Spring break is among the busiest occasions of the yr at Walt Disney World. Crowd ranges enhance throughout college holidays, culminating with peak weeks in March and April 2024. Easter is notorious for its excessive wait occasions in Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. That’s not the one week of elevated attendance, as spring break is a season with totally different districts having weeks off in two totally different months.
Spring break season kicks off in early March as schools and universities, and Okay-12 college techniques take their 1-2 week breaks, however not all dates inside that vary are equally crowded. On the contrary, as coated in our 2024 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars, some dates that fall inside conventional spring break season are comparatively good occasions to go to.
Our targets with this are highlighting weeks that can have the very best wait occasions and worst crowd ranges at Walt Disney World in the course of the spring break season. In so doing, we’ll take a look at college schedules for a number of the largest districts that impression Walt Disney World, final yr’s crowd ranges, and basic journey traits for spring break to foretell which dates might be “crimson flags” on Walt Disney World crowd calendar for March and April 2024…
Let’s dig proper in with the kickoff of spring break season, which can arrive on March 8, 2024. In case you’re questioning why this particular date is being highlighted, it’s as a result of that’s the Friday when Osceola County begins its scholar vacation, with the district being out of session for spring break from March 11 to fifteen, 2024. Similar take care of its neighbor to the west, as Polk County can also be out March 11-15.
After that, Orange County has its spring break the next week, March 18-22, 2024. Its neighbor to the northeast, Seminole County, can also be out those self same dates. Even when no different districts in your complete United States had spring break these two weeks, they’d be busy at Walt Disney World on account of these space college techniques. This catches some longtime Walt Disney World followers unexpectedly, as locals didn’t have such an outsized impression on park attendance a decade or so in the past.
Central Florida has seen a inhabitants explosion within the final a number of years, with these two counties particularly seeing an inflow of distant employees and higher center class households who go to Walt Disney World in sturdy numbers. As we’ve seen time and time once more in the previous few years, vacation breaks in Central Florida counties now have vital impacts on attendance at Walt Disney World. And genuinely, different college districts round the USA may also have breaks coinciding with this identical week–it’s not simply Orlando-area and outlying districts.
Nonetheless, the large distinction this yr as contrasted with final yr is that Central Florida spring breaks are extra staggered. Final yr, Osceola and Orange Counties coincided, as did different Central Florida college districts, in mid-March. (To the most effective of my recollection, these two main districts often coincide–I can’t recall a time since I’ve been monitoring crowds that they haven’t, however I’m positive locals who even have college age children can right me within the feedback.)
In consequence, spring break final yr basically had twin peaks. The primary occurred in the course of the coronary heart of the Central Florida districts being out of session, with heavy crowds and a slew of 9/10 and 10/10 dates from March 11 to 17. Even counting weekends (which had been surprisingly slower), that week registered 9/10 on the gang calendar. It surpassed Presidents Day/Mardi Gras (which coincided final yr), and was the second busiest week of that year-to-date, falling in need of solely the primary week of the yr, when those self same districts had been nonetheless out for vacation break.
Whereas we frequently lump Osceola and Orange County collectively, our sturdy but-yet-untested perception is that Orange County truly has a far larger impression on crowds at Walt Disney World. That is largely a numbers recreation, as Orange County is considerably extra populous than Osceola. It additionally comes down a bit to demographics–Orange County has a measurably greater median family earnings than any of its neighboring counties.
As such, regardless that we’re marking the kickoff of spring break season as March 8, 2024…we imagine the really heavy crowds received’t arrive till the next Friday: March 15, 2024. That must be the beginning of the primary peak week of spring break, with the week previous to that being when ranges enhance to above-average.
Once more, all of that is untested, however I’d wager on 7/10 or so crowd ranges beginning March 8, and 9/10 beginning round March 15. We will see which Central Florida districts really have the most important impression on Walt Disney World attendance after the mud settles on these two weeks!
We don’t have the time, sources, or inclination to comb by means of the schedules of each single college district in the USA. If we did, it might most likely reveal a variety of breaks within the subsequent two months, with the majority from mid-March by means of early April 2024.
