A Disney World spring break is a popular vacation for many families. Spring breaks typically occur in March or April, and are the first taste of warm weather, as well as the first break after the holidays.
It’s the perfect excuse to take the kids to even warmer weather, visit Mickey and Minnie, and not have to miss any school days.
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When is Disney World Spring Break Season
Spring break dates vary based on your area and school system. So, the official Disney World spring break season typically begins in March, and can run into mid-April, or even later if Easter occurs at a later date than normal.
According to Touring Plans, a company that predicts and logs historical Disney World crowds, saw a large spike in overall crowd levels from March 13th-17th, 2023, March 20th– 24th, 2023, and March 27th– April 13th, 2023.
As you can see, Disney World spring break season for 2023 picked up in the middle of March and lasted until middle of April, with some highs and lows throughout that month.
Advantages of a Disney World Spring Break Trip
While we do see a spike in crowds during the Disney World spring break season, there are many advantages for choosing this time to plan your Disney trip.
No Missed School
It can be hard on children to miss a few days of school. They have to schedule time to do makeup work and tests, and it can cause unnecessary stress.
By booking your Disney trip during spring break, you can avoid the missed school days drama, and beat the heat and humidity of a summer vacation to Florida.
Delightful Weather
Disney World spring break season sees some of the best weather in the Orlando Florida area. March and April seem to be a sweet spot weather wise.
Prior to spring break, in January and February 2023, temps averaged in the mid-forties to fifties for the low, and low to mid seventies for the high. While these highs are quite enjoyable, the mornings are a bit chilly, with jackets being recommended. Additionally, it can be a bit too cool to swim during these months.
By middle of March and into April 2023, the average high temperatures crept up to the low to mid-eighties, and average low temperatures were low to mid-sixties.
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You may still need a light jacket in the mornings of your Disney World Spring break trip, but by late morning, you will be comfortable in shorts, and even be warm enough to take a dip in your resort pool by the afternoon.
When it comes to Orlando weather, these temperatures are about perfect. After April, temperatures and humidity levels begin to soar. Our last visit in May left us sticky, sweaty, and tired each day. Summer temps can quickly reach into the mid to high nineties.
While those temps are great for sitting by the pool, they’re not so great for walking around the barely shaded parks packed with people.
Longer Park Hours
During the Disney World spring break season, park hours are extended, so you’ll get more time in the parks. And, therefore, you’ll get more bang for your buck.
For example, on many dates in February 2023, Animal Kingdom closed nightly at 7pm. In March, during the Disney World spring break season, Animal Kingdom’s closing time moved to 8pm.
Park hours are subject to change, but as a general rule, during spring breaks, holidays, and special occasions, the parks stay open later.
Special Events
During Disney World spring break season, the EPCOT Flower and Garden festival is occurring in EPCOT. During this festival EPCOT is adorned with handcrafted topiaries of Disney characters, as well as limited edition food and drink items available in kiosks around the park.
Surrounding Easter, an Easter Egg scavenger hunt has been a part of the Flower and Garden festival, and many Easter themed desserts and treats are released.
Disadvantages of a Disney World Spring Break
While a Disney World Spring Break has many advantages, there are a few disadvantages, mainly crowds and the negatives that come with that.
High Crowds During Some Weeks
While most weeks in March and April have higher crowds than you will see in January and February, there are some periods with lower crowds. Crowds tend to relate to spring break schedules across the country, particularly with those geographical areas closer to Florida.
For example, in 2023, March crowds did not begin to pick up until March 13th. Prior to that, crowds were very low. There was also a large dip in crowd levels on March 18th and 19th, and again on March 25th and 26th.
As you can see, you can still schedule your Disney World Spring break trip around school break dates and avoid some crowds. Additionally, we recommend building Genie+ costs into your budget, as this will help you avoid crowds and fit more rides into your day.
Higher Rates
With higher crowd levels, come slightly higher rates. Unfortunately, that is just the nature or supply and demand and cost structures.
Disney resort and ticket prices will naturally be higher due to the elevated demand. These elevated prices can easily be offset by looking for discounts on rooms, tickets, and by utilizing packages.
Surviving Disney World Spring Break Crowds
With schools being out across the country, of course crowds are higher during the Disney World spring break season. Higher crowds obviously mean higher ride wait times, but its still possible to have a wonderful trip, and to fit in all the rides you need to, with some planning.
Tip 1: Utilize Early Theme Park Entry
With your Disney World resort stay, you qualify to use the Early Theme Park Entry program. This program allows Disney resort guests to enter the park 30 minutes prior to the park opening.
Simply find the sign for resort guests, scan your room key, and enter the park early. We recommend arriving at the park 15-30 minutes prior to the early entry time period, to ensure you are in and on your favorite ride as quick as possible.
By using this program, we can typically ride 2 longer wait time rides before the park even opens.
Tip 2: Make Good Use of Genie+
Genie+ may be an added cost, but it is worth it, particularly on higher crowd days. Genie+ allows you to book return times for rides and skip the regular line during your return window.
With Genie+, you can ride more rides in a day, and spend less time in line. Click here to read our personal review of our day using Genie+.
Tip 3: Stay Onsite
Staying onsite during your Disney World spring break trip has benefits besides the use of Early Theme Park Entry. Transportation to and from the parks is much quicker and smoother from a Disney resort. Disney runs more buses, (or other transportation modes) than offsite resorts do, and they’re free!
Additionally, Disney resorts are closer to the parks, so you can get there quicker, beat the offsite morning rush, and therefore get onto the rides quicker.
