Crowds at Thanksgiving!

[mrsgoose8]

Hey All!
We are looking to book before my littlest turns 3. Problem is, thanksgiving falls SOOooo late this year it will be hard to make it there before his birthday!! We are looking at a possible thanksgiving trip instead.... How are the crowds around thanksgiving? Thoughts??
Thanks in Advance

 

[Disworldluv]

Since Thanksgiving is a National Holiday and school systems across America
have this time off from school, rest assured, the "World" will be very, very busy. If you could go the week before or after Thanksgiving, crowd levels are much less and manageable.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

MK gets so crowded by 10:30 a.m. they start turn people away that are staying offsite. This happens during all the holiday's. For example 2 days after Christmas in 2013 there was and I am not kidding you, there was a 5 hour wait to ride Soarin!!!!!

And this year it will be a bit more crowded with the Spring opening of the new 7 dwarf mine ride at MK.

I would avoid a trip during the holidays.

 

[summerskye]

There is no doubt that Thanksgiving week will be busy. But, it is also a nice time to visit if you plan for it. Going the week before or after will have less crowds, but for many that is not an option. We usually go to Disney that week. With school kids and a wife who is a principal, we have no choice.

With a plan and reasonable expectations, it is a wonderful time of year. Go with the flow.(except when you can go left ) Do rope drop ! Take a break. Use the FP system. There is magic all year but during the holidays it is even more magical.

Best wishes...

 

[MinnieGi]

We love going T-day week and are planning to do just that in 2014. However we have school age kids and do not want to take them out a whole week of school, but a few days I'm fine with. Anyway, yes it is crowded, but not like Christmas week (and we've been then too). Also I don't find it anymore crowded than mid-summer weeks, but it is far better because there is NO humidity!!

However if you just have one child who is under three and are able too, I would go the week before T-day. We used to do just that when the kids were younger and it was SOOOO great! Good temps and low crowds!!

 

[scjo68]

We were just there this past thanksgiving. I was prepared for absolute gridlock. However, I never felt like the crowds were unmanageable. Yes, it was crowded at times. But I would do it again. Honestly, Thanksgiving night in Epcot was possibly the emptiest I've seen Epcot during Illuminations. Two days later, Saturday, Epcot was packed, though.

If MK ever closed while were there we didn't know about it. In fact, we didn't go to Mk till 11:00 am on Thanksgiving day, and it seemed almost peaceful.

I would go again at Thanksgiving, but I don't have much flexibility with vacation time. If I could go before or after that week, I would. The main reason is cost. I was not able to get any discounts on our room at all, due to discounts being blacked out over the holiday, and holidays are "high" priced rack rates. We are used to going with a significant discount during value season.

 

[queenofthehive]

My family went this past year during Thanksgiving week. I found the crowds to be very manageable. Make sure to go with a plan. Use easywdw.com to plan your park days (best day to go to each park - crowd calendar) and a touring plan for each park (easywdw and touringplans.com). The Christmas decorations were beautiful and the Osborne lights were such a site to see. I would certainly go during this week again.