Crowds the days BEFORE Thanksgiving?

[cccdisney]

I just received my older children's school calendar. They are going to a new school next year and found out they get the whole Thanksgiving week off! Now I know the weekend after Thanksgiving is very crowded, but how about the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Thanksgiving??
Are the Christmas decorations up yet? My DD's birthday is the day before Thanksgiving this year and we would love to be there on her birthday!
We have APs and they are not blocked off so I am guessing it is not that busy?

Anybody been right before Thanksgiving before? And how about a good AP rate for one of the on-site hotels? Did they have good rates in November last year?

thanks in advance!

 

[scooter15]

I went the day before Thanksgiving last year and it wasn't that bad. I mean it was still crowded but we were able to get on rides. We actually had to wait in a long line for Small World but it moved pretty quickly. We were 4 adults and 5 kids (under the ages of 7). I have been in the park the day after and I will NEVER do that again.

 

[Avery's mom]

We went this past Thanksgiving, on the Saturday - Wed before T-Day. It was extremely crowded and uncomfortable. Granted, I was traveling with a large group (and two people were on scooters). The good thing was that we had extended hours. The bad news was we needed them. Lines were very long. I had enough stress trying to manage everyone (both sets of in-laws ) as the crowds stressed them out, therefore I got stressed out.

Christmas decorations were up, and the parade and fireworks were themed.

Bottom line - if you have a small party and can take a mid-day break, get there early (basically follow all of the DIS rules) you will enjoy yourself. For our large party, it was too crowded.

 

[roxydotty]

Yes, Christmas decorations are up, but it is getting busier and busier the whole week of Thanksgiving since more and more schools take the whole week off. My kid's school started taking the whole week off about 2 years ago but other schools started earlier. Plus, people from out of state often come that week since their kids have the week off or they just take them out of school.

So it is busy that whole week, but not so busy that Disneyland fills up and they need to close the entrance gates.

 

[cccdisney]

Wow! I guess it is busier than I thought. But I suppose compared to our last family trip (March during spring break - will never do THAT again! ) - these dates should be better. Certainly couldn't be worse!

 

[Leofoenget]

I just received my older children's school calendar. They are going to a new school next year and found out they get the whole Thanksgiving week off! Now I know the weekend after Thanksgiving is very crowded, but how about the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Thanksgiving??
Are the Christmas decorations up yet? My DD's birthday is the day before Thanksgiving this year and we would love to be there on her birthday!
We have APs and they are not blocked off so I am guessing it is not that busy?

Anybody been right before Thanksgiving before? And how about a good AP rate for one of the on-site hotels? Did they have good rates in November last year?

thanks in advance!

Plan for crowds but it won't be hot so it should be ok. I have done it. Quite busy but not packed. Many schools have that week off.

 

[Vacation Dad]

We went the days before Thanksgiving last year and I have to say that the crowds were not as bad as I expected. It was busy but not overwhelming. And the hours of 8:00am – midnight were great. Monday & Tuesday were OK, but by Wednesday it was getting pretty busy. I remember that the Fantasyland area looked really busy on Wed. morning, but since my kids are older that really didn’t matter much to us. With older kids, being able to ride the attractions where you can gather fastpasses in the morning really helps. We got to the parks early and gathered fastpasses in the mornings, so in most of 3 days at the parks we never waited more than 20 minutes for any ride.

The Christmas decorations are up then which is fun. Whatever you do though, do not go on Thanksgiving day. We went on that day 5 or 6 years ago, and by noon you could not move around the park at all. I remember the standby time on Space Mountain at noon was 105 minutes…

 

[disney-inspired]

What is it with schools these days? fall break? pffft, what's that all about? I never got a "fall break". I tell you, nowadays schools aren't what they used to be.

I know, I'm only 19 but things have changed so much since I was in elementary school and now that my little sister is in elementary school.

 

[cccdisney]

We went the days before Thanksgiving last year and I have to say that the crowds were not as bad as I expected. It was busy but not overwhelming. And the hours of 8:00am – midnight were great. Monday & Tuesday were OK, but by Wednesday it was getting pretty busy. I remember that the Fantasyland area looked really busy on Wed. morning, but since my kids are older that really didn’t matter much to us. With older kids, being able to ride the attractions where you can gather fastpasses in the morning really helps. We got to the parks early and gathered fastpasses in the mornings, so in most of 3 days at the parks we never waited more than 20 minutes for any ride.

The Christmas decorations are up then which is fun. Whatever you do though, do not go on Thanksgiving day. We went on that day 5 or 6 years ago, and by noon you could not move around the park at all. I remember the standby time on Space Mountain at noon was 105 minutes…

That's good to know! We will probably be in the parks Sunday - Wed. morning and make Wednesday our travel home day (with the rest of the state of California! )
My dd's birthday is on Wednesday so I know we will at least do something in the park before heading home!