Am i CRAZY for going on thanksgiving and black friday?

[darbry]

Please tell me it won't be too bad....this is our first trip there.

 

[macraven]

are those your only dates you can go?

 

[darbry]

Yes. The whole next week we are staying at disney and we are coming down early to check it out for the first time. I just want to see Harry potter. We've wanting to go for years but have been so busy at the Disney parks haven't had time. We are staying onsite. Where would be a good place to eat for thanksgiving day?

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

Yes it will be bad. Very crowded. But if you sell one of your children you may be able to afford the express passes for that day (joking of course- meaning the express passes for that day will be that expensive) If you are doing both parks in one day I would start at IOA and go straight to Harry Potter. Once you are done there hit the highlights in the rest of the park and then after lunch I would hop over to Universal. I have always found Universal to be less crowded than IOA but I usually only go during slow times.

I think you can only make dining reservations at the sit down places one month in advance but I would eat at Mythos in IOA. It is a big restaurant that looks like it is made out of big boulders and stones. You can't miss it. It is right near the Poseidon's Fury attraction/show. There is a sticky thread at the top of this board that gives you all the different restaurants and the menus.

I would choose either 3 Broomsticks back in Harry Potter or Mythos. But that is because they have plain simple food items on the menu. DH and I are not very adventurous eaters.

Good luck!

 

[macraven]

the onsite hotel restaurants take reservations in advance.
they fill up quickly.

park restaurants will fill quickly also.



you'll be hitting major crowds on tday.


i would book a room onsite even if it is only for one day.

this would give you early entry for parry hotter section.
you would be able to do a lot in that one hour period without the general crowds in there.

 

[darbry]

We are staying at the royal pacific for 2 nights. That includes express passes right? Can I call now for reservations? I'd hate to be sitting in our room feeding our kids pb&j on thanksgiving because we don't have anywhere to eat ;0/

 

[macraven]

your room is booked, you'll be fine.


not sure when you can make the tday ressie.

call the hotel and see what info they have about early reserving for that thursday.

 

[RMulieri]

We are staying at the royal pacific for 2 nights. That includes express passes right? Can I call now for reservations? I'd hate to be sitting in our room feeding our kids pb&j on thanksgiving because we don't have anywhere to eat ;0/

I can tell you that the park restaurants like Mythos are booking Christmas ressies already so most of the park restaurants are also booking Christmas already.Be aware that Mythos often closes much earlier than the park does except during peak times .Citywalk restaurants are booking thru end of October I think .Universal is not like Disney , they don't open all dining ressies 180 days in advance since they don't own and operate most of the dining venues..The park dining is about 6 months in advace, but resort eateries are 60-90 days in advance depending on the restaurant.You can make dining ressies at opentable.com...The one exception is bubba Gumps at Citywalk.They do not take ANY ressies at all.

 

[darbry]

I got onto that site but couldn't get a reservation for mythos that evening. I will keep trying. That's really good info. Thanks!!

 

[Threeboysandachickie]

Mythos usually closes a few hours before park closing time. Maybe that why you can't find an evening ressie? Check an earlier time on open table!

 

[darbry]

Mythos usually closes a few hours before park closing time. Maybe that why you can't find an evening ressie? Check an earlier time on open table!

I just tried for 11,12,1 and 2 and it said nothing was available. :0(

 

[Threeboysandachickie]

Check the date a week earlier. (Aweek before thanksgiving) Maybe mythos won't take ressies until 90 days out. Don't give up hope yet!

 

[CareHeartsDisney]

We went a couple years ago, checking in at HRH on Thanksgiving after spending the previous 5 nights at Disney. We only stayed one night but got the 2 Day Park to Park Passes. We loved it and while it was busy, it was definitely not as busy as Disney. Also having the express passes was wonderful! We barely waited for the rides.

