Trying to start planning a spring trip. What's Disney like during Easter? Given that many public schools have spring vacation at different times, I wonder how bad is it? We have gone in Sept right after labor day, October around Columbus day and in November the second week. Favorite time to go was November, weather was great and lines were relatively short. So what's the word on spring?

Spring is indeed risky. For one thing, the months of March and April are the "rainy season", which simply means you have a higher likelihood of days with actual rain as opposed to the standard afternoon thunderstorms.

But the bigger challenge is indeed Spring Break. Besides the families, Disney World has actually become the #1 college Spring Break destination in the world. That fills up at least the cheaper hotel rooms, and you will find pretty long lines in the parks. Pleasure Island can be a blast, though!

The parks and hotels will be very crowded at Easter, despite the varying school vacations. However, with the exception of early November, the week after Thanksgiving, and mid-January, I'm not sure there are times when it's NOT busy.

Disney will be busy, but the weather should be great. From late fall until the regular summer rains start is the dry season here. If you recall a few years ago, when it was even dryer than normal we had a lot of problems with wildfires. Luckily, that is pretty unusual. Here is a page that shows weather averages. As you can see, the temps should be great, and the weather, mostly dry:

I personally would do anything to avoid Disney at Easter break. Even thought the parks do have extended hours, they are SO crowded that you will probably give up and go back to your hotel. If you are taking kids (as I assume you are), they are really going to need a lot of patience, as you won't be able to do anywhere near as much as you could do in the parks in Sept, Oct and Nov.

Hotel rates are at their highest and air fares are too.

I know a lot of people don't like to have their kids miss school for family vacations, but if you aren't one of those, you might be able to work a trip in at a less crowded time of year, with the kids missing only a minimal amount of school. For example, my kids were off this Tues and Weds for Jewish holidays here in NY. I could have left here last Fri eve, returned last night, and we would have had a 5 night vacation in Disney (at a slow time) with the kids only missing one day of school.

Same holds true for the first full week in Nov (Election Day and Vets Day), and even next week (another 2 days off for the kids due to Columbus Day and Yom Kippur.)

If your schedule will only allow you to go at Easter, your best bets are to get to the parks very early, plan ahead what you 'can't miss', and pre-arrange any meal reservations that you've had your eye on. Keep your expectations low with regard to what you will accomplish, that way, you'll be pleasantly surprised if you are able to see all the attractions you hoped for.

Have fun.

I would also personally avoid Disney at that time. The crowds are extremely high. We went a few years back and waited for 3 hours to check into our room at the Contemporary Resort. The lobby was literally body-to-body. I do not remember much rain, so the weather was probably okay, although I do remember it got somewhat chilly in the evenings � a light jacket would suffice. Touring the parks then is really tough. We always stay on site; in fact, we are members of the Disney Vacation Club, so we stay at our �home� resort now. But it seems to be a good idea when both the parks and the roads are a mob scene; it would undoubtedly be a time-saver. I feel it is more crowded at that time than in the summer months � and we�ve been there in mid-July -

There are usually no great airfares at this time, either. We traveled via Amtrak on a 2-for-1-deal. The trip south was okay; the trip back home was horrendous and unbearably slow. I can�t see myself doing that again, but it was an adventure.

We have visited WDW in every season. In fact, we are heading there next month. May is my personal favorite � no real crowds (except for the Memorial Day holiday) and the weather is usually pretty nice. The spring breakers have headed home and many schools are still in session. And we have visited in early December when the weather has been fabulous � mid-70�s and sunny. Last February it was too cold for swimming (the pools are heated, but you can't prove that by me), but it was okay for the hot tubs - and a mad rush for your towel. For everything else, it was perfect - low humidity, low crowds and sunshine.

Easter is very, very busy. Many international tourists will be there during Easter. So it's not just the American kids/crowds but the international tourists also.