Thanksgiving crowd question

[ChrisMouse]

When do the crowds arrive for Thanksgiving? I know it's totally insane, just wondering when the insanity BEGINS. Do they arrive the weekend before the holiday? What are the Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon like BEFORE turkey day?

Just trying to plan...

TIA to those who have BTDT that week.

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

We're arriving on Thursday the 18th the week before and staying until Tuesday, hoping to avoid MOST of the insanity as well. Very interested to hear what others have to day.

Wave to us. We'll be the family in mouse ears having the time of our lives.

 

[MattDisney]

Last year we arrived on the Thursday before. It was wonderful! We noticed a difference in the crowds starting Saturday. It was bad, just more people. By Tuesday, we could tell it was really getting crowded. It was still manageable with fast pass, but it was really crowded.

 

[cvjw]

We were there last year and the crowds started rolling in the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The crowds were huge, and seem to grow every day until the day we left - the day before Thanksgiving.

 

[twoplustwins]

We were there the full week before Thanksgiving last year. Everyday was great, very low crowds, until the Friday that we left. We spent our last day at MK and by 12:00 the crowds were bad, I would say level 8 or so. We rode a couple more rides and then left. On our way out, it looked like several thousand people arriving by bus, boat, and monorail. The bag check and ticket entrance was WAY backed up. Glad we left when we did.

 

[ChrisMouse]

Thanks for the input.

I'm going to plan accordingly. We'll be there the full week before (We arrive the 13th), and are hoping for lower crowds, but plan on doing our GAD fastpasses for Sunday and Monday since the crowds will be so large by that point.

Maybe I'll do some research and sign up for something like the Family Magic Tour or something those days to make them special despite the crowds.

Thanks everyone!

 

[mnasf]

When do the crowds arrive for Thanksgiving? I know it's totally insane, just wondering when the insanity BEGINS. Do they arrive the weekend before the holiday? What are the Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon like BEFORE turkey day?

Just trying to plan...

TIA to those who have BTDT that week.

My daughters and I come the Wed. before. My parents the Thurs. before. My husband and son on the Sat. before. In the past, my experience is that the crowds arrive on the Sat. before. Our schools have Thanksgiving week off.

 

[jojomoore]

I was one of those people who arrived on the Saturday before Thanksgiving Last year and stayed until the Sunday afterwards. There were quite a few people in MK the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday (the week of TG)but I found that if we arrived by rope drop and used the fast pass system every thing was doable in MK. I noticed fantasyland got really crowded on Sunday around 3:00. However, crowds became unbearable around Magic Kingdom starting on Wednesday - the day before Thanksgiving. We attempted to go to MK thanksgiving night after dining at Chef Mickey's and were shocked at the crowds and left.

Epcot was also really crowded on Wednesday. We visited AK on Thanksgiving Thursday and even though it was crowded we had a great time. We were there at rope drop and headed directly to Everest. My husband and daughter were able to ride it within 15 minutes of opening and got a fast pass to ride it later on this day. We visited HS on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and it was not extremely crowded.

This year we are going to go down on Wedn (the week before Thanksgiving) and leave Wednesday (the day before thanksgiving) to avoid the crowds. My plan is to visit Mk the Thursday and Friday the week before thanksgiving- the first two days of our trip in hopes that the crowds will not be so bad. However MVMCP is this friday night and we have tickets so i guess we will see how crowded it is.

One other note the monorail was also ensanely crowded. I enjoyed the bus rides so much more.

I will never travel by car from Florida to Georgia on I-75 the Sunday after thanksgiving again. Should have taken about 7.5 hour to get home and took 11.5 hours. Now i am a little worried about traveling home the wednesday before thanksgiving.