Hi. We are in Orlando for 2 weeks over Easter 2017 but due to the crowds being so busy over Easter weekend, we thought we would avoid the main parks and head to Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach and possibly an actual beach on the Gulf coast. Just wondering how busy these parks and the beach will be over Easter weekend as not covered on crowd calendar? Thank you.
Do not go to the beach. We headed to clearwater this year omg. 3 hrs to get there due to traffic then no parking. It was crazy. We did drive further down a bit to sandkey instead and it was much more sane. But the drive was a killer. Water parks are the better option, but are only open 10-5/6 pm at Easter.
Thanks for info mumcalsop! So now thinking we will do Typhoon and Blizzard over Easter weekend. Do you have any other suggestions for the other two days of Easter weekend? Does Epcot’s size handle crowds better?
(Looking at night at Hard Rock Hotel on Tue before Easter now to make maximum use of Exp passes! Will probably do Mardi Gras too on the Saturday before Easter. Thank you. All advice gratefully received!)
We from UK also and you don’t say what ages your kids are but we have gone twice, both times over Easter. First time kids were 10/7 and this year they were 13/10. We found with 7 year old night time events were a struggle so didn’t do MG that year. Mid day breaks didn’t work neither did late starts. With picking parks to do I liked to use easywdw com web site as a guide to start with. This year on busy days ( they were all busy really and all ended up 9-10 even when supposed to be less) we always avoided any park with magic hours ( morning and evening) as we stay offsite.
We had great success in AK hitting rd on a 10 day . AK has 2 big shows, lion king and Nemo that take up time then add in a ride or 2 at rd your 3 fpp, the bird show , nature trails and doing the kids explorers badges ( we didn’t) you can enjoy a fullday without queuing. We then hopped to Epcot for a wander around the showcase and a bite to eat, hitting Baymax, Club Cool and mission space. We aren’t fans of Epcot so a few hours in the evening suited us. It depends on your kids and their ages what to do. The only park I avoid when its super busy is MK but MK is super busy all the time at Easter
Of course this year AK has evening activities starting but I would split AK into 2 days if possible as it gets very hot and humid due to its layout. I would do AK open to 4 ish then another day 2- close depending on your groups make up. We did have great success not going to MK until 4pm when it was open to midnight and if your kids can handle late nights that is our favourite way of dealing with the crowds…
So to answer your question I would pick AK, but Epcot would work also over Easter weekend. Hope this helps.
Thanks again for all the information. Our kids our 12 and 9. We visited Orlando Oct/Nov in 2014 but it was really quiet as it was off-season. I work in a school now so can’t get the time off work in term-time. Just really wanting to get our itinerary right so we make the most of our time there despite the crowds. We stayed in Disney last time with free-dining deal but no such deals to be had over Easter so we’ve hired a villa this time. Think we might try some days by going to park later in the day and touring in the evening. I’ve heard that over Easter some of the parks reach capacity and don’t allow entry or re-entry if you leave. Have you ever encountered this problem?
No we haven’t. They do sometimes reach capacity but its normally between 11-3. By 4 o’clock you should be fine. Its normally posted live on various social media sites and I think it was only MK at easter this year that was affected. We really enjoyed evening touring this year and highly recommend trying it.
Great. Thanks very much for your help.