Thanksgiving Week

[erikawolf2004]

We are going November 16th to the 26th, how crazy are the parks going to be during that time?

 

[mdejesusjr85]

i went Two years ago during thanksgiving week. we went from Thursday to Sunday. We arrived on Thanksgiving at spent the day at HS which felt like a normal day. the next day (Black Friday) we went to MK and the morning wasnt bad but around 12pm the park was packed out. the other two days i dont remember as much because all i could remember was 12pm at MK and how the parked exploded with people. i know sat and sun we epcot and AK those days but like i said i dont remember that much of them.

here is a crowd calendar predictor
https://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/crowd-calendar/november-2016/#calendar

i hope this helps some

 

[CynBeth]

We have been twice during Thanksgiving Week and it hasn't been too bad either time. Our recent trip that week was this past Nov and we went from the Fri before to the Sun after so we had a lot of time for each park and an evening at DS plus a day for Sea World which has a great holiday celebration. We did MVMCP on arrival night and the CP on Black Friday. We do rope drop and our TS meals are our breaks so we are at the parks from opening until late. Sometimes we switched parks late afternoon to get to a dinner in a different park because of how we had to do ADRs. The 3 FPs per day for most of our days really helped plus the park hoppers to see everything we wanted. We had dinner for Thanksgiving at Boma and loved it!

 

[Order66]

We went last year for Thanksgiving week for the first time. I loved it! Planning on doing it again next year. It was a trip for my sons' 16 birthday and to see WDW at Christmas time. With 2 high school kids the only real option was that week since they have vacation, only pulled them from school 2 extra days. We arrived late the Tues before and left the Tues after. The parks 4 days and MMVCP once. Out of those days I really only felt HS on the Wed before was crowded. We waited 45 min for GMR! Thurs we did Epcot and had a great dinner at Rose & Crown. We had a FP for all the big rides and did standby for things with minimal waits. We also did 1 evening at Epcot where it was about going to the CP and seeing the decorations more than rides....but we did a few of those too. Sunday the crowds lightened some, but we did the Christmas party that night which did feel more crowded than the typical park day. The Monday following was probably the best. We did 3 parks that day and were on the ferry to MK during Wishes and for the 6 of us on the boat the captain said he'd do his best to slow it down so we had an almost private fireworks cruise.

Your idea of crowded may differ from mine, but I would compare it to summer crowds. I don't find it intolerable, but others do. But like summer crowds the hours were extended. Unlike summer the weather is awesome. We went a month ago and the crowds still seemed pretty similar to me. Only hotter!

Regards

 

[wdw4rfam]

We were there 19-28 this past year and it was nowhere near as bad as I predicted. The first 5 days were great. The crowds picked up closer to the holiday, but I never thought it felt horrible or unmanageable. The weather was gorgeous, couldn't have ordered better.

 

[chocolateavocado]

We also went this past Thanksgiving & LOVED it!! We're going back for Thanksgiving 2017!

 

[dugthetalkingdog]

Celebrated my DD 21st birthday last year and had a blast and would go again over Thanksgiving. We flew out Thanksgiving Day (airfare was a lot less expensive), arrived at our hotel
CBR around 11am and our room was ready. Arrived at the parks by 1pm. We had our FP already booked and meals planned. The resort buses were not crowded, but some of the lines
for the rides had an hour or more wait. Left the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, we were able to see and do everything we wanted to even went to Mickey Christmas Party at MK.

 

[hippiechicken]

We went last year, from the Sunday before until Black Friday. It was great! We usually go for Christmas and New Years, so the parks were pretty empty for us!!

 

[edk35]

We have been several times over Thanksgiving week. We always arrive the week before usually that Thursday or Friday and it is GREAT until about Tuesday then you notice the crowds increasing. We usually leave the day after or on Sat. However, this past year we departed the night before Thanksgiving. It is a great time to go with all the decorations.

 

[ariane37]

I also agree it's a great time to go. We did Thanksgiving week last year, arriving the Sat. before and leaving the Sat. after. Doing it again this year Our other trips were during times crowds weren't considerably high, for instance NOT during Christmas, spring break, etc. So we were expecting big crowds and also expecting not to be thrilled with them lol. We were very pleasantly surprised with how manageable it was! We didn't feel crowds until the day before Thanksgiving but even then, they weren't ridiculous. We did feel RD was extremely important if you like to ride headliners more than once.
Enjoy your trip!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Okay, I'll be the dissenting voice. It was too crowded for us. We love the Christmas decorations, and the week after Thanksgiving fit the bill for us. Lower crowds, but all of the holiday stuff is up.

Would I go again during the week of Thanksgiving? Not if there were less crowded options available.

 

[nogreenworld]

I also agree it's a great time to go. We did Thanksgiving week last year, arriving the Sat. before and leaving the Sat. after. Doing it again this year Our other trips were during times crowds weren't considerably high, for instance NOT during Christmas, spring break, etc. So we were expecting big crowds and also expecting not to be thrilled with them lol. We were very pleasantly surprised with how manageable it was! We didn't feel crowds until the day before Thanksgiving but even then, they weren't ridiculous. We did feel RD was extremely important if you like to ride headliners more than once.
Enjoy your trip!

Pardon the ignorance, but what is RD?

 

[socababy]

Pardon the ignorance, but what is RD?

Rope Drop. Being there right when the parks open!

 

[Melwhit16]

We usually go at that time and love it! The crowds were low at the beginning and did get a little busier as the week went on but we're always manageable. Begining of the trip we ate at the harder ADRs and rode the most popular stuff easily. Then towards the end when crowds increased we spent more time at the pool and on the less popular rides. It worked perfectly.

 

[Jestocost]

The week before Thanksgiving actually can be a very good time to go, in my experience, but things can get much busier the closer you get to the day itself and over the weekend. We went to Epcot on a beautiful Thanksgiving day several years ago and arrived late after getting off of a DCL cruise, for example, and it was perhaps the busiest time I've ever been in a park (and we have made several trips at Christmas). That said, there are lots of locals and crowds can be very dependent on the weather as two days later temps dropped 40 degrees and DHS was empty on Saturday (the longest line we saw all day was for the one place in the park that was selling hot chocolate).

 

[Lulubelle17]

We spent Thanksgiving week there in 2014 and are going back this Thanksgiving November 21-25. I can't wait! It was busy but not unbearable, we loved it!

 

[Lulubelle17]

We have been twice during Thanksgiving Week and it hasn't been too bad either time. Our recent trip that week was this past Nov and we went from the Fri before to the Sun after so we had a lot of time for each park and an evening at DS plus a day for Sea World which has a great holiday celebration. We did MVMCP on arrival night and the CP on Black Friday. We do rope drop and our TS meals are our breaks so we are at the parks from opening until late. Sometimes we switched parks late afternoon to get to a dinner in a different park because of how we had to do ADRs. The 3 FPs per day for most of our days really helped plus the park hoppers to see everything we wanted. We had dinner for Thanksgiving at Boma and loved it!

We have reservations at Boma on Thanksgiving day this year, very excited!

 

[ariane37]

Pardon the ignorance, but what is RD?

Sorry about that! I see socababy replied already that it's rope drop and what it translates to. And actually, being there 30 minutes prior to the scheduled opening time is better than getting there right at opening time, as they'll be less people in front of you.

 

[CookieGVB]

Thanks for the reassurance - we'll be there from the Friday before and are leaving on Thanksgiving Day. Really looking forward to it.

 

[CynBeth]

We have reservations at Boma on Thanksgiving day this year, very excited!

Take time to see the animals in the Savannahs and the tree in the lobby.