How have the crowds been this weekend?

[Artygal90]

Looks like long (30 minutes minimum for most of the day) wait times for almost all the rides when I've been checking over the past few days. Just wondering what it's like on Thanksgiving weekend. How crowded are the walkways, lines for food and restrooms, crowded transportation, World Showcase booths, etc?

My bestie is turning 30 on Black Friday next year and we've been saying we should do Disney together sometime. She's a teacher and I have limited PTO so next Thanksgiving would be ideal as long as the crowds aren't totally unbearable. I did go this past spring break where the crowds were all 8-10/10 each day and we didn't have an awful time since we maximized FP and rope drop. Thoughts?

 

[glassslippergirl]

We were we were there this spring break (week before Easter) and went yesterday. I would say the crowds were comparable with yesterday being a bit more crowded. We got to MK for RD yesterday and were able to do quite a bit before noon. When we went back in the evening, it was much more crowded. We left at 8. The line at 7DMT was 110 mins (I think they had technical problems throughout the day) and Main Street was already packed with people staking out spots for fireworks. We didn’t leave because of the crowds— it was still manageable as lines on the non-headliners were much shorter. But when DS said he was tired, I wasn’t unhappy to get going.

 

[mamaofsix]

Just checked touring plans historical crowds. They have the biggest as crowds earlier this past week - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were level 10's overall. Thursday and Friday dipped to 9/10, while Saturday (yesterday) was 7/10 overall parks level.

 

[mrsap]

Crowded but not unbearable.

 

[Babs1975]

Crowded! Was at Epcot yesterday, Saturday after Thanksgiving, and it was as crowded as I've seen it. But, this is why we avoid Thanksgiving week. We usually come in around Thanksgiving but don't hit a Disney park until Sunday after Thanksgiving. That has always worked out well for us as crowds start to clear. We had to shift our trip this year by a few days and so had to do a park yesterday to fit everything in. Would try not to do again! I'm use to the week after Thanksgiving crowds though which are much less. It was too busy for me yesterday.

 

[abs1978]

Here now. It’s been super crowded but manageable early. The hours have been awful. 9 am openings over Thanksgiving are less than ideal. By noon it’s been nuts and not much better in the evenings. We won’t do Thanksgiving week again. We were hoping to get a break with crowds today but now it’s free dining so no.

 

[CAS239]

It was packed yesterday at Epcot and MK. No lines for bathrooms and food booths weren't bad. Lines were long for all attractions.

 

[Artygal90]

Thank you all for your input! I think I’m going to pitch the idea to my friend tomorrow and see if she thinks she’s up for the crowds and getting up early on vacation. I’m going in Sept 2020 so I can live if we don’t get to see everything, but I want to make sure she would have a good time on her birthday trip!

 

[monorailmom]

Here now too, would agree that attractions have been busy (though BTMRR took us 35 min wait time this morning, but Pirates was basically a walk on). Walkways have been pleasant and no lines for the ladies room. I was pleasantly surprised last night that we were able to see LaBefana in Italy and Father Christmas in the UK without much of a crowd in the way.

 

[Inlovew/disney]

We arrived Monday, Nov. 19 and left Saturday (Nov. 24) afternoon. Crowd levels were, as expected, high all week. They seemed to increase from Monday through Friday but seemed better yesterday. Generally, we have visited in the summer and the crowds were similar, but without the hot temps of summertime, it seemed more bearable. Being armed with Fast Passes is a must. Gone are the days when you can do multiple attractions in a reasonable time - especially during Thanksgiving week. We expected this but saw several people who didn't know they needed FP's for attractions and they were very disappointed. Lines were VERY long and F'P's were pretty booked up for the week, with some exceptions. Not sure I will go during Thanksgiving week again due to crowd levels, but the holiday decorations were something I was glad I got to see. From restaurants to attractions, one must expect huge waits during this week, but you're rewarded with the beautiful decorations!

 

[kboo]

t’s been super crowded but manageable early. The hours have been awful. 9 am openings over Thanksgiving are less than ideal. By noon it’s been nuts and not much better in the evenings.

