Disney during Thanksgiving, Who's been/suggestions???

[bradpga]

Hi-
My family currently has reservations at BWV during the 2nd week of Oct. for the F&W festival. While we are very excited about landing this reservation, there is a GOOD chance we will not be able to make it. We will know by mid May if we need to cancel, so those of you waitlisting- keep an eye out.

Anyway, if we have to cancel we are considering booking a stay during the week of Thanksgiving. We are new members and own at SSR and have been once-LOVED IT!!! I hear that BWV is the place to be in October. What about November??? Anything special going on? Any special activities or dining options on Thanksgiving day? Is it too cold to swim? As stated, we have been to SSR but I would like to stay at ALL the DVC resorts (nothing against SSR, just because I can). WVL seems like a good idea in November (maybe being fall season).

Any advise???

 

[theflowerladee]

We were in the world this past Thanksgiving and there are special menus all over the place, you can find them on allears, my suggestion for Thanksgiving day would be stay out of the parks and eat at one the nice hotel restaurants.
This year we were able to swim during our visit, but with them dropping the temps in the pools, that might be iffy. We have only stayed at bcv or bwv because my dh likes the walk to epcot and mgm, but we did eat in vwl this past trip and it is beautiful and definately themed well for the holiday season.
Mostly my main suggestion is stay out of the parks on thanksgiving day, the crowds dwindled down from fri to sun and by monday it was nice, but on
thanksgiving in magic kingdom it was unbearable. Have a magical trip whenever you go, but if you have not seen the world decorated for christmas, which it will by on thanksgiving, it is beautiful and should not be missed.

 

[bradpga]

Is Disney decorated for Christmas during Thanksgiving??? When do the decorations go up???

 

[rlovew]

We were there Nov. 5-9, 2 years ago and by Saturday the AS Music was decorated. We came back in and all of the wreaths were up. I think they add more little by little, like that day wreaths were out. I think they added the Christmas tree later. Decorations go up as soon as Halloween is over, like most retail businesses nowadays.

 

[spiceycat]

call ms before you decide....

I think Thanksgiving at BWV is gone...and there is a wait list...

I will probably be releasing a standard view studio tomorrow.

 

[bradpga]

what is "ms"??? sorry, i'm new at this.

 

[bradpga]

We are considering staying at OKW in November. We were trying for BWV in Oct. due to the F&W festival. We have not stayed at OKW and I eventually want to stay at all the DVC resorts. The points are dirt cheap for a 5 night stay at OKW. Like 46 points for studio and 86 for one bedroom. I will have 192 points going into the trip, so either choice leaves me with a nice trip to take before Sept. 2007. If we do go to OKW, I hope my wife and kids LOVE it due to the low point structure and it seems to have plenty availability. As I said, we loved SSR. I thought it was a beautiful resort. I am not one to complain about vacation- after all anything is better than work (being that I am a golf pro-some people would argue with that)!!! These people who bad mouth SSR and complain about this and that must be miserable impossible to please human beings!

 

[theflowerladee]

"MS" is member services.

 

[KyleRayner]

I was at Disney during Thanksgiving once, but this was before I became a DVC member.

On Thanksgiving Day, we ate at the 50's Prime Time Cafe at Disney/MGM Studios. I liked it a lot. With the theme of feeling like you're in mom's kitchen, I almost felt like I was at home for the holiday. Plus they had on the menu a turkey dinner with all the trimmings (mashed potatotes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, vegetables). It was delicious and fun.

Hope this helps.

 

[byoung]

We where there last year on the friday and sat after thanksgiving. It was crowded I'll stay away from now on.

 

[dpayne1969]

We were there the week of Thanksgiving Nov,2004 and we loved it.We did not stay at DVC but did stay at POFQ and the weather was just perfect and the crowds did not seem to bad to us but this was also our 1st time to visit so we had nothing to compare it to.LOL>I would go again in a heartbeat at Thanksgiving.We ate at Red Lobster that day for our meal. But that is what hubby wanted so yeah.We found it to be a very nice trip.

 

[wdwfan1]

A few years ago we went over Thanksgiving with extended family. We had a great time, but did not make a good choice for dinner. We ate at the Dolphin in the largest convention room. It was much too large for a holiday meal.

This year DH and I went for a few days on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It was an absolutely wonderful trip. The decorations are up, MVMCP and the Candlelight Processional begin. We go often, but this was a memorable trip. We stayed at WL.

 

[rdsx28]

HI, I was there last year for Thanksgiving. The weather was great. Most days we were able to swim and a few nights as well. The magic kingdom was very crowded the days prior to Thanksgiving.We chose to stay at our hotel and swim and in the afternoon we headed over to MGM to see the parade do a few rides and then we did the Fantasmic Package for our Thanksgiving meal. We ate at Hollywood and Vine it was very good and we enjoyed Fantasmic without waiting in line. They give you a special pass to get in.It is included with your reservation. The Christmas decorations were fully up the day after Thanksgiving as well as the Osborne lights which are awesome as well.Have a great trip.

 

[Simba's Mom]

We were at OKW for Thanksgiving 2005. If you go with the expectation that it will be crowded, you won't be disappointed. The Friday after Thanksgiving I went to MK in the evening. I expected it to be packed, but a DISer's son's band was marching and I didn't want to miss it. Well, the crowds weren't as bad as I'd expected. On Thanksgiving Day, we ate at AP-a little pricey, but food, service, and atmosphere were all perfect. My only disappointment was that the whole experience at Disney was more "pre-Christmas" than "Thanksgiving holiday", but that may be OK for some.

 

[Nanajo1]

My only disappointment was that the whole experience at Disney was more "pre-Christmas" than "Thanksgiving holiday", but that may be OK for some.

We've been every other T'giving since 1999. We stay at OKW. The "girls" do a spa day in the morning and we have a big dinner late afternoon in the villa. We get the precooked dinner from Publix add a few family favorites. The DHs relax around the pool with the kids. We may or may not go to the parks at night.
My DH's biggest complaint is that Christmas music is blaring everywhere from Nov 1st. Albeit Disney Christmas music he would rather wait a bit for the season to start. The decorations go up so covertly that all of sudden they're everywhere!