Thanksgiving

[mrsp1030]

I was curious if anyone was there this past year and how crowds were, etc. We are heading there Sat to Friday the week of Thanksgiving and interested in any advice. Thanks.

 

[jco_direwolf]

I was there last year (2013).

 

[jco_direwolf]

I was there last year (2013).

Oops.

It was busy but we did everything we wanted including JTA x2 (on two different days.)

Standard advice. RD, have a plan, break mid day. Its fine.

 

[mrsp1030]

Great. We plan to rope drop, break and go back in evening using fp+. Our kids are night owls too so we hope to take advantage of EMH at MK also once. We've been at Easter so I know the crowds!

 

[summerskye]

Did not make it last year. But, Thanksgiving week is our normal time to visit. The weekend before will be the best crowd days. Each day gets more crazy the closer the T-day. As long as you have a plan, you will be fine. Rope Drop is your friend. Remember to relax, it's a vacation. We took T-day off and hung out at the pool all day. It was great. Kids enjoyed the water. Mom & Dad enjoyed the cold beverages and giving our feet a break. We did slip over to Epcot that evening for a couple hrs.

 

[PrincessJo]

We've spent Thanksgiving week there twice because my son's birthday falls that week.

We arrived early and rode the popular rides first with no problems and very small wait times. We took a break in the afternoon and wandered over to the Boardwalk, to EPCOT (larger park so crowds are spread out) or back to our room for a break and then went back in the evening. The crowds were so light in the evenings that we rode several rides multiple times because there were no lines. We were so excited to get off Star Tours and see a 5 minute wait time that we got right back in line

Serioulsy, it's not nearly as bad as everyone says. The Boardwalk was the perfect place for us to go to in the crowded afternoons because it was empty. Literally. The giant gingerbread house in the Boardwalk Inn was really neat.

Have a fantastic time!!

 

[Tarheel Mom]

I agree with the others. It is crowded but manageable. If you go prepared for that you will be fine. We've been Thanksgiving week in 2011 and 2013 ~ and will probably go back that week on our next trip. Hope you have a great trip

 

[Dreams0308]

We went in 2012. It wasn't horrible, but there were crowds, it's a holiday.

The one thing I remember being VERY VERY crowded was on Thanksgiving, after dinner, we decided to start off the Christmas season by going to see the Osborne Lights at HS, and it was CROWDED!! very very crowded. We just walked around as a family slowly and tried not to get frustrated. It was still fun. We have been to WDW many times before, so we didn't feel the need to see and do EVERYTHING in one trip. We just did what we could and enjoyed the atmosphere.

You will have a great time! Buy a turkey leg sweatshirt or a turkey hat and celebrate Thanksgiving!!

 

[mrsp1030]

Thanks for the info on Osbourne Lights. We had thought that would be cool but I guess everyone else also! We will squeeze it in another day.

 

[DisneyQueen1320]

I so excited we are taking our next trip on Thanksgiving.
Our kids have a long vacation, so this will be the best time to go.
How was the weather?

 

[Sphinx610]

I so excited we are taking our next trip on Thanksgiving.
Our kids have a long vacation, so this will be the best time to go.
How was the weather?

I agree with everyone saying "crowded but manageable". I was there over Thanksgiving in 2012. We went for the same reason you did- kids were off from school. This year we are pulling them out for the week in Oct. I wouldn't go again at that time unless I had to, but it definitely was manageable. IDK how FP+ will change that. We relied heavily on FP- when we went.

I'd stay away from MK on Thanksgiving though. We did Animal Kingdom. Even that was crowded. But despite the crowds we got to do almost everything we wanted.

The weather was gorgeous! You're not swimming, but its very comfortable. Mid-high 70's. Cooled off a lot at night and the morning was probably 65-ish. I'm a person who is never cold though so I had a thin sweatshirt and was fine at night.

Have fun!!!

 

[patclairesmom]

We were just there for Thanksgiving. I didn't think it was terribly crowded. We also never managed to make rope drop but still got everything we wanted done.

 

[Laketravis]

We were there this past Thanksgiving week and the week after.

Sat/Sun/Mon/Tue/Wed were actually pretty good; we stayed out of the parks on Thanksgiving day, Friday (which may have been a mistake on our part because several CM's told us the parks weren't that bad on Friday) and Saturday.

We returned on Sunday and then every day for the next week.

We didn't think it was bad at all. Crowded, yes. Crazy packed, no. What was interesting was the week AFTER felt pretty much like the week before. That surprised us because we thought attendance would drop dramatically, especially since a CM at CSR told us that occupancy there was dropping 50% on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

The weather was awesome - it literally only sprinkled once during an early morning and was over in an hour or so.

I would go back during Thanksgiving week, but probably only if we also spent the week before or the week after there as well. I was told that last year (2013) the week before Thanksgiving was pleasantly light crowds.

2013 was also an unusual year with the holiday being so late in November; this year I believe the same occurs so if that is true than last year might be a good year to use for forecasting.

 

[MJBING]

We were there this past Thanksgiving week and the week after.

Sat/Sun/Mon/Tue/Wed were actually pretty good; we stayed out of the parks on Thanksgiving day, Friday (which may have been a mistake on our part because several CM's told us the parks weren't that bad on Friday) and Saturday.

We returned on Sunday and then every day for the next week.

We didn't think it was bad at all. Crowded, yes. Crazy packed, no. What was interesting was the week AFTER felt pretty much like the week before. That surprised us because we thought attendance would drop dramatically, especially since a CM at CSR told us that occupancy there was dropping 50% on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

The weather was awesome - it literally only sprinkled once during an early morning and was over in an hour or so.

I would go back during Thanksgiving week, but probably only if we also spent the week before or the week after there as well. I was told that last year (2013) the week before Thanksgiving was pleasantly light crowds.

2013 was also an unusual year with the holiday being so late in November; this year I believe the same occurs so if that is true than last year might be a good year to use for forecasting.

We arrived Thanksgiving Eve and stayed until the Tuesday following Thanksgiving....the weather was great, Thanksgiving day was cool, but pleasant. On Arrival, a Nor-Eastern was hammering the East Coast...so getting to Orlando on the busiest travel day of the year was a bit stressful.

Thanksgiving at MK was busy, but not horrible. The WDW buses were also busy. Overall it was a blast, we never waited past 30 min for anything we rode, smart fastpass planning was key.

 

[shopn24seven]

So it wasn't FREEZING?
This month is was just so cold and raining everyday (I don't mean a spitz, but POURING) MK even flooded out. lol.

I believe I have done TG....and it is the least busy of the main holidays days and have done them ALL.

 

[DisneyQueen1320]

I hope it's not that cold. We love warm weather, I still can't see myself at MK with a jacket on. The Christmas decorations look so beautiful and we never been down that time of year.
Maybe I should move the vacation up to the first week of Nov, but I would hate to miss the Epcot storytelling and the CP.

 

[teambeaman]

We were there last March and had to buy sweatshirts, hats, and gloves because it was freezing! On the upside, the parks were practically empty. Then we went again at the end of October/beg. of November and it was shorts weather, so I think you never know what you'll get unless it's the middle of summer.

 

[mrsp1030]

We went in December one year and one day it 75 an the next 50. That time of year is so unpredictable so we pack for everything.

 

[Sphinx610]

We were just there for Thanksgiving. I didn't think it was terribly crowded. We also never managed to make rope drop but still got everything we wanted done.

Oh yes, good note! I didn't do rope drop either the whole time we were there...

 

[mrsp1030]

I am hoping if we survived Easter, Thanksgiving will be fine.