Is Thanksgiving really that bad???

[BensWife]

We are stuck with going during typical school vacations. We went during SWW last year during June, and it was just too hot for me. We were toying with the idea of Thanksgiving. Is it crazy busy then? As I look at the crowd calender on easywdw, it looks like Thanksgiving is about the same crowd level as the summer. I'm a little nervous about plane delays that time of the year (flying from Denver), but I think I would have more fun if I don't have to deal with the heat/humidity of summer. We could go during Christmas vacation, but having 10s almost every day kinda scares me away from that time of the year. Have you even been during Thanksgiving? Can you please tell me about your experience? Thanks!

 

[MacDalt]

I'm wondering too.

 

[gtpoohbear]

Sorry no answers, but wondering too. I agree that the crowd calendar doesn't look that bad. Also curious if the weekend before or after Thanksgiving is worse? I'm guessing after, but the crowd calendar didn't show a clear difference.

Oh, and we fly out of Denver too. We go to FL every year for either Thanksgiving or Christmas (to visit family), and have never had weather problems with the flight, knock on wood! Though we did have a scare last year in April, spring blizzard almost made us miss our trip.

 

[WorldWacky]

My family went over this past Thanksgiving with my SIL and her family. We were a group of ten and, I too, was terrified of what we might encounter. Let me preface this by saying we only know WDW with crowds. DH is a teacher. We have gone over President's Week and Easter in the past. We are a rope-dropper family and I made sure that my SIL knew the importance if this for that week. We had NO problems. We were able to use FP+ and even though we were there before tiering in Epcot or DHS was in place, since we were there for rope drop, we were able to go on attractions like Test Track, Soarin', ToT, TSM and RnR twice. So consider rope-dropping one e-ticket and FPing the other(s). There were definitely more people in the walkways, but it was certainly manageable. We loved being able to see the castle all decked out in Christmas lights and of course, the Osbourne Lights over at DHS. We would definitely go during Thanksgiving again!

 

[luvsJack]

Love going at Thanksgiving. In fact we just made the decision to cancel a June trip and go again at Thanksgiving. I live in MS and our weather is similar to that in Orlando. Its already getting hot and humid so I am so glad we made that decision.

We have always found the crowds lighter at the beginning of our trip (we usually do Sat before to Sat after), getting busier as the week progresses and busiest Thanksgiving day and Friday after.

We always do rope drop. And its amazing how many things you can do first thing in the morning with short waits.

Thanksgiving day we go to AK. Haven't tried the MK but have been told its a mad house. AK is nice that day.

Personally, I think the more pleasant weather is much better for touring the parks than a wee bit smaller of a crowd.

 

[daveag]

We're going for daughter's birthday following Thanksgiving. We're going knowing that it will be bad. Just grab the FP+'s, go early, and take it all in stride, right?

 

[Dwheels]

I went over thanksgiving once in 2006 never ever again! Way too crowded! Couldn't even move in AK and MK!! Wall to wall people on Friday and Saturday after thanksgiving!! I'm a teacher too so my choices are limited last week of august is much better

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Love going at Thanksgiving. In fact we just made the decision to cancel a June trip and go again at Thanksgiving. I live in MS and our weather is similar to that in Orlando. Its already getting hot and humid so I am so glad we made that decision.

We have always found the crowds lighter at the beginning of our trip (we usually do Sat before to Sat after), getting busier as the week progresses and busiest Thanksgiving day and Friday after.

We always do rope drop. And its amazing how many things you can do first thing in the morning with short waits.

Thanksgiving day we go to AK. Haven't tried the MK but have been told its a mad house. AK is nice that day.

Personally, I think the more pleasant weather is much better for touring the parks than a wee bit smaller of a crowd.

This isn't surprising. No matter what time of year(or holiday) it seems that the non-MK parks are either near-empty/half-empty/kinda-crowded-but-manageable while the MK is red-hot popular.

 

[WorldWacky]

Love going at Thanksgiving. In fact we just made the decision to cancel a June trip and go again at Thanksgiving. I live in MS and our weather is similar to that in Orlando. Its already getting hot and humid so I am so glad we made that decision.

We have always found the crowds lighter at the beginning of our trip (we usually do Sat before to Sat after), getting busier as the week progresses and busiest Thanksgiving day and Friday after.

We always do rope drop. And its amazing how many things you can do first thing in the morning with short waits.