There are a a number of particular districts in Florida which might be among the many largest within the nation and have an outsized impression on attendance at Walt Disney World. These districts have spring breaks throughout the next timeframes:
- Hillsborough County Public Faculties: March 11-15, 2024
- Palm Seaside County Public Faculties: March 18-22, 2024
- Duval County Public Faculties: March 18-22, 2024
- Miami-Dade County Public Faculties: March 25-29, 2024
- Brevard County Public Faculties: March 25-29, 2024
- Broward County Public Faculties: March 25-29, 2024
- Volusia County Public Faculties: March 25-29, 2024
Listed here are different main college districts and their spring break 2024 dates that would considerably impression crowd ranges at Walt Disney World:
- Houston Unbiased Faculty District: March 11-15, 2024
- Dallas Unbiased Faculty District: March 11-15, 2024
- Gwinnett County Public Faculties: April 1-5, 2024
- Chicago Public Faculties: March 25-29, 2024
- Detroit Public Faculties: March 25-29, 2024
- Fairfax County Public Faculties: March 25-29, 2024
Be aware that some districts have ‘skilled growth days’ or flex dates off the Friday earlier than or Monday after their breaks start. I opted in opposition to together with these since some districts use them as make-up days within the occasion of snow days, and it looks as if there have been lots of these to date in Winter 2024.
That is not an exhaustive record of spring break schedules. This baker’s dozen of districts had been chosen as a result of they’re among the many nation’s largest districts which might be both close to Walt Disney World or feed closely into customer demographics. That’s why Chicago is listed however Los Angeles Unified, Clark County (Nevada), and Honolulu’s college districts are usually not.
Clearly, there are greater than 12 main college districts in the USA with breaks that contribute to crowds at Walt Disney World. Notably, there’s little or no illustration from the Northeast and Midwest. This isn’t to say that New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Indiana, and many others. don’t have a huge effect on crowds. They do!
There’s a purpose Jersey Week is a “factor” that crowd calendars observe. Itemizing each single main college district’s 2024 spring break dates is solely past the scope of this submit. (I additionally don’t wish to get any incorrect, as some counties have calendars, however then particular person districts inside that deviate.) Be happy to share your breaks within the feedback, although!
Moreover, our focus right here is on Okay-12 college districts, however universities have spring breaks that may trigger slight spikes to attendance. Faculties often have much less of an impression on Walt Disney World crowds on account of age demographics, however they don’t have zero impression. Notable examples embrace Florida State College, College of Florida, College of Central Florida–you get the concept.
There are a few issues which might be actually attention-grabbing concerning the 2024 spring break calendars. The primary is that comparatively few districts have breaks March 11-15. Whereas one-third of the key college districts we observe in Florida had their spring breaks in the course of the equal dates final yr (March 13-17). Some nonetheless do, however the majority have shifted to the next week, and even the one after that.
This simply reaffirms our expectation that March 11-15, 2024 won’t be as busy as its equal week final yr. Properly, except for Friday, March 15, which is the overlap of these spring breaks and scholar holidays for the districts with the next week. It ought to go with out saying, however that weekend may also overlap, and we’d anticipate it to be very busy because of this.
Usually, break/vacation crowds don’t peak till the center of the week, however we wouldn’t be in the least stunned to see them peak over the weekend (March 15-17, 2024). On condition that the demo being mentioned is basically native and thus doesn’t need to take care of flights or inns, Friday by means of Sunday might be busier than the next Monday by means of Thursday.
The opposite attention-grabbing factor is that many districts have spring breaks the week of Easter. This might sound apparent, because it’s a typical assumption amongst many Walt Disney World visitors that ‘Easter equals spring break.’ However that hasn’t all the time been the case–it’s merely true that extra districts have breaks anchored to Easter than every other week. Spring break continues to be very a lot a season.
However in evaluating spring break 2024 dates to final yr’s dates, we’ve observed {that a} greater quantity have March 25-29, 2024 off than the week main as much as Easter (April 3-7) final yr. That’s partially as a result of there are districts that do their breaks the final week of March every year plus the ‘anchored to Easter’ districts, each of that are March 25-29 this yr. Along with that, we observed a bunch of different districts shift to that week.
In different phrases, Easter is often dangerous, however there are various levels of “dangerous” (see final Thanksgiving vs. final Christmas to NYE). Easter will most likely be worse than regular as a result of a better variety of districts have breaks falling that week than did final yr.
