How are crowds just before Thanksgiving?

[Antonia]

I am planning on taking my two nieces - ages 7 and 10 - to WDW. I am thinking about arriving early on the Saturday BEFORE Thanksgiving and leaving Wednesday to come home. That would give us nearly 4 full days - Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues.
How are crowds on these days. I feel sure it builds up tremendously Thursday - Sunday.
I don't want to take them when it is most crowded because they have never been and I don't want to spend most of our time standing in line.
I think I'll take my friend Margaret so I'll have another adult and she is a very fun person. I could also take my brother (their dad), but I'm afraid he'll be a party pooper.
I've been so many times, but they're never gonna get there if I don't take them. I want it to be a fun time.

 

[disney's daughter]

We were there there this past year the Saturday before Thanksgiving and left Thursday morning. I was used to going during the off seasons before...so it seemed extremely crowded to me. I kept telling our son, daughter-in-law- and three children that it usually wasn't this crowded....Fast Pass ran out within a very short time. The lines were much longer than what I had encountered at other times. However, this was the ONLY time they could go and if again, that was the ONLY time I could go...I'd do it again. I did make dinner reservations ( including the ones with the Characters) in advance for us every single day and I am glad I did. Also, I would highly recommend making the dinner package reservation in MGM if you want to see Fantasmic without having to find a seat a couple hours in advance.

 

[kashkdz]

Originally posted by Antonia
I am planning on taking my two nieces - ages 7 and 10 - to WDW. I am thinking about arriving early on the Saturday BEFORE Thanksgiving and leaving Wednesday to come home. That would give us nearly 4 full days - Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues.
How are crowds on these days. I feel sure it builds up tremendously Thursday - Sunday.
I don't want to take them when it is most crowded because they have never been and I don't want to spend most of our time standing in line.

Hi -- I can help you a little bit. We were in Disney Nov 16-23 of 2002 (we stayed Sat-Sat). I know the week BEFORE had very low crowds and most of the attaction waits were at most 25 mins. We did do to MK on the Sat the day we were leaving (our flight was at 8:30 pm) and it was VERY crowded. You have to figure that anytime it's a holiday, Disney has a spike in park attendance. I figured that the crowds marked the start of the Sat-Sat Thanksgiving week vacationers. It was pretty much a sea of people, a little overwhelming for us with the kids. We were just glad that we did everything already at least one time, earlier on our trip, and this day was a last attempt to stretch out the last few hours. Still just take your time during your days there, plan ahead what you want to do, and get to the parks early. Enjoy !

 

[Antonia]

Maybe I will see about taking them at another time. I want low crowds since they have never been there EVER and since I haven't taken a small kid in ages - my DS is 19. I just want us to have a really fun time that they will always remember.