Questions about the weekend after Thanksgiving

[Matrixleos]

We'll be flying into LA on Wednesday, Nov 27th and spending time with family during Thanksgiving till Saturday, Nov 30th. Here are my questions....

1) We'd love to visit both days but most likely we'd only have an opportunity to visit DLR either on Sunday, Dec 1 or Monday, Dec 2nd. Historically, how busy has Disneyland been after Thanksgiving? Is there a better time to visit either on Sunday or Monday?

2) Will Christmas decorations and snacks be available during that time or is that mostly setup later on in December?

3) If the answer is yes to above, what are some Christmas themed attractions and foods to not miss out on. I know I'd like to visit the Haunted Mansion holiday overlay and try the Mickey shaped gingerbread cookie.

4) Lastly, would a Christmas tree be setup by then?

Thanks for any help, appreciate any feedback.

 

[China Expat]

THat week is all Christmas! Decor, parades, etc. Both of your days will be BUSY.

 

[Lisa24jks]

Christmas always starts in Mid-November, I believe it's the 14th this year, so you'll have everything Christmas themed available to you.

 

[OlliePop27]

As noted, all Christmas decorations will already have been up for multiple weeks. Christmas attractions include Small World Holiday, Haunted Mansion Holiday, Mater's and Luigi's in DCA. The Viva Navidad event at DCA is can't miss, plus the tree lighting, Small World facade lighting, and Castle Lighting at DL.

I recommend going the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. The Monday will be packed. DL is a bit backwards from what you might expect - weekdays are often more crowded than weekends, especially Mondays - the absolute worst day of the week to visit.

 

[Matrixleos]

As noted, all Christmas decorations will already have been up for multiple weeks. Christmas attractions include Small World Holiday, Haunted Mansion Holiday, Mater's and Luigi's in DCA. The Viva Navidad event at DCA is can't miss, plus the tree lighting, Small World facade lighting, and Castle Lighting at DL.

I recommend going the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. The Monday will be packed. DL is a bit backwards from what you might expect - weekdays are often more crowded than weekends, especially Mondays - the absolute worst day of the week to visit.

Thanks for the info. My daughter and I will have a longer visit to DLR in March, so this visit will mostly focus on my niece (6) and nephew (2) as this will be their first visits to any Disney park.

My early plans for now is to try to snag a breakfast time for Goofy's Kitchen (keeping track of reservations 60 days out). We'll then park ourselves in Fantasyland and Toontown the rest of the day. Most everything they can ride will be located there.

Only other thing of interest for us would be Haunted Mansion, Pirates and VQ or LL for Tiana's for my wife/daughter and I.

 

[OlliePop27]

Thanks for the info. My daughter and I will have a longer visit to DLR in March, so this visit will mostly focus on my niece (6) and nephew (2) as this will be their first visits to any Disney park.

My early plans for now is to try to snag a breakfast time for Goofy's Kitchen (keeping track of reservations 60 days out). We'll then park ourselves in Fantasyland and Toontown the rest of the day. Most everything they can ride will be located there.

Only other thing of interest for us would be Haunted Mansion, Pirates and VQ or LL for Tiana's for my wife/daughter and I.

We don't know how Tiana's will work yet since it hasn't opened, but you're probably right it will be VQ. Hopefully, Mansion will be off VQ by December. Pirates is usually pretty easy to ride at various points of the day with minimal waiting.

I personally would not recommend booking a character breakfast on a park day at DLH. Morning is the most precious time of day for short waits and character meals are long. Don't get me wrong, I love Goofy's Kitchen. Try doing it on your arrival night or if you are doing it on a park day, I might recommend a very late lunch (like the latest reservation they have) or earliest dinner at 4:00. It won't be very impactful to miss park time during mid-afternoon when lines are long everywhere. Another option is Plaza Inn inside DL if you do want breakfast, try for the one closest to 11:00.

 

[LKing]

Have you already looked at what is listed on the website? https://disneyland.disney.go.com/events-tours/holidays-at-the-disneyland-resort/

 

[sophy1996]

I agree with OlliePop—don’t waste your golden morning time at Goofy’s. Maybe make a lunch reservation to get a break, but you really want to use the first couple of hours to do rides. And I would pick a Sunday over a Monday every time.

 

[disneychrista]

If the cost & lack of available hotels is any indication the parks will be SLAMMED. Once upon a time the week after Thanksgiving was one of the slowest times to visit during the Christmas season. That doesn't seem to be the case any longer.