^^^ this, 100%

We just got back and were there tues-MK, Wed- MK, thanksgiving- AK, Friday - EP, Sat - MK.

The MK days were HARD and getting in early is a must. We didn’t make it into the parks until after lunch Tuesday (checking in), and after 10 Wednesday (kids were exhausted). For AK we arrived around 9:45 and it wasn’t bad - it was rated a 7 and was a pretty pleasant experience. We had FP for “it’s tough to be a bug” (DD1 chickened out of Everest, what can I say), Kilimanjaro safari and Navi River. We had a double stroller and my 82yo MIL who needed to walk slowly - we went to Bug, then standby and rider switch for Kali, then Kilimanjaro, then slow walk to pandora for Navi, lunch at Satuli canteen, then a slow and easy walk out after MIL bought DD1 a banshee . We got back in time to have a little down time before an early dinner.

Yesterday we had an 8am Crystal Palace reservation that we were somewhat late for, and we still managed to do:
Pictures on Main St
crystal Palace
Jungle Cruise
Tiki room
Peter Pan (FP)
Carousel
Small World/7DMT (FP)
Shopping ...
Mad tea party/Space Mountain (FP)
More shopping ...
Lunch at Casey’s
Watch 2pm festival of fantasy
Shopping on Main Street
Out before 3pm

One thing that was a problem earlier in the week at MK was that the posted wait times were wildly inaccurate - we stood in line over an hour for at least a few rides that were supposed to be 25 minute waits.

Epcot in Black Friday would be amazing! We got a late start and remember, double stroller plus MIL who needed breaks:
arrive around 11:30
Turtle talk w crush (FP)
Looked around the seas
Snacks outside
Figment (FP)
DVC lounge
Popcorn break
Boat to Morocco
Morocco entertainment
Japan entertainment and shopping
Beer stop in Germany
Acrobats in China
frozen ever after (FP)(big delay of game: DD2 had a pee accident ON DH in line...)
Akershus dinner
Pictures on the way out
Leaving park by 8

I think 2 younger adults would be able to cover more ground. The decorations were gorgeous and there were so many food carts and other snacks.

 

[Janet McDonald]

Are the crowds this Thanksgiving week comparable to the crowds between Christmas and New Years?

 

[Patrick N]

Was there Sat the 17th thru Fri the 23rd. I would call it very crowded but manageable. We had 3 Fast Passes each of the 3 days we went, and filled in with whatever else was available with a 40 minute or less wait time posted. Sometimes the wait was less than posted. Our last night was Friday at Hollywood Studios, park closing was 9PM and at about 8:30 the Tower of Terror showed a 20 minute wait (didn't go) and Star Tours showed 15 minutes but in fact you could walk in and be on it within about 5 minutes (did go).

All evening the wait for the Star Wars characters was very small, so we enjoyed a visit with Chewbacca, Kylo Ren and BB8. Well we didn't actually enjoy meeting Kylo Ren, he is as evil as evil is!

(Edited: I originally wrote "Soarin" but I meant "Star Tours")

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Are the crowds this Thanksgiving week comparable to the crowds between Christmas and New Years?

Yes.....except levels of 10 happen day after day and sometimes MK is closed to some types of guests.

 

[runwad]

Very informative, thanks for the first hand accounts

 

[Janet McDonald]

Yes.....except levels of 10 happen day after day and sometimes MK is closed to some types of guests.

Ok thank you! We are going that week and I kept watch of wait times and fast pass availability this week to try and prepare and see how long we woold have in the mornings before it was slammed and was hoping what I observed on the app etc was comparable.

 

[Delirium]

We were there Thanksgiving week (Saturday through Saturday), and while crowded, we never waited in line for more than 20-25 minutes for anything. Good planning and adaptability will almost always defeat heavy crowds. And, it's not like we didn't do anything. I believe we hit every attraction in MK except Enchanted Tales with Belle and Astro Orbiter, everything in AK except the Nemo and UP! shows, everything in HS, and everything in Epcot except the China and France movies. And, we were even able to duplicate several of our favorites (Splash, Pirates, Buzz, PeopleMover, Everest, Tower of Terror among them). We also had plenty of Resort time, took every photopass opportunity we came across, saw the Candlelight Processional using standby, and were even able to get in a game of mini-golf.