Disney transportation methods, whether they are buses, monorails, the Skyliner, boats, or Minnie Vans, drop you off directly at the park entrances. Many offsite transportation methods are required to drop you off further away, and parking your own car can mean you must walk even farther.
Tip 4: Take an Afternoon Break
Due to heavier crowd levels during the Disney World spring break season, parks typically stay open later, giving you more time in the parks.
We recommend heading back to the hotel in the early afternoon to enjoy some quiet pool time. Crowds tend to peak inside the parks about this time, and then dwindle as the night goes on.
By returning to your resort for a nap, or some pool time, you get a mental break in the middle of the day, during the highest crowd times. Then you can return in the early evening when many guests are leaving, and get back to riding the rides with less crowds.
Tips for Visiting During Disney World Spring Break
Visiting during the Disney World spring break season will require some planning, especially fi you are a first timer. There are many things you will want to have planned out, and many Disney World terms and things you will want to understand to make the most of your trip.
Plan in Advance
Before any Disney trip it is important to plan things in advance. But this is especially important during Disney World spring break season.
To be able to dine at many of the table service options, reservations are a necessity. Many of these reservations are booked out as soon as they open, which is 60 days in advance. You will want to be sure you are up bright and early 60 days prior to your trip to attempt to get those reservations. (If you book with a trave agent, they will do this step for you.)
If you are using Genie+, it requires some planning as well. While you cannot book your Genie+ reservations and return times ahead of time, you can plan ahead of time. We recommend having a general Genie+ plan for each day.
This means you should know what rides are a Genie+ priority, and a general idea of when each one is booked out, so you know the order to select your Genie+ return times in.
For a handy guide, check out our Genie+ Priority PDF.
Plan For Airport Transfers During Disney World Spring Break
Gone are the days of the free Magical Express Service at Walt Disney World. Airport Transfers are now solely up to guests.
Of course, you can always utilize an Uber or Lyft to take you to your Disney World resort, but you may find yourself waiting. During peak times, waits for an Uber or Lyft to take you to Walt Disney World can be long, and you will be subject to that pesky surge pricing.
We prefer to have a plan in place prior to leaving home. Instead of Uber or Lyft, we opt for booking a Mears shuttle, or a private car in advance.
Decide Which Park to Visit on Which Day
By 2024, park reservations will no longer be needed for most ticket types, so your next Disney World spring break should not be affected by park reservations, but we still recommend planning out which park you’ll be visiting on each day.
Crowd levels vary by park and by day. For example, both Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom see higher crowds on Saturdays and Sundays than the other two parks. So, you may plan to visit Animal Kingdom on Saturday, instead of Magic Kingdom.
If a park has an after-hours event, or closes early, it will typically see lower crowds on that day, as non park hopper guests will avoid that park because they will not want to leave early with no other place to go.
Take Advantage of Extended Hours During Disney World Spring Break
We already discussed the Early Theme Park Entry program above. This program allows resort guests to enter parks 30 minutes prior to official opening time, giving you more time in the parks with lower crowds.
Additionally, Disney deluxe resort guests are eligible for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. This program allows deluxe resort and deluxe villa resort guests to stay in select parks for an additional two hours past closing.
These dates vary, and are not available every night, so it is best to plan ahead. These opportunities typically result in very low crowds, especially on very late nights. For a calendar on when Extended Evening Theme Park Hours are available, click here.
Fireworks Dining
When crowds are elevated, it can be even more difficult to get a good view for fireworks and nighttime shows. If you have it in your budget, we recommend booking a fireworks dining package. These packages include a meal, and special seating for fireworks views.
Some packages do not include a full meal, but a dessert and drinks, making it a bit more affordable than the table service packages.
Table service or dessert packages can be booked to view the Magic Kingdom fireworks. Higher cost packages typically mean better seats and better views of the fireworks.
Additional packages can be booked for Fantasmic in Hollywood Studios. This includes a table service meal at Hollywood Brown Derby, Sci-Fi Dine In, 50s Prime Time Café, Hollywood & Vine, or Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano, and a ticket for reserved seating for Fantasmic.
EPCOT also has dining packages. These typically include a meal and select seating for concerts, and events inside the park.
For a full list of the show and fireworks dining packages, click here.
Disney World Spring Break Special Experiences
If you’re worried the crowds will get you down, consider planning a tour or special experience into your Disney World spring break.
These tours or experiences will take you away from the crowds and allow you to experience something many Disney guests do not.
These experiences range greatly, from horse back rides at the Tri-Cricle-D ranch, to feeding giraffes, and exclusive safari access, to exploring the utilidors of Magic Kingdom.
We have personally taken the Keys to the Kingdom Tour to see the Magic Kingdom backstage areas, and yes, the utilidors.
The backstage tours and experiences are the perfect way to take your Disney World spring break to the next level.
VIP Tours
The ultimate height of luxury you can achieve during your Disney World spring break is with a VIP tour.
If you have very deep pockets, or lots of friends to split the cost with, a VIP tour is the best way to beat the crowds. These tours allow you to access all rides through the Lightning Lane with no limit to number of times, without having to go trough the hassle of booking Genie+ reservations.
VIP tours include a personal tour guide, which will pick you up from your resort, and chauffeur you to and from any of the parks you choose.
Prices start at $500 an hour with a minimum of seven hours and can accommodate up to 10 people.
Disney World Spring Break
While visiting during the Disney World spring break season has its good and its bad, the pros outweigh the cons. With some planning, and some knowledge, you can make the best of your Disney trip during spring break, beat the crowds, and even enjoy some relaxing time by the pool, while still riding all the rides.