 

[maleficent55]

All of that will be available

And yes, the manure mansion is open now with the holiday overlay, you can experience it virtual queue only. Plenty of info on the pages detailing it

My guess is Monday will be busier. Go both!! Always magical

 

[OlliePop27]

And yes, the manure mansion is open now with the holiday overlay, you can experience it virtual queue only. Plenty of info on the pages detailing it

The manure mansion - I don't know if I want to ride that!

 

[maleficent55]

The manure mansion - I don't know if I want to ride that!

Geeez..what a typo!!!! My gosh. I guess I’ll leave it for the laughs

 

[Matrixleos]

Have you already looked at what is listed on the website? https://disneyland.disney.go.com/events-tours/holidays-at-the-disneyland-resort/

Thanks for the link, will have to check it out in detail once I get more time to review it.

 

[Matrixleos]

The manure mansion - I don't know if I want to ride that!

I thought that might be a nickname for the ride, since I read that some people don't like the holiday overlay.

 

[Matrixleos]

I agree with OlliePop—don’t waste your golden morning time at Goofy’s. Maybe make a lunch reservation to get a break, but you really want to use the first couple of hours to do rides. And I would pick a Sunday over a Monday every time.

If it was just my wife and my kids, we'd be rope dropping and staying till park closing. I know how valuable those golden early mornings are with lower wait times. Although we are driving down from LA, in traffic with almost 10+ people. We'll be lucky to hit Mickey and Friends parking by 10am. Plus the group I'm with will do a character breakfast first thing on arrival all together. LOL....they will not be in that mood later on in the day.

This is my niece (6) and nephews (2) first visit, so this trip will mostly be focused on them. I'll be the uncle getting a ton of snacks and if we take a family photo with the tree, Santa and a few characters, they all will be happy. Only rides everyone will do together with the grandparents will be Small World. I'm going to try to talk them into MMRR while in Toontown and willing to get MLL just for that ride for those who want to do it. I mostly going to get MLL for the PhotoPass, as it'd be easy to link it with my Magicband+ and scan for photos throughout the day.

Plus my daughter and I will be back at DLR in March 2025 for a longer trip. So I don't mind skipping items on our November visit to keep the whole family and kids happy.

 

[disneychrista]

I thought that might be a nickname for the ride, since I read that some people don't like the holiday overlay.

I wondered if it was intentional or a typo too.

 

[OlliePop27]

If it was just my wife and my kids, we'd be rope dropping and staying till park closing. I know how valuable those golden early mornings are with lower wait times. Although we are driving down from LA, in traffic with almost 10+ people. We'll be lucky to hit Mickey and Friends parking by 10am. Plus the group I'm with will do a character breakfast first thing on arrival all together. LOL....they will not be in that mood later on in the day.

This is my niece (6) and nephews (2) first visit, so this trip will mostly be focused on them. I'll be the uncle getting a ton of snacks and if we take a family photo with the tree, Santa and a few characters, they all will be happy. Only rides everyone will do together with the grandparents will be Small World. I'm going to try to talk them into MMRR while in Toontown and willing to get MLL just for that ride for those who want to do it. I mostly going to get MLL for the PhotoPass, as it'd be easy to link it with my Magicband+ and scan for photos throughout the day.

Plus my daughter and I will be back at DLR in March 2025 for a longer trip. So I don't mind skipping items on our November visit to keep the whole family and kids happy.

MMRR has a great queue. The kids will love it. I have a 5 and 1 year old and they like waiting in the queue.

You should be able to get tons of LL even with a later arrival. One piece of advice if you do end up doing Goofy's before going to the parks. Have everyone scan in at the monorail station, then immediately leave and head to DLH. This will allow you to start booking LL right away. This will require you to have a DL starting reservation if you have parkhoppers.

 

[disneychrista]

MMRR has a great queue. The kids will love it. I have a 5 and 1 year old and they like waiting in the queue.

You should be able to get tons of LL even with a later arrival. One piece of advice if you do end up doing Goofy's before going to the parks. Have everyone scan in at the monorail station, then immediately leave and head to DLH. This will allow you to start booking LL right away. This will require you to have a DL starting reservation if you have parkhoppers.

They will let you scan in at the monorail station and then NOT actually ride the monorail into the parks?

 

[OlliePop27]

They will let you scan in at the monorail station and then NOT actually ride the monorail into the parks?

Yes! You go through the taps, then simply go to the right and exit instead of walking up onto the platform. You are free to go where you want to - you paid for your tickets! You could have forgotten something or decided to go back into Downtown Disney. No one will care.

 

[maleficent55]

I thought that might be a nickname for the ride, since I read that some people don't like the holiday overlay.

I LOVE the holiday overlay!
I love the original too…

But definitely a typo