Thanksgiving Crowds?

[Bird-Mom]

What are the crowds like at Thanksgiving? We are scheduled to go 12/9-18, and I'm trying to bump it up a little. I know it is slow after Thanksgiving, but since my dh will be off work anyways and we spent a lot on our turkey dinner this year, I figure why not spend a couple of extra days at Disney?

TIA!

 

[MouseEars4us]

Have you ever been to WDW before? The reason I ask is this. Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times of the year. We have been 3 times before as a family. If we didn't have that prior experience I think we would have felt very overwhelmed... Our observations from Thanksgiving '04

Monday wasn't too bad compared to later in the week, Tuesday the same, Wednesday at MGM, a definate change...more crowded,"packed" is a good word...Thursday at AK also crowded but not as bad as MGM...(we purposely waited to go to AK till Thurs) Friday at Epcot crowded, World SHowcase very crowded... Afternoons in general were the most crowded. But we accomplished alot considering...we booked our meals in advance and many restaurants were turning people away, there was no availability. We used FP to the best possible advantage... and we kept in mind that we had been before and we'd be comming back again...so anything we missed we'd see the next time. So, I guess what I'm saying is, it's doable. With planning and a good mindset. But, there's no getting around it, it's crowded!

By the way, the week after is wonderful...we did that in '97...and if you have any questions I'll be glad to help...

 

[Bird-Mom]

I've been many times although we usually go in February. My dh got a new job which started last month, so no February trip this year. I have been at Christmas and Easter, so I have been when the crowds are bad. Do you think if we arrived on Thanksgiving that the crowds would thin by the weekend? Do the Christmas decorations go up the day after Thanksgiving?

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

We were there Thanksgiving week of 2004. I am so glad we left on Thanksgiving Day. The parks were great Saturday-Monday before Thanksgiving (long hours + only moderate crowds = fun). Tuesday was noticeably more crowded at MGM and MK. Wednesday at MK was -in my experience -unpleasant. I overheard CMs talking about how busy they were expecting it to be Thursday thru Sunday. All in all, it was a great time to go, but I feel smart for having left for home on Thanksgiving Day.

 

[pixieprincessmom]

We were there this past Thanksgiving. Crowds were okay until Thursday. If you do plan to go avoid MK until the crowds thin out. We tried to go there Fri. (it was our last day) the 1st hour or so was okay, then it got unbearable. We hopped to MGM and it was better (still crowded). If you have the time, I'd do it (the more days the better IMO), just expect to have to work around the crowds for a couple of days.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Our only experience going during Thanksgiving was in 2003 and our trip was 12 days long- just letting you know that because it might have made a difference- we weren't expecting to rush and get a ton of things done each day at each park.
However, our FIRST trip was Christmas- in fact our first day at WDW was at MK on Christmas day.... Thanksgiving was NOTHING compared to that. So when the person asked if you'd been there before- they are right that it depends on what you are expecting. If you've never been before- it's probably going to seem very crowded to you. By the same token, if you've been during a busy period (like Christmas in our case)- it's not going to seem all that bad. If you've only gone non-peak times, it's going to seem bad to you. If you are going on a short trip -it's probably going to seem crowded and hectic to you... if you're going on a long trip and can take it slow anyway- it probably won't bother you much.

I would also suggest park hopping tickets- that way you can go to another park if you end up at one that seems too crowded for your taste. We normally don't like to hop much (so time consuming with kids, stroller, etc.) but we did a few times on that Thanksgiving trip and it worked out great. If we went to one park and it was so packed we couldn't enjoy it- we'd go to another and USUALLY the other park was less crowded and more enjoyable. I'd hate to be STUCK at the first park we went to during crowds like that (like if you didn't get the hopping option on your tickets). You could do like we did (if your trip is long enough to allow it) and on most days we'd go to EMH (early in morning) at that park, spend a few hours there but if it got super crowded- we'd either head to another park or go back to the resort for a few hours or head to DTD to shop or go to DQ and such--- then usually spent our evenings at Epcot (since it was open later then).