It's been a while. Thanksgiving week help please

[SaintsManiac]

Where can I find EMH times and parks for my trip ???
Also we aren't huge night ppl so not sure how much of those we will take advantage of. We are def more morning ppl to normal evening time.

I was thinking of Epcot thanksgiving since everyone says avoid it on Black Friday ... but not sure

The park hours won't be released until later this year.

 

[Eword1004]

The park hours won't be released until later this year.

Ok. Thanks. Hopefully before I can book ADR though .... that way I can plan parks by meals kinda and don't have hoppers

 

[SaintsManiac]

Ok. Thanks. Hopefully before I can book ADR though .... that way I can plan parks by meals kinda and don't have hoppers

This is what I am using to loosely plan an ADR list:

http://www.characterlocator.com/?p=cal_index&mo=11&yr=2016&cweek=4

I don't know if EasyWDW had one for last year and honestly you can't use these calendars like gospel. It's going to be busy. We all know that part

We get to WDW on 11/17 this year. We figure there will be a Christmas party at MK that night, so we'll go there during the day. Here's my very loose plan so far:

FRI--MK
SAT--Epcot
SUN--MK (rope drop til we drop)
MON-- HS
Tues--????
WED--Boma breakfast then AK
THURS-- Epcot/Pool???
FRI--MK in the AM then drive home

This will probably change 5000 times, but we know we will begin and end with MK for sure.

 

[Eword1004]

This is what I am using to loosely plan an ADR list:

http://www.characterlocator.com/?p=cal_index&mo=11&yr=2016&cweek=4

I don't know if EasyWDW had one for last year and honestly you can't use these calendars like gospel. It's going to be busy. We all know that part

We get to WDW on 11/17 this year. We figure there will be a Christmas party at MK that night, so we'll go there during the day. Here's my very loose plan so far:

FRI--MK
SAT--Epcot
SUN--MK (rope drop til we drop)
MON-- HS
Tues--????
WED--Boma breakfast then AK
THURS-- Epcot/Pool???
FRI--MK in the AM then drive home

This will probably change 5000 times, but we know we will begin and end with MK for sure.

We plan for
Mo-hs too
Tue- mk
We'd- mk
Thurs- Epcot
Fri- ak

Idk. May tweak some .... know we want 2 days at mk for sure. But won't go to park the day we arrive prob hit Disney springs ....
may do ak on thanksgiving ... idk. I'm trying not to stress too much cause know I have a while

 

[luvsJack]

Its been awhile but we used to always go that week.

HS or AK on Thanksgiving with my choice actually being AK. But, I did enjoy 50's Prime Time for Thanksgiving dinner. Either one will be a lot less crowded that day and it makes it nice in AK so that you have all the time you need to wander around the trails without quite so many people.

Wed seemed good for MK, guess most people were saving it for Thanksgiving Day. Epcot is busy on Black Friday, but enjoyed the Christmas around the World stuff and it never seemed all that bad.

 

[sharonabe]

Tell me more about storytellers and candlelight professional please ... thanks

Storytellers and CP won't begin until Friday, and they are both at EP, so if you decide to avoid EP that day, it won't matter.

The storytellers are in each country in WS. They each tell how the holidays are celebrated in their countries: Father Christmas in England, Junaleska (sp?) in Norway, the Monkey King used to be in China (hope he still is), etc. They are very entertaining and informative.

Candlelight Processional is the telling of the Christmas story directly from the Bible with a choir performing traditional Christmas hymns. The narrator is a celebrity and changes about every 3 days.

 

[Eword1004]

Its been awhile but we used to always go that week.

HS or AK on Thanksgiving with my choice actually being AK. But, I did enjoy 50's Prime Time for Thanksgiving dinner. Either one will be a lot less crowded that day and it makes it nice in AK so that you have all the time you need to wander around the trails without quite so many people.

Wed seemed good for MK, guess most people were saving it for Thanksgiving Day. Epcot is busy on Black Friday, but enjoyed the Christmas around the World stuff and it never seemed all that bad.

Think I will switch to ak for thanksgiving
I def want MK back to back I think ... just wondering how it would be on Monday and maybe do mon and weds

Thanks !!!

 

[Eword1004]

Storytellers and CP won't begin until Friday, and they are both at EP, so if you decide to avoid EP that day, it won't matter.

The storytellers are in each country in WS. They each tell how the holidays are celebrated in their countries: Father Christmas in England, Junaleska (sp?) in Norway, the Monkey King used to be in China (hope he still is), etc. They are very entertaining and informative.

