Just back from thanksgiving at the world, any questions?

[Disneylover:)]

Hey guys! The title really says it all. I'll try to answer any questions that are asked.

 

[Dee77]

Where did you go for Thanksgiving dinner? How was it?

I am trying to gather information and recommendations for next year's trip. TIA

 

[mousescrapper]

I ditto the above question...

thinking of avoiding the parks on actual Turkey day and eating at one of the resorts.

other thoughts:

what were your dates?

How busy was it leading into Thansgiving and afterwards (ie crowds, bus service, dining, anything esle you can think of)

Were you there for any post Thanksgiving things like Osborne lights at DHS or the Candlelight processional at Epcot?

any good tips would be great too!

Going as well next yr! TIA

 

[Echo queen]

 

[TJA]

What resort did you stay at and was it convenient during a busy week in disney?

How was the weather during your stay? Cool enough at night to wear light jackets/long pants?

Thanks.

 

[Jennyfer]

I'm not the OP, but we also just returned.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at Boma. The Thanksgiving food (turkey, potatoes, dressing, etc.) was excellent, but it was crowded and hard to get around the buffet. I think I would choose a non-buffet for Thanksgiving if I had it to do over again.

We stayed at Pop. No complaints at all.

 

[Disneylover:)]

Where did you go for Thanksgiving dinner? How was it?

I am trying to gather information and recommendations for next year's trip. TIA

For Thanksgiving dinner, we went to Tutto Italia. Let me tell you, it was unbelievable! They're food is soo tasty. If you go, I would recommend the fried calamari appetizer. I believe that any food you get there would be delicious, though.

I don't remember them having a turkey dinner special though. I didn't really look actually. The Sunday before we went to Disney, I cooked a traditional thanksgiving dinner, so if we didn't have any on turkey day, it would be "ok".

I ditto the above question...

thinking of avoiding the parks on actual Turkey day and eating at one of the resorts.

other thoughts:

what were your dates?

How busy was it leading into Thansgiving and afterwards (ie crowds, bus service, dining, anything esle you can think of)

Were you there for any post Thanksgiving things like Osborne lights at DHS or the Candlelight processional at Epcot?

any good tips would be great too!

Going as well next yr! TIA

Well, where we ate is in the above quote.
We arrived on Wednesday the 25th and left today (Sunday the 29) On Wednesday,we went to the park (MK) around 2:00. I can't really give an accurate crowd rating because it was a "rainy sorta day" and I think most people stay back at their hotels. But the crowds were not that bad! I was expecting much worse because many disers were saying that it would be PACKED. It wasn't! The wait for Splash was 5 minutes! ( maybe because it was a little chilly! ) Thanksgiving day we went to DHS in the morning. Yes there were long waits for TOT and RnR, but you could just get fastpasses. We didn't get to go on Toy Story though. The wait was 110! (or 90 or something) The park was easy to move around and you didn't feel squished. The we headed to Epcot for the rest of the day. Same as DHS. There was a lot of space to move. I'm guessing that when everyone says that Thanksgiving is crowded, they are hinting to MK. Friday we went to AK and Saturday we went to MK. Another hint, if you want to ride Space Mountain, get fastpasses EARLY! We were lucky that every time we rode space, we had a fastpass.
* Tip: I heard that on Thanksgiving day, the Magic Kingdom had 72,00 people! ( I think thats max cap!)

After Wishes on Saturday, the line for the monorail was huge!!!! The line vanished fast though. We probably waited only 10 minutes in line and got back to the resort in 20 minutes.

What resort did you stay at and was it convenient during a busy week in disney?

How was the weather during your stay? Cool enough at night to wear light jackets/long pants?

Thanks.

We stayed at the Gaylord Palms. I love that resort! We always stay there, but never during the holiday season. The decorations were gorgeous! Gaylord Palms is huge, so you can't tell that it's busy. And it's only 1 mile from the Disney entrance, so it was perfect.

