Disney at Thanksgiving??

[MomofSkaters]

Am I crazy for planning a trip to WDW Thanksgiving week? My kids have always wanted to go, and it fits well with the school schedule. Some say it's great, some say don't bother b/c it's way too crowded.............HELP!! Any advice would be great!

 

[Debi]

Make sure you make your ADR's (advance dining reservations) ASAP. Reservations for Thanksgiving dinner fill up very quickly, so make sure you make at least that reservation now (ADR's can be booked 180 days in advance).

Enjoy your trip!

 

[shaunaluvsdisney]

Very busy time. Wait times for most rides at least 120 min. Use fast passes and consider signing up for touring plans-it tells you what park is the most crowded on certain days of the week and will develop a touring plan for each park based on what you want to do/ages in your party. While some people think that this is overplanning your trip during peak days it really helps to have plans on what attractions to hit first, second..etc It really is a time saver. I only do these touring plans when we go during peak season. They are not really needed as much during the value season. Also-get to the parks before they open-you can be one of the first people on the ride you want to go on. At MK take the hub/streets to the left. Right more crowded.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Very busy time. Wait times for most rides at least 120 min. Use fast passes and consider signing up for touring plans-it tells you what park is the most crowded on certain days of the week and will develop a touring plan for each park based on what you want to do/ages in your party. While some people think that this is overplanning your trip during peak days it really helps to have plans on what attractions to hit first, second..etc It really is a time saver. I only do these touring plans when we go during peak season. They are not really needed as much during the value season. Also-get to the parks before they open-you can be one of the first people on the ride you want to go on. At MK take the hub/streets to the left. Right more crowded.

If you are going to go, you need to make your reservations and ADRs (Dining Reservation) ASAP. We have friends going that week and they made their ADRs last week. It will be very crowded. I think only Christmas, Easter and 4th of July week or more crowded. The weather is usually very nice that time of year though. You will need to get to the parks early, use those Extra Magic hours and of course, fastpasses.

We also love using the touringplans.com website. It is the companion website to The Unofficial Guide to Disney World. I just pick my days off of the crowd calender to see which park we will be in and then I choose restaurants we would like to eat at so I can make our ADRs. It's very easy to use.

 

[minnierocks]

This year will be our third time going during Thanksgiving...and we love it! It is the perfect time to go with school schedules, as our kids only miss three days. I'm not one to go when it is sweltering hot, so the November weather suits me just fine...It has been beautiful every time that we have been there for Thanksgiving! We are from the north, so 70's and sunny feels wonderful to us!

Keep in mind that it is busy, but very doable. Make sure that you plan your week, and as previous posts have stated make your dining plans ASAP! I made mine last week...and last year, we watched many people turned away from restaurants because there was no seating at all that day!

We love the fact that all of the holiday decorations are up and we love watching Santa come at the end of the parade on Thanksgiving...the Osbourne Lights are fantastic and a "do not miss" for us! We have always been able to do everything that we wanted and we really have a great time! Just go with the mindset that it will be crowded and prioritize what you really want to do...don't sweat the small stuff and enjoy your vacation!

 

[bigbabyblues]

We're going Thanksgiving week too. I know it will be crowded, but we're ready! I've been using Tour Guide Mike (link on Theme Parks board) for our trip. We used it for our Memorial Day week trip last year, and I know that's not nearly as crowded as Thanksgiving weekk, but we didn't wait more than 15 minutes for anything.

I think a busy trip at Thanksgiving beats staying home for Thanksgiving any day!

 

[linmc1129]

We'll be there for Thanksgiving too. We went Thanksgiving 2006 and had a great time. We love the Christmas decorations. My kids will be out of school, as well, and the weather is great! Use fast passes and emh!

 

[Mickey'n'Me]

We were there last year at Thanksgiving also. We actually ordered a turkey dinner from one of the local grocery stores and had dinner in our room. We had a 2 bedroom villa so we had a lot of room but it was great. We had the resort to ourselves because everyone was at the parks. As far as crowds go, we went to the parks when they opened and got on everything we wanted with less than 20 min waits. I also used Tour Guide Mike and I think it helped a lot. Again make ADR as early as possible. Have a GREAT time

 

[daisyduck123]

I think it depends.

We're going for Thanksgiving week, but we go to WDW often (about 24 days/nights in 2007) so we don't care what rides/attractions we don't get to do that week.

If a family is going on their "one & only BIG trip to WDW" & they're going that week, I wouldn't recommend it. It's going to be wayyy to busy/crowded & many families are going to feel frustrated, overwhelmed, & upset that they "are not getting their money's worth".

**We pull the kids out of school when we want to experience low crowds & see a lot of attractions. Works great for us even with a DD13 (just completed her Freshman year) & a DS10 (just completed 4th grade).

 

[Samantha/NC]

Hi, we went last Thanksgiving--we arrived on the Sunday before and left on the Saturday after--we had a great time-I agree with poster that said sign up for a touring plan-we did Tour Guide Mike and we followed his least crowded days to a tee and had a perfect time!

 

[Jonny_Duck]

We are going the week after Thanksgiving... Anyone know how busy it will be then? Any idea wait times for rides? Would I need to get there park opening? Also is the Christmas party worth the extra $$ in your opinion or should I just see the chars during the day?

Any help be appreciated!

 

[Castle crazy]

We love being at WDW for Thanksgiving. It wasn't all that busy until the Friday after Thanksgiving. We did have trouble getting an ADR for Thanksgiving lunch but other than that we had a ball. The Christmas lights will be in place and it is gorgeous.

We wanted Liberty Tree Tavern, but apparently so did everyone else. We ended up downtown at Fultons and loved it.

Have fun! We are jealous.