Candlelight Processional is the telling of the Christmas story directly from the Bible with a choir performing traditional Christmas hymns. The narrator is a celebrity and changes about every 3 days.

Oh my my husband would love the processional !!! We may just plan on Epcot for Friday and try to bare with the crowds !!!!! Thank you !!!!!

 

[disneygolfer1985]

Tell me more about storytellers and candlelight professional please ... thanks

The candlelight processional is the story of Jesus with a guest narrator. We have had Gary Sinise, Jodi Benson, Edward James Olmos and more as the guest narrator. There is a full orchestra and choir and they sing Christmas songs. It is very moving, but I don't think overly religious. If you love Christmas it will really help you get in the mood. The storytellers are fun. Each country has a storyteller to describe how the holidays are celebrated in each country. My favorites are Norway, Germany, UK, Italy, and Mexico. These can be fun for kids and you can take pictures after with each storyteller. The Holidays Around the World starts on Black Friday and goes to December 30th. This is my favorite part of the holidays at Disney world. If you do want to do the Candlelight Processional, then I would recommend that you do the dining package to ensure you get a seat in the theater. You don't have to be inside the theater to experience the processional.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

Oh my my husband would love the processional !!! We may just plan on Epcot for Friday and try to bare with the crowds !!!!! Thank you !!!!!

Sorry for the delay. The previous poster did a great job of describing the CP. We went to Epcot on Black Friday last year and it was not that bad. Also, I love the ending to illuminations. They add an extra special ending for the holidays to the song "let there peace". The ending is very impressive and you can feel all the explosions. I think it may be the best fireworks in property.

 

[CynBeth]

We did Boma for Thanksgiving dinner a few years ago and loved it! They had a nice mix of Thanksgiving food and African food.

Definitely go to Epcot on Black Friday for Holidays Around the World and CP.

 

[ariane37]

We've gone Thanksgiving week the last 2 years and also did Epcot on Black Friday both years. It's crowded yes, but we found it very doable and enjoyed the festive atmosphere and love the storytellers. Last year we had Thanksgiving dinner at Trails End over at Fort Wilderness and it was excellent!

 

[disneygolfer1985]

We've gone Thanksgiving week the last 2 years and also did Epcot on Black Friday both years. It's crowded yes, but we found it very doable and enjoyed the festive atmosphere and love the storytellers. Last year we had Thanksgiving dinner at Trails End over at Fort Wilderness and it was excellent!

We probably were at fort wilderness the same time last year. We did Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue last year for thanksgiving.

 

[DisneyDork1969]

Yeah...I would never go to WDW on Thanksgiving Day...that's why I usually plan my trips for after the Holiday...I'll be at AoA from Sun to Sat after Thanksgiving...

Enjoy your trip!!!

John

 

[LovePug]

We are also going Thanksgiving week, for the first time. I'm grateful for all the tips. Thanks!

 

[goofy4tink]

We did our second Thanksgiving trip this past fall. The first time, we actually arrived on Thanksgiving day!!! We hit DHS and it was fairly crowded, returned to our resort to head out to dinner at Chef Mickey's. The next day, my dad and step-mom drove up from the Ft Lauderdale area. We walked over to Epcot when they got there...man, it was shoulder to shoulder!!! I've never seen Epcot like that!!
This past fall, we arrived the Sunday prior to T-giving Day. The parks got more crowded as we got closer to T-giving. The funny thing was that usually the parks are crazy over that weekend (after T day), this year they weren't. Not sure why.
So...my advice...
The storytellers are fun...they are on a set schedule that you can get as you enter the park. You probably won't get to see them all..I would pick and choose. I like Canada, France, and Norway the best. As far as Candlelight Processional goes....that first night (Friday night after T-day) is going to be crazy crowded. Only you can decide if your family will enjoy it. My family loves it. We do it at least once each trip. But, we only do the dining pkg once...we have to eat anyway, so we choose a performance that we really want to sit down and relax at, then make an ADR for the pkg for that performance. Worst case scenario is that you can always just stand behind the theater area and listen (limited viewing due to people in front of you). I tend to stop and listen as I pass by..just for a minute or two.