BRRRRRR! The temperature was cold! One night it was 49 degrees! I would definitely pack a couple of sweatshirts if I were you. It was the nights that really got us. During the day was fine. The high was in the high 60s or 70. Pants and a sweatshirt would work. Of course the day we were leaving, the temperature was 78ish and had a nice breeze. Just our luck. The temperature didn't stop us though. We had a great time!


I hope I helped everyone! We really liked going at Thanksgiving time and would do it again. If anyone has anymore questions, just ask!

 

[DisneyNDecember]

How odd was it not having the Lights of Wonder at Epcot? I just can't imagine it not actually being there.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Did you happen to see any of the college basketball teams that were playing in the Old Spice Classic at the Wide World of Sports? My school was in it and just saw a video of them at the MK yesterday since there were no games.

 

[mickeyrox1]

Did you see any characters? If so,where?

 

[minniemeplus3]

We just left today also. We were there Nov 22-29. Ft Wilderness Cabins. 4 adults and 2 teens. We had Thanksgiving lunch at Trails End. It was OK. We are from a huge family of southern cooks so I was not impressed.
We went to MK late Sunday night and it was crowded. The wait for SM was. 90 minutes at 10 pm. This could be bc it was officially the first day it was "open".

Mk on Monday was crazy busy. All the e-ticket rides were very long. We had breakfast at 1900 PK Fare. It was the best meal by far of our whole trip!! YUMMY!

There were plenty of buses and boats running in anticipation of the large crowds.

DHS was crowded even in the pouring rain!

Epcot on Fri night was freezing!!! I had on two shirts, a sweatshirt and a jacket with gloves and a scarf. I was perfect! The park stayed open til 1230 but was practically empty by 1030. I think because it was so cold. 49 degrees. For a Georgia girl, that's cold.
We went back to MK on Saturday and it was not as crowded as it had been earlier in the week. We waited standby for sm twice. 30 and 40 min wait time...no fast passes available.
Also saw some BBall players.
I have tons more infor if anyone interested. We did CP, rode all coasters mutliple times, went to all 4 parks several times and visited several resorts for dinner.

 

[wdwgirl03]

We just left today also. We were there Nov 22-29. Ft Wilderness Cabins. 4 adults and 2 teens. We had Thanksgiving lunch at Trails End. It was OK. We are from a huge family of southern cooks so I was not impressed.
We went to MK late Sunday night and it was crowded. The wait for SM was. 90 minutes at 10 pm. This could be bc it was officially the first day it was "open".

Mk on Monday was crazy busy. All the e-ticket rides were very long. We had breakfast at 1900 PK Fare. It was the best meal by far of our whole trip!! YUMMY!

There were plenty of buses and boats running in anticipation of the large crowds.

DHS was crowded even in the pouring rain!

Epcot on Fri night was freezing!!! I had on two shirts, a sweatshirt and a jacket with gloves and a scarf. I was perfect! The park stayed open til 1230 but was practically empty by 1030. I think because it was so cold. 49 degrees. For a Georgia girl, that's cold.
We went back to MK on Saturday and it was not as crowded as it had been earlier in the week. We waited standby for sm twice. 30 and 40 min wait time...no fast passes available.
Also saw some BBall players.
I have tons more infor if anyone interested. We did CP, rode all coasters mutliple times, went to all 4 parks several times and visited several resorts for dinner.

Oooh, do you know what team it was?

 

[de8212]

I was there from the 22nd to the 28th. Can't really add much more than wheat's been said. I will say that it was crowded but I went down there thinking it was going to be worse.

