Disney At Thanksgiving

[KIDBXRS]

Hi All..
I Have Been Creeping Around These Boards Since Monday. I Have Already Learned So Much From You All. We Are Planning A Trip November 2008. I Was Wondering If The Week Of Thanksgiving Is A Good Time To Go And If The Park Is Even Open On Thankgiving? This Way The Kids Dd(15) And Ds (12) Will Miss A Bit Less School.
This Is Our First Trip Ever And Our Children As Well. We Could Not Be More Excited About It Either. I Get Very Teary Eyed Everytime I Think About Going. It Is Truley A Dream Come True.
Thank You All In Advance.

 

[Bob P]

Hi and welcome to the DIS!

WDW is open every day of the year. Thanksgiving is a great time to go, but the parks are very crowded. Any time schools are not in session the parks will be crowded.

Keep looking around these boards for tips, and buy or borrow a couple of good guidebooks, and you will have a magical time no matter when you go!

 

[KIDBXRS]

THANKS FOR THE FAST REPLIES.
I WAS ALSO WONDERING IS IT OKAY TO GET YOUR KIDS OUT OF SCHOOL FOR A WEEK? DOES ANYONE RECOMMEND THIS OR NOT RECOMMEND THIS. I AM VERY TORN ABOUT WHEN TO GO. I WOULD LIKE TO GO IN NOVEMBER I HAVE HEARD SO MANY WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT THAT MONTH .BUT I AM AT A STRUGGLE ABOUT THE KIDS MISSING A WEEK OF SCHOOL. THEY WILL BE IN THE 11TH AND 8TH GRADE NOVEMBER 2008.

 

[SC Mouse Fan]

We have gone several times during November. We take the kids out of school for 3 days because our schools only go to school for two days the week of Thanksgiving. We are going this November again. If you let the teachers know about the absence, most of them are understanding. The more time you can get in the parks before Thanksgiving day the better. We found that we could do a lot of the rides by going early in the morning the days before T-day. The later in the week it got the busier it is. By the Friday after T-day, it was very crowded. We got to Epcot just after opening and couldn't even get in the building for a Fast pass for Soaring. But we were able to do Turtle Talk. It might have been just Soaring that was crazy but the crowds were very heavy. We went during T-day in 1998, 2003 and 2005. Each year it gets more crowded. You just have to get to the parks early and you should be OK.

 

[kpgclark]

Honestly, if you are going to pull them out, I'd pull them out in early December instead. This way the parks are less crowded and all the decorations are up (if you are into that).

 

[Gradar1]

My family and I have done Thanksgiving at Disney, and had a wonderful time. The weather was pretty good, in the 70s for most of the week, except for the last couple days of our trip. The parks are busy, especially on Thanksgiving Day, although that can helped by avoiding Magic Kingdom on Thanksgiving Day. We loved seeing the Christmas decorations as they went up, although if you really want to get the 'Christmassy' feel of Disney, go in the fist couple weeks of December--the decorations are all up then, you can go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, see the show in Epcot, and the crowds are a bit better. We really enjoyed spending Thanksgiving in Disney--we definitely wanted something different from what we normally do every year, but were still able to have the turkey and all the trimmings.

By the way, some school systems will allow your children's absences as an 'educational opportunity'. My mother did that when we were children, pointing out that we could learn about different cultures and technology in Epcot, the history of movie-making in MGM, animals in AK, etc.

 

[jessieroo]

I can't wait! We are going the 16th and flying home on Thanksgiving. My youngest daughter will be missing 3 half days of school and my older daughter three full days!! Can't wait to get there!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[minnierocks]

We went for Thanksgiving in 2005 and will be doing it again this year. We really loved this time of year. All the Christmas decorations are up for you to enjoy. While it is not the "quietest" time of the year, it is more than manageable.
We arrived the Saturday before and found that the parks didn't get really busy until Wednesday. We avoided (on other people's advice) the MK on Thanksgiving and had a great day at MGM. If you don't want to pull your kids out for a full week (which is the reason that we went for Thanksgiving), then I think that Thanksgiving is a great week to go. As long as your kids are doing well in school, then you shouldn't have any problem with them missing three days.
With the parks being busy, do some research and have dining reservations (ADR's). Don't forget that the place is huge, and you can't do it all in one trip!
Go and have a great time! It truly is a magical place!

 

[jenn-]

We are also going the week of Thanksgiving. We are going to be in the parks Nov 18th-23rd with the 23rd as our check out and drive home day. We were hoping to avoid most of the worst of the crowds that week by going earlier. DD is going to have to miss 2 days of school and I struggled excepting that to begin with. She is only in the second grade though. My biggest concern for you children will be if they have any test that week. Most vacations are going to be unexcused absences which means they can't make up missed work. Depending on your school system if your semester ends in Dec then your oldest will probably have finals in Dec and wouldn't be a good time to miss. If you are going to be there that week of Tday make your ADR's for Thanksgiving now, some of the restaurants were getting booked already.

 

[LISAMWDW]

There is a simple rule of thumb about WDW:

When schools are out or a holiday, the parks are going to be crowded.

