Thanksgiving time, which park what day.... please help!

[jinsally]

Hello,

I'm traveling this year during Thanksgiving with my family (DH, DW(Me), DS(9) and DS(5, who's turning 6 in early December and this is his first time!). We arrive on the day of Thanksgiving and leave the Wednesday after. I'm an over-planner and I'm literally losing sleep over which park to go which day especially because my 180 ADR time is fast approaching! We have 5day non-hopper, one bonus Disney Quest ticket and I'm planning to also purchase MVMCP ticket for Tuesday after. We are staying at Polynesian; picked mainly for the convenience (have requested Rarotonga monorail side to be near monorail and TTC)


11/26(THXGIVING day): Arrival @ hotel around 4:30PM
EPCOT EMH till 11PM to use 3 FP+ OR Disney Quest DAY?

11/27(Friday): MK rope drop till close with 3 hour resort break in between.

11/28 (Saturday): AK arrive late and stay all day till closing

11/29 (Sunday): EPCOT OR DHS (EMH 10PM) arrive@ rope drop till closing with resort break*
* is a resort break possibility between DHS and Poly??*
*Should DHS be avoided because of EMH?*

11/30 (Monday): EPCOT OR DHS depending on what I pick on Sunday

12/1 (Tuesday): MK @ rope drop OR Disney Quest morning, then MVMCP afternoon

Any recommendations appreciated! TIA!!!

 

[Belle & Ariel]

This is what I would do:
Thurs DQ You will not have much time at Epcot after a 4:30 arrival. Many of the performers in the countries end about that time. Christmas around the World with the holiday shows and Candlelight Processional will not have begun.
Fri as you planned
Saturday personally I would go at rope drop till early afternoon then resort a few hours then back till close. We like to do the safari early morning then throughout the day. Animals vary throughout and you have better chance of seeing more.
Sunday I would go to Epcot. EMH at DHS is very crowded because there is not alot to do.
Monday DHS
Tuesday You could do Epcot. It was on your list for Thanksgiving but I suggested Disney Quest that day. I was surprised you chose it twice with the age of your kids. I love it but they might prefer a second time at AK or DHS. I don't know if I would use a day to get into MK on a party day. You can get into the MVMCP at 4:00. If you are leaving later on Wednesday I would use your 5th day then. Let your kids sleep in and have a resort day or shop the outlet malls before going to MVMCP. At their age it might be hard to start RP at MK and be there till midnight. BUT---party days at MK usually have low crowds during the day.
Hope this helps.

 

[itchin2go]

I went during Thanksgiving week last year.

I used easywdw.com's crowd calendars to choose my days and we had a great trip.

http://www.easywdw.com/category/calendar/11-november-2015-crowd-calendar/

If you read his analysis, you'll see which park is MOST recommended for each day. We had a great trip. It didn't even feel busier than normal to us.

For 5 days, we would do 2 MK days, 2 EP days and then the last day would maybe be 1/2 AK (morning) and 1/2 DHS (evening). My family finds little to do in AK/DHS. Other familiies are different.

With regard to resort breaks, we take breaks almost every day and we stay OFFsite! So breaking from DHS to the Poly is eminently doable. Our breaks are at least 4 hours, for what it's worth. We tour until lunch time, have lunch at the park, and then break for the afternoon, and return in the evening for dinner.

At Epcot, I believe Candlelight Processional starts the Friday after Thanksgiving if that's something you're interested in.

FWIW, on Thanksgiving day, we took it easy, had a mid-morning breakfast at Boma and then went to DHS that evening for a dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby. We saw Osborne lights afterward and used FP+ to ride a couple of pre-booked rides (Toy Story Mania and Star Tours). It was a very nice night. I highly recommend seeing Osborne lights!

Edited to add: You will need to make you're Thanksgiving Day dining reservations as soon as your window opens up. The other days won't be so hard, but that day books up fast.

 

[beck00]

We'll be there the whole week and plan to use easywdw.com's crowd calendar. The feedback is overwhelming positive from those who've used it in the past years.

 

[jinsally]

This is what I would do:
Thurs DQ You will not have much time at Epcot after a 4:30 arrival.
Hope this helps.