I couldn’t inform you why–my guess would most likely be that they considered Easter as “too late” final yr for spring break, but it surely’s extra handy this yr, so perhaps there was a “why not–it’s good for households to whom the vacation is essential” mentality? Full guess–I’ve no clue how college boards assume (or don’t) when selecting dates. Might simply be a dates on a dartboard situation for all I do know.
In any case, that two-plus week stretch from March 15 till March 31, 2024 might be actually dangerous. Not like the dual peaks of final yr, we’d anticipate to see crowds get and keep heavy for just about the length of these dates. To make sure, not each day might be equally dangerous at each park, however the weeks as a complete must be the worst of spring break season.
I’d go a step additional and predict that each of these weeks might be worse than their counterparts final yr since there appears to be extra of a consolidation of crowds. (Similar thought as when Presidents’ Day and Mardi Gras coincide.) Not like final yr, extra districts have breaks March 18-22, 2024 than they do March 11-15, and by a reasonably extensive margin.
Similar story with March 25-29, 2024. When you add within the weekends and scholar holidays, you find yourself with March 15-31, 2024 being very dangerous. Walt Disney World was additionally surprisingly aggressive with March resort reductions, which might be a contributing issue for crowds. (Most visitors come from off-site, however greater occupancy on the inns continues to be a sign for greater attendance.)
The flip facet of that, and a silver lining for these touring outdoors of that two-week block is that spring break crowds are (sorta) a zero-sum recreation. Worse crowds due to extra breaks sure weeks means higher crowds due to fewer breaks different weeks. To make sure, we aren’t suggesting that March 11-15 might be sluggish or that the calendar turning into April 2024 will mark the beginning of shoulder season.
There are nonetheless tons of districts with early or late breaks, and it doesn’t take a lot in the way in which of college recesses to have an effect on crowds. Once more, see the Jersey Week instance. That’s only one state and it’s an enormous deal!
In case you’re questioning which set of dates might be worse of the 2 highlighted weeks, our expectation is that March 25-29, 2024 might be busier. In all probability significantly busier.
Easter was the more serious of the 2 weeks final yr, and that was whilst extra Central Florida districts had breaks throughout the identical week in mid-March. Although the Florida breaks fall per week later in 2024–and thus may also overlap with different districts outdoors the state–lots of different districts have moved to the week of Easter.
As such, we’d anticipate March 22 by means of March 31, 2024 to be the busiest week (plus) of the quarter, and one of many worst 5 weeks of your complete yr at Walt Disney World. Count on day by day crowd ranges of 9/10 or 10/10 at each park throughout this date vary. A few of these 10/10 days may have notably excessive wait occasions (not all 10/10 days are equally busy–that’s simply the utmost crowd degree).
Past that, we’d anticipate spring break season crowd ranges to finish up resembling a bell curve with the very best ranges all in these two weeks plus a smaller lead-up and a little bit of an extended tail afterwards.
Though a lot much less consideration is given right here to the primary two weeks in April 2024, these dates will nonetheless be busy. We’ve discovered that each the primary and second weeks of April are frequent spring break timeframes for varsity districts within the Northeast and areas of the Midwest. I believe there’s a robust correlation between districts that do a full mid-winter break in late February and spring break in early to mid-April, as one other prolonged recess in March can be “too quickly.”
In any case, we’d anticipate spring break crowds beginning to fizzle out by the weekend of April 13-14 because the Northerners begin heading house, and totally falling off by Tax Day (April 15, 2024). One factor to notice is that the runDisney Springtime Shock Weekend is April 18-21, 2024. Race weekend members are likely to arrive a few days early and go away proper on the finish of the occasion–so that they’ll contribute to crowds on the entrance half of that, however we actually don’t anticipate something really horrible. Lots of followers overestimate the impression of runDisney occasions on crowds based mostly on experiences a decade in the past; issues have modified since.
Earlier than you are concerned an excessive amount of, let’s speak beating the crowds. I spent in depth time within the parks final yr throughout these identical timeframes, and was in a position to get a ton completed regardless of the crowds. (See What Went Proper Throughout My Peak Week of Spring Break at Walt Disney World, but in addition, What Went Flawed Throughout My Spring Break at WDW.)
The primary bit of excellent information is that we strongly suspect that park hours might be prolonged for spring break dates very quickly (presumably the identical afternoon that is printed). That ought to imply Magic Kingdom opening at 8 a.m. and shutting at 11 p.m. or perhaps even midnight on some days. If current precedent is any indication, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios may also get longer hours. That is extremely advantageous–particularly the sooner opening occasions since most vacationers don’t wish to do the early wake-up name on trip.