We loved Universal so much that we returned the following year around Vet's Day with extended family for 5 nights only going to Disney for MVMCP. My husband likes Universal much better than Disney since it's a much more relaxed vacation. The parks are much more compact and you could walk from your resort to both parks and not have to deal with buses.

We made reservations at the Kitchen for Thanksgiving. It was kind of expensive, around $40-$50 for adults and about $20 for the kids but it was a nice buffet. Check OpenTable.com to make reservations. All the resorts have a Thanksgiving buffet. Don't forget (like we did that year) to use your AAA card (if you have one), you can save 10% at a lot of the restaurants and shops.

 

[RMulieri]

Check the date a week earlier. (Aweek before thanksgiving) Maybe mythos won't take ressies until 90 days out. Don't give up hope yet!

Mythos is taking ressies for early December and Christmas week already so they should be taking ressies for Thanksgiving.They could just be booked and that is what it looks like when I tried just now..It says " No ressies available within 2.5hrs of request" if it is not taking ressies yet it says.." Your requested date exceeds the maximum of available dates at this time"

 

[darbry]

We went a couple years ago, checking in at HRH on Thanksgiving after spending the previous 5 nights at Disney. We only stayed one night but got the 2 Day Park to Park Passes. We loved it and while it was busy, it was definitely not as busy as Disney. Also having the express passes was wonderful! We barely waited for the rides.

We loved Universal so much that we returned the following year around Vet's Day with extended family for 5 nights only going to Disney for MVMCP. My husband likes Universal much better than Disney since it's a much more relaxed vacation. The parks are much more compact and you could walk from your resort to both parks and not have to deal with buses.

We made reservations at the Kitchen for Thanksgiving. It was kind of expensive, around $40-$50 for adults and about $20 for the kids but it was a nice buffet. Check OpenTable.com to make reservations. All the resorts have a Thanksgiving buffet. Don't forget (like we did that year) to use your AAA card (if you have one), you can save 10% at a lot of the restaurants and shops.

We are doing two nights at universal then off to Disney for the rest of the week. I will check out the kitchen. I did make a reservation for Roy's just to make sure we had somewhere to go. I'm glad the resorts have a thanksgiving buffet. I will keep trying for that. Also glad to know even though it was crowded it wasn't as bad as Disney. We've been to Disney on July 4th a couple of times and that didn't bother us too much crowd wise.
Another question: we will have a 2 year old with us. Do they have the service where you can take turns on a ride and switch out the baby?

 

[macraven]

you will love the family rooms.

you can child swap with ease for the rides and wait in ac rooms.

 

[CareHeartsDisney]

We are doing two nights at universal then off to Disney for the rest of the week. I will check out the kitchen. I did make a reservation for Roy's just to make sure we had somewhere to go. I'm glad the resorts have a thanksgiving buffet. I will keep trying for that. Also glad to know even though it was crowded it wasn't as bad as Disney. We've been to Disney on July 4th a couple of times and that didn't bother us too much crowd wise.
Another question: we will have a 2 year old with us. Do they have the service where you can take turns on a ride and switch out the baby?

Yes, each of the rides has a child swap area. We loved it when we went with extended family. The kids didn't always want to do all the rides so it worked out well.

 

[darbry]

you will love the family rooms.

you can child swap with ease for the rides and wait in ac rooms.

Wow that is great! You guys are so helpful!!

 

[macraven]

These areas are available at each attraction, at each park, to allow parents to take turns watching their child while the other rides. For further information or instructions, please ask a ride attendant upon arrival to the theme park.


that is from the website.
many families use the child swap rooms.

they have comfy seats, ac, some have a tv playing kid theme shows.

just let a TM know you need to use that family room.

 

[darbry]

These areas are available at each attraction, at each park, to allow parents to take turns watching their child while the other rides. For further information or instructions, please ask a ride attendant upon arrival to the theme park.

that is from the website.
many families use the child swap rooms.

they have comfy seats, ac, some have a tv playing kid theme shows.

just let a TM know you need to use that family room.

Saaaaweeet!