Thanksgiving week? Insanity?

[snickerboo]

Has anyone done IoA/Us over Thanksgiving week? Was it insanity? Whenever we have done Disney it has been off-peak and wonderful. Kids are older so getting out of school harder.

 

[ttree]

I Have been twice during Thanksgiving. If you stay on site and have front of the line pass you will be fine.

 

[CareHeartsDisney]

I agree. We went last Thanksgiving day and until about 3pm on Black Friday. We stayed at HRH Thanksgiving night after staying at Disney for 5 nights. Universal is much more compact and the crowds weren't as bad as Disney. We were able to do a lot in that short time, including going back to the Kitchen at the HRH for the buffet dinner. Wait times in the express lines were 0-15 minutes. The only rides you'll be waiting for are those that don't accept Express pass such as the Forbidden Journey and Rip Ride Rockit. Plan on hitting those in the morning or evening. You'll have early entry and staying onsite is so convenient. Also, the weather is perfect during November. Not too hot, not too cold.

We liked Universal so much, we're returning in November with other family members and we're staying 5 nights .

 

[JSweetman]

Glad to hear it! We're doing Universal for the first time this year, coming in on Thanksgiving and staying at HRH that night, planning to spend all of Black Friday in the Universal parks, then move on to the Disney area and return to Universal on Monday when friends get into town.

 

[4my2girlz]

Any idea how bad crowds/wait times may be without express passes?

We are staying off-site 11/18 - 11/23...which days would you recommend which parks without having express passes? We have 4 day/2park tickets for IOA/US & 2 day tickets to SeaWorld.

Any suggestions on which days would be best for which park?

Thanks!

 

[the Dark Marauder]

As a General Rule, crowds for Thanksgiving week follow this pattern:

Sun-Wed: moderate at best. Most rides will have 30 min or less lines.
Thurs: moderate-slow. The parks start becoming quieter after 3pm.
Fri-Sat: super packed and crazy busy. 60-90 minute waits are common for most rides. Express lines may reach 20+ minutes.

 

[auroraarielella]

Do the restaurants do any kind of Thanksgiving meals on Thursday? In parks, hotels, or Citiwalk?

 

[CareHeartsDisney]

Do the restaurants do any kind of Thanksgiving meals on Thursday? In parks, hotels, or Citiwalk?

I don't know about the restaurants at the parks or at City Walk but I do know that the resort restaurants each have a big buffet including turkey, dressing... We ate at the Kitchen on Thanksgiving. They had a huge selection. My son tried crab legs for the first time and loved them. They also had a lot of desserts. It was a little pricy, about $40 or $50. If you have AAA, don't forget to use it for 10% off. We did and I was kicking myself.

 

[JSweetman]

Thanks for the tip about the AAA discount at the Kitchen. I have Thanksgiving reservations and the discount will help take some of the sting out the holiday prices.