Thanksgiving or Christmas

[Jojo Cat Lady]

We have been to Disneyland 6 times in the last 12 years. Now that the two grandsons are in high school, it is difficult to miss school. In 2022, we decided to try Christmas week and it was horrible! I have never seen it so crowded with mobs of people elbow-to-elbow. We are now considering Thanksgiving week. Is it as bad as Christmas? Does it appear crowds are smaller this year with the current economy?

 

[OlliePop27]

We have been to Disneyland 6 times in the last 12 years. Now that the two grandsons are in high school, it is difficult to miss school. In 2022, we decided to try Christmas week and it was horrible! I have never seen it so crowded with mobs of people elbow-to-elbow. We are now considering Thanksgiving week. Is it as bad as Christmas? Does it appear crowds are smaller this year with the current economy?

I went Thanksgiving week 2021 and I didn't think it was very bad. We went the weekend before and left the Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving. There's a lot of complex variables involved as to how crowded it will be - passholder block outs, single day ticket prices, and more. Also, each person measures how crowded it is at Disneyland very differently. I didn't think it was crowded when I went Thanksgiving week, but you might go and think it is crowded - it's highly subjective.

I understand the desire to try to find a lower crowd time, but I would just pick what works best with your schedule and go have a great time. If you plan in advance, get to the parks early for rope drop, stay late, use Lightning Lane, and know what order to do things - then you'll have a great time no matter how crowded it is.

 

[Pluto468]

I'd go with Thanksgiving, especially if your grandsons have that whole week off. You could arrive the weekend before Thanksgiving and the crowds would be better than at Christmas for sure. I know not all school districts do that, though. I still think overall Thanksgiving will be better.

 

[Tinkaboo]

I second that. But since thanksgiving is late this year and that weekend will run into first week of December, I think crowds will be overlapping…and travel back home will be crowded as well. That’s why we moved our annual trip to second week of December to avoid airport crowds (and higher fares!).

It’s a dilemma for sure when you have to accommodate school schedule.

 

[CandyMouse]

I've never been Christmas week, but we have been Thanksgiving week, before and after. We first went Thanksgiving week back in 2017 and thought it was great, it was the first time we saw Christmas decorations, it was busy but really fun! Since then we have gone a couple other times the week before and after and thought it was just as busy. We have the week after planned for this year and decided to do 5 day hoppers so we can enjoy a lot more with a group of 10 this year! A few of them have only been to DL just once and a few have never been at all to any disney park. Anyway sorry to ramble, I think you should go Thanksgiving week, have a great time!!

 

[CandyMouse]

I second that. But since thanksgiving is late this year and that weekend will run into first week of December, I think crowds will be overlapping…and travel back home will be crowded as well. That’s why we moved our annual trip to second week of December to avoid airport crowds (and higher fares!).

It’s a dilemma for sure when you have to accommodate school schedule.

I'd love to hear how your trip goes the second week of December, if it's less crowded than when you usually go.

 

[Tinkaboo]

I'd love to hear how your trip goes the second week of December, if it's less crowded than when you usually go.

Well, I’m not sure it will be less crowded but at least we avoided the crowds at the airports (and the higher airfares for post-Thanksgiving fliers). I did have to buy weekend tickets as my MK (Believe) is blocked so it was more expensive but I’m hoping by missing the Processional weekend and most passes blocked, that the weekend will be good . We’ll see if my plans come to fruition

With Fantasmic only running on weekends, we wanted a shot at getting multiple opportunities to see it. My BFF hasn’t been since its return. Also gives us a chance to see fireworks multiple nights.

 

[China Expat]

I worked in the park in college. THanksgiving Day through the weekend was beyond crowded!