Thanksgiving at Disney World?

[KaityB]

We are looking into booking a small trip during the Thanksgiving holiday because it's our only option for a small vacation this year. My questions are.... Is it super crowded or manageable? What has been your experience with it? Do the parks do anything special for Thanksgiving Day? I would appreciate any tidbits of advice as well for planning. Thanks so much!

 

[Klayfish]

We are looking into booking a small trip during the Thanksgiving holiday because it's our only option for a small vacation this year. My questions are.... Is it super crowded or manageable? What has been your experience with it? Do the parks do anything special for Thanksgiving Day? I would appreciate any tidbits of advice as well for planning. Thanks so much!

We were there for Thanksgiving in '15 and again just last year. Super crowded or manageable I guess will really depend on your crowd tolerance. It was quite busy, especially MK on Thanksgiving Day, but it's not as busy as Christmas or what I've heard about Spring Break (done Xmas twice, never done spring break). We had a wonderful time each time, the parks are in full holiday dress. I don't recall the parks doing anything special on Thanksgiving Day, other than everyone seems to be in extra good spirits. I'd say have the right mindset...i.e. it'll be busier than a random week in June...and go for it!!

 

[SaintsManiac]

As I have posted on many threads about this: We had a great time last year. It's very busy, so manage expectations, book FPs and pack your patience.

We did Epcot on Thanksgiving Day and I would not have done it any other way. Dinner at Garden Grill was fantastic.

Good luck!

 

[srauseo]

I've done Thanksgiving but it was a few years ago. I remember it being busy but not awful. We also did EPCOT on Thanksgiving and it was great. We had dinner at Biergarten and it was a blast. We were with a big group and we all fit at one long table and all the kids danced. Great memories.

 

[TJA]

We went over Thanksgiving last year and loved it! Just book your FP's for your must-do rides and you'll be fine! I'd also recommend Epcot on Thanksgiving Day for lesser crowds. Parks and resorts were decked out in Christmas spirit/decorations, so it was such a beautiful time to be there. We're hoping to return again this year.

 

[zobow02]

The crowds are very manageable, we've gone a few times during Thanksgiving and it is a very great time to go, crowd wise and weather wise. last time we went during Thanksgiving it was fun however we made the mistake of booking a far away condo offsite (ended up being 30 min away from Disney)
I'm not against staying off site but I suggest staying onsite with the Christmas decorations up in all the resorts! But if you do stay offsite (which is wonderful too!) I would map it out in advance

 

[fairestoneofall]

We went last year and it was the most crowded I've ever experienced (we avoid the most crowded times). We'd been on previous Thanksgivings, but it seems the crowds last year were greater than we'd experienced in the past.

However, if you're willing to get to parks early and stay late, you'll be able to have some less crowded times. We didn't do a park on Thanksgiving--just enjoyed DS and our resort (Shades of Green).

 

[Abbie485]

We are going over Thanksgiving this year as well. The only other holiday we have ever visited over has been Easter, otherwise it has been during low/average crowd seasons. Are crowds Thanksgiving week similar to those over Easter week? We are trying to prepare ourselves for the worst crowd wise, but obviously hoping for the best.

Also, we have a Thanksgiving ADR for Cape May Cafe (we are staying at Beach Club). From what I have read they have their usual seafood options, in addition to some Thanksgiving options. Has anyone ever dined there for Thanksgiving dinner? Is there any other options that you would recommend instead?

Thanks for any insights anyone may have!

 

[Delirium]

We are going Thanksgiving this year as well. Been many times, but the biggest holidays we've previously done were Memorial Day and Columbus Day. Thanksgiving should be a totally different experience, but we are looking forward to it. If we have a good experience this year, it may just become our go-to time.

Staying at Beach Club (first time there). On Thanksgiving Day we're planning on spending the morning at Hollywood Studios and hopping over to MK for Thanksgiving dinner (was able to nab an ADR for Liberty Tree).

 

[kittylady1972]

We've done Thanksgiving week MANY MANY times...probably about every other year for the last 10 years or so. We did Easter for the first time this year...NEVER AGAIN!

We find it doable, if you are willing to do some early morning. Our last trip was in 2016 with my brother and family and two young nephews for their first trip. I didn't push too much for early mornings the first few days, but on Thanksgiving Day (our last full day) I insisted on a 7am out-the-door time and while they initially thought I was crazy...they changed their tune when we had a nearly EMPTY Fantasyland for a while. We've also done just about every other month from Jan-Dec at one time or another. If you are lucky, you'll have weather nice enough to swim...at least we have in the past.