 

[bjscheel]

We are also thinking about Thanksgiving 2008 so that the kids will miss less school. They will be in 4th & 2nd. I took one DD out of Kindergarten for 3 days for our first trip, and last year they missed 5 days of 2nd & Kind. I thought at the time I wouldn't take them out anymore, but DH said last night as long as they are still in Elementary it should be fine.

Your kids will be in 8th & 11th which is a different story. How do the kids feel about missing days? Do they think it will be tough to catch up? Some schools frown upon it, our school thought it was fantastic we were going. Do you feel your school will be strict or casual about it? In the end, their school career will not be ruined by missing a week...

Another thing to think about is airfare at one of the busiest times of the year. I was looking today at airfare around Thanksgiving 2007 just to see how it looked. You've got to be really careful about your dates as some are way more expensive that week. Try kayak.com where you can have it give prices for the day before & after your planned flight dates as well. Going a less-traveled time of year may be cheaper! We went December 2-8 last year which was a nice time to go too.

You've got a long time to plan, keep hanging out here!

 

[WDWguru]

Welcome to the DIS! You've gotten lots of wonderful advice so far.

I just wanted to mention that you should not type in ALL CAPS as it is difficult to read and is considered shouting online.

Have a great time!

 

[KIDBXRS]

Thank you all for the post. I am so loving this forum. I am really considering Thanksgiving even more. The kids would only miss Monday and Tuesday at school and our school is very small and they would work with this kids on there work I'm sure.
I just wonder as far as the crowds go how thanksgiving compares to the summer months?
Oh thanks for the heads up on the cap locks i had no idea.

 

[ParkPrincess]

Thank you all for the post. I am so loving this forum. I am really considering Thanksgiving even more. The kids would only miss Monday and Tuesday at school and our school is very small and they would work with this kids on there work I'm sure.
I just wonder as far as the crowds go how thanksgiving compares to the summer months?
Oh thanks for the heads up on the cap locks i had no idea.

We went during Thanksgiving and will not do that again. The first part of the week was fine, but Thanksgiving Day and the day after were just way too crowded for us. Just know that the summer months are going to be worse than just the end of the week of Thanksgiving. You'll still get a couple of calmer days in at the beginning of your visit.

As for school, we're going to be pulling our daughter out for our trips. We love WDW so much and do not want to go during the peak season. I'm hoping we don't run into any problems with her school.

 

[njchris]

I'm going from the 18th - dec 1st.... I'm expecting the crowds for thanksgiving and will just take my time wherever I'm at. I'll be at Liberty Tree in MK on turkey day - but I may go to another park for the morning and come to MK for dinner. I imagine I'll get what fast passes I can and just enjoy what I can without worrying.

 

[fairestoneofall]

We went last Thanksgiving and stayed into part of the following week. On Thursday and Friday, things are crowded. But they do start to thin out. By Sunday, the longest we waited for a ride was 20 minutes (and that was not the norm--most of the rides were a shorter wait).

We plan to go back November 2008. The weather is close to perfect and the decorations are beautiful!

 

[Enkil]

We went last Thanksgiving, myself, DW, DS (4), my parents and my sister. The crowds were definitely present, but not unmanagable. Weather was cooler than summer obviously, without the routine summer afternoon rain showers.

The one thing I didn't count on was the eating situation. EVERY sit down place was booked solid the entire week, at all resorts and parks. We had reservations for Thanksgiving lunch, but nothing for any other meals. Not a problem is quick meals are ok with everyone, but it's nice to sit for a decent meal as well. It that is desired then I would recommend calling in for reservations ASAP, as in now.

 

[SC Mouse Fan]

I'm going from the 18th - dec 1st.... I'm expecting the crowds for thanksgiving and will just take my time wherever I'm at. I'll be at Liberty Tree in MK on turkey day - but I may go to another park for the morning and come to MK for dinner. I imagine I'll get what fast passes I can and just enjoy what I can without worrying.

We are eating at Liberty Tree on T-day also. We have a 4:30 ADR for 10 people. Maybe we will see you there.

 

[NJtoATL]

I've been at Disney for Thanksgiving the past 11 years. We won't be there for Thanksgiving this year. I'm going for Christmas instead. I enjoy both holidays there. Thanksgiving week is crowded. The crowds are very noticable at WDW. Last year we decided to do the Universal Parks. OMG!! I rode the Incredible Hulk 3xs in a row. From now on I will do Universal during Thanksgiving and WDW another time of the year. Either way you will enjoy.


PS- Disney has better Christmas decorations.

 

[bairdbeth]

We are going this year for Thanksgiving. We usually go in the summer, but I decided to go during a cooler month. As a teacher I have to go when school is out. My system is out all week. DD will miss 2 days of school. We are eating at LTT for T-day too. We have ADR for 4:00. I have dealt with July 4th crowds and the crowds from 2007 President's week with Mardi gras at the same time. I figure if I can handle those, I can deal with Thanksgiving crowds! Cooler weather will help my patience level!