Disneyland Thanksgiving Feast

[Nevada Jen]

When does this typically go up for reservations and how do they announce it? I am kind of obsessed with going with the kids this year for Thanksgiving. Otherwise, I need to figure out how to cook a turkey and stuff like that.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Most likely sometime between Sept. 23 and Sept. 28. If they follow the pattern of the last couple years, more likely between Sept. 25 and Sept. 28. I tend to find waiting for a Disney announcement useless. Pretty sure Thanksgiving booking started before Disney made any Park Blog or other announcements about any of it. Usually if you call within a week of two of the 60 days out, the dining CMs will be able to tell you which day booking opens.

 

[Lain]

Typically, 60 days before Thanksgiving Day, which would be Sunday, September 24, 2017. Mark your calendar and set alerts!

Sometime before then, you should see a Thanksgiving Feast placeholder on the Disneyland Dining website where you can search for dining options on Thanksgiving Day and make a reservation when the time slots go live. Although reservations for Thanksgiving dining options, including the Thanksgiving Feast in the Disneyland Hotel, should open up 60 days before Thanksgiving, there have been technical issues and delays in the past. Still, be ready on September 24. When the reservations do go live, it'll happen in the morning -- the website may or may not have them posted as early as 5 or 6 a.m. PT (if there aren't technical issues), and Disneyland Dining telephone lines open at 7 a.m. PT.

You should stalk the Disneyland Dining website, Disney Parks Blog, and this forum around that time. You should also call Disneyland Dining at (714) 781-3463 before September 24 to ask a cast member if they have more information when reservations will open. It seems like every year, there's a Thankgiving Feast/Dining thread in this forum with information and live posting when the reservations open up, so a search for "Thanksgiving" would probably pull up some useful threads to give you an idea how it's played out in past years. The Disney Parks Blog usually runs a story about Thanksgiving dining options, but sometimes they post the information after reservations were already live and a lot of the good timeslots were already booked.

Last year, Disney implemented a new policy to require full (refundable) prepayment for everyone in your party and no AP discounts, which may have kept seatings open longer as some people may hesitate to put down that much money at once, whereas previously you could make a reservation with just a credit card hold.

If you're serious about getting a reservation to the Thanksgiving Feast, you have to be on your game. The Feast usually fills up the same day reservations come out, and like I mentioned earlier a lot of the prime dining times fill up first.

 

[SMD]

FYI, Mimi's Cafe does special Thanksgiving dinners and I'd guess others in the area as well. If any of those reservations are available more than 60 days in advance, you might want to make one as a backup.

 

[dsny1mom]

When does this typically go up for reservations and how do they announce it? I am kind of obsessed with going with the kids this year for Thanksgiving. Otherwise, I need to figure out how to cook a turkey and stuff like that.

Just a suggestion but you may want to look at other restaurants at DLR for your Thanksgiving dinner. We did the Thanksgiving buffet at DLH last year and were less than impressed with the food. The room was beautiful. The character meet and greets were fun. The band was a bit loud for our tastes. But the food IMHO was not mediocre but just plan bad. The turkey did not come close to any turkey dinner I have made or eaten from anywhere! The sides were nothing to brag about either!! I know others like the food at this event but just want you to be forewarned not everyone thinks the food at the DLH Thanksgiving Feast is good! Thank goodness I had planned to prepare an full blown Thanksgiving meal at home that weekend or I would have felt like I missed the entire holiday!!

 

[Nevada Jen]

Uh Oh. Tell me more about the food. I figured it couldn't be any worse than goofy's or the character meal in paradise pier. Do you remember how much it was last year?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Uh Oh. Tell me more about the food. I figured it couldn't be any worse than goofy's or the character meal in paradise pier. Do you remember how much it was last year?

Last year was $79.99 per adult and $29.99 per child plus tax and gratuity, pre-paid only, no AP discounts.

 

[Serial]

Uh Oh. Tell me more about the food. I figured it couldn't be any worse than goofy's or the character meal in paradise pier. Do you remember how much it was last year?

