Crowds week after Thanksgiving

[practicallyperfect77]

I will 2nd the PP that said the Mon after thanksgiving was crazy. I arrived Thanksgiving day and was at MK the Fri after and thought Mon was worse crowd wise. But I started the day.at HS and then hopped to MK and used my FP+ and then had ressies.form the fireworks dessert party. Still had fun that day it was just crowded. I LOVED being there at Christmas time.though. I thoroughly enjoyed the Holiday Storytellers in Epcot and seeing all the resort decorations. I visited quite a few resorts Fri afternoon b/c crowd levels were predicted a 9 so didn't want.to be waiting in line. I had MVMCP tickets for Tue after thanksgiving. Previous years this wasn't a sellout but it was in 2013. It was crazy packed...I decided to visit characters instead of ride rides.

 

[my4girls10]

This is the exact week that we will be there too! I was wondering which park to hit on Sunday, which will be our first park day. Any suggestions?

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[practicallyperfect77]

This is the exact week that we will be there too! I was wondering which park to hit on Sunday, which will be our first park day. Any suggestions?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I used Easywdw crowd calendar to plan my park days. Worked well for me. I would imagine there will be a Christmas party that night at MK which means guests will need to leave at 7. Something to keep in mind if you don't have hoppers and like staying late in the parks. I think I started that day in MK and then hopped to Epcot but really depends on what parks have EMH too.

 

[wendow]

I will 2nd the PP that said the Mon after thanksgiving was crazy. I arrived Thanksgiving day and was at MK the Fri after and thought Mon was worse crowd wise. But I started the day.at HS and then hopped to MK and used my FP+ and then had ressies.form the fireworks dessert party. Still had fun that day it was just crowded. I LOVED being there at Christmas time.though. I thoroughly enjoyed the Holiday Storytellers in Epcot and seeing all the resort decorations. I visited quite a few resorts Fri afternoon b/c crowd levels were predicted a 9 so didn't want.to be waiting in line. I had MVMCP tickets for Tue after thanksgiving. Previous years this wasn't a sellout but it was in 2013. It was crazy packed...I decided to visit characters instead of ride rides.

Was HS packed or just MK? What were your favorite resorts to visit?

 

[wendow]

This is the exact week that we will be there too! I was wondering which park to hit on Sunday, which will be our first park day. Any suggestions?

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There is a MVMCP that night and therefore, it makes MK the recommended park. If you don't have PH's though or mind shutting down early, that may not be the best recommendation for you.

Epcot and DHS are both the next recommended parks.

just fyi, these are TP rec's since easywdw are not up yet.

 

[my4girls10]

I used Easywdw crowd calendar to plan my park days. Worked well for me. I would imagine there will be a Christmas party that night at MK which means guests will need to leave at 7. Something to keep in mind if you don't have hoppers and like staying late in the parks. I think I started that day in MK and then hopped to Epcot but really depends on what parks have EMH too.

Thanks for the info. We aren't doing the party, we don't have PH, and we like to close the park! I will check easywdw calendar soon to get a handle on the week.

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[practicallyperfect77]

Was HS packed or just MK? What were your favorite resorts to visit?

I got to HS about 8:20 for a 9 opening and did the walk briskly to TSM so I could ride....walked right on...no wait at all. I didn't think HS was as crowded as MK but wait times were probably just as long later in the day due to HS not having as many rides. As for the resorts, Grand Floridian has a life sized gingerbread house which I though was neat, LOVED the huge tree at wilderness Lodge, I believe Beach Club had a carousel made completely out of chocolate and Yacht Club had something neat too...maybe a train village. I didn't do all these resorts in one day but fit them in when it made sense logistically. For example, the sat night after thanksgiving, I had the luau at poly for dinner. Then had carriage ride at the campgrounds. Monorail stops at GF on way from Poly to MK (which I had to go to MK to get a boat or bus to the campgrounds) so that's when I saw the gingerbread house. luckily I have a really good friend that has been to WDW lots and she was able to help with the logistics of stuff. I admit....I don't like backtracking.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Thanks for the info. We aren't doing the party, we don't have PH, and we like to close the park! I will check easywdw calendar soon to get a handle on the week.

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The calendar probably won't be updated for a few more months. I believe Josh waits til WDW releases their hours for that month before updating. Not 100% sure on that but someone will correct me if I'm wrong. I am patiently waiting for the Oct 2014 update. =) Usually out there though in time to figure out ADRs 180 days in advance though.

