Thanksgiving trip

[asoko]

I know this is out in the future, but I need information on visiting WDW Thanksgiving time 2009. Nov. 23 is my DD birthday (the Monday before Thanksgiving). My MIL is scheduling a vacation for Thanksgiving time. I think she wants use to fly on Thanksgiving day. Which I don't have a problem with. I just heard it is crazy busy the week of Thanksgiving until the Tueday after. That would mean we would be in crazy time no matter when we go for at least 4 days. I'm wondering if I should go the week of Thanksgiving and my DD could get the birthday admission, if I should go on Thanksgiving and deal with Fri, Sat, Sun and Monday.

Is it really that crazy?

 

[3boymthr]

I've also heard that Thanksgiving week is nuts.

UG rates the entire week either an 8 or 9 and the higher the number the higher the crowds. 1 is lowest crowds and 10 is highest crowds.

but... when I was a kid aeons and aeons ago, okay, 1984, we went Thanksgiving week. We were there the Monday and Tuesday right before Thanksgiving and the parks were actually quiet the only place we encountered lines was at the Spaceship earth and The Tiki Room and Jungle Cruise. It wasn't until after Thanksgiving that it was nuts.

With the recent reports of low bookings maybe you'll get lucky and crowds will be like 1984.

 

[nextidiot]

We went last year. We flew out Thanksgiving and stayed off site Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We visited Sea World and Kennedy Space Center and neither park was crowded. We then checked into our Disney hotel on Sunday morning and never waited more than 15 to 20 minutes for a big ride. We utilized fast pass which worked very well.

Sunday, we went to MK. Minimal crowds until about lunch. Then it picked up until about 4 PM where it began to drop off due to a Christmas party that night (the MK closed at 7)

Monday - Epcot - No lines.

Tuesday - Christmas Party at the MK - Crowded but manageable.

Wednesday - MK for Spectromagic - Very busy park day due to Spectromagic being offered only Wednesday and Saturday of the week we were there, but the crowds were still very manageable. We just had to line up very early for the parades to get a good spot.

Thursday - Epcot - Again, very minimal crowds

Friday - Studios - Crowded in the evening for the Osborne Lights but otherwise very manageable.

Saturday - Animal Kingdom - Very light crowd by AK standards. However, any crowd is a big crowd at the AK.

Hope this helps!

 

[skuttle]

We were just there from the Friday before Thanksgiving through the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We actually didn't find it that bad. We used fast pass, got to parks early, and then stayed up late for either EMH or just the regular extended hours. Friday after Thanksgiving, we arrived at MK for dinner and then stayed until midnight...we walked on Pirates, Jungle Cruise, BTMR, and did Splash two times in a row without even getting off. DS had a blast!

I don't know if we were expecting the worse so it didn't seem that bad to us, or if it really wasn't that bad. For Thanksgiving day we ate lunch at the resort then headed out to World Showcase and didn't find the crowds too bad at all. They still had fast passes for TT and Soarin when we arrived.

We never waited more than 30 min for any ride. I think our longest wait was to meet Bolt, and that was the Friday after Thanksgiving.