By merely arriving early or staying late, you may beat the worst of the noon crowds. In fact, that’s “easy” in principle however tougher in observe, particularly when you have babies. That’s an enormous purpose why wait occasions are decrease very first thing within the morning and later within the evenings.
Nonetheless, we can not overemphasize simply how helpful Early Entry is at each park besides Magic Kingdom–and it’s truly fairly precious there on 8 a.m. opening days. (In case you’re going to skip Early Entry anyplace, skip it at Magic Kingdom on 9 a.m. opening days.) Our ‘Additional Hours’ class of posts comprises numerous Early Entry picture reviews and trial runs–these might be precious for seeing what you may accomplish, potential pitfalls, and many others.
Past that, you should definitely additionally take a look at our Walt Disney World Itineraries for step-by-step technique. All the standby-only plans have been up to date for 2024, and might be paired with Early Entry or Lightning Lanes should you so need.
Suffice to say, it’s solely doable to beat dangerous crowds by using Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Early Entry, Prolonged Night Hours, rope drop, and many others. We cowl the most effective & worst strategy for every park in Greatest Time-Saving Methods for Walt Disney World. In case you’re solely going to learn one planning submit, make it that. There are nice methods to beat the crowds–even on busy days–with out shopping for Genie+ or Particular person Lightning Lanes.
Talking of which, we now have a ~4,500 phrase Information to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ for many who wish to completely grasp paid FastPass. Weeks like this, it’s undoubtedly a superb choice for Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT. Perhaps even Animal Kingdom should you’re not an early riser!
General, that’s about what you may anticipate to expertise throughout Spring Break 2024 at Walt Disney World. To summarize, our prediction is elevated ‘looks like’ crowds from round March 8, 2024 till April 14, 2024. That’s simply the overall ‘season’ as a complete, although, which might be busy relative to early March or late April and your complete month of Might 2024. However not all of these weeks might be among the many 10 and even 20 worst weeks of the yr.
Drilling deeper, this yr will see spring break crowds consolidated largely into two weeks, March 15 by means of March 31, 2024. As an alternative of the dual peaks like final yr, that stretch goes to see the majority of the crowds, with few (if any) 9/10 or above days earlier than or after that. As such, there aren’t actually candy spots or decrease pockets inside the spring break season (as was the case final yr)…it’s simply earlier than and after these couple of weeks.
For what it’s value, early March tends to be incredible. We’re big followers of that week overlapping with the tip of February, and we additionally wouldn’t hesitate to do the primary full week of the month (March 3-9, 2024). Which may have some spring break early arrivers, but it surely shouldn’t be dangerous. Then there’s April 15 by means of just about everything of Might 2024. These are additionally good dates to go to, though you begin operating the danger of hotter and extra humid climate.
Ultimately, we wouldn’t essentially keep away from spring break season when you have a school-aged youngster and don’t have any higher choices outdoors of summer time or holidays. The climate nonetheless must be good, and that alone would trigger it to “beat” June by means of mid-August for me. Simply remember that attendance ranges across-the-board from mid-March till mid-April 2024 might be greater than they’ve been throughout January and February (minus Presidents’ Day and Mardi Gras).
As all the time, attendance at Walt Disney World has been rising throughout the board and nonetheless surprises us infrequently, with “looks like” crowds being pretty dangerous for a lot of early 2024. Accordingly, you would possibly go to in mid-April and discover it seeming means busier than you anticipate based mostly on the above. However should you additionally go to throughout that final week of March, you’d undoubtedly really feel the distinction between the dates. It’s all relative.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Study inns on our Walt Disney World Accommodations Evaluations web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Evaluations. To economize on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Ideas for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets submit. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys submit takes a novel take a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Journey Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the most effective place to begin is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for the whole lot it’s good to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you ever visited Walt Disney World throughout spring break season prior to now? What did you consider the crowds? Are you visiting this yr for Easter or spring break? Some other main college districts having spring breaks throughout these home windows? Anything we missed that would impression crowds throughout March and April 2024? Do you agree or disagree with something in our crowd forecast for Walt Disney World? Any questions we might help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even whenever you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