 

[wendow]

I got to HS about 8:20 for a 9 opening and did the walk briskly to TSM so I could ride....walked right on...no wait at all. I didn't think HS was as crowded as MK but wait times were probably just as long later in the day due to HS not having as many rides. As for the resorts, Grand Floridian has a life sized gingerbread house which I though was neat, LOVED the huge tree at wilderness Lodge, I believe Beach Club had a carousel made completely out of chocolate and Yacht Club had something neat too...maybe a train village. I didn't do all these resorts in one day but fit them in when it made sense logistically. For example, the sat night after thanksgiving, I had the luau at poly for dinner. Then had carriage ride at the campgrounds. Monorail stops at GF on way from Poly to MK (which I had to go to MK to get a boat or bus to the campgrounds) so that's when I saw the gingerbread house. luckily I have a really good friend that has been to WDW lots and she was able to help with the logistics of stuff. I admit....I don't like backtracking.

Thanks, this is so helpful! It all sounds so wonderful and worth making time for!

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Thanks, this is so helpful! It all sounds so wonderful and worth making time for!

My pleasure. I thoroughly enjoyed all the holiday storytellers at Epcot too. This is also something that can be done in busy crowds. I personally celebrate Christmas so enjoyed the countries that more of a Christmas message (Mexico, Italy, France, US, and UK...I think Germany and Norway too). I did these over the course of a couple days. It was a fluke I was able to go at Christmas time so packed in all the holiday stuff I could. Osborne Lights at HS is another holiday display not to be missed...at least for this Christmas/light loving girl. Saw it twice and made me tear up both times. Something about dancing in the street with strangers singing Feliz Navidad touched my heart. =)

ETA: To be 100% honest I love all things Christmas. I was with a friend on this trip and she doesn't share the same love for Christmas stuff so I don't think she was as excited about everything as I was. =) Oh..Contemporary had a big Gingerbread tree and a monorail station made out of Chocolate.

 

[wendow]

My pleasure. I thoroughly enjoyed all the holiday storytellers at Epcot too. This is also something that can be done in busy crowds. I personally celebrate Christmas so enjoyed the countries that more of a Christmas message (Mexico, Italy, France, US, and UK...I think Germany and Norway too). I did these over the course of a couple days. It was a fluke I was able to go at Christmas time so packed in all the holiday stuff I could. Osborne Lights at HS is another holiday display not to be missed...at least for this Christmas/light loving girl. Saw it twice and made me tear up both times. Something about dancing in the street with strangers singing Feliz Navidad touched my heart. =)

ETA: To be 100% honest I love all things Christmas. I was with a friend on this trip and she doesn't share the same love for Christmas stuff so I don't think she was as excited about everything as I was. =) Oh..Contemporary had a big Gingerbread tree and a monorail station made out of Chocolate.

We celebrate Christmas in a big way and love to go all out on decorations so this is a dream of mine to get to go during this time. I have a question about the Epcot storytellers...are they there every night? I'd love to catch some of this. Do they tell the Christian Christmas story (as in, birth of Jesus) or is it more cultural stories?

Really hoping the Osborne Lights will be back this year. I had heard they would not return but now that seems to maybe not be the case. That looks amazing. Ah, dancing in the streets sounds so fun!

 

[kristin08]

We will be arriving Saturday after Thankgiving too!! Although by the number of replies with "me too" on this thread has me a little scared!

The post about how crazy MCO and ME was is super scary as we always take the bus. We are coming from the West Coast so wont arrive until around 5pm most likely. What do you think the ME crowds would be like then? Having to wait an hour to even get on a bus is insane, you would think since you give a flight number they would have an idea how many people would be there at a time and adjust accordingly!

 

[Nancyg56]

We arrived on Thanksgiving Day 2012, and stayed 10 days. It was crazy busy through the weekend, and I thought that while the crowds cleared out after that, it was not slow. We generally visit during the slower seasons, so perhaps our perception was off, but I thought that some areas of WDW were crowded. I liked that time frame, but given a choice I would postpone the visit and go towards the middle of December, and come home the weekend before Christmas. Now that 10 days was really perfect crowdwise IMO.