Thank you so much for your suggestions! I will do DQ on arrival, skip HS EMS per your suggestion! I think I'm going to leave the MVMCP party morning open for kids to choose since it'll be our last full day and they would've tried every park!

I went during Thanksgiving week last year.

With regard to resort breaks, we take breaks almost every day and we stay OFFsite! So breaking from DHS to the Poly is eminently doable. Our breaks are at least 4 hours, for what it's worth. We tour until lunch time, have lunch at the park, and then break for the afternoon, and return in the evening for dinner.

At Epcot, I believe Candlelight Processional starts the Friday after Thanksgiving if that's something you're interested in.

FWIW, on Thanksgiving day, we took it easy, had a mid-morning breakfast at Boma and then went to DHS that evening for a dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby. We saw Osborne lights afterward and used FP+ to ride a couple of pre-booked rides (Toy Story Mania and Star Tours). It was a very nice night. I highly recommend seeing Osborne lights!

Edited to add: You will need to make you're Thanksgiving Day dining reservations as soon as your window opens up. The other days won't be so hard, but that day books up fast.

So glad mid-day breaks are doable; especially 4 hours! I'm definitely going to try to see the Candlelight Processional as well as Osborne lights. I want to do everything related to xmas! I have not decided where to eat yet but once I decide and ADR begins, I will keep in mind to make Thanksgiving first!

Thanks!!!

We'll be there the whole week and plan to use easywdw.com's crowd calendar. The feedback is overwhelming positive from those who've used it in the past years.

Happy planning! They say thanksgiving is a great time to visit for xmas decorations! Maybe we'll see you there!

 

[wehrengrizz]

Hello,

I'm traveling this year during Thanksgiving with my family (DH, DW(Me), DS(9) and DS(5, who's turning 6 in early December and this is his first time!). We arrive on the day of Thanksgiving and leave the Wednesday after. I'm an over-planner and I'm literally losing sleep over which park to go which day especially because my 180 ADR time is fast approaching! We have 5day non-hopper, one bonus Disney Quest ticket and I'm planning to also purchase MVMCP ticket for Tuesday after. We are staying at Polynesian; picked mainly for the convenience (have requested Rarotonga monorail side to be near monorail and TTC)


11/26(THXGIVING day): Arrival @ hotel around 4:30PM
EPCOT EMH till 11PM to use 3 FP+ OR Disney Quest DAY?

11/27(Friday): MK rope drop till close with 3 hour resort break in between.

11/28 (Saturday): AK arrive late and stay all day till closing

11/29 (Sunday): EPCOT OR DHS (EMH 10PM) arrive@ rope drop till closing with resort break*
* is a resort break possibility between DHS and Poly??*
*Should DHS be avoided because of EMH?*

11/30 (Monday): EPCOT OR DHS depending on what I pick on Sunday

12/1 (Tuesday): MK @ rope drop OR Disney Quest morning, then MVMCP afternoon

Any recommendations appreciated! TIA!!!

You're speaking my language with this post! We're going Nov27th (later arrival, no actual park stuff that day), leaving Dec 3...too early to do anything. I am having serious issues picking our days too! we are not doing MVMCP b/c of a large family, too much cost to do it this time...so trying to hit MK on a NON party day! Our crew is my husband and me, my mom (her first time!!), our DS9 (turning 10 on Nov 30th while we're there! ), DS6, DD4, DD2, and D???4months! whew!

I'm so lost on what to do which day, been scouring easywdw too and trying to pick a few ADRs but obviously need parks first haha!

Happy planning to you and I'll definitely be checking back on here

 

[jinsally]

You're speaking my language with this post! We're going Nov27th (later arrival, no actual park stuff that day), leaving Dec 3...too early to do anything. I am having serious issues picking our days too! we are not doing MVMCP b/c of a large family, too much cost to do it this time...so trying to hit MK on a NON party day! Our crew is my husband and me, my mom (her first time!!), our DS9 (turning 10 on Nov 30th while we're there! ), DS6, DD4, DD2, and D???4months! whew!

I'm so lost on what to do which day, been scouring easywdw too and trying to pick a few ADRs but obviously need parks first haha!

