Here’s what we’re looking at for April:
If you have no idea what any of those letters and numbers mean, read the beginning of this post which explains it. April sees mostly average overall crowds outside of the week following Easter, which is one of the busiest and most expensive months of the year. The “nice” things about April are that nighttime entertainment is plentiful and all four major theme parks see nice long hours. Unfortunately, that also means you’re looking at less variability in crowds at each of the Parks on a day to day basis. Operating hours and entertainment are two strong drivers of crowds. When there’s fewer opportunities to see the nighttime spectaculars, days that don’t feature them are much less crowded. During weeks where Magic Kingdom is open until at least 10pm and offers both nighttime spectaculars, we don’t see the huge dropoffs in crowds from one day to the next like we do in January, February, September, October, and most of November and the first half of December. The same is true at Hollywood Studios now that Fantasmic is scheduled every night. While recommended days will still see lower crowds, shorter waits, and greater FASTPASS availability, it’s still more important to arrive prior to Park opening and tour efficiently in the first two hours.
The reason for the change in the Extra Magic Hours schedule for the week of April 21 – 27 is a cheerleading event at Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Hollywood Studios on the 27th and 28th. The cheerleaders don’t add much to wait times, because they’re focused on their nationally recognized event, but it’s worth noting that the Indiana Jones show won’t be offered either date and you will see more people in that area of the Park through the early evening. The Studios remains recommended on Saturday because the event really doesn’t affect wait times, unlike events like Star Wars Weekends and the Food and Wine Festival. Otherwise, you’re looking at mostly standard recommendations, operating hours, nighttime entertainment, and Extra Magic Hours.
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Thanks for posting these so quickly, I am always amazed at how fast you can create your calendars.
We are from New England. April school vacation is the 15th through 19th. Do you think it will affect the crowd levels that week?
I am from New England, as well, and booked from the 10-16, just because flights were so high due to April vacation. Based on these awesome calendars (thank you!) I was wondering if it affected crowds, too. Doesn’t appear to very much. I think a lot of the country has “spring vacation” in March or early April. We are the late ones. Will be staying tuned to this site!