Day After Thanksgiving And Following Wk??

[kerry76]

HI,
Can anybody give me advice on crowds from Nov. 26 thru Dec 3. We will be checking in the day after Thanksgiving very late. I am hoping the Thanksgiving crowds go home that weekend and then the parks are a little less crowded. Was anybody there this time last year. Thanks for your help.
Kerry

 

[EnSkywalker]

The parks get more crowded as the Thanksgiving approaches and then reaches a steady state Thursday through Saturday. WDW starts to thin out on Sunday and then Monday its like you own the place. The year we were there after Thanksgiving it was empty (although this was in 2001.) We actually hit 10 rides in about 2:30 in MK. It took us more time to walk through the queues than it did to wait in them. The parks are all decorated for Christmas.

One caution is that weather is a bit unpredictable at this time of year. We've been November/December trip takers for awhile. One year we got highs/lows of 80/60 and another year we had windchills in the 20s. If you've got a Columbia jacket, bring it! If you need all of it, part of it, or none of it, you've got it handy.

 

[thespottedzebra]

This is the time I usually go & I love it. We usually check in the day after Thanksgiving & stay a week. We've never had a problem w/ crowds except you can see a difference come that following Friday or so.

I definitely agree w/ the weather issue. When we were there in 2001 we were sweating, in 2002 we froze. Best suggestion I can make is to take a variety of clothes (unless you just buy there) and layer.

It's really the best - low crowds & all the holiday decorations, have fun!

 

[TIGGER-FAN]

We where there over Thanksgiving this past year and Thanksgiving day through Saturday the crowds where huge and the lines very long. On the upside, all the decorations where up and the place looked great. If you are going to be their over the weekend, get tickets for MVMCP the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The first run of MVMCP for the season tends to be less crowded than others. We hit Space Mountain twice, Pooh, Speedway, Snow White, Tea Cups, Magic Carpets, BTMRR twice, Pirates and Jungle Cruise in about 1hr 30 min. before the parades and shows started.

 

[lukacseven]

Did the same thing 2 years in a row a few years back ('99 and '00). Expect it to be moderately to rather crowded on Friday and over the weekend. Expect line waits to be about 30-45 minutes for e-ride attractions. By Tuesday, there is hardly anyone there and this held true for the following weekend, as well. The longest line wait was about 6 minutes for Dinosaur at AK. We literaly walked onto every other ride in all the parks.

 

[Kellylynn322]

We checked in the Tuesday before Thanksgiving this past year and checked out the Wednesday after. It was crowded until Sunday afternoon. Sunday afternoon was like a ghost town. Monday and the following we barely saw anyone else. We actually got pictures of the Castle with NO ONE and I mean not a single soul in the pictures. On Friday and Sunday we went to Epcot and the line for Mission Space was around 3hours + both days. We went back on Tuesday and they we asking people to come in. We walked right into the briefing room. No lines anywhere. We are thinking of planning a trip next year for the week after Thanksgiving since we bought APs this year and they will expire before that time for this years trip.


Have a great time when you go. 26 more days for me.

 

[MelessaG]

It looks like me and my family will be in good company on our trip this year. We leave the Fri. after Thanksgiving and plan on starting with the MVMCP Sunday night. I thought my mother was nuts for flying out on Thanksgiving weekend, but it sounds like it won't be so bad after all as long as we steer clear of the parks until Sunday. I'm already getting excited...