Happy planning to you and I'll definitely be checking back on here

Congrats with your soon to be D?!!!! How exciting!! I'm exactly on the same boat, must pick the parks fast because the ADR ressie is fast approaching!! I'm going to go with Belle&Ariel's recommendations and do 27MK, 28AK, 29EP, 30HS and then let kids pick the last park before MVMCP.

Happy planning! I will keep my eyes open for a family with 4 months old!!!

 

[wehrengrizz]

Congrats with your soon to be D?!!!! How exciting!! I'm exactly on the same boat, must pick the parks fast because the ADR ressie is fast approaching!! I'm going to go with Belle&Ariel's recommendations and do 27MK, 28AK, 29EP, 30HS and then let kids pick the last park before MVMCP.

Happy planning! I will keep my eyes open for a family with 4 months old!!!

Thank you
(Entirely irrelevant, but the DD2 is actually DS2 ha! that's him in my picture, from our trip in Feb14 when he was 9mo.) I like the recommendations except since we get in too late on 27th I have to kind of shift everything. I'm afraid of MK on a saturday, and my DH doesn't want to do AK at all this trip--thinking 28EP, 29HS (star wars jedi training i hope for our birthday boy!), 30MK, and no idea on 1st and 2nd! so much planning, so little time...and none of the munchkins knows about the trip so my planning windows are small during the day

 

[peacefulmama]

Our dates are similar, we arrive the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and we're staying at the Contemporary. We're traveling with a large group and some are only staying until Sunday (we are staying until the following Wednesday) so we will hit a day or two that we're not in the recommended park so that those leaving early have a chance to do their "must dos" We have 4 girls under 8 with us so we're spending a lot of time at MK
Our preliminary schedule:
Wednesday: land at 12:30, MK late afternoon until 8 or 9pm
Thursday: Epcot at rope drop, future world only, hotel for swimming and hopefully Ohana for dinner
Friday: MK at rope drop until dinner with BBB in there somewhere, dinner at a monorail resort, fireworks (if the kids can stay up)
Saturday: sleep in, hit AK by mid morning
Sunday: MK at rope drop, hotel for swimming after lunch, possibly HS for Osborne Lights
Monday: Epcot at rope drop through dinner
Tuesday: Our last day in the parks. I'm planning on getting FP for MK but after we use those the kids will get to decide the rest of the day.

 

[jinsally]

Our dates are similar, we arrive the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and we're staying at the Contemporary. We're traveling with a large group and some are only staying until Sunday (we are staying until the following Wednesday) so we will hit a day or two that we're not in the recommended park so that those leaving early have a chance to do their "must dos" We have 4 girls under 8 with us so we're spending a lot of time at MK
Our preliminary schedule:
Wednesday: land at 12:30, MK late afternoon until 8 or 9pm
Thursday: Epcot at rope drop, future world only, hotel for swimming and hopefully Ohana for dinner
Friday: MK at rope drop until dinner with BBB in there somewhere, dinner at a monorail resort, fireworks (if the kids can stay up)
Saturday: sleep in, hit AK by mid morning
Sunday: MK at rope drop, hotel for swimming after lunch, possibly HS for Osborne Lights
Monday: Epcot at rope drop through dinner
Tuesday: Our last day in the parks. I'm planning on getting FP for MK but after we use those the kids will get to decide the rest of the day.

Your Friday and Saturday plans are very similar to mine

Do you think the weather will be okay for swimming? I'm dying to try out the new pool at Poly but I'm afraid the weather in Nov/Dec won't be warm enough I noticed you have 2 swimming afternoons scheduled!

 

[peacefulmama]

Your Friday and Saturday plans are very similar to mine

Do you think the weather will be okay for swimming? I'm dying to try out the new pool at Poly but I'm afraid the weather in Nov/Dec won't be warm enough I noticed you have 2 swimming afternoons scheduled!

We'll be coming from Wisconsin, as long as it's not snowing we're planning on braving the pool at least once! The pools are heated so if we need to swim and then run to our room to warm up I'm willing to do that

 

[wehrengrizz]

We'll be coming from Wisconsin, as long as it's not snowing we're planning on braving the pool at least once! The pools are heated so if we need to swim and then run to our room to warm up I'm willing to do that

we're from North Dakota, so yeah, pretty much kids won't be able to be kept OUT of the pool at least once

 

[asbyrneva]

Hi
We do thanksgiving every year. Glad to hear from all the planners. Remember the Nov. dates will change between now and then. MK usually has an 8 am rope drop (currently still listed as 9) on Friday and Saturday the last few years. Also EMH ends up being at 7 at MK (historically Thanksgiving day) when RD is at 8.