@longtimedisneylurker already posted last year's prices. The website or cast member on the phone charged us $101.94 (9% tax and 18% gratuity included) per adult and accordingly for kids. As with all things Disney, prices may be higher this year. You can charge it on a credit card or Disney gift card.

I feel the quality and variety of food at the feast is far better than what you might enjoy at any other character meal any other time of year -- and maybe even on Thanksgiving. There are salads, fruits, breads, cheeses, charcuterie, cocktail shrimp, smoked salmon, and crab legs, soups, a carving station with beef and turkey and traditional Thanksgiving fare, a kids meal station with pizza, nuggets, macaroni & cheese, a made-to-order pasta station, desserts, crepes and fondue stations, etc; soft drinks with refills, coffee and tea are included. The hotel ballroom is large and grand; the lighting and decorations are beautiful and very festive. There's a live band that plays renditions of Disney and holiday classics. There are meet and greet spots with festive backdrops throughout the ballroom to meet and take pictures with Disney characters. If you decide the Thanksgiving Feast in the Disneyland Hotel is too much, there are less expensive character dining options on Thanksgiving Day at the Storyteller Cafe, Goofy's Kitchen, and PCH Grill.

Here's a good Thanksgiving Feast thread from last year: https://www.disboards.com/threads/fall-harvest-thanksgiving-disneyland-hotel.3549570/

I've also attached some pictures from last year to give you a feel for the feast:

 

[southlake]

We also did the Disneyland Feast and we were also less than impressed with it. The food was terrible. The experience was terrible. We waited over 90 minutes past our reservation time in the waiting area with a starving child and two parents (us) becoming increasingly hangry. Unfortunately, they can only have so many people in the room at once so if people are staying hours on end (and some do - we have friends who stayed 5 hours in there), everyone else is kept waiting long past their reservation time. We said we'd NEVER do it again, we were so disappointed and angry at the whole experience.

Thanksgiving at Napa Rose is awesome, though!

 

[Malcon10t]

@longtimedisneylurker already posted last year's prices. The website or cast member on the phone charged us $101.94 (9% tax and 18% gratuity included) per adult and accordingly for kids. As with all things Disney, prices may be higher this year. You can charge it on a credit card or Disney gift card.

I feel the quality and variety of food at the feast is far better than what you might enjoy at any other character meal any other time of year -- and maybe even on Thanksgiving. There are salads, fruits, breads, cheeses, charcuterie, cocktail shrimp, smoked salmon, and crab legs, soups, a carving station with beef and turkey and traditional Thanksgiving fare, a kids meal station with pizza, nuggets, macaroni & cheese, a made-to-order pasta station, desserts, crepes and fondue stations, etc; soft drinks with refills, coffee and tea are included. The hotel ballroom is large and grand; the lighting and decorations are beautiful and very festive. There's a live band that plays renditions of Disney and holiday classics. There are meet and greet spots with festive backdrops throughout the ballroom to meet and take pictures with Disney characters. If you decide the Thanksgiving Feast in the Disneyland Hotel is too much, there are less expensive character dining options on Thanksgiving Day at the Storyteller Cafe, Goofy's Kitchen, and PCH Grill.

Here's a good Thanksgiving Feast thread from last year: https://www.disboards.com/threads/fall-harvest-thanksgiving-disneyland-hotel.3549570/

We have also done it several times, and really enjoy it. Our experience with the food has been fantastic (well, except my daughter's version of pumpkin pie is a Costco size pie, and these are very small, so too much crust for her, but we will fix that this year!)

If I remember right, the reservations opened several days late.

Here are a few of our pics.

Last year we also had a variety of characters from the Country bears, to Robin Hood characters, to Daisy, and a variety of others.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Following because I really want to do this for Thanksgiving this year!

 

[AussieNSW]

We did this last year. This was our very first thanksgiving. We are from Australia and this may have been our one and only chance. It was beautiful the ballroom looked fantastic we felt very special. We booked the 1st time slot and arrived a little early on the day. For us this meant little waiting around and when we entered the ballroom it was pristine. Other posters posted that they were dissatisfied with the food. I was not that impressed with some of the food it was warm rather than hot. That could of been because it may have been sitting there for awhile being the first group.