Thanksgiving day we go to AK. Haven't tried the MK but have been told its a mad house. AK is nice that day.


Personally, I think the more pleasant weather is much better for touring the parks than a wee bit smaller of a crowd.

We went to AK on Thanksgiving Day too. We were lucky enough to get chosen to ride on Mickey's float during the Jingle Jammin' Parade! We looked ridiculous in the Christmas tree hats that they had us wear. We followed AK up with dinner at the Hoop De Doo. It may not have been turkey, but it sure was good and a great dinner to spend with the whole family!

 

[goofy4tink]

We flew in on Thanksgiving Day one year. Arrived around noon. Went to our resort, got checked in (BWV) and headed to DHS. Oh dear God!!! The number of people in that park was incredible. It was miserable! We did one attraction, and then left! It's the one time I had a melt down with dd! Never before, never after. But the crowds were so awful and so rude and I was tired after traveling and I was hot and just plain miserable..and dd was being a bit bratty to boot!!
The crowds were just as bad for the next three days. We went to Epcot on Friday...WS was shoulder to shoulder! I was so happy to see Sunday night come...finally the parks were manageable. And by Wednesday, they were perfect...of course, that was our departure day!
Will never, ever go over Thanksgiving again....ever!!!

 

[ziravan]

My DD6 has her birthday on Nov 29th.

To celebrate it, we're going to DISNEY!!!

In September.

 

[ziravan]

We looked at the crowd numbers in the touring plans. School is not a problem (home school). We decided as a family to find a better time. We backed our dates to Oct and then Sept to find the best crowd levels.

Sept will be hot but we will rope drop and take afternoon siestas not to beat the crowd but the heat.

Mid day break plus Sept crowds plus FP+ plus MNSSHP should give us maximum use of the parks.

 

[Toffeewoffy]

Our first trip was mid November 2003. We had the UK half term followed by a missed school week - which, unbeknownst to us (and was pre-holiday forum days) was Thanksgiving.

So, first week, did all the parks, lovely, no hassle, very few queues. Perfect.

Then Thanksgiving hit. We didn't leave the hotel on the day, knowing that the day itself would be mental. The pool bar TV was on and showed clips from the NW parade - but also reported people being trampled in the sales!

For the whole of that second week the parks were mental - well, the Disney ones were, anyway. We went to US a couple of times and they'd put the Christmas deccies up. But my photos clearly show quiet streets in US so obviously it was quiet. MK, on the other hand .... well! There was not one ride with under 3 hour standby queue with a lot of them being 5 hours - and this was around lunchtime. We gave up after a couple of hours and left.

 

[nooneshome]

All our Thanksgiving trips predate FP+. We have been a few times with FD. We drove down the Saturday before and stayed until the Saturday after. As most people will tell you it isn't so bad early on but as you get closer to Thanksgiving it gets more crowded. Anything beats the heat of summer and the Christmas decorations are up!!!

This year we are heading down the week before with FD!!!

 

[Ashleyfaz]

We've been during thanksgiving week the past 2 years and always spend thanksgiving day at MK. I am a teacher and have only gone during thanksgiving. It's not that bad. We had pirates league booked during a busy time (around 2 pm)- to take a break because we knew it would be packed during the middle of the day. We left for dinner at chef mickeys around 7 pm. Went back to MK After dinner. Once wishes Started, all the lines for the rides were short. DS fell asleep, so DH stayed with him and DD and I rode a ton of rides. Barnstormer had no line and we rode that 5 times in a row along with everything else in fantasyland. I guess people were leaving early to hit Black Friday the next day

It's definitely more crowded towards the end of the week, but if you expect it, it's not so bad. I've never been in the summer, but figure I'd rather wait in line in the cooler weather (with Christmas decorations) than stand in the heat during the summer. We live in Texas and do not want to go somewhere else where it's hot during the summer

 

[scjo68]

We were there this past Thanksgiving. I was prepared for huge crowds. We also flew- on the "busiest travel day of the year". I just knew the airports would be pandemonium.

We didn't find it bad at all.

Airports were fine. Weather was good- sometimes almost too cold. Crowds were inconsistent.

We actually slept in on Thanksgiving morning. We had reservations at Crystal palace for lunch that day. I was a little afraid that the MK would be closed for crowds and we might not be able to get in. But when we arrived at MK late morning there was absolutely no line at bag check or entrance. After our CP lunch, we strolled over the bridge to Liberty Square, and I noticed how oddly quiet it was. I think the background music was turned off. But there wasn't a lot of crowd noise, and it seemed so calm. Another woman was crossing the bridge and as she passed me, she remarked that it seemed so peaceful. Crowds gradually started building, and we left MK.

