Thanksgiving Trip - Crowd Levels?

[ej119]

Hi All,

I get the entire week of Thanksgiving off from work, so we're thinking of making a trip that Sunday through Wednesday. What are crowd levels like then?

I've never seen DL decorated for the holidays so I'm excited!

 

[Phoenixrising]

The Mon and Tues will have very heavy crowds. The day before Thanksgiving the crowds will be much lighter than earlier in the week. On Thanksgiving Day, the crowds will be very light. If you are thinking about a special meal, the Blue Bayou does a special Thanksgiving day meal, but be advised that you need to book it 60 days out to get a reservation.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I guess everybody's perceptions of busy and not-busy are different. We have been for Thanksgiving week each of the last 8 years, arriving as early as Saturday before Thanksgiving and leaving as late as Saturday after Thanksgiving. I would not call any day of that week a "very light" crowd day. I am usually pleasantly surprised that the Saturday before Thanksgiving isn't as bad as I expect it will be. Crowds start to pick up on Sunday, and Monday-Wednesday are very busy. Thanksgiving can also be very busy but the crowds seem to ebb and flow more. Things quiet down when people are eating and digesting I think. Friday after Thanksgiving is more crowded and busy than Thanksgiving itself. DCA is usually more pleasant and can seem downright quiet on Thanksgiving Day, and I have noticed this trend on other holidays. For a holiday, the bulk of the crowds seems to prefer to spend most of their time in Disneyland park. For perspective, Disney offered early entry to hotel guests every day of Thanksgiving week last year, a practice previously reserved for the 2 weeks of Christmas and New Year's which are considered to be the very busiest days of the year at Disneyland.

I would rank Thanksgiving as less busy than the two weeks surrounding Christmas and potentially less busy than the height of spring break, but in recent years the spring break/Thanksgiving comparison is starting to feel like more of a toss-up to me. Our family has visited the park during the summer months including July 4 last year, New Year's Eve multiple times, Thanksgiving week, President's Day week, Memorial Day weekend, Martin Luther King weekend, and spring break, so we are used to the more crowded times.

 

[Imdboss]

We went during thanksgiving week a few years ago and I was so worried about 1-2 hour lines everywhere. We arrived prepared for large crowds and long lines and I have to say we were pleasantly surprised. I'd say the wait times we experienced were about like what we see during the week in Oct (still busy and some lines of 1-2 hours but only the big rides). I'd read that Thanksgiving Day the park could hit max capacity and it was nowhere near that. It did get busy later in the day but up until early afternoon it was pretty mellow.

 

[Astylla]

We went on Thanksgiving on a whim last year , driving down after work (7pm) from the Bay Area Wed. and returned Sunday I think. We got DL HOTEL Thanksgiving reservations and loved that!!

Anyway Thanjsgiving Day we expected the worst and it was no more than a normal weekend, really it was quite comftorable and only time it was insane was during parade time/trying to leave at that time.

We already have another Wed. -Sun trip booked at HOJO for this year.

Expectations, a good plan and utilizing FP are key. When people zigged we zagged. We had a fantastic time and won't hesitate to go again!

Below is my recap from last year :


Thanksgiving at Disneyland was amazing today. We got a late for us start because of a tedious 8 hour drive from the Bay Area. We arrived at Ramada Maingate at the Park around 1am and passed out.

I grabbed some donuts and bagels for us from breakfast and we left for the parks around 9am. Quick walk and bag check was on point with all lanes and extra open. Even the main gates were easy , 10 minutes and in by around 9:30am. Grabbed Hyper space mountain passes for the afternoon.

We had noon reservations for DLH thanksgiving feast so we rode BTMRR and Mark Twain before the buffet. OMG THE FOOD WAS AMAZING. We spent a good hour and a half eating and doing the character meet and greets , Robin Hood , friar tuck , the country bears, Pocahontas and Meeko , and I heard Pluto and Horace were around.

Around 2:30 we walked back into DL and realized a parade was soon , the holiday parade and saw there were curbside sears everywhere and grabbed them. I then grabbed FP for BTMRR again as others were gone and joined hubby. The parade was awesome.

