What are the parks like on Thanksgiving day?

[pwdebbie]

We are arriving Thanksgiving day and would like to do a park in the evening. In the past, has MK been extremely crowded that day?

 

[nikmasteed]

We are arriving Thanksgiving day and would like to do a park in the evening. In the past, has MK been extremely crowded that day?

I was at MK on Thanksgiving Day a few years ago, 2022. Yes, very very crowded. I recall being able to do a decent amount of rides using what was then Genie+. Looking back at my trip report, which you can read HERE if you'd like, that was pretty much all in the morning thru early-ish afternoon before we took a resort pool break. Then we came back and were completely overwhelmed by the fireworks crowds, which we had vastly underestimated. But you can certainly still have a great time if you set your expectations

 

[RuntheMouse]

We were at HS last year for Thanksgiving. The crowds weren’t too bad in the morning but did build as the day went on. We had our Thanksgiving dinner at HBD at 4:00 and left after that. We did LL as well. I probably wouldn’t pick MK.

Overall if you manage expectations, it isn’t that bad. This is coming from someone who hates packed parks. The only reason we went is because DH was on a long term work project in Orlando and he didn’t want to travel home over the holiday weekend.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

I did Animal Kingdom & EPCOT I had a most enjoyable day and was quite surprised at the crowds weren’t that bad I was expecting them to be bad I’ve seen bigger crowds during food and wine festival than I did for Thanksgiving I found it most enjoyable

 

[Stacybaeasm]

I was in MK on Thanksgiving day last year. As I walked into the park, I found myself getting annoyed by people...well...being people. But I reminded myself that most of these people were probably here for the first time and that I needed to be patient. That helped a lot. It was crowded. I had my 3 LL's and I think I got on just a few other things (Philharmagic, the train, and Country Bears) after I used those. I didn't book any more LL's because return times by 10am were into the 8pm time frame. We had lunch scheduled at Diamond Horseshoe at 2:15. We got seated at 3:15pm. We left the park after eating (and shopping a bit). I think I was back in the hotel by 5:30.

So yes, it was crowded. Less than Christmas but still crowded. If you go in with that expectation and a plan, and then remain flexible, its worth it.

 

[juxtapose]

Yes, it will be busy, but the worst will be MK. It is a non-party day which drives crowds up at MK.

 

[pwdebbie]

This leaves me thinking either Epcot or HS will be my best bet. I'm taking my son and his family on their first trip to WDW and want them to have a good "first night" experience.

 

[Mr_Woodchuck]

we went a few years ago, empty in the morning, very very crowded past noon

 

[JODEE2090]

We will be there for Thanksgiving this year and I'm trying to think of the best way to spend the day!!

 

[marmentrout85]

We went Thanksgiving week 2019 (Historically PEAK Disney crowds that year IIRC) and everything seemed super packed all week except for Epcot on Thanksgiving day, which seemed a bit more manageable compared to the rest of the week.

Another reason for the slightly lower Epcot crowds is probably because Festival of the Holidays starts the following day. I can't speak to MK on that day in particular, but we did hop over to HS and it was much more crowded than Epcot.