Also Animal Kingdom has an 8 am start that week historically and a 7 am EMH.



Happy planning!

 

[wehrengrizz]

I know we've all probably "finished" prepping but I was curious how everyone's plans turned out!
Ours changed a bit, we were able to get an earlier flight in on Thanksgiving, so now our plans are roughly this:
26: arrive midafternoon, Pop
27: Boma bfast, non park day, my mom arrives as a "second tier surprise" as our kids don't know about the trip OR her joining , planning to do some resort hopping to see decorations
28: EPCOT rope drop to close
29: MK (can't believe we're waiting SO Many days to get here haha) rope drop to kick out at 7p (MVMCP is too much $ )
30: DHS (DS's 10th bday, but sadly looks like no Jedi Training Academy w/ the closure, bummer as this was a HUGE draw to doing this vacation at all) rope drop to close --first time seeing F!, hoping they add in a 2nd showing
01: AK (at first thought we'd skip this park, my DH said he had no reason to want to go, and I've never been to it) rope drop to (maybe) close
02: MK rope drop to close (haha maybe, maaaybe earlier since I think it's EHM till midnight now), finally getting to see MSEP and Wishes! we also have a lunchtime ADR at Whispering Canyon Cafe
03: fly out kind of late, not sure what we'll do this day, maybe swim or DTD for a bit before Tragical Express takes us back to MCO

 

[CynBeth]

We were pretty lucky with FPs but we are not big thrill ride people so that might have helped. Our hardest had been ADRs. Because of food allergies with a few people in our party we have to eat just about all meals TS. And we are doing a split stay and could not do all ressies at once as had to wait until 180 days of second resort so in order to get all we wanted we have some days where we are at one park and then late afternoon have to go to another park for dinner.

11/20 - arrive early morning. Not sure what we are doing other than dinner at Tony's and MVMCP.
11/21 - breakfast at WCC. Offsite at SW
11/22 - EP FW Day. Breakfast at Kona Cafe. Lunch at CR. Dinner at Le Cellier.
11/23 - MK Day but Dinner at DHS - Breakfast at CP. Lunch undecided. Dinner at 50's PTC and see Osbourne Lights.
11/24 - EPCOT WS Day - Breakfast at Trail's End. Lunch at Tutto Italia. Dinner at Spirit of Aloha. Might do MSEP and Wishes.
11/25 - AK Day. Breakfast at TH. Lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Go to Disney Springs to walk around and dinner at Fulton's. Might do MSEP and Wishes if did not work out the day before.
11/26 - Thanksgiving! Breakfast and dinner at Boma. Might just spend time at resort or might go to AK for a little bit if we did not get to do everything there the day before. Go to DHS for Osbourne Lights again and Fantasmic.
11/27 - EPCOT Holiday Festivities Day. Breakfast at Captain's Grille. Lunch at Beaches. See the Storytellers. Dinner at Chefs for CP package for 8:15 pm show.
11/28 - DHS Day and Dinner at MK. Breakfast at Boma. Lunch at HBD. Dinner at BOG. Might see MSEP and Wishes if did not get to or might see again.
11/29 - Fly home early.

 

[jknicholas]

some of you all have some great itineraries!! we are doing Thanksgiving for the first time there this year, so i dont know quite what to expect Crowd wise. We've only gone in early November each time.

11/24 - arrive early AM, check in POR, Epcot for the day - Crown & Rose for lunch, Coral Reef dinner
11/25 - AK in the AM, lunch @ Mama Melrose @ DHS, Osbourne Lights and a very late dinner at Trattoria al Forno on Boardwalk
11/26 - THANKSGIVING! MK all day, BoG dinner
11/27 - Early ADR Breakfast at BoG, maybe park hop after breakfast if possible and Earl of Sandwich at DTD before flying out 8pm

Anyone think I am nuts for doing MK on Thursday?

