How is Thanksgiving at BWV?

[Wes]

We are thinking about making our next trip at Thanksgiving.

How is the Boardwalk during Thanksgiving?

Are there special Thanksgiving decorations or activities at BWV, or is everything geared up for Christmas already? How about the parks?

Is there a mob trying to get into the restaurants (assuming they serve traditional Thanksgiving dinners)? Are there mobs in the parks?

Is Thanksgiving one of those times we should book the full 11 months ahead, or can we wait until about 7.5 months ahead?

Any other things to know about BWV at Thanksgiving?

 

[Candace]

We have been several times at Thanksgiving. I would definitely advise you to book 11 months ahead. The decorations are mostly (or entirely as I remember) Christmas decorations. Book your T'giving dinner ahead of time, or if you are staying in a villa with a full kitchen, have it "at home". We did this last time with a fully prepared meal that I picked up the night before at Goodings. Other grocery stores do the same thing. Crowds were not heavy until the actual day of Thanksgiving and the weekend following. the weather has been absolutely perfect when we have been. Warm days, cooler nights, warm enough to swim usually. It's my favorite time; be sure to check out other hotel decorations as well as BWV.

 

[ripleysmom]

From what I understand Liberty Tavern in Magic Kingdom has an awesome Thanksgiving dinner.

Kimberly-Lucas and Ripley's Mom

 

[kcin]

Never been there for Thanksgiving yet, but a coworker has done it for the past few years, and we are on the waiting list for BWV. Hope they come throuh for us!

 

[janiejo]

We booked Thanksgiving week late last year and could not get anything at BWV, our home resort, or OKW, on points. The wait list was already closed, so we opted to stay at WL and paid cash. We had reservations for our Thanksgiving dinner at the Yacht Club Galley and it was wonderful! Very traditional Thanksgiving meal plus all the extras! We went to MGM in the morning and then took the boat from MGM to Yacht Club. As far as decorations, the restaurants had typical decorations for fall/Thanksgiving around the buffet, but every park, hotel, etc. was decorated for Christmas because Thanksgiving day is when the celebration of Christmas begins. (I think the Osborne Family Lights turn on at MGM that night, Epcot's Candlelight Processional started on Friday.) Each hotel had their Christmas decorations up so you kind of rush through Thanksgiving and on into Christmas. There were Thanksgiving stuffed characters still for sale in the park shops but that's about it for any kind of Thanksgiving "stuff" being around. It was a busy time of the year and it was really cold last year but we still had a great trip!

 

[kcin]

Just made a reservation for Thanksgiving week. We were on the waiting list for BW, but made the reservation for a 1BR at WL. This will be our first time as members. The CM said we could stay on the waiting list in case something opens up, as I would prefer to stay at BW. I am hoping a few days will open up so we can stay at both.

 

[Wes]

kcin ... sounds like your co-worker must have had good reports, if you decided to go for Thanksgiving. What did you hear from your co-worker?

 

[kcin]

He loves Disney in general, goes down 4-5 times a year. Has been a DVC member for around 5 years at least. He is the reason I joined. We are going for Thanksgiving this time to minimize the amount of school lost without going down on one of the breaks.
I had to call MS today to book the last day, I could only book to the 24th yesterday, had to call today to add the 25th. When I asked they had two days open for a BWV studio, if they were together I would have taken them, but they were the 20th and the 23nd, if I remember right. We are still on the wait list for BW, if 3 or 4 consecutive days open, I will take them and cancel those days at WL.
After reading all the info we are excited about staying at the WL. Now we have to decide where we are going to have our Thanksgiving dinner.

 

[Wes]

The school days issue is our main reason for the choice of date. When they were younger, we did the first week in December, but as they get into the grade levels where that many days lost really make a big difference and cannot just be made up by homework assignment contracts, then Thanksgiving seemed like the next best step.

Now we have to figure out how to avoid the airport crunches at that time of year. But our eyes are on the prize first: a good time at BWV for the holiday. So the rest of the ducks will fall in order behind that one. So this thread is to find out more about what some of those ducks are that we might not be aware of.