Thanksgiving tips wanted!

[kgkmom]

Hi all!

Just booked a trip for Thanksgiving week and am looking for suggestions for the Turkey Day meal. We'll be a fairly large group (10 or 11 possibly). I think we'll be looking for a fairly traditional meal (turkey, stuffing, veggies, etc.).

Which places have you loved, and which places would you avoid at all costs?

How soon should we book the restaurant?

TIA!

Sarah

 

[carrie1626]

My only experiences are at The Cape May Cafe in The Beach Club Resort in 2004 and 2006 so that's awhile ago. It's a buffet and still has all the traditional offerings. We LOVED it both times

My tip to you is:

Stay out of the parks( too crazy, too crowded on that day)
make your ADR at the 180 day out- with your group size do not delay

 

[Praying Colonel]

Hi all!

Just booked a trip for Thanksgiving week and am looking for suggestions for the Turkey Day meal. We'll be a fairly large group (10 or 11 possibly). I think we'll be looking for a fairly traditional meal (turkey, stuffing, veggies, etc.).

Which places have you loved, and which places would you avoid at all costs?

How soon should we book the restaurant?

TIA!

Sarah

We were there for Thanksgiving 2009. Just about every TS restaurant serves Thanksgiving dinner in some form or fashion that day, so don't sweat finding someplace you can get the traditional meal.

We lucked out and got a lunch ADR at LeCellier. They were serving their dinner menu all day, plus a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey and the trimmings. The traditional meal was also on their prix fixe menu that day, so I got the cheddar cheese soup and a dessert to go along with the absolutely fabulous Thanksgiving meal they served. I highly recommend it, but my guess is the LeCellier lunch is now going to be the toughest ADR at WDW since it's 1 TS credit and dinner is 2.

BTW, I would respectfully disagree with staying out of the parks on Thanksgiving day. With some planning it is manageable. We did Epcot on Thanksgiving, which is a larger park that can handle crowds a little better, IMHO. We were there at rope drop, did the FW attractions without a problem, then had lunch and moved on to WS. Great day!

 

[prncess674]

Don't get stuck on traditional foods and just pick a restaurant that appeals to you. I haven't been in WDW for Thanksgiving, but I have been in many different countries with friends and family for Thanksgiving. The most important thing is that you are together and are thankful for those around you. The most different for me was celebrating in Istanbul, I was with a group of friends and we definitely weren't eating turkey and dressing, yet it is one of my fave Thanksgiving memories since I was with friends and we all went around the table and told our family traditions and what we were thankful for on that day.

If turkey and trimmings are important then cook a turkey when you get home and make a new memory in WDW.

 

[Reese2]

We had an amazing Thanksgiving Day in 2010. We were at MK as soon as they opened and stayed until about 11 when the crowds piled in. Went back to AKL and then had an early dinner (5ish) at Boma which was amazing! It has something for everyone, even my very picky son. There was a photographer taking pics by the big Christmas tree after dinner, then we headed to DHS for the Osbourne Dancing Lights. It was truly a magical day for all and there were 6 in our party. Enjoy your Thanksgiving at Disney! What a fun time to go.

 

[tink519]

We also did Epcot for our Thanksgiving Day trip in 2009. It was fantastic, wasn't overly crowded and we got to do everything. We had a group of 19 and had ADR's at Rose & Crown for dinner. We were seated at about 7:30 and were able to go to the private viewing area for Illumination and then back inside for our dessert. They offered a traditional Thanksgiving meal in addition to the regular menu.

From what I remember, I made some of the ADR's for that week on-line but I couldn't make reservations on-line for Thanksgiving, so I was on the phone at 7 am on the first day of ADR's (I think it may have been 90 days then...180 now) to make sure I got them.

Have a fantastic time!

 

[Telcogirl]

We ate at the Captain's Grille for our Thanksgiving trip in 2009. There were 9 in our party. The food and the service was very good. The meal was served buffet style and there was plenty of traditional turkey day dishes to choose from.

It was a nice location because after dinner we all just walked around to the Boardwalk and hung out there for a while.

We are going back this year and are hoping to try 1900 Park Faire this time. You won't be able to make your reservation until 180 days before your check-in date.

 

[RescueRanger]

My only experiences are at The Cape May Cafe in The Beach Club Resort in 2004 and 2006 so that's awhile ago. It's a buffet and still has all the traditional offerings. We LOVED it both times

My tip to you is:

Stay out of the parks( too crazy, too crowded on that day)
make your ADR at the 180 day out- with your group size do not delay

This! We ate at Cape may last Thanksgiving. We loved it. Just as this poster stated, it has the traditional items as well as non traditional like seafood. The desserts were to die for. Oreo bon-bons...Yum!

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

We did a large group Thanksgiving (14 of us) in 2009 at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. Terrible terrible terrible!!!

We all like this place, but I guess they weren't prepared for large groups. We sat on the balcony out the back side and had the most horrible waitress. Wish I could remember her name because she was sooo bad!!!

The food was terrible. They were horrible about bringing any refills of food or drink. Did I mention how disappointed we were?

Again, we do like WCC on a regular basis, so it wasn't a matter of not liking the place based on reputation. I would just honestly have to tell you to stay away from this place on Thanksgiving!

 

[eah7]

We were this past Thanksgiving. We ate at Cape May. They had traditional Thanksgiving dinner as well as much of their typical buffet. We never felt rushed and we ate around 6 pm. We typically go at Thanksgiving and all the restaurants have offered Thanksgiving dinner and other foods as well.
I agree with a pp who suggested you pick what restaurant you want and you should be fine.

HTH

 

[kgkmom]

We did a large group Thanksgiving (14 of us) in 2009 at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. Terrible terrible terrible!!!

We all like this place, but I guess they weren't prepared for large groups. We sat on the balcony out the back side and had the most horrible waitress. Wish I could remember her name because she was sooo bad!!!

The food was terrible. They were horrible about bringing any refills of food or drink. Did I mention how disappointed we were?

Again, we do like WCC on a regular basis, so it wasn't a matter of not liking the place based on reputation. I would just honestly have to tell you to stay away from this place on Thanksgiving!

Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for posting this! I was going to suggest WCC to my brother because I had such a great time there last year for my DD's birthday. Think I'll stay away with such a large group.

Cape May and Captain's Grille sound great-we have big time seafood lovers in the family. We've eaten at Rose & Crown quite a bit, and we do like it very much, but I think I'd rather do something a bit different this year.

Has anyone eaten at Liberty Tree Tavern for turkey day? Do you know if they do anything "colonial"? If so, is it any good?

 

[RescueRanger]

Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for posting this! I was going to suggest WCC to my brother because I had such a great time there last year for my DD's birthday. Think I'll stay away with such a large group.

Cape May and Captain's Grille sound great-we have big time seafood lovers in the family. We've eaten at Rose & Crown quite a bit, and we do like it very much, but I think I'd rather do something a bit different this year.

Has anyone eaten at Liberty Tree Tavern for turkey day? Do you know if they do anything "colonial"? If so, is it any good?

We went to DHS for a couple of hours first thing T-giving morning, and then we got the heck out of dodge. We wanted no part of the holiday crowds in the parks. If your group likes seafood, then Cape May will have something for everyone. My wife could have eaten nothing but the crablegs and still been happy.