various Thanksgiving questions

[LR_BCV]

Hi, our school schedule for next year has just been approved, and I am considering going for TG this year. I have a few questions and would love your opinions!

1) I am going to book BCV now, but what are the chances of getting OKW at 7 month window for a 1BR?

2) DD has 3 early dismissal days M-W the week of TG and has off the Mon & Tues the week following. Frequent flyer ressies look to be short on Tuesday, so I'm considering going out Tuesday night of TG week and returning Wednesday the week after. Alternative is to go Sunday before TG and fly back Monday. Which do you think would be better crowd-wise? (I suppose I could also take her out the 3 days the week following and we could go Sat-sun after tg but I'd rather her get back to it when all the other kids are and also not miss too many full days)

3) are the crowds really that bad that week? We will never go again the week prior to Easter, our spring break time because it was just miserable crowd-wise (of course, that was pre-DVC so perhaps I shouldn't say "never"; when you know you'll be back soon, it changes your attitude).

4) I've read thru the archives and see that many people say Thurday Friday and Saturday are horrible that week. I can deal with that. What are some good alternatives to do those days? I'm thinking of APs so we can maybe go to the parks for a few hours but I was also thinking visiting other resorts would be cool, and maybe Cirque du Soleil would be a good thing to do. Does Disney Quest get very crowded? I guess that might also depend on the weather...

Thanks for any thoughts on these issues!

 

[todsue99]

1) In my opinion I have never had any trouble getting into OKW, but if you call day by day you should have no trouble at all.

2) I have gone to WDW the week after Thanksgiving every year since 1998 and it is a slow time of the year. We enjoy it at that time, because all the Xmas things come out that weekend. We usually arrive on Thanksgiving and stay the whole following week. The first few days are a little crowded, but not like Easter or Xmas. The weather has been good and bad. We have had great swim days and days with coats and that is in the same trip.

3) The week after Thanksgiving is one of Disney's slowest times. Slow to Disney doesn't mean much, but we have rode the Rockin' Rollercoaster in the morning 5 straight times without waiting. Not everyday, but sometimes.

4) The AP is the way to go if you can afford it. As for the other things I can not comment on, because I have not done them.

We love to go this time of year and we plan on going again this year. Maybe we will see you at OKW. Good luck and I hope this helps.

 

[tripletvan]

We will also be going "home" for TG staying at BW. There will be 13 of us and I have been doing some investigating such as getting dinner catered etc. I would love any TG info anyone has as I tend to plan very far in advance with this crew.

 

[spiceycat]

It depends upon what you are comparing Thankgiving week to - the first week of December - yes it is very crowded - the Christmas to NY week - no not at all - spring break varies - most spring break is worst - but some of it is not crowded (spring break = from late feb until the after Easter - a long time).

My friends went this last Thankgiving and had a great time - went to the parks early saw everything and was back in the room for a nap/rest/swim after lunch - they have a wonderful trip and really enjoyed it. They were going to go in August but I recommend November - the weather by itself is so much better - and I don't mean rain - the heat will kill you first so November is generally much colder a big plus.

Watch the bulletin - last Thanksgiving - both OKW and BWV had a restuarant to catered the dinners. I think it was in the fall issue? but I would try for reservations at Liberty Tree Terrace in the MK.

 

[mb168]

I've got ressies for Wed-Sun in a 1BR at OKW that I mad at 11 months but I want to change it to VWL from Thur-Sun so at the 7 month window in April there wil (hopefully) be a 1 BR available for you...

 

[LR_BCV]

Thanks for the responses so far. I went ahead and booked 8 nights at BCV (anyone waiting for a 1 BR at HH for a few days in April before Easter may be in luck). That'd be our longest ever WDW trip so far! I'm definitely going to get APs and we'll plan our next trip for within the year; that'll definitely affect how we deal with the crowds - I won't mind going first thing in the a.m. for a few hours and then bagging it if it is too crowded if I haven't wasted a whole park hopper day.

I'll decide later if I want to try for OKW. I thought I'd like to try it out, but maybe we'll do that next time ;-)

I just love planning our trips home

 

[LR_BCV]

Oh darn! I waited too long to book the free airline tickets and now I have to go for 9 nights I'm just so... excited!

I booked the original 8 nights at BCV but I think I'm going to wait to book the 9th night to see if we can get OKW; it's such a big savings of points and I'd have to borrow to book it. Worse case, we stay somewhere else the first night, we don't get in until close to 9pm anyway.