Any TURKEYWEEK Dis-ers willing to help us out?

[OhioTony]

We are in the EARLY..EARLY stages of planning a trip Thanksgiving week 2007 We have been Halloween (Not-so-scary if u ask me) ..now we wanna see the Christmas celebration done Disney-Style. Our options are as follows..#1 Arirve Sun before Turkeyday, stay through Thurs...OR... #2 Arive Sat After Turkeyday, Stay through Wed. I say Get 2 for 1..Turkeyday and Christmas done Disney-Style ...BUT how about the crowd levels I would LOVE to hear from any TURKEY DIS-ERS who were there this year!


Thanks

 

[Deb & Bill]

Parks were crowded. Long lines, waits up to 120 minutes for some attractions (like Soarin', Test Track, etc). Small World had a wait time of 45 minutes. You must have ADRs in place or you'll be eating counter service only. Fast passes were gone rather quickly, sometimes by noon.

 

[Viki]

Hey!

We were just down for our first T-day in the World (and, apparently, our last, since DP so ferociously missed my cooking - gotta luv her!).

Both sets of your dates look good to me.

We flew in on Monday and with all of our WDW experience we triumphed over all crowds and did everything we desired through Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday we avoided the parks and had fun at Boardwalk and DTD.

From what I hear crowds max out over the weekend and settle to a new low on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Either way it looks like you will have plenty of time to dodge the worst of it!

 

[lucincia]

Get there the weekend after Thanksgiving and stay for a week. SLOW week. Most rides are walk ons and sometimes we get to ride them over and over again without getting out of the cars! We did that on Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad. One day, my 7 years old DD dragged me on Space Mountain over and over again. I think we did that ride at least 10 times in an hour.

It's also value season. BONUS!

Christmas decorations are all out. DOUBLE BONUS!

 

[mickey mouse lover]

I vote for the Sat. after Thanksgiving. The crowds start diminishing when the thanksgiving crowd leaves. The weather is usually good.
I think we have been giving this little (not so well kept secret) out a bit too much.
The crowds are beginning to grow some,but still not bad.

 

[HLDisney]

We were there with friends from Thanksgiving Day until November 29th. Since I haven't been to WDW in years, I can't really compare it to any other time of the year but we didn't find the ride lines that bad. Of course, we mainly did the kiddie rides (we had a 4yo and 5yo with us) so I can't speak for the "thrill" rides. We took advantage of EMH at MK on Thanksgiving Day and we were able to do Dumbo, Pooh, It's A Small World (2x), Peter Pan (with a FP), Mickey's Philharmagic, Indy Speedway and Goofy's Barnstormer all before noon (at which point we went back to our resort for lunch and naps )

As a matter of fact, we liked that week so much, we're actually thinking of going back again the same time next year

HLDisney

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

We went the thurs before to Thanksgiving day and thursday, Friday and Saturday were great then Sunday it started to get crowded and by Thursday it was really bad- 2 hours for TT at 10:00 AM --- Totally not worth it!!

I would definitely go the weekend after Thanksgiving due to the crowds and also Epcot doesn't start doing the Christmas Holidays such as Holiday illuminations, Candlelight Proc, and Holidays around the world until after thanksgiving.

 

[jlovesee]

We just came back from a trip Nov 23-Nov 28th. I dont know what 120 min lines people saw... Yes it was crowded but we following the TOURING PLANS website, and had no problems. Use Fast Pass, get to the park early, and realize you will not be able to ride everything. Take it easy and you will be fine. Also I would recommend making an ADR for that saturday or sunday if you ABSOLUTLY want to eat at a particular restaurant. We were able to call Sunday Morning at 11AM and get the Mexico Pavilion lunch for 11:45 the day of. So yes walk ups are available, you just can't be too choosy.

I would probably vote for the second option especially for chrismtas decorations. Candlelight Processional does not start until the day after Thanksgiving, neither does the Christmas version of Illuminations. Also and this is very important, many resorts do not have their christmas decorations fully up until Thanksgiving day. I witnessed this first hand at Coronado Springs. Literally Christmas decorations went up overnight.

Jennifer

 

[puddleduck]

We went Thanksgiving week and it was very crowded. Deb&Bills description is accurate. Lines built up very early. We were able to everything we wanted with fp and just knowing how to tour the parks, but the crowds just plain make it harder to get through the parks. We tended to do lunch around 11:30. When we got in line it was maybe a 10 min. wait from getting in line to getting your food. When we would be making our way out about 30-45 min later, you couldn't stir them with a stick. The lines would be out the door. MK the Tuesday just before Thanksgiving was swamped. MGM the day before TG was a nightmare. We were there from 10am-closing and did B&B, Star Tours, Indy, RnRC and ToT and fantasmic. It took all day to do those. Where last year we went the week before Christmas, went to MGM on our arrival day at around noon and practically did everything plus a sit down dinner before Fantasmic. I would definitely go the weekend after TG, not TG week itself.

 

[Caitsmama]

This was our 4th TG in WDW, (3rd concecutive) and we have traditionally flown in the Sunday before TG, and left the Sat. after.. (This yr. we stayed 10 days, so we left the Tues after TG)
What i have noticed, is.. that Wed, thurs (TG day), Friday and Sat are getting nuts.. You HAVE to get to the parks early.. if you show up at noon,forget it. lol.. Some rides did have sold out fastpasses by then.
However, if (like someone else said), you take it slow, realize that you need to spread it all out, get to the park early.. or stay late, late.. then you will be ok.. TG day in WDW is great..
We are booked the same week for 2007, but, we have decided for 2008 we will more than likely fly in the Weds before TG, and leave the Tues after.. at least we could have a couple days at the end of the trip where it is slow.. ( We were there til the Tues after this yr, and wow! What a difference!! The hotel pool was dead, the parks were ALOT less crowded.. it was great!! However, we still want to be there for the TG holiday itself, so the only way to do that is flying in the day before TG.
Darned if you.. darned if you don't. LOL
Either way, TG is a great time to be there.. Now that we have been multiple times, i guess the crowds really don't bother me too much.. as i don't NEED to see it all NOW.. LOL I can wait and go back to a ride later or a different day.. I am NOT a park commando! LOL

 

[wdw4us]

we always arrive the day after Thanksgiving and avoid the MK until Sunday night when it was Extra Magic. It's hard to do with kids but ours are older so they don't care.