We went to Magic Kingdom Sunday evening and all day Monday. Went to Hollywood Studios tuesday, Epcot was Weed but it started puring rain so we went back to the hotel. We actually missed the princess lunch for my daughter because the kids (and adults) were soaked. Called to try and reschedule and were told we would be charged $10 per person as a fee

Anyway, went to Animal Kingdom Thursday and ended up eating at Rainforest Cafe. Went to MK later that evening with the kids for the parade. Friday me and my son went to Hollywood studio to ride toy Story again because he said that was his favorite. Everyone else just went to Downtown Disney. Friday night we all went to Polynisian (sp?) for a hawaiin feast. Was pretty good and entertaining.

we stayed at Port Orleans/French Qtr. Decent hotel

All in all a good vacation but if we go again I will find out when the crowds are smaller. I got to ride everything (Space Mnt, Mission Space, Toy Story, Soarin, Fast track, Rock N Roll Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, etc. )

 

[minniemeplus3]

Oooh, do you know what team it was?

Nope didn't get to see the front of their jerseys. They all had on light blue windsuites though. We were in line at SM and they were in the fast pass line. The all made that swooshing sound when they walked by because of the windsuites. That's how I even noticed them...And because they were all so tall!

 

[Disneylover:)]

Did you see any characters? If so,where?

On the 25th we did see some characters in front of the castle. I believe they were Cinderella and her Prince, Minnie, Goofy, and Mickey. They came out twice. Once around 2:30 and once around 4:30. We were standing right in front of the castle when they came out and you wouldn't believe how fast the line grows. Also, there were some characters (Minnie) by a garden in front of the sorcerers hat at DHS.

wdwgirl03, i didn't see any basketball teams. How was the game though? Did your school win?

 

[brajfamily]

I have only been to Disney in the spring but am watching a special on the Christmas Holiday at Disney and all of the magic that goes into it. It looks incredible! Were all of the parks decorated for Christmas? Not sure when it all goes up.

thanks!

 

[minniemeplus3]

We saw character everywhere! Epcot...Belle and Beast near France, Aurora and Marie(aristocats) in France. Daisy and Stitch at epcot main entrance. Mickey,Minnie, Goofey, and Donald at the Character Spot Epcot FW. Tiger, mary Poppins, Pluto and Donald at main entrance to MK.Stitch and Buzz in tomorrowland. Buzz and woody at DHS near TSM. OMG they were everywhere!! Oh...Goofy and Pluto in Dinoland at AK. Mickey and Minnie in toon town and camp minnie/mickey at AK.

 

[Disneylover:)]

I have only been to Disney in the spring but am watching a special on the Christmas Holiday at Disney and all of the magic that goes into it. It looks incredible! Were all of the parks decorated for Christmas? Not sure when it all goes up.

thanks!

Yes! All of the decorations were up and it was breath taking! Main street was my favorite. They have garland going across the street and lights all over the buildings. There were so many lights that it literally lite up the sky. The castle was gorgeous too! They had color changing lights shining up on it. So one second it would be blue and then it would be hot pink. I'll try to post some pics. The MK tree wasn't up yet. I'm not quite sure when it goes up. All of the other parks had their trees up. They all look so pretty. I love this time of year!

I believe that the decorations go up in the beginning of November.

 

[rmkstorey]

I just got back from disney as well. Stayed the 23-28. We went to MK on thanksgiving day, and personally, I didn't think it was as crowded as when I went to MK on Christmas day in 2007. Actually, I didn't think any of the days were too crowded. Friday at Epcot was pretty bad though, we waited two hours for fast track. It was weird, it was as if they were letting 5 people from the regular line in every time they let 30-45 from the fast pass and single rider line in. Kinda frustrating which threw off the day for us.
But overall I enjoyed it.

 

[Cindy fan]

We had a great trip, didn't find lines too bad when we followed TGm. Our only reallly bad day was Friday at EPCOT. Because we were staying late with the grandparents and little kids we did not arrive until late: big mistake. All FP were gone, lines were rediculous so we only ended up riding SE and Gran Fiesta. The Santas were great though. By the following Sunday at MK we were pleasantly surprised at how far down the crowds were. My parents did T day dinner at W Puck's cafe $29 at lunch time. They said it was excellent. We loved all the resort decorations. Loved CO, loved osborne lights. We stayed offsite and loved having our own pool.