Our go-to for Thanksgiving Dinner is actually BOMA...we love it there and it's great for large groups. This year we will have 15 of us for Thanksgiving Dinner there.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

I see several people are commenting they did Epcot on Thanksgiving day. I guess that park is the best equipped to deal with big crowds crowds so that makes sense. We are planning a New Years Eve trip and we are going to Ecpot for the same reason...there is more space for people to spread out. Id like to go over Thanksgiving at some point ....maybe in 2020 after the Star Wars hype has settled a little. Id like to try to go in 2019 but I dont wnat to be there with ten crazy Star Wars crowds are there

 

[gharter]

its been a couple of years sisnce we were there over Thanksgiving, but it was much less crowded than we expected. Wait times were not bad.
But other weks have seemed more crowded over the last few years and that week may be much more crowded as well.

 

[CynBeth]

We've done Thanksgiving week MANY MANY times...probably about every other year for the last 10 years or so. We did Easter for the first time this year...NEVER AGAIN!

We find it doable, if you are willing to do some early morning. Our last trip was in 2016 with my brother and family and two young nephews for their first trip. I didn't push too much for early mornings the first few days, but on Thanksgiving Day (our last full day) I insisted on a 7am out-the-door time and while they initially thought I was crazy...they changed their tune when we had a nearly EMPTY Fantasyland for a while. We've also done just about every other month from Jan-Dec at one time or another. If you are lucky, you'll have weather nice enough to swim...at least we have in the past.

Our go-to for Thanksgiving Dinner is actually BOMA...we love it there and it's great for large groups. This year we will have 15 of us for Thanksgiving Dinner there.

Boma is where we love Thanksgiving Dinner as well!

 

[disneygolfer1985]

I prefer thanksgiving or Christmas. Thursday-Saturday will be the most crowded but it won’t be awful. I would just avoid the MK on thanksgiving. We did Hoop Dee Doo for dinner in 2016. Previously, we would go to AK in the morning but that was pre-Pandora, so it may not be the best. We went to Epcot last you on Christmas and it was rather empty. There are plenty of things to do to manage the crowds. I would focus on certain holiday specific offerings.

 

[ariane37]

We did Thanksgiving week in 2015 and 2016 and will be there again this year; we LOVE IT. It is not uncrowded but if we found it miserable we wouldn't go back

As the kids have gotten older we've done more "holiday" time trips but never Christmas, however Thanksgiving crowds aren't like that when you look at things like wait times and those scary park crowd pics that make their way around these boards lol. However....

We did Easter for the first time this year...NEVER AGAIN!

We were right there with @kittylady1972 this year, week leading up to Easter, and while we did enjoy our trip overall I will echo her by saying NEVER AGAIN. So definitely I choose Thanksgiving over spring break/Easter!

Our go-to for Thanksgiving Dinner is actually BOMA...we love it there and it's great for large groups. This year we will have 15 of us for Thanksgiving Dinner there.

We will be there, too!!!

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Like many others..........
Did EP
Had good food...including special menu traditional turkey with fixins
Busy........... but if you have FPs, a plan, and reasonable expectations you will enjoy your day.

 

[HollyJoy]

We went over Thanksgiving week in 2015. It was VERY CROWDED.. don't get me wrong, we had a great time, but I 'm not so sure I'd do it again. But if that's the only time you can go, then GO!

 

[mickey0624]

We are looking into booking a small trip during the Thanksgiving holiday because it's our only option for a small vacation this year. My questions are.... Is it super crowded or manageable? What has been your experience with it? Do the parks do anything special for Thanksgiving Day? I would appreciate any tidbits of advice as well for planning. Thanks so much!

We were there on Thanksgiving day last year. It was manageable until about noon. Then got REALLY crowded.

 

[trouttigger]

We spent Thanksgiving Day 2016 at Magic Kingdom & Epcot. We had a 1 day tix from a past trip, so we decided a day at Disney was the thing to do. I carefully planned a great power day from rope drop until closing at midnight. We decided to eat at Tokyo Dining for lunch, which was fun, and let go of the traditional turkey dinner. By planning ahead, we rode and did a lot of things! I feel like Disney manages crowds very well. I think we ate at Kringli Bakeri for dinner. Loved the experience.

 

[sharadoc]

Boma is where we love Thanksgiving Dinner as well!

Our last trip over Thanksgiving was 2016, we've done it a few times before then. BOMA was by far the best Thanksgiving dinner, the didn't take anything away from the regular buffet, then they added in some portable stations with traditional turkey and all the trimmings. We had a very late reservation and literally closed the place down, and they didn't start cleaning up and continued to refill even though there were probably about 6 tables full. They saw we were finishing up some dessert and came and personally asked us if we were finished with the buffet. If we had said no, they would have kept it going just for us!

We've done Trail's End, which gets really crowded and they do take stuff away to accommodate the Thanksgiving meal. We also loved Captain's Grille for Thanksgiving brunch. It was all the standard brunch foods, turkey and ham. I wonder if they'll do that at Ale & Compass?

For the crowds, we found we could do everything we wanted to do with the right fastpasses.