Keys to success during heavy crowd times are:

• Strategic use of FP. We were only able to get 2 or 3 extra FPs the entire week, but our initial scheduling strategy worked extremely well for setting up the remainder of our day.
• Taking full advantage of first 2 hours and last 2 hours of operation for key standby attractions. The attractions you choose to see in standby during the early and late windows of opportunity are the absolute key to a successful touring strategy.
• Eating meals at non-standard times (lunch at 10:45 or after 2:00, dinner reservations at Epcot at 9:00, etc).
• Don't criss-cross the park. Waiting in a 30 minute posted line now is better than holding out for that 15 minute posted time if it means you would have to walk all the way back to that area of the park a second time later in the day. Walking back across the park for 10 minutes is no different than waiting in line for an extra 10 minutes, except it adds more steps and makes you a little more tired.

The only two moments in time that I felt the crowds were truly uncomfortable were in Toy Story Land on Monday night and in AK immediately after Rivers of Light on Friday.

 

[Dav2205]

I visited MK on Tues 20th and Epcot on Wed 21st and honestly the crowds were nowhere near as bad as I'd been led to believe.

MK was crowded, but we got everything done and through some persistency with Fastpasses we didn't wait in a standby line all day. The only headliner we skipped was mine train and that was by choice really.

Epcot was incredibly manageable. Some of the standby attraction lines were long but again through Fastpass persistency we managed to get FPs for Test Track, Soarin, Frozen, Spaceship, Nemo, Imagination, Living with the Land and finally Illuminations. World Showcase was very pleasant all day for me, it didn't feel as crowded as on a Food and Wine weekend.

Lines for food, drink and bathrooms weren't too bad at all really.

For me MK is always crowded these days, to the extent that it being a bit more crowded last week didn't really phase me too much. You just have to adapt your approach a bit. We spent time between Fastpasses at easy to visit attractions like Tiki Room and Country Bear Jamboree.

 

[Janet McDonald]

We were there Thanksgiving week (Saturday through Saturday), and while crowded, we never waited in line for more than 20-25 minutes for anything. Good planning and adaptability will almost always defeat heavy crowds. And, it's not like we didn't do anything. I believe we hit every attraction in MK except Enchanted Tales with Belle and Astro Orbiter, everything in AK except the Nemo and UP! shows, everything in HS, and everything in Epcot except the China and France movies. And, we were even able to duplicate several of our favorites (Splash, Pirates, Buzz, PeopleMover, Everest, Tower of Terror among them). We also had plenty of Resort time, took every photopass opportunity we came across, saw the Candlelight Processional using standby, and were even able to get in a game of mini-golf.

Keys to success during heavy crowd times are:

• Strategic use of FP. We were only able to get 2 or 3 extra FPs the entire week, but our initial scheduling strategy worked extremely well for setting up the remainder of our day.
• Taking full advantage of first 2 hours and last 2 hours of operation for key standby attractions. The attractions you choose to see in standby during the early and late windows of opportunity are the absolute key to a successful touring strategy.
• Eating meals at non-standard times (lunch at 10:45 or after 2:00, dinner reservations at Epcot at 9:00, etc).
• Don't criss-cross the park. Waiting in a 30 minute posted line now is better than holding out for that 15 minute posted time if it means you would have to walk all the way back to that area of the park a second time later in the day. Walking back across the park for 10 minutes is no different than waiting in line for an extra 10 minutes, except it adds more steps and makes you a little more tired.

The only two moments in time that I felt the crowds were truly uncomfortable were in Toy Story Land on Monday night and in AK immediately after Rivers of Light on Friday.

Great info that will help me Christmas week! What Disney transportation? We are staying on site. Was the buses crazy and while we benefit from using UBER or is the traffic the same through either?

 

[Lisa F]

the christmas parties really put pressure on the MK on non party nights. No parties either friday due to the holiday or saturday. Just sunday.