Then it was hyper space mountain and OMG SO WORTH IT. Afterwards we grabbed a late dinner at pizza port - Darth by chocolate is a must. The red velvet cake on the bottom is divine. I really enjoyed the curry chicken pizza but the spice adds up quick ! We then headed back to BTMRR to use the FP , then knocked out Jingle Cruise ( which is so good ) , Haunted Mansion with a 15 minute wait due to just coming back up, Casey Jr. , and storybook canal boats. We decided to head to IASW and realized fireworks were soon. We had people in front of us dissatisfied it was closed so we got a front rope spot. The second fireworks show was seriously not even that crowded at IASW. We met an awesome couple and chatted with them then waited for IASW to reopen , rode it with them before walking back.

We expected absolute chaos and we asked ourselves where the crowds were lol. We think having the early dinner was a lifesaver as we zigged as they zagged. It was a perfect day.

 

[ej119]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Aussie Princess]

I've been the last 2 thanksgiving weeks earlier in the week is less crowds gets busier the closer to thanksgiving you get as well as the weekend

But we did the arrive early get stuff done then have our midday break when it starts getting super busy then back for the evening

We did our magic morning on thanksgiving and it was so quiet we got most of fantasyland done in 30mins and on a lot of the rides we were the only riders

 

[noryglory]

I just booked our Thanksgiving trip to Disneyland about 10 minutes ago!! We arrive Wednesday and leave Friday, based on what I read we are going to do better with lower crowds ON the actual Turkey day than the day before or after. I'm all for it. We are also the type who like mid-week, off-season, so going on a holiday is NOT our normal way of doing Disney. I think following the advice of posters like you, we'll make it ok--my kids are now 16 and 12 and I think it will be a blast. We can divide and conquer, and they won't be too exhausted to go from dawn until dusk.


A couple questions, for you who have done it on the actual day in recent years...

1. What are the typical hours going to be? I can't find any old calendars from last November online. We booked Hojo Kid suite and will do Disney-In-A-Day-Or-Die--so no Magic Morning for us. :-(( first time we haven't either stayed on site, or with a three-day hopper. But it's ok. Hoping it's open until 10, 11 or maybe even midnight in order to maximize our day and hit rides late that we can't maybe do first thing.

2. I could see the normal "mid-afternoon break" when it's a good time to go swim/take a nap, actually being a GREAT time to do rides on Thanksgiving Day, since many people will go do a traditional dinner at a restaurant, or come for the morning and go home for dinner. Agreed? When would a better break time maybe be?

3. If we upgrade to a park hopper (which we HAVE to do, just to ride ToT and Screaming (and Cars I guess!), what are the chances we get stuck locked out of one park? It doesn't sound like it will necessarily hit capacity, but if it does, we're stuck aren't we? That's kind of intimidating. I've never been there when they close the turnstiles.

Super excited! Maybe for just being in Disneyland regardless of crowds and not home cooking dinner and doing dishes!

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

A couple questions, for you who have done it on the actual day in recent years...

1. What are the typical hours going to be? I can't find any old calendars from last November online. We booked Hojo Kid suite and will do Disney-In-A-Day-Or-Die--so no Magic Morning for us. :-(( first time we haven't either stayed on site, or with a three-day hopper. But it's ok. Hoping it's open until 10, 11 or maybe even midnight in order to maximize our day and hit rides late that we can't maybe do first thing.

8 am - midnight all week for DL and 8 am - 10 PM for DCA. Last year I think DCA was actually open until 11 PM. So here's hoping no budget cutbacks at the holiday time so we get these typical long hours.

2. I could see the normal "mid-afternoon break" when it's a good time to go swim/take a nap, actually being a GREAT time to do rides on Thanksgiving Day, since many people will go do a traditional dinner at a restaurant, or come for the morning and go home for dinner. Agreed? When would a better break time maybe be?

Probably I can't be much help here since we are people who leave the park for a break and dinner. We often head back into DCA after Thanksgiving dinner, between 5 and 6 PM, and find it very quiet. Not sure what the parks are like through the afternoon though.

3. If we upgrade to a park hopper (which we HAVE to do, just to ride ToT and Screaming (and Cars I guess!), what are the chances we get stuck locked out of one park? It doesn't sound like it will necessarily hit capacity, but if it does, we're stuck aren't we? That's kind of intimidating. I've never been there when they close the turnstiles.

I haven't experienced gate closures during Thanksgiving week. I can't remember if I have read about any for that week during recent years, but I think not.