Thanksgiving trip tips?

[JenniferFolsomCa]

Am planning to visit the parks just for 2 days during Thanksgiving.

Was thinking of going Wed Nov 22nd (wondering if it might be a little less busy) and then either Thursday 23rd Thanksgiving or Friday Nov 24th. Any guesses which days might be a little lighter?

Haven't been to DL is a few years and not during this time of year so what can I expect? Any holiday events yet? Do they have a Christmas type separate hard ticket like WDW?

When will hours be out?


Jenn

 

[biochemgirl]

Following...

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

The parks will be fully decorated for the holidays, and holiday entertainment will be in full swing. Disneyland hours should be 8 AM - midnight. DCA should be 8 or 9 AM - 9 or 10 PM. Entertainment such as World of Color, fireworks, and DL parade should be holiday versions and daily/nightly. Fantasmic should be nightly as well. The Festival of Holidays, a type of food and wine festival, will be going on at DCA. All of your days will be very, very busy. Personally I feel like Thanksgiving crowds are a little less than the Wednesday and Friday with Wednesday and Friday a toss up, but Wednesday maybe a little worse. Crowd perceptions can be kind of subjective though. I put the crowds as not as bad as the days around Christmas and New Year's but maybe as bad as the peak of spring break although often times more festive and pleasant overall. There are a lot of Thanksgiving dining options, but you will want to book at the 60ish day out mark for best selection. There has not been a hard-ticketed Christmas party event in the past. There has been a holiday tour.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

We have found Thanksgiving and the weekend after not all that terrible-better than some October weekends! Thanksgiving day has been different for us each time-usually pretty decent until around 11-then pretty crowded until 6 ish-and then really decent a few times in the evening but also fairly busy a few times. The Friday after is usually really decent early on then gradually gets crowded after 11-lots of passes blocked so it doesn't get unbearable. We have done the weekend after a few times too and it really feels like a normal summer weekend to us.

 

[chickapin parterre]

Wednesday night will be really crowded....and rather strange in our experiences....lots of intoxicated folks....getting ready for those family events.....Wednesday folks have arrived in California for the holiday, and with turkey day, shopping day and trip to the other in-laws, Wednesday is that open day for visiting Disneyland. I would choose Turkey day over black friday, lots of fathers, uncles, grandparents bring their family to disneyland,...not so much into shopping.

 

[biochemgirl]

Wednesday night will be really crowded....and rather strange in our experiences....lots of intoxicated folks....getting ready for those family events.....Wednesday folks have arrived in California for the holiday, and with turkey day, shopping day and trip to the other in-laws, Wednesday is that open day for visiting Disneyland. I would choose Turkey day over black friday, lots of fathers, uncles, grandparents bring their family to disneyland,...not so much into shopping.

 

[Miggee]

my family and I were there last thanksgiving week (mon~friday) it was insanity the whole week, seas of people, almost impossible to move. xmas decor were already up.

 

[southlake]

We went for Thanksgiving 4 years in a row (skipped last year for the first time due to a fussy baby). We would go Wed-Sat usually. In our experience, Thursday Thanksgiving Day was a very low crowd day. We walked on to nearly all rides in 15 min or less. Friday was also low crowd but not as low as the holiday itself, but still lower than usual.

The first 3 years we went were great. Then, it seemed in 2015 the secret was out about the low crowds on Thanksgiving and the park was much busier. At least, that's how my husband remembers it. I don't really remember. We had an infant with us and we were really tired But 2012-2014 was amazing for Thanksgiving! I still don't think it will be as busy on the holiday because people are out spending time with their families.

 

[Jedi Mouse]

The Thanksgiving dinner at Plaza was excellent!

 

[biochemgirl]

The Thanksgiving dinner at Plaza was excellent!

Was it reservation only?

 

[Jedi Mouse]

Was it reservation only?

No, it was their regular counter service.

 

[SMD]

If it rains on any of those days, the other days can become more crowded. Of course, you won't know that until it happens. Is it not possible to plan for all 3 days?

 

[CandyMouse]

The Thanksgiving dinner at Plaza was excellent!

Do you know what food choices they have? We've never eaten there before and it sounds like it's pretty popular!

 

[Jedi Mouse]

Do you know what food choices they have? We've never eaten there before and it sounds like it's pretty popular!

This was back in 2015 and my wife grabbed food while I secured a table, but we had a turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, veggies, dressing, cranberry sauce, gravy and a roll with pumpkin pie for dessert. I believe they also had their normal fried chicken dinners as well but I'm not 100% sure. We really enjoyed the meal and to top it off we watched Paint the Night from our table while enjoying our pie. That trip was a little rough (we refer to it as our worst Disneyland trip ever and then laugh as a bad day in Disneyland still beats a good day almost anywhere else), my wife got very ill, we were on a shoe string budget and a few other things went south, so Thanksgiving dinner was the highlight and we still bring it up every once in awhile. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, but that's probably because it's past my lunch time.

 

[CandyMouse]

This was back in 2015 and my wife grabbed food while I secured a table, but we had a turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, veggies, dressing, cranberry sauce, gravy and a roll with pumpkin pie for dessert. I believe they also had their normal fried chicken dinners as well but I'm not 100% sure. We really enjoyed the meal and to top it off we watched Paint the Night from our table while enjoying our pie. That trip was a little rough (we refer to it as our worst Disneyland trip ever and then laugh as a bad day in Disneyland still beats a good day almost anywhere else), my wife got very ill, we were on a shoe string budget and a few other things went south, so Thanksgiving dinner was the highlight and we still bring it up every once in awhile. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, but that's probably because it's past my lunch time.

Sounds good, thanks! We're trying to figure out something that doesn't cost too much and we don't have to reserve. Thanks!