Attendance @ Disneyland Week of Thanksgiving???

[eym]

so do you guys think that on sunday nov. 18 will be bussy?

 

[Disney Dadd]

You'll have to let me know how it is. We are planning to go the same time next year

Hey Todzwife --

I told you I would let you know how our trip went. Here you go: We went for a one day trip to DL on Tuesday (before Thanksgiving) and over all it was .... AWESOME!!!!

As far as the attendance (we have been to WDW and DL many, many times over the years so I consider myself a pretty good judge on this), I would say attendance was a 5 or 6 out of 10.

My family normally goes in slow seasons so we normally see 2 or 3 out of 10 attendance days -- waits of 5-10 mins or just walk straight on the rides. The day we went it was a little longer. The longest wait we saw was the new attraction Finding Nemo (where the old 20,000 Leagues under the sea was) at about 75 mins. By far the longest line in the park (and no fast pass )

Space Mountain, Splash Mtn, Big Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones -- the biggies -- tended to have peak waits of 60 mins (However, we used fast pass on these rides so our wait was 15-20 mins). Matterhorn, Small World, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Jungle Cruise were waits of about 15-20 mins each. So, by and large, we didn't wait for anything more than 20-25 mins all day. Obviously we got there as soon as the gates opened and ran around to do the biggies first, however, I looked all day at the waits just to tell you guys!!

Now as far as the park went -- It was beautifully decorated for Christmas. Apparently DL decorates with the big Tree and all the decorations the Friday before Thanksgiving each year. The Castle was gorgeous.

You have to go to Small World after nightfall and wait for the lightshow (and take your kids if they want to see snow fall in southern California)! They also have a snowfall show down mainstreet intermitently during the evening as well. The one by Small World is just prettier IMO. The evening fireworks show was very, very beautiful. It always is great at Disney, but the holiday version just adds a little something extra.

All in all, it was a great day. The crowds weren't very bad at all. Disney had EVERYTHING operating to accomodate the Thanksgiving crowds so the attendance was dispersed very evenly throughout the park. The decorations were beautiful. The cast members were great as usual. The atmosphere was fun as always and just a little something extra in the air with the holidays around.

If you go next year before Thanksgiving, don't be afraid Monday or Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (and always the weekends) be VERY, VERY AFRAID - ha ha!! But, whenever you go to Disney, it doesn't matter what the crowds. You're there with your loved ones and it IS the most magical place on earth!!

 

[Vanvmom]

I'd have to say this year the crowds on Thanksgiving day were not any worse than they were on Tuesday and Wednesday (which is quite a switch from the past couple of years). In 2005 DL reached capacity on the Wed. before Thanksgiving - I think the weather was really nice that year, plus they were running a special for the locals - purchase a 2 day park hopper that week, and you had until January to use the 2nd day of the pass. I know that this year on Friday they were expecting attendance to reach 60,000 people. The CM I talked to on Thursday night was very concerned about how rude and impatient people can get when it gets that crowded. As for our trip... we didn't run into any rude visitors this year (and they didn't run into us either). We even met 2 families who live only a few miles away from us.

It was a fun week, and we'll be there again next year!

 

[awaldo]

Alright, I'm going to chime in, although I have no frame of reference since this was actually our first trip to DLR. We went to DCA on the 19th, and it was very un-crowded, but unfortunately I can't speak for DLR as we didn't go there that day. We elected to go to DLR on the day after thanksgiving and holy smokes!!!! Been to WDW several times, in July and Christmas time, and I had never seen crowds like that. As for the rudeness aforementioned, I think a lot of people had reached their patience limits. I would never repeat that performance again.