Thanksgiving night, we went to Epcot, and the crowds were the lowest I have ever seen them. The next day the Christmas activities started at Epcot (storytellers and Candlelight Proc.) so people may have been waiting to do Epcot then.

We Went to Epcot again Saturday, and it was very crowded all day, but we had our FPP's booked, and a CP package booked, so we were fine.

I would absolutely go at Thanksgiving again, except for one thing: the cost. Airfare was not cheap, I could not get a discount on room (maybe you could if you were more flexible than we were), and I think even the buffet meals we had included a holiday surcharge. If you go at Thanksgiving, you will not be getting a bargain!

 

[TuneTownMagic]

...and although I did not go the parks on Thanksgiving, I was in the parks immediately after, and as others have said, the MK is crazy crowded! It is really just the most magical park during the holidays because of the icicle lighting on the castle, special Christmas light projections, and the way Main Street is decorated, not to mention other things like a cute holiday stage show in Tomorrowland. It is crowded, but so worth it. I remember telling DSis it was one of the best trips to the World we ever took because it was just extra magical. Honestly, we did not even book our FP+ reservations until we got there, and we just did them from our smartphones each day and really didn't have much of a problem. I found the wait times with FP+ to be very bearable, especially considering the weather is so mild. Some days were even cold (I actually missed the warm weather, it's kind of part of the experience after all!). I remember a few standby lines at MK were SUPER long though; Jungle Cruise ("Jingle" Cruise) must have had almost 2 hours. That being said, I was not bothered by the crowds, except for at Epcot in the World Showcase. People start lining up for the evening time Candlelight Processional literally from morning and the lines pretty much wrap around the whole WS. If you actually want to have a chance of attending this event (as in sitting in the bleachers) and don't want to waste a day of park touring waiting in line, try to get the dinner reservation package at WS, which guarantees you a spot and puts you in a different line.
Osborne Lights at DHS is VERY crowded. In general, if you are used to summer crowds, you should be fine...it might just be hard to get a good spot to watch parades.
Also, we had our Thanksgiving dinner at the food court of our Disney resort, and it was around $17 per meal. It was very crowded and they were even running out of certain side dishes. We also went to Downtown Disney on Thanksgiving, and it was not too bad as far as crowds.
Good luck!

 

[itchin2go]

Where's the best place to be on Thanksgiving day/night?

We were thinking of taking it easy during the day, and then booking Hollywood Brown Derby for dinner, so we could take in the Osborne lights during Fantasmic. Will DHS be wall to wall people? I was thinking it would be best to steer clear of MK ....

 

[DisneyMommy9]

We went thanksgiving 2012 and while crowded we had a blast. All the lights everywhere and Christmas decorations! It was long lines waiting for attractions but I expected that. We ate at Kouzinna thanksgiving day and while we didn't eat traditional they did have a great looking traditional thanksgiving dinner.

 

[luvsJack]

Where's the best place to be on Thanksgiving day/night?

We were thinking of taking it easy during the day, and then booking Hollywood Brown Derby for dinner, so we could take in the Osborne lights during Fantasmic. Will DHS be wall to wall people? I was thinking it would be best to steer clear of MK ....

IME, AK and DHS are the best of the 4 on that day with AK being the best of those 2. We did hop over to DHS one year for lunch at Prime Time and it wasn't that bad. The Osborne lights always seem to be the most crowded when they first turn them on and during Fantasmic would probably be a great time to go.





And I have thought it might be nice to hop over to Epcot for a nice dinner that day too. Being bigger the crowds seem to be more spread out.

From the people we see on the buses or in the TS places, there are a LOT of folks there on Thanksgiving day and the Friday after that are local and have guests or coming through after visiting families and only there for a day or two. It stands to reason that they are going to gravitate toward MK and Epcot.

On the Friday after which is usually our last day in the parks, we tend to hop around to all 4, hitting dd's favorites. DHS, AK, Epcot, MK tends to be our usually way of going (no real reason in that except she wants to ride RnRC first and we want to end the trip at MK) And honestly, MK is the only one that really even remotely gets uncomfortably crowded and it starts thinning out late in the evening.