Need some advice from those who go on Thanksgiving..

[mom of princessx2]

We usually arrive at WDW the Sat or Sun after Thanksgiving but are now planning a longer trip for next year so we will arrive the Wed before Thanksgiving.

How are Thanksgiving crowds?
We bought the PAP so would it be best to go to a waterpark on Thanksgiving day or will they be equally crowded?
Where are the best places for a family to eat Thanksgiving dinner either CS or TS?
Also, we are thinking of doing the SleighRide at FW. The evenings are so magically, at the parks, during the holidays I am wondering if the SleighRide is worth it or is it equally magical.

Love the fact that I can start planning now!!

 

[sisaaliyah]

We were there this past Thanksgiving went to AK from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It wasn't too bad there, but I imagine MK being more popular would be more crowded. I can't answer about the waterparks as we haven't been to a wp since 2008. It would've been to cold for the wp's on this past trip too...never even used the resort pool.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at 'Ohana. It's not your traditional turkey dinner, but the normal 'Ohana meal and that's fine with us since that's what we wanted. Depends what you're looking for though. I don't know a thing about the sleigh ride either, but saw that they've got a carriage ride at POR while chasing after my DD and enjoying Yehaa Bob in the lounge. That could be another idea too for Thanksgiving. We like both the food courts POR and POFR.

 

[MrShiny]

We have done Thanksgiving in the past, so I can give a tiny bit of input. I believe we found that weekend pretty manageable. As I recall, Thanksgiving day was not bad at all.

For Thanksgiving dinner, I think the best traditional settings are Liberty Tree at MK or Artist Point at WL.

 

[mom of princessx2]

Yikes!! Too cold for the pool! I would not have liked that. Must have been colder than normal this year because we usually swim every trip. Good to know that places like POR even have Thanksgiving dinner though that way if I don't make an ADR we could still get it at a CS.

I have heard that Liberty Tree and Artist Point are two of the better places for TS on Thanksgiving. Now to decide......

 

[edk35]

We have been 4 times Thanksgiving week. We have eaten at Chef Mickey's...Planet Hollywood (yes they served a traditional meal lol) and at Coronado Springs when we stayed there. Oh and we ate at Whispering Canyon for one Thanksgiving meal. There will be lots of places that serve a traditional meal. We usually arrived the Thursday or Friday before the actual Thanksgiving holiday. The crowds really pick up around Tuesday and by Wed. its pretty packed at the parks. We usually depart the day after Thanksgiving and one year we left on Thanksgiving night....that was the year we ate at Planet Hollywood. Thanksgiving crowds have definitely increased..... The nice part....all the decorations are up.

 

[Disneydrmr]

My family and I have gone to WDW multiple times during Thanksgiving. The crowds are manageable and you get a nice "kickoff" to the holiday magic.

We wanted a traditional turkey and stuffing holiday meal so we always got an ADR at Liberty Tree.

As far as the sleigh ride goes at Fort Wilderness, as long as you know what you get for your money, I would make my decision based on that. I wanted to do something special as a surprise for my husband so I thought what better way then to go on a "romantic" horse drawn carriage ride. The carriage was decorated to look just like a sleigh. It was decked out in jingle bells and pulled by a gorgeous draft horse. Our driver was very pleasant. What I didn't expect was that your trip is a drive around the RV and trailers to look at their decorations. Don't get me wrong....people do a very nice job of decorating. It just wasn't what I expected. I was hoping for something a little bit more "picturesque". I guess I didn't do my homework!! We both just kind of laughed when the trip was over! I'm glad we did it....but I would probably not do it again.

Either way....I hope you enjoy planning your upcoming trip!! It will be here before you know it!!

