 1 or 2 days last time where it rained, and only one day of that was heavy enough to change plans, the two times before that we had hardly any rain at all.

As far as crowds are concerned, they were pretty low, not as low as in October, but great nonetheless, although I spend a good time before working out which day to do which park and we always turn up at park opening to avoid the crowds!

The only real downside that I can think of is that you are always there just before the new rides open, we missed the original Harry Potter by about a month, Mako and Kong last year by about the same and it's annoying to see the rides going along with no one on knowing you won't get to ride them this year..

[gazzastag]

Originally Posted by chrisblanc

Next year will be our 4th time going from the last Thursday in April through to the second saturday in May, 16 days later. We've only otherwise been at the end of September, beginning of October.

The weather for us has always been great, we had just 1 or 2 days last time where it rained, and only one day of that was heavy enough to change plans, the two times before that we had hardly any rain at all.

As far as crowds are concerned, they were pretty low, not as low as in October, but great nonetheless, although I spend a good time before working out which day to do which park and we always turn up at park opening to avoid the crowds!

The only real downside that I can think of is that you are always there just before the new rides open, we missed the original Harry Potter by about a month, Mako and Kong last year by about the same and it's annoying to see the rides going along with no one on knowing you won't get to ride them this year..

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Thanks for that. Im leaning towards April definitely i think. The recent events weather wise has probably put me off August now after 3 visits that month.

Plus humidity wise id be happier in April.

Do you stay in a Villa or have you tried. Disney resort?

Thanks

[Guest]

I think we're staying at the Beach Club next April. Could you tell me what parks are within walking distance of there? And how long to walk to them?
We'll have a car, so for other parks would it be quicker to drive ourselves or to use the buses?
Many thanks

[loves2plan]

Originally Posted by rick-uk

I think we're staying at the Beach Club next April. Could you tell me what parks are within walking distance of there? And how long to walk to them?
We'll have a car, so for other parks would it be quicker to drive ourselves or to use the buses?
Many thanks

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Great location! The closest is Epcot and that's about 5 minutes. You can also walk to Hollywood Studios, but that's a bit further away - maybe 15-20 minutes. They run boats between Epcot and Hollywood Studios that stop at the Beach Club, Boardwalk, Swan and Dolphin, so if you don't fancy walking to HS, that would be your best option.

If you've got a car, then drive to Animal Kingdom, but most people recommend the bus to Magic Kingdom as if you drive you have to park up and then catch either a boat or tram to the park as the car park is in a different area to the park itself. If you catch a bus, it drops you off at the park entrance.

[loves2plan]

Originally Posted by gazzastag

Thanks. I will carefully select April dates to try and get the dining plan. Definitely a must that is. I belived if you book through Disney they include park tickets so just the flights to try and get a good deal on. Cheers.

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Park tickets aren't included with accommodation, but you have to buy them at the same time as booking accommodation in order to get the dining plan. So, you've got the price of the hotel (not cheap if you're looking at the BC) plus the price of the park tickets (£399 per adult for 2018) and the flight to budget for.

Unfortunately, there are always black out dates for about 3 weeks around Easter as it's such a popular time that Disney can get fully booked without needing to have offers to entice people. You can still get it as long as your first night on site is before the blackout dates kick in. We've done it the past 2 years. In 2016 we checked in on the Sunday after the Easter weekend and got it then. This year we flew out 3 days before our school Easter holidays and then back 2 days before the Easter weekend. Only your first night/check in day needs to be during the valid offer period and you then get it for your whole stay.

These are the historical black out dates for free dining around Easter:
2012:
Offer was valid for arrivals 1st Jan - 26th March and 13th April - 1st December 2012. Easter weekend was 6th - 9th April.

2013:
Offer was valid for arrivals 1st Jan - 19th March and 7th April - 8th December 2013. Easter weekend was 29th March - 1st April.

2014:
Offer was valid for arrivals 1st Jan - 8th April and 27th April - 30th November 2014. Easter weekend was 18th - 21st April.

2015:
Offer was valid for arrivals 1st Jan - 24th March and 12th April - 30th November 2015. Easter weekend was 3rd - 6th April.

2016:
Offer was valid for arrivals 1st Jan - 15th March and 3rd April - 30th November 2016. Easter was 25th - 28th March.

2017:
Offer was valid for arrivals 1st Jan - 29th March and 17th April - 30th November. Easter was 14th - 17th April.

2018:
Offer is valid for arrivals 1st Jan - 18th March and 6th April - 30th November. Easter is 30th March - 2nd April.