Week After Thanksgiving Thoughts??

[shortnsassy730]

Hi All!! I have to bid on my vacation for next year now at work. I am taking the BFF who has never been to Disney or Universal to Disney in the fall. I am looking at the possbility of the week after Thanksgiving. I know it's a highly recommended week on easywdw, but I would like thoughts from those who travel during this time as well. He is not a fan of the heat which is why I'm not leaning towards my usual September early October. Thanks in advance!!

 

[PrincessJo]

We love that time of year. Everything is decorated for Christmas and is absolutely beautiful.

GO!!! You'll have a fabulous time

 

[pepe of ohio]

Long ago, that was a great week, that's before the free dining etc.

We gave it a try FEW trips go and even one into the first week of December and its packed anymore... hardly any slow times anymore...

Guess if you can stand packed parks, mediocre weather, it's a good time... not for us anymore, been there, done that, seen the decorations ....we're back to early, mid September, middle May anymore..

 

[visi]

We've went three times during that week and we've always enjoyed it. There's MVMCP, the Christmas parade taping,and Osbourne lights. Yes,it can be crowded but we enjoy it

 

[Lorelei528]

We will be there that week this year (for our first Dec. trip to WDW) and actually this year, there is no free dining that week!

 

[wiigirl]

We love that time of year. Everything is decorated for Christmas and is absolutely beautiful.

GO!!! You'll have a fabulous time

x2 a great time to go...

 

[AmyB2006]

Great time of year.

Things to avoid... POP Warner travels usually around there so be aware of that.

1st week of December is becoming increasingly more popular so it might be more crowded than it normally is the last several years. Plus Thanksgiving is really late in November this year and next year so that only leaves 2 weeks instead of the normal 3 weeks "after Thanksgiving" crowds to pack in.

But overall, it's a great time of year.

 

[FLchick415]

I'm checking in Dec. 1-5, which is IMMEDIATELY after Thanksgiving. Hoping for decent crowds.

 

[Nancyg56]

I was there that week last year, and while it was lovely, I do not think I would go that time again. The parks were not "crowded" but they were busy. I really enjoyed the going further into December. Again, the parks are not empty, but I felt that there was time to step away from the Thanksgiving mindset, enjoy all of the Holiday activities, and not run into Parade taping. We spent the days between December 10 and December 21, which brought us to the Sunday before Christmas. I don't know if it is still the case, but that time was almost perfect for attractions, meals and shows.

 

[shortnsassy730]

Thanks all! Why would you say it's mediocre weather? Isn't the weather in the 70's low 80s during November. Occassionally the 60s at night? That's awesome weather for me. I actually think the weather in Septmember is horrible between the heat and the rain. But I'm from Alabama lol, I get enough heat and humidity year round.

 

[ktlm]

We've been the week after Thanksgiving the last 4 years. We found the crowds very managable, in fact, we went October 5-13 this year and thought it was significantly more crowded than we were used to with the week after Thanksgiving.

The only thing about that week is that they will be filming the Christmas parade on Friday and Saturday in MK (Sunday is a reserved as an extra day if needed- which in our experience only happens due to weather). Friday is usually the castle performance and Saturday is usually the parade itself. We avoid MK those days and are fine with that week. We have been at MK on parade taping one year because it happened on Sunday due to being rained out earlier. The back of the park is fine until the taping ends, and then it get crazy- at least the day we were there- but we dub that "Jonas Brothers Sunday" so maybe the craze for them had something to do with it.

As far as the weather, it is extremely unpredictable that time of year. One year in December it was highs of 80-85 all week, so it was shorts weather day and night- we even went a later week that year. One year we started off the week with highs in the 80s wearing shorts day and night and ended the week with highs in the 50s wearing coats day and night. You just never know what you are going to get and the weather changes fast down there and they are not good at predicting it. You can't trust what they are telling you it is going to be even the day before your trip (we found that out the hard way). You just pack a little of everything and roll with the changes. We think the variety in the weather is kind of fun. The high temperature on any given day could be anywhere from 50 to 90!

 

[Nancyg56]

Thanks all! Why would you say it's mediocre weather? Isn't the weather in the 70's low 80s during November. Occassionally the 60s at night? That's awesome weather for me. I actually think the weather in Septmember is horrible between the heat and the rain. But I'm from Alabama lol, I get enough heat and humidity year round.

The weather is unpredictable. Some years it is warm, but there have been times when you need mittens.Last year we froze, and we are from CT, so we are used to cool temperatures. I think that it really depends on what you are looking for in Disney. We use the pools and it was impossible for most of our stay. (It warmed up the day we left, December 1st)

 

[W.E.D.]

We did that in '11. For us, it was not packed at all. Walking down Main Street with my arms stretched out and not hitting anyone is not packed IMHO. We had fabulous weather for 10 days. I highly reccommend it! The decorations are beautiful and we never had to worry about FP because waits were never over 15 min. tops!

