Thanksgiving Week 2019 - How bad are crowds?

[mthds]

We are planning a trip to Disney for the week of Thanksgiving. Will arrive Saturday before and leave the Saturday after. Never been to Disney at a peak time. How bad are crowds, not just for wait times but in regards of do the parks ever have to close due to capacity? Didn't know if we should bother to get park hoppers or is it better to just to stay in the park we go into that morning? Stay for the day in one park so not have to worry with crowds on buses or possible leaving the park and we can not enter another park due to crowd capacity closure.

 

[Alesia]

It will be busy, but not crazy. There won't be any closures.

 

[Klayfish]

As Alesia said above, it'll be busy, but highly unlikely there will be any phase closures. Overall, the week is certainly noticeably busier than an average week in June or July, but it's not Christmas or Spring break busy. The worst of it is MK on Thanksgiving Day. That's pretty crowded, though it's a blast...everyone is in a great mood. Just have a little extra patience, expect a bit longer lines, have a holiday spirit and you'll really enjoy it. We love it and can't wait to do it again in 2020 (that's so far off...but I'm already pumped).

 

[LA Poolboy]

Hard to tell exactly how crowded at this point, but the opening of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge should bring in the people who have been waiting. Go and have a great time, just expect crowds everywhere you go and if they aren't that bad it will be a pleasant surprise.

 

[mthds]

Thanks for the info. We are fine with skipping Studios all together and save that park for a trip we are taking next summer when hopefully the crowds will settle. Probably do Epcot on Thanksgiving Day and MK the day before as it stays open to midnight.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Thanks for the info. We are fine with skipping Studios all together and save that park for a trip we are taking next summer when hopefully the crowds will settle. Probably do Epcot on Thanksgiving Day and MK the day before as it stays open to midnight.

Epcot is great on Thanksgiving. We really enjoyed doing it a couple of years ago. We'll be going to AK this year.

 

[kay1864]

We went every year for a number of years, arriving the Fri or Sat before, and leaving on TG Day. We do 5 days/4 parks (2 days for MK), and still managed to hit the waterparks twice, and an hour or two at DisneyQuest (RIP) in the evening. RideMax was the key (plus RD of course).

Wasn't too busy, but glad we got out of there before the TG weekend crowds.

 

[mrd7896]

I went for thanksgiving 2018. It was noticeably more busy than my previous trips and rides that we've never had to wait long for-we had to bypass due to 30-40 minute waits for everything.
We arrived on the saturday before and crowds didn't pick up significantly until about tuesday. We went to MK the wednesday before and were surprised at how much we were still able to get down. Just make sure you use your fast passes to the best of your abilities and don't forget to keep adding more! We were pleasantly surprised that we were constantly able to add another fast pass for an attraction we were interested in (Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, we got the Ariel ride, we could've gone on Jungle Cruise with a FP but it was a late time and we wanted to make the fireworks, i forget what else i'm missing). I don't think every guest utilizes FP+ to the maximum ability so keep that in the back of your mind.

We use PH to add a little more flexibility into our stay. However, we probably wouldn't have the next time around if we go over a peak crowd time/holiday. For instance, we started at Epcot and went to DHS in the afternoon. We rope dropped soarin, had to wait 35 minutes for spaceship earth, the single rider line at TT was 50 minutes and we didn't even get to try for Frozen before we had made lunch reservations and fast passes for DHS.

Despite my ehhhh feelings towards more crowds you will still be able to get a lot done. I love that the christmas decorations/themed shows are displayed, the weather (at least for us) was practically perfect, and you'll be with your loved ones having an amazing time. Just go into it that you may need to take things slower due to longer lines, you may need to skip a few attractions, etc.