Thanksgiving trip

[uk_wildcat]

If we want to plan a trip for Thanksgiving 2011, what should we expect for crowds and prices? Is this a low season or is it really busy?
I have priced out a room, tickets and meals online, but there aren't any specials going on yet for that time of year, so I am wondering if there will be discounts later.
I am trying to book a trip for 2011 that somewhat coincides with my kids' time off school, but most of the dates seem to be peak times. They have Spring Break from March 28-April 1 and then usually go back to school by August 18th each year. We went this year in March and it was fairly crowded and the weather was not so great, so I would expect the crowds to be similar this year.

Any advice on dates? We really want to go during a lower season this year and not have our kids miss too much school.

 

[Smile&Nod]

We used to try to plan around the 4 day weekends my kids got at the end of each grading quarter in school. That way we could take them out of school for just 3 days at the beginning of the quarter and we'd end up with a 10 day stretch for the vacation. They were both good students and could handle making up the work at the beginning of the quarter like that and we didn't have to worry about them missing tests. My older daughter is now a teacher and as long as kids can afford to make up the work she doesn't have a problem with kids pulling out for a few days. It would depend on your kids ages, how well they do in school and whether or not they get 4 day weekends like that. If so, you'll have a lot less crowd problems because you can go in the "off" season rather than Thanksgiving.

 

[stmize]

we have gone at Thanksgiving several years but we tend to arrive the Friday before and leave the Sat afterwards. Crowds in years past weren't bad up until the Wed before. This year they offered free dining and it was more crowded than in 2008.