As far as planning out your days, I would be very tempted to hit MK on Monday, DHS on Tuesday, and MK again on Wed. Decide what are 'must does' at each park...each family is going to have different 'must does' based on their likes and dislikes. Once you know what you want to do, you can plan your dining ADRs for each day. Try to do at least one table service meal a day...you need to sit down and relax a bit! We usually eat a big breakfast around 10ish, and then dinner around 6. But, we don't have any little ones anymore, so we can graze. You can make ADRs 6 months out...you will need to make your Thanksgiving Day ADR as soon as you possibly can...the more popular restaurants fill up quickly! Then, as long as you have a reservation and tickets, you can book your FP+s 60 days prior. Many of us tend to book FPs for later in the day, trying to get stuff done early in the morning. But, with you not having hoppers, that probably isn't going to matter to you.

Have you done your My Disney Experience accts yet? Each person in your group should have one...then, their tickets will be linked to that account. I made them up for each person in my family. Once I made them up, I sent out requests to each of the family members to link with me....via email on the MDE accts. Once they accepted, I could then plan for everyone...makes it sooooo much easier.

 

[dreiwhit]

CP will cause crowds at Epcot to be higher. On our last trip the week after Thanksgiving, my wife overheard several people say the only reason they went Epcot was for CP.

I saw your tentative itinerary. Are you leaving on Saturday, and are you going to drive or fly? On our last trip, we drove down to Orlando on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We saw that northbound traffic on I-75 was horrible after lunch - it was a parking lot from Ocala down I-75 and on to the toll road to Orlando. If you are driving, and that is your route, I would get out of Orlando early and beat the traffic of folks heading home from WDW.

 

[cgattis]

Ok. Thanks. Hopefully before I can book ADR though .... that way I can plan parks by meals kinda and don't have hoppers

This is what I am using to loosely plan an ADR list:

http://www.characterlocator.com/?p=cal_index&mo=11&yr=2016&cweek=4

I don't know if EasyWDW had one for last year and honestly you can't use these calendars like gospel. It's going to be busy. We all know that part

We get to WDW on 11/17 this year. We figure there will be a Christmas party at MK that night, so we'll go there during the day. Here's my very loose plan so far:

FRI--MK
SAT--Epcot
SUN--MK (rope drop til we drop)
MON-- HS
Tues--????
WED--Boma breakfast then AK
THURS-- Epcot/Pool???
FRI--MK in the AM then drive home

This will probably change 5000 times, but we know we will begin and end with MK for sure.

Just wanted to offer this info regarding ADRs.....many places will offer a "special menu" for Thanksgiving Day. A list will appear well before the 180 day mark, telling which restaurants will. HOWEVER, the menus and/or the prices may (probably?) not appear until WELL after the 180-day mark. At that point, if you don't like the offerings, you know it can be tough to find something else in the park or resort you wanted that day. It's so annoying to "have to" book dining at 180, before park hours, but then FP not until 60 out. Just wanted you to be aware that you might have to shuffle.

Also be aware that holiday pricing will be in effect. That, coupled with me not realizing Tusker now has characters at dinner also, put me spending the same amount on a meal there as our fabulous dinner at Cali Grill two nights before!

Hope this at least gives you ammo for your planning.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Just wanted to offer this info regarding ADRs.....many places will offer a "special menu" for Thanksgiving Day. A list will appear well before the 180 day mark, telling which restaurants will. HOWEVER, the menus and/or the prices may (probably?) not appear until WELL after the 180-day mark. At that point, if you don't like the offerings, you know it can be tough to find something else in the park or resort you wanted that day. It's so annoying to "have to" book dining at 180, before park hours, but then FP not until 60 out. Just wanted you to be aware that you might have to shuffle.

Also be aware that holiday pricing will be in effect. That, coupled with me not realizing Tusker now has characters at dinner also, put me spending the same amount on a meal there as our fabulous dinner at Cali Grill two nights before!

Hope this at least gives you ammo for your planning.

I think we've settled on Garden Grill for Thanksgiving. We keep coming back to it, so it will probably be the winner. At least there we will get somewhat "traditional" foods if we decide we do want that.

 

[pookybean]

We've gone Thanksgiving week the last 2 years and also did Epcot on Black Friday both years. It's crowded yes, but we found it very doable and enjoyed the festive atmosphere and love the storytellers. Last year we had Thanksgiving dinner at Trails End over at Fort Wilderness and it was excellent!

We will also be coming Thanksgiving week (18th until 26th). We already planned to stay out of the parks on Thanksgiving day and also have our dinner at Trails End....glad to hear that you enjoyed it!

I was hoping to see the CP on black Friday...along with everyone else it seems! I think we will be ok, we have been at busy times before and just go with the flow. Planning to get a package for this for sure though.

Can't wait!