 

[wehrengrizz]

some of you all have some great itineraries!! we are doing Thanksgiving for the first time there this year, so i dont know quite what to expect Crowd wise. We've only gone in early November each time.

11/24 - arrive early AM, check in POR, Epcot for the day - Crown & Rose for lunch, Coral Reef dinner
11/25 - AK in the AM, lunch @ Mama Melrose @ DHS, Osbourne Lights and a very late dinner at Trattoria al Forno on Boardwalk
11/26 - THANKSGIVING! MK all day, BoG dinner
11/27 - Early ADR Breakfast at BoG, maybe park hop after breakfast if possible and Earl of Sandwich at DTD before flying out 8pm

Anyone think I am nuts for doing MK on Thursday?

That looks great too! I'm not sure I'd want to do MK on Thanksgiving (or any part of that weekend haha) since we've got 5 kids, but that's why we are doing more the following week not really on the holiday weekend. I was just impressed with your BOG dinner at MK on Thanksgiving! Awesome! I'd bet that will be extra magical
are you going to have a car? I'm asking b/c we leave late on our day too, and I'm trying to figure out what to do, and where to get back on the Tragical Express...attempt DTD and then get back to Pop? hmmm

Best thing is it's coming FAST now

 

[jknicholas]

That looks great too! I'm not sure I'd want to do MK on Thanksgiving (or any part of that weekend haha) since we've got 5 kids, but that's why we are doing more the following week not really on the holiday weekend. I was just impressed with your BOG dinner at MK on Thanksgiving! Awesome! I'd bet that will be extra magical
are you going to have a car? I'm asking b/c we leave late on our day too, and I'm trying to figure out what to do, and where to get back on the Tragical Express...attempt DTD and then get back to Pop? hmmm

Best thing is it's coming FAST now

We dont have any kids yet, but you never know for next trip!
This is our first time out of our 5 Disney trips to actually stay AT Disney. So we are doing the "Tragical Express" or as I saw someone else call it, the Magical "Depress"
No car for us - so we are going to play the whole Friday by ear, see where we have to load up and what time for the ME bus and go from there.
I couldnt tell you HOW i got that BoG on Turkey Day, I just know it was a PITA to get but I was set to get it!
I am trying to make this trip extra special as DW lost her mother unexpectedly this past summer so I am trying to pull out all the stops - I've never lost a parent but I am sure the first holidays are always the toughest! Even got something from Disney Floral to be delivered during our short trip

In your (or others) opinions, without kids, will Mk be that bad at Turkey Day? I see lots of people refer to expect summer waits but we've never been so I cant judge. I think the longest ride in mid-November we've ever had was Aerosmith when they only ran 2 cars as opposed to 3.

 

[jinsally]

We dont have any kids yet, but you never know for next trip!
This is our first time out of our 5 Disney trips to actually stay AT Disney. So we are doing the "Tragical Express" or as I saw someone else call it, the Magical "Depress"
No car for us - so we are going to play the whole Friday by ear, see where we have to load up and what time for the ME bus and go from there.
I couldnt tell you HOW i got that BoG on Turkey Day, I just know it was a PITA to get but I was set to get it!
I am trying to make this trip extra special as DW lost her mother unexpectedly this past summer so I am trying to pull out all the stops - I've never lost a parent but I am sure the first holidays are always the toughest! Even got something from Disney Floral to be delivered during our short trip

In your (or others) opinions, without kids, will Mk be that bad at Turkey Day? I see lots of people refer to expect summer waits but we've never been so I cant judge. I think the longest ride in mid-November we've ever had was Aerosmith when they only ran 2 cars as opposed to 3.

Your Posting just made me cry ... What a great husband your wife has!! When the flowers arrive, have some tissues in your hands.. she'll need them!

 

[jknicholas]

Your Posting just made me cry ... What a great husband your wife has!! When the flowers arrive, have some tissues in your hands.. she'll need them!

thank you for the kind words, and apologies for the tears! I can't wait! I ended up having to call up today before I forgot just to confirm, they told me the Disney Floral Dept is closed on Thanksgiving so my 2-day package is being delivered all in 1 day but no sweat there.