 

[nolanboys]

We were there this past Thanksgiving. Went to MK in the morning. It was crowded, but we got FP for Space Mountain and did about 5 other rides. At QS at BOG. Headed back to AKV for some relaxation. My younger two swam and the older two were happy to watch some football. We couldn't get into Liberty Tavern, but made 7:45 reservations at Rose and Crown. We ate outside - although it was a little chilly, they had outdoor heaters, so it was pleasant. It was wonderful to see Illuminations that close. They also had a traditional turkey dinner there that was delicious. I would do it again in a heartbeat. This was the first time in 4 years that I didn't have to cook dinner for the whole extended family. So relaxing!

 

[vinmar4]

We were there this past Thanksgiving. Went to MK in the morning. It was crowded, but we got FP for Space Mountain and did about 5 other rides. At QS at BOG. Headed back to AKV for some relaxation. My younger two swam and the older two were happy to watch some football. We couldn't get into Liberty Tavern, but made 7:45 reservations at Rose and Crown. We ate outside - although it was a little chilly, they had outdoor heaters, so it was pleasant. It was wonderful to see Illuminations that close. They also had a traditional turkey dinner there that was delicious. I would do it again in a heartbeat. This was the first time in 4 years that I didn't have to cook dinner for the whole extended family. So relaxing!

I'm soo looking forward to have the same experiene this year since I'm the one always doing most of the cooking including extended family! ;

 

[dismom75]

As far as the sleigh ride goes at Fort Wilderness, as long as you know what you get for your money, I would make my decision based on that. I wanted to do something special as a surprise for my husband so I thought what better way then to go on a "romantic" horse drawn carriage ride. The carriage was decorated to look just like a sleigh. It was decked out in jingle bells and pulled by a gorgeous draft horse. Our driver was very pleasant. What I didn't expect was that your trip is a drive around the RV and trailers to look at their decorations. Don't get me wrong....people do a very nice job of decorating. It just wasn't what I expected. I was hoping for something a little bit more "picturesque". I guess I didn't do my homework!! We both just kind of laughed when the trip was over! I'm glad we did it....but I would probably not do it again.

QUOTE]

So, were a lot of the campgrounds decorated on Thanksgiving day? Opposite of you, I think that's the only way my 2 kids would really enjoy the ride...being able to look at lots of light! So, that's what I'm hoping for!

 

[MinnieGi]

We like going Thanksgiving week and have done so at least 5 times. Generally we do not go into a park on T-day and if we do, we avoid MK. We usually make it a day we do other Disney things like horseback riding, golfing, water parks if warm enough, rent boats at one of the marinas. We do T-day dinner at one of the resorts. Almost all the restaurants in the whole resort put out thanksgiving options even places like BOMA, which we ate at T-day 2011 and all enjoyed a bunch!! It was great b/c there were traditional T-day options plus the usual BOMA option, we all liked it very much.

Another year we did HDDR for T-day dinner. That might go well with your intention of doing a sleigh ride over in the campground!

 

[amypetecar]

Ive gone over thanksgiving twice and love it.

We have gone to animal kingdom both years and as long as you get there early, crowds are not an issue at all. In fact i would say thanksgiving crowds at ak or epcot are pretty easy. Id worry more about the crowds on the friday and saturday after thanksgiving

 

[brertoad]

We were at AK on Thanksgiving last year, it was horrible. It was really crowded, everyone was trying to watch the parade floats, and they were cramming people into single-file lines trying to move through the Africa-Asia sections and it was a nightmare. We won't be doing that again, it was a stupid idea to try to go to AK on Thanksgiving to get something to eat... Won't be doing that again.

Not sure about the other parks, but I'm guessing the main theme parks, MK, HS, and Epcot will be crowded, and worse during any parades. Water parks...not sure, but with the PAP, you can try it and see without spending any extra money.

 

[jjbescher]

We were there this past year for Thanksgiving. We went to MK in the morning, not bad at all. Ate at Hollywood and Vine, they had Turkey for Thanksgiving. The only reason we chose H&V was because we wanted to see the Osborne Lights and the only night we had a chance to was Thanksgiving night. It was busy, but I was able to walk onto Star Tours.

The parks were already decorated for Christmas.