We used to go Thanks giving week but it was always busy the week after is much better.

As usual lines on the popular rides are long, use fast pass. Make PS so that you know where you can eat. You will be fighting CP during that week so early PS are important.

Its a beautiful time to go, we'll be there again next year.

denise

can you tell by our smiling faces below, we had a blast!

 

[Deb & Bill]

We just came back from a trip Nov 23-Nov 28th. I dont know what 120 min lines people saw... ...

Soarin' had 120 minutes. Expedition Everest had 120 minutes.

 

[fitzperry]

Another vote for option #2. We were there this year from Friday the 17th through Saturday the 25th, and the crowds were not pleasant. Touring plans or no, I personally do not want to be in the presence of that many people! The parks are so much more pleasant when there is room to breathe and you don't have to arrive at the crack of dawn in order to get a fast pass for Expedition Everest. If your schedule will permit you to go at a less crowded time, which as I understand it the week after Thanksgiving would be, then I would highly recommend it.

Also, we went a day earlier than we had originally planned in order to go to MVMCP, which I would also highly recommend. I have no idea what the schedule will be next year, but this year there were no parties during Thanksgiving week. If the schedule is the same next year, your first alternative would not allow you to attend. There were, however, a couple of parties during the week after Thanksgiving.

 

[fitzperry]

Soarin' had 120 minutes. Expedition Everest had 120 minutes.

Yup. And fast passes for those rides were gone by early afternoon (actually, even earlier for Everest), and that was following both TGM's and the UG's best park advice.

 

[Caitsmama]

Also, we went a day earlier than we had originally planned in order to go to MVMCP, which I would also highly recommend. I have no idea what the schedule will be next year, but this year there were no parties during Thanksgiving week. If the schedule is the same next year, your first alternative would not allow you to attend. There were, however, a couple of parties during the week after Thanksgiving.

Thats right - we stayed 3 days longer than last yr, so we were able to attend MVMCP which we had never gotten to do, since they don't usally have it TG week, So, we got the best of both worlds - TG day in WDW, and then the MVMCP. So, like i said, i would go the day before TG, and come back the week after.

 

[Caitsmama]

Yup. And fast passes for those rides were gone by early afternoon (actually, even earlier for Everest), and that was following both TGM's and the UG's best park advice.

Right, however, if you got to the park early - there wasn't that bad of a wait for those rides. We got to AK the hour it opened, and were able to get on EE with only a 20 min wait. And sorin, we also only waited under 30 min for... When Epcot opened.
You really need to hit those big headliner rides RIGHT as the park opens.. if you wait, then yes.. the lines get crazy. But, we never waited more than 30 min for any ride TG week..

 

[jlovesee]

Maybe I just didn't notice. I would HIGHLY recommend getting to the parks right at opening though, we went to Magic Kingdom on Saturday (11/25) and rode Pirates, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan, Its a small world and PhilHarMagic within the first two hours. We had an ADR for lunch at the Grand Floridian Cafe, and ended up relaxing the rest of the day. We were taking it slow as well.

As far as AK, we went there on Friday (11/24), and I agree that Kilamajaro (SP?) was out of fast passes by 11:30, but we did get one from Everest about the same time for 5:55. AK is open late during the holidays and it is a beautiful park at night. Also a lot of those long waits that they have listed I have found are "fibbing" most of the time. We stood in standby for Kilamajaro Safaris for 40 minutes, when it was advertised as 80 mins. We stood in stand by for Everest when it announced an 80 min wait for 40 minutes, that was in the evening. I do briefly remember it being longer then that, but only during mid-afternoon.

We visited EPCOT on Sunday (11/26) and as I mentioned we were able to call (5 adults) at 11AM and get an ADR for Mexico for 11:45 same day, keep in mind not everything was available but we were flexible. We picked up fast passes for Soarin around 11:30 and they were scheduled for return at around 2:30. Stand by was I guess 80-90 mins? I would NEVER stand in stand by for Soarin' though. We can back around 3PM (after Soarin') and got fast passes for Test Track around 7:30PM.

We did go to MGM on Thanksgiving night for Osbourne Lights (AMAZING!), it was very crowded on the main entrance way, but it was tolerable, we rode only one ride, The Great Movie Ride which had a VERY short wait. This was about 7:50PM.

The only two bad crowd experiences I had were A)Magic Kingdom friday night, (this was during fireworks and parade time) we rode Pirates and Haunted Mansion which both amazingly had very short waits, but the crowds were insane, and B) MGM late night on Monday, which was mobbed, Rockin' Roller Coaster had a 60 minute wait during late night, so we skipped that.

I have finished a trip report (9 pages long!) for this trip, and will be posting it on our personal website here in the next few days if anyone would be interested in reading about our crowd and overall experience.

Jennifer

 

[OhioTony]

WOW! Thanks for the great replies! Our only problem is...We don't want our School to miss too much of our Kids!!! The week OF, they miss 2, esentially, do nothing days...The week after they miss 4!!! I think they vote for AFTER! ..Another piont made by a poster..did I understand there is NO MVMCP the week OF T-giving??? That would defeat our whole piont of the trip! Please say-it ain't so!

Thanks