How crazy will Thanksgiving week be this year?

[condorthb]

I have been seeing a lot of posts about booking Thanksgiving week from normal summer visits.

How much more crowded will it be this year vs. any other Thanksgiving week?

 

[CarolMN]

IMO, the parks should be either the same or less crowded, depending on the status of non-DVC bookings (on site & off site).

DVC resorts have traditionally booked up fairly early for Thanksgiving. This year, it is just happening sooner.

 

[drusba]

At this time, it is anyone's guess although many existing factors point toward less crowded rather than more, assuming a reopening.

Usually, by this time of year, DVC rooms during Thanksgiving are usually filled except possibly SSR. I have noticed that some losing current reservations have said they moved to Thanksgiving, including for some for near park resorts, which indicates two things: some are moving their lost reservations to Thanksgiving time, but, more important, they are finding open rooms because others are canceling Thanksgiving. Hotel rooms are also being canceled.

Moroever, we currently have no opening date for the resorts or parks, no end date or cure for coronavirus, an economy that may sink the plans of many to go through with a Thanksgiving trip to WDW, and possible future cancellations if the reopening that may happen means restrictions to actual use in November.

 

[gharter]

Too many variables to have any idea.
Normally it isn't too bad.
This year it could be:
Extremely crowded because of the time the parks were closed.
Not too crowded as the parks are still in a phased in opening (hopefully not that far out).
Not too crowded as people still don't feel comfortable going there yet.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Any holiday is a big day at Disney. You'll get all the locals. People that are within driving distance and people willing to fly will stay on property. AP owners and DVC owners for sure. It will still be busy and whichever park you are going to you should plan to be there at rope drop. Transportation is difficult, roads are busy if you have a rental car so trying to PH is probably not a great idea. DS will be packed with locals. Plan on crazy and if it's not - lucky for you!

 

[kniquy]

How much more crowded will it be this year vs. any other Thanksgiving week?

I am one of the "cancelled July and booked Thanksgiving" people.

It was our best option to use our points, to have time to see how things roll out and to limit my kids missing too many days of school.

I have looked at touring plans (I know not completely accurate but something to go by). It seems our whole week crowds are at 10, which i would expect for a holiday week. I am going in expecting it to be very crowded but there are still many unknowns and circumstances which affects everyone's decision to go or not - is the virus still around? do they have a vaccine yet? have people been able to get back to work and can afford their trips? only time will tell, but we will go, pack our patience and just enjoy being able to get away and relax.

I for one never thought i would ever be there for thanksgiving but we are just going to soak it all in and enjoy our first stay at OKW!

 

[nagshead]

We just rebooked for Thanksgiving from a May trip. We did Thanksgiving last fall too. The first half of week was great, then wed to sun was really really crowded. But we still decided to do it again

 

[aokeefe]

We rebooked our April trip to Thanksgiving week. We decided to head down on the Friday night before to hopefully get a little bit of a jump start of the crowds. I also find the more crowded it is, sometimes can be the most relaxing for us- we do what we want and then head back to the resort. We know we can't jam it all in.

 

[nagshead]

Agree. We are arriving that Friday before too

 

[AKVHutch]

Had already booked Thanksgiving because Granddaughter's HS Marching Band was supposed to perform (let's hope). We've done Thanksgiving week before (2017) and Wed to Sat was packed but before & after was milder than some October crowds.

We were lucky enough to get a AK concierge room for thanksgiving, does anyone know if they do a spread on Thanksgiving Day? Also read that Boma has a good Thanksgiving meal, any thoughts on that? I know that DVC also has had a Thanksgiving Dinner, but reviews seem mixed, does anyone have any experience with that?

 

[sparkle78]

We were at Wilderness Lodge Club level the past two thanksgivings arriving midday. During their 4-6 pm light appetizers. They had some turkey and stuffing. Again small bites. AK lodge may do the same. If you like a true thanksgiving meal. Try liberty tree at magic on the Friday after thanksgiving, much easier to get OR the wave and several other resort restaurants will offer thanksgiving items on their menus that day.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

Had already booked Thanksgiving because Granddaughter's HS Marching Band was supposed to perform (let's hope). We've done Thanksgiving week before (2017) and Wed to Sat was packed but before & after was milder than some October crowds.

We were lucky enough to get a AK concierge room for thanksgiving, does anyone know if they do a spread on Thanksgiving Day? Also read that Boma has a good Thanksgiving meal, any thoughts on that? I know that DVC also has had a Thanksgiving Dinner, but reviews seem mixed, does anyone have any experience with that?

We went last year. Almost every sit down restaurant on property had some sort of Thanksgiving dinner. For some reason you couldn't reserve some 180 days out, our restaurant released Thanksgiving Dinner openings about 3 weeks later. We went to Whispering Canyon, but I love Boma and wouldn't be surprised if it's good for that. Cape May gets great reviews, as well as Chef Art Smith's Homecoming. The general consensus for the DVC dinner is it's expensive for an average experience.