Thanksgiving Weekend Crowds

[smokeyblue]

What kind of crowds are there Thanksgiving and the weekend after?

 

[chickapin parterre]

two considerations
1. El Nino could pull in folks to November plans who usually attend in December, so November could be really crowded
2. 2015 is the last year for awhile where the week after thanksgiving has disappeared from the calendar. The week after Thanksgiving is the first week in December this year, next year, 2016, the week after Thanksgiving returns and Disneyland Christmas is longer , as is the retail season, etc.
3. Folks who tell you Thanksgiving is workable, like myself, may have had that extra week after thanksgiving to help lighten the crowds, which, when I go back and look at the years of my thanksgiving visits, they had the extra week.

 

[disneydreamer74]

Following..We would like to go for Thanksgiving and a few days after. Trying to work out the dates!

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

Thanksgiving week can be very busy to fairly tolerable at the end of the week when most passes our blocked. The last two times we did this week, 2012 and 2013, Mon-Wed were seriously packed. Turkey day was ok early and then late. Black Friday and the weekend were actually not terrible, slightly bigger crowds than most weekends, very doable for us.

We have only been once the week after, 2010 I believe, and it was magical. Shorter hours, but everything was basically a walk on. Even headliners like Space and IJA were only 10 minutes waits, we hardly used FP at all. Not sure it still remains that quiet the week after, but when our youngest goes off to college in a few years, that will be the week I will target for a holiday visit.

 

[Imdboss]

We went during thanksgiving week in 2013. I believe our first day in the park was Wed. After researching the crowds I was really worried about it being horribly packed. I'd read about capacity crowds on thanksgiving day even. So we went in with the expectations of 1-2 hour ride lines. I have to say we were pleasantly surprised! It wasn't that bad, on Tday itself the morning was pretty mellow, it did get busier in the afternoon but nothing like we were expecting. We were at the parks all the way through Sunday and had a great time!

 

[smokeyblue]

I would love to go on Thanksgiving Day, but I think my boyfriends parents would kill us since we're flying in from Michigan to visit the night before! We were thinking about maybe doing a Sunday or something. It sounds like it could be a good possibility. We would do a second day during the weekday after. My BF's brother works for Disney, so if he was game to bring us to the parks when he was down visiting over the weekend we may end up there anyway, but we wouldn't pressure him to.

 

[ThisisJulz]

We went last year on Thanksgiving day and the weekend following. Thanksgiving day was tolerable but Friday/Saturday were PACKED. It was more crowded during this time than when we went in August of the same year.

 

[aymekae]

This is excellent info, thank you! This year we have Premium AP's, and I'd really like to experience the Thanksgiving Feast at the DLH. I'm thinking we will show up early on Thanksgiving morning (having already had our larger family dinner on Wednesday evening, since my DBIL flies out early on Thursday), tour the parks for a few hours, then head to DLH for lunch, then possibly a few more hours in the afternoon. We have a 2.5 year old, so we never ride the headliner attractions anymore anyway. In past years, we avoided peak times like the plague; this year, however, I experienced the May 22nd 24 Hr Diamond Celebration Kick-Off Event and the Fourth of July, survived and greatly enjoyed both. So I think I can handle Thanksgiving!

 

[PlutoFan76]

This is excellent info, thank you! This year we have Premium AP's, and I'd really like to experience the Thanksgiving Feast at the DLH. I'm thinking we will show up early on Thanksgiving morning (having already had our larger family dinner on Wednesday evening, since my DBIL flies out early on Thursday), tour the parks for a few hours, then head to DLH for lunch, then possibly a few more hours in the afternoon. We have a 2.5 year old, so we never ride the headliner attractions anymore anyway. In past years, we avoided peak times like the plague; this year, however, I experienced the May 22nd 24 Hr Diamond Celebration Kick-Off Event and the Fourth of July, survived and greatly enjoyed both. So I think I can handle Thanksgiving!

You are going on all the same days as me!!! I was there on May 22nd, 4th of July, and will be there Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve. I'm pretty sure I'm crazy so it's nice to know I'm not alone.

 

[aymekae]

You are going on all the same days as me!!! I was there on May 22nd, 4th of July, and will be there Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve. I'm pretty sure I'm crazy so it's nice to know I'm not alone.

Nice! *high five* I won't be there Christmas Day, but I might try New Year's Eve if I can swing it! (Now that I think about it, I wonder if my mother-in-law would watch our toddler on New Year's Eve so my DH and I could go by ourselves. It's much too late for him, and staying up till midnight is the whole point of the holiday! Is this your first year hitting all the fun holidays? It's my first, and probably my last, so I'm trying to enjoy it while I still can. My pass expires around Jan. 21, 2016.