Crowds the week of Thanksgiving

[booradly]

We are thinking of going from nov 22 to about the 25. Does anyone know how busy it has been in the past that week?
Thanks so much
Michele

 

[cccdisney]

We are thinking of going from nov 22 to about the 25. Does anyone know how busy it has been in the past that week?
Thanks so much
Michele

We were there last year during this time and plan on going again this year. Actually we arrived at the parks on the Saturday before T-day and drove home the day before Thanksgiving.
I actually didn't find the crowds too bad. Last year that was the first weekend of the Holiday decorations so that probably brought in more crowds on the weekend. This year they are going up earlier in November. Monday and Tuesday will definitely be the slower days, and maybe even Wednesday.
Honestly, the hardest part of our trip last year was the drive home on Wednesday. Crazy traffic on Int. 5! This year we will be hitting the road bright and early.

 

[booradly]

Thanks where is northern Ca do you live? We are also from Northern Ca and driving. What time did you leave last year going home?
Michele

 

[cccdisney]

Thanks where is northern Ca do you live? We are also from Northern Ca and driving. What time did you leave last year going home?
Michele

Hi! We are in Brentwood, which is in Eastern Contra Costa County. How about you?
Last year we didn't get on the road until 9:30 or 10:00am. It took us FOREVER to get home. We travel down there frequently and I think it is just because so many people drive the day before Thanksgiving. Both North and Southbound I-5 was jammed w/ cars. We actually didn't hit the traffic until north of the Grapevine. So the earlier in the day you get get going the better!

 

[booradly]

Too funny. We are in Discovery Bay. Yeah we are trying to go more often now. We got an annual pass in May. I think we were thinking of leaving to come home later in the day so hopefully we will miss that traffic.

Michele

 

[firefly87]

Hi! We are in Brentwood, which is in Eastern Contra Costa County. How about you?

Ooooooh, you live where the famous Brentwood corn comes from!
(I'm in Atwater.....so just about an hour or so from you)

I was also wondering about crowds before Thanksgiving (sorry to hijack the thread). We are arriving the evening of Nov. 18 (Wed) and will be in the parks Thurs - Sun. I'm expecting the Sat & Sun to be busy but do you think the Thurs & Fri will be manageable?

 

[cccdisney]

Hi! We are in Brentwood, which is in Eastern Contra Costa County. How about you?

Ooooooh, you live where the famous Brentwood corn comes from!
(I'm in Atwater.....so just about an hour or so from you)

I was also wondering about crowds before Thanksgiving (sorry to hijack the thread). We are arriving the evening of Nov. 18 (Wed) and will be in the parks Thurs - Sun. I'm expecting the Sat & Sun to be busy but do you think the Thurs & Fri will be manageable?

Yes, we grow lots of famous Brentwood corn around here! Yum!
I definitely think Thur and Fri will be manageable. Friday evening will be busy, for sure. Especially since neither of the South Cal AP's are block out on Friday. And then the Southern CA AP is blocked out on Sunday and the Southern CA Select is blocked on both Sat/Sun.
Use FP's and you will be fine!

 

[cccdisney]

Too funny. We are in Discovery Bay. Yeah we are trying to go more often now. We got an annual pass in May. I think we were thinking of leaving to come home later in the day so hopefully we will miss that traffic.

Michele

Wow! Discovery Bay is certainly close! Do you have children in the local schools here? I am so happy the 2 week Fall Break is ending!

 

[booradly]

No my son is only 2. But yeah I know they were all on break this past 2 weeks. Lots of kids everywhere!!

Thanks again for all your information about the week of thanksgiving and now on to finding a place to stay. We are thinking of staying at the fairfield inn. We stayed at the carousel last time and was not happy with it.

Michele

 

[cccdisney]

No my son is only 2. But yeah I know they were all on break this past 2 weeks. Lots of kids everywhere!!

Thanks again for all your information about the week of thanksgiving and now on to finding a place to stay. We are thinking of staying at the fairfield inn. We stayed at the carousel last time and was not happy with it.

Michele

We have stayed at the Fairfield Inn and the Carousel, but its been a few years. Fairfield Inn was nicer - bigger rooms for one. Now we either stay on-site or at HOJO (howard johnson). One reason I prefer HOJO is because it has indoor corridors. Our 6 yr old has autism and is a runner and the indoor corridors makes it a little safer if he gets out of the room. Unfortunately they don't have the Ent. Card rate during our nights in November, but they do offer a 20% off AP discount. You need to call the hotel directly for it, not the 800 number.

 

[booradly]

Did you say HOJO's has a discount for ap or Fairfield?

Thanks
Michele

 

[DizMe]

We went last year the Thursday before Thanksgiving to the Monday before. Even though it was the weekend, Fri and Sat were much slower than Sun and Mon. I had been told by my friend who goes at that time every year that it's a pretty good weekend to go, crowd-wise. She told me that the closer you get to Thanksgiving, the more crowded it gets and that turned out to be true.