 

[tyniknate]

Long ago, that was a great week, that's before the free dining etc.

We gave it a try FEW trips go and even one into the first week of December and its packed anymore... hardly any slow times anymore...

Guess if you can stand packed parks, mediocre weather, it's a good time... not for us anymore, been there, done that, seen the decorations ....we're back to early, mid September, middle May anymore..

Have to agree with this. If you are looking for smaller crowds, this isn't the week to go. Don't know why the crowd calendars keep showing it as such a slow time. Free dining has completely ruined what used to be walk on rides. Each time we go the parks are more and more crowded.

The weather is iffy. We have been there in 85 degrees in November and also been there in 45 degrees in November. Just be prepared for all situations.

 

[Lorelei528]

Have to agree with this. If you are looking for smaller crowds, this isn't the week to go. Don't know why the crowd calendars keep showing it as such a slow time. Free dining has completely ruined what used to be walk on rides. Each time we go the parks are more and more crowded.

The weather is iffy. We have been there in 85 degrees in November and also been there in 45 degrees in November. Just be prepared for all situations.

I posted this above, but the week after Thanksgiving this year is not free dining....so, maybe that is why the crowd calendars are calling for lower numbers...

 

[curemyreed]

Have to agree with this. If you are looking for smaller crowds, this isn't the week to go. Don't know why the crowd calendars keep showing it as such a slow time. Free dining has completely ruined what used to be walk on rides. Each time we go the parks are more and more crowded.

The weather is iffy. We have been there in 85 degrees in November and also been there in 45 degrees in November. Just be prepared for all situations.

This year's free dining promotion has blackout dates for those arriving Nov. 24 through December 11. So free dining shouldn't be a crowd factor this year during the first week of December. However, the dates have varied each year, so there is no way to know if there will be free dining that week in 2014 that OP is considering.

I want to second you on the weather warning. Once in mid-December a cold front blew in and we went from shorts and T-shirts in the afternoon to coats in the early evening. I mean the kind of biting cold that makes your eyes water! I'm packing shorts and coats for my trip in 12 days.

 

[tyniknate]

I posted this above, but the week after Thanksgiving this year is not free dining....so, maybe that is why the crowd calendars are calling for lower numbers...

For Disney to not have offered free dining during that time the number of reservations must have been substantial already. Just because they didn't offer it doesn't mean it won't be crowded. The promotion was mean to bring in crowds during a less crowded time. They didn't have the need to offer it this year because the demand was already there.

The last time we went (2 years ago) the crowd calendar called the weekend after Thanksgiving a 7 and 6 respectively and it wasn't even close! More like a 9 and 8, maybe. It was wall-to-wall people. Weekdays said crowds would diminish to a 3 or 4. Never happened. Only time it even got close to that slow was the Thursday after Thanksgiving. The weekend then got busy again.

 

[ktlm]

The last time we went (2 years ago) the crowd calendar called the weekend after Thanksgiving a 7 and 6 respectively and it wasn't even close! More like a 9 and 8, maybe. It was wall-to-wall people. Weekdays said crowds would diminish to a 3 or 4. Never happened. Only time it even got close to that slow was the Thursday after Thanksgiving. The weekend then got busy again.

Wow- we were there that same week and had a totally different experience, I would put the crowds about at a 5-6 that year. I think it is all about picking the right parks the right days. We followed easywdw's schedule and I don't think we ever waited more than 20 minutes for anything.

DD (then 5) was still too scared to get on Space Mountain, and I remember it had a posted 10 minute wait in the middle of the afternoon- so DH and I took turns riding it solo. I can recall seeing posts of people saying it was crowded that week and thinking how that was not even remotely our experience. I think it must be partially about the luck of being in the right park at the right time.

 

[Wood Nymph]

The 2014 bounce back shows almost the whole month of Dec blacked out except for Dec 21-23, 2014. It is a RO discount. That seems as if Dec is becoming a very popular month. We'll be their the first week of Dec this year and I'm expecting moderate crowds.

 

[North of Mouse]

Hi All!! I have to bid on my vacation for next year now at work. I am taking the BFF who has never been to Disney or Universal to Disney in the fall. I am looking at the possbility of the week after Thanksgiving. I know it's a highly recommended week on easywdw, but I would like thoughts from those who travel during this time as well. He is not a fan of the heat which is why I'm not leaning towards my usual September early October. Thanks in advance!!

We were there last year that week and it was wonderful. The crowd level was great until toward the next weekend.

The weather was mostly pleasant - some days much warmer than others. At least it wasn't like it was the 2nd wk. Dec. 2010. We nearly 'froze'.

Just be prepared for hot, cold, just right weather and you will be fine!