Favorite places for Thanksgiving dinner at DLR? And other T-day adivce

[mAlien13]

I know that there are other threads along this line, and I have done some searches, but I am really having a hard time gathering the info from here and there. We are sooo excited to be there for Turkey day this year! We usually avoid all holidays, preferring the off-season crowds. We went for Mother's Day this year, and now feel that there is something so great about being in such a magical place on a special day. As it approaches, I am even more worried than usual about making sure we are prepared.

We will be there from Saturday the 22nd to Thanksgiving Day. I know that Thanksgiving will be very busy. Does anyone know if the entire week before will also be crowded?

I am really thinking that I want to make PS's for in the park and in DTD. I was thinking maybe Goofy's Kitchen? But I want a back-up in case the park reaches capacity. So, does anyone have any suggestions for where they serve the best or 'extra special' meals for that day?'

Just for fun...who else will be there? Gobble-Gobble-Gobble!!!

Thanks! As always

 

[Vacation Dad]

The week before Thanksgiving is busy, but not overwhelming. We were there on the Sunday, Monday & Wednesday before Thanksgiving last year and we never waited in line more than 20 minutes for anything (other than getting in first thing in the morning). It will be busy but the park is open long hours and that helps. I will say that the Fantasyland area was quite busy on Wednesday morning, but the rest of the park was OK.

We did go on Thanksgiving day about 5 years ago and I wil NEVER even think about going on a day like that again. By noon or so it was so busy you could hardly move around the park. I remember that the standby time at noon was already 105 minutes for Splash Mt. You can bypass some time in lines by using fastpasses, but it was just so crowded it was not fun.

 

[mAlien13]

I knew it would be busy, but wow... ...that sounds crazy. I will warn the family, but it will be the 6th day we are in the parks, so I don't think we will be worrying as much about rides or shows. We may want to sit around and take in the ambiance, do a lot of shopping, and just soak in that awesome Disney Holiday spirit. I honestly never thought in the past that we would go on or that close to a Holiday ourselves. We've always been the ones to warn people, 'ALWAYS go off-season!' Now it just seems like one of the things we have never tried in our Disney past, so we will give it a go.

I guess I should ask...are there events, shows, street performances or anything that are unique to Thanksgiving day? And I can't seem to find anything on whether or not there are restaurants that have special meals for the occasion. I had actually expected and was looking for a place that serves a nice, somewhat traditional, sit down meal. Does that exist?

Plus, if it is that busy, it stands to reason that someone else will be going. I would love to hear strategy's for handling the crowds, meals you have planned, or any special events you have learned of.

 

[Golfing Goofy]

We have never gone during Thanksgiving, but my friend went and she said it was very crowded. They went in the morning and then had a Thanskgiving late lunch/dinner at Catals. She said it was very nice. Then, they just hung around the hotel and DTD the rest of the day.

hth