 

[jimandami]

We will be arriving Saturday after Thankgiving too!! Although by the number of replies with "me too" on this thread has me a little scared! The post about how crazy MCO and ME was is super scary as we always take the bus. We are coming from the West Coast so wont arrive until around 5pm most likely. What do you think the ME crowds would be like then? Having to wait an hour to even get on a bus is insane, you would think since you give a flight number they would have an idea how many people would be there at a time and adjust accordingly!

We arrived that day last year around 7 and got right on a bus! I think it's highly variable. We did have to wait a bit longer than usual for our luggage but not 5 hours. Maybe 3.5.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

We celebrate Christmas in a big way and love to go all out on decorations so this is a dream of mine to get to go during this time. I have a question about the Epcot storytellers...are they there every night? I'd love to catch some of this. Do they tell the Christian Christmas story (as in, birth of Jesus) or is it more cultural stories?

Really hoping the Osborne Lights will be back this year. I had heard they would not return but now that seems to maybe not be the case. That looks amazing. Ah, dancing in the streets sounds so fun!

From what I remember, Mexico and Italy were the more religious ones. Mexico's storytellers were the 3 kings. For the full.reading of the Christmas story there is the Candlelight Processional every night. They have dining packages so you can get a reserved seat but I'm cheap and didn't want to spend the $. In was able to hear everything from a table in the American Pavilion....just couldn't see everything. The storytellers were there everyday but at all different times. I'm a planner and made myself a map of World Showcase and then wrote down the times so I could try to eliminate lots of backtracking. The times will be listed on the times guide but I believe I went to Kennythepirates website a few weeks before my trip and he had the updated times. France's storyteller was Pierre Noel, UK was Father Christmas and Italy had the.Christmas Witch ( I can't remember her name). Wasn't the birth of Christ story but those countries versions of Santa.

 

[siskaren]

We celebrate Christmas in a big way and love to go all out on decorations so this is a dream of mine to get to go during this time. I have a question about the Epcot storytellers...are they there every night? I'd love to catch some of this. Do they tell the Christian Christmas story (as in, birth of Jesus) or is it more cultural stories?

The holiday storytellers talk about how Christmas is celebrated in their countries, although in countries like China, Japan and Morocco where Christmas isn't really celebrated they talk about holidays around the Christmas season that they do celebrate. BTW, Italy's storyteller isn't religious; it's La Befana, which is their holiday gift-giver.

 

[Viva Las Disney]

I went Dec 1st - 7th last year and thought it was great. Light to moderate crowds all week.

It was supposedly busier than normal because there was one less week between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year but with FP+ and light crowds I only had to wait longer than 15 minutes a few times all week. I had such a great time I'm hoping to go that week again this year!

Edited to add: Last year I was really worried it was going to be packed because it seemed like half the DIS community was going the first week of December. Don't be surprised to see tons of "we're going that week too" posts, it's a very popular week for DIS members in the know because of lighter crowds and the Christmas decorations. With Thanksgiving crowds the week before and Pop Warner the week after the parks just keep getting more and more busy as you approach Christmas and New Years, it won't be dead but it's still the slowest week of December to take in the Christmas season.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

The holiday storytellers talk about how Christmas is celebrated in their countries, although in countries like China, Japan and Morocco where Christmas isn't really celebrated they talk about holidays around the Christmas season that they do celebrate. BTW, Italy's storyteller isn't religious; it's La Befana, which is their holiday gift-giver.

Thanks for the clarification Sisakaren....I couldn't remember which countries had a more religious aspect to it. I somewhat remember La Befana (thanks for the name - I couldn't remember) stating that she comes on the eve of Epiphany instead of Christmas Eve like Santa.

 

[wendow]

Thanks everyone! I'm nervous about the higher crowds but really looking forward to going at this time since we will get to experience so many special events.

 

[wendow]

We will be arriving Saturday after Thankgiving too!! Although by the number of replies with "me too" on this thread has me a little scared!

The post about how crazy MCO and ME was is super scary as we always take the bus. We are coming from the West Coast so wont arrive until around 5pm most likely. What do you think the ME crowds would be like then? Having to wait an hour to even get on a bus is insane, you would think since you give a flight number they would have an idea how many people would be there at a time and adjust accordingly!

I agree. That is frightening to think it would take an hour to get on the ME. We also fly in. We always fly out on the 8am flight from Denver. That is as early as we can get out and unfortunately, that doesn't put us into MCO until 2:30'ish FL time. I'm guessing that is going to be a busy time to be arriving but we don't have a lot of flight options.