Some Guidance Needed Please

[Born2Cruz]

We are planning a surprise trip for our sons 13th b-day and had a few questions. We are only planning to go to the parks for two days. So it will be Thanksgiving Week, I've heard it's very busy. We are wondering if Sunday & Monday or Monday & Tuesday would be less crowded. Also has anyone used hotwire recently for their stay? We have found a 2* for a good price but can't figure out what hotel it might be. It has breakfast, pool and high speed internet in the disneyland north area. Any help would be great.

 

[sonnyjane]

Weekends are more crowded, so the Monday and Tuesday would be advised. That said, if you haven't already purchased everything, I would strongly suggest adding at least one more day. During a very busy time of year, two days is not really enough to do everything you'd like, and you'll likely leave wishing you'd had more time.

 

[HydroGuy]

You are going on days before Thanksgiving and not after? I do not think your choice of days there will matter. Based on the past few years all of the days up to TG day will be very crowded. The days after TG (Fri/Sat/Sun) much less so.

If those are your only choices, then make sure you get a good game plan and you can still have a lot of fun.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

It will be very crowded. We have done the whole week of Thanksgiving including the days you are considering for the last three years. There's not really going to be much difference between your day choices, but I might actually go with the Sunday/Monday. Yes, weekends are very busy, Sundays more so than Saturdays, but during Thanksgiving week, I feel that the crowds just keep building and building until they peak on the Wednesday. I think Sunday afternoon/evening will be pretty busy, but Sunday morning might be less busy than Monday or Tuesday morning.

From your post, it sounds to me you may be on a bit of a tight budget. If you can afford to spend a little more though, I would consider at least one of the following. Skip the hotwire hotel and take a look at walking distance hotels on Harbor, pretty much anything from Hojos on the one side of the parks down to Candy Cane Inn on the other. I don't have the map link right here, but it's probably on one of the stickies at the top of the page. You will have a better ability to get to the parks before opening, afternoon breaks will be easier if you can just walk back and forth, and you won't be spending extra time and hassle dealing with transportation options. Two days is going to be really short. You might want to bump your tickets up to three days. This will also get you access to magic morning one day which will be useful if you can get your teenager up and to the lines at the park gates before 7 AM on the Sunday or Tuesday morning. Having three days in the parks will give you enough extra time that you could afford to lose a little more time to transportation and choose a cheaper further away hotel if that's where you want to save money. Whether you go with two day or three day tickets, make sure you choose parkhoppers so that you can go back and forth between the parks each day and maximize the time you do have.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

It will be very crowded. We have done the whole week of Thanksgiving including the days you are considering for the last three years. There's not really going to be much difference between your day choices, but I might actually go with the Sunday/Monday. Yes, weekends are very busy, Sundays more so than Saturdays, but during Thanksgiving week, I feel that the crowds just keep building and building until they peak on the Wednesday. I think Sunday afternoon/evening will be pretty busy, but Sunday morning might be less busy than Monday or Tuesday morning.

From your post, it sounds to me you may be on a bit of a tight budget. If you can afford to spend a little more though, I would consider at least one of the following. Skip the hotwire hotel and take a look at walking distance hotels on Harbor, pretty much anything from Hojos on the one side of the parks down to Candy Cane Inn on the other. I don't have the map link right here, but it's probably on one of the stickies at the top of the page. You will have a better ability to get to the parks before opening, afternoon breaks will be easier if you can just walk back and forth, and you won't be spending extra time and hassle dealing with transportation options. Two days is going to be really short. You might want to bump your tickets up to three days. This will also get you access to magic morning one day which will be useful if you can get your teenager up and to the lines at the park gates before 7 AM on the Sunday or Tuesday morning. Having three days in the parks will give you enough extra time that you could afford to lose a little more time to transportation and choose a cheaper further away hotel if that's where you want to save money. Whether you go with two day or three day tickets, make sure you choose parkhoppers so that you can go back and forth between the parks each day and maximize the time you do have.

I agree with the statement above based on our pre-Thanksgiving trip in 2010. We were very happy that we basically got to ride everything we wanted to as many times as we wanted to on Sunday because the number of people in the park and in the lines increased a great deal on each subsequent day.

 

[kailuagirl]

Your son is gonna have a great birthday surprise for sure!! I agree, if you can add a 3rd day, it would be great, but if not, try to stay as close to the parks as possible so you don't waste anytime going back and forth. Did you check around at different motels directly before checking with hotwire? Many are just a short walk to the parks and you can be there in under 5-7 minutes. Since it is going to be crowded, I'd make your PS as soon as you are allowed to do so

Have fun!!