We're going again this year from the 19-22. We fly down from Sacramento. We're spending our first night at Fairfield Inn (cashed in some MyPoints for a free night) and our last 2 nights at GCH concierge . I can only manage that because there are 4 of us splitting the cost

Hojo gives an entertainment card rate which is fantastic (50% off), but it is only on selected dates which tend to sell out quickly at popular times. You can keep checking back, though! They also give an AP discount, which is 20% off normally but sometimes I think it goes to 25%. You want to call HojoAnaheim directly (714-776-6120) and ask for their in-house reservations to get those deals--the central reservation system doesn't do it. Here is the website for the entertainment card rates and dates http://www.hojoanaheim.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14. If your dates are available and you want to book online, put 'promo' in the menu box (instead of 'best available' or whatever it might say by default) and in the promotion box type in SD50. It sometimes doesn't work, though, so if it doesn't show up, give in-house reservations a call! They've been awesome for me. If you don't have an entertainment card, you can either buy one (from any area) or, if you don't need the book that has coupons etc, you can order the card alone off ebay for $4-5 incl. shipping. That's what I did.

 

[firefly87]

We went last year the Thursday before Thanksgiving to the Monday before. Even though it was the weekend, Fri and Sat were much slower than Sun and Mon. I had been told by my friend who goes at that time every year that it's a pretty good weekend to go, crowd-wise. She told me that the closer you get to Thanksgiving, the more crowded it gets and that turned out to be true.

We're going again this year from the 19-22. We fly down from Sacramento. We're spending our first night at Fairfield Inn (cashed in some MyPoints for a free night) and our last 2 nights at GCH concierge . I can only manage that because there are 4 of us splitting the cost

Thanks DizMe for that tidbit of hopeful info! I figured the Thurs & Fri should be more quiet since it's weedays and Thanksgiving break hasn't started yet. Thought the weekend could be a little more busy as it's the 2nd weekend of the holiday decorations. We are leaving to come home on Monday. It seems like I had read on the boards that the early part of Thanksgiving week wasn't too bad, just the closer to Thurs it got more crazy.

Really hoping for a quieter trip this time. We went the later part of March this year and managed to hit some Spring Break crowds (which were manageable but a little more busy than to my liking!).

 

[cccdisney]

Did you say HOJO's has a discount for ap or Fairfield?

Thanks
Michele

Sorry, HOJO's does. DizMe's post below gives great information about how to get it. Not sure if Fairfield offers an AP discout or not.

We went last year the Thursday before Thanksgiving to the Monday before. Even though it was the weekend, Fri and Sat were much slower than Sun and Mon. I had been told by my friend who goes at that time every year that it's a pretty good weekend to go, crowd-wise. She told me that the closer you get to Thanksgiving, the more crowded it gets and that turned out to be true.

We're going again this year from the 19-22. We fly down from Sacramento. We're spending our first night at Fairfield Inn (cashed in some MyPoints for a free night) and our last 2 nights at GCH concierge . I can only manage that because there are 4 of us splitting the cost

Hojo gives an entertainment card rate which is fantastic (50% off), but it is only on selected dates which tend to sell out quickly at popular times. You can keep checking back, though! They also give an AP discount, which is 20% off normally but sometimes I think it goes to 25%. You want to call HojoAnaheim directly (714-776-6120) and ask for their in-house reservations to get those deals--the central reservation system doesn't do it. Here is the website for the entertainment card rates and dates http://www.hojoanaheim.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14. If your dates are available and you want to book online, put 'promo' in the menu box (instead of 'best available' or whatever it might say by default) and in the promotion box type in SD50. It sometimes doesn't work, though, so if it doesn't show up, give in-house reservations a call! They've been awesome for me. If you don't have an entertainment card, you can either buy one (from any area) or, if you don't need the book that has coupons etc, you can order the card alone off ebay for $4-5 incl. shipping. That's what I did.

Very good info!

 

[d1gitman]

We too are going from 11/22 to 11/25 and are curious what to expect for crowds.

We are staying at Park Vue Inn for their location. We plan to do rope drop (something we refuse to do at WDW) in order to get some quality park time in before the craziness. We also plan to head back to the hotel mid day for some rest and a break from the crowds/lines. this too is something we never do at WDW.

Are we basically looking at FP's being filled up by noon, 2 hr lines for all the major attractions, wall to wall people? This is what we are expecting but hoping for the best.

 

[cccdisney]

Are we basically looking at FP's being filled up by noon, 2 hr lines for all the major attractions, wall to wall people? This is what we are expecting but hoping for the best.

It was certainly not that bad last year and I am hoping it isn't this year either! But unfortunately you just never know so it is best to plan for the worst. Getting there early and collecting FP's in the morning is the best plan!