How bad are the crowds the Fri/Sat/Sun BEFORE US Thanksgiving?

[ladylonghorn]

It's been quite some time since I did Disney during a high peak time, and I'm trying my best to avoid however, we are considering going the Tues/Tues leading into Thanksgiving week as a milestone bday celebration. We usually go in Sept/Oct or Jan/Feb intentionally to avoid long lines, so my fear is I will be very disappointed with how packed the parks will be.

Can someone who's more recently done DW during this time tell me how bad it is this particular weekend?

 

[ToTBellHop]

Not awful.

 

[JasonDeyoung]

Normally not bad at all... But being Disney, that could change lol

 

[Tuvalu]

Not awful.

Normally not bad at all... But being Disney, that could change lol

We were there last year (2014) during that time period. The parks were VERY busy (summertime busy). It was disappointing as we had been there a few years earlier and the parks were dead.

Not to discourage you @ladylonghorn, but you should be prepared for crowds. And if the crowds don't materialize, consider it a bonus!

 

[ToTBellHop]

We were there last year (2014) during that time period. The parks were VERY busy (summertime busy). It was disappointing as we had been there a few years earlier and the parks were dead.

Not to discourage you @ladylonghorn, but you should be prepared for crowds. And if the crowds don't materialize, consider it a bonus!

Eek. Hope this was a fluke. For many years, the weekend before Thanksgiving was that wonderful mix of perfect weather and low crowds. Then again, I dont think there is any time of year with low crowds any more.

 

[Tuvalu]

Eek. Hope this was a fluke. For many years, the weekend before Thanksgiving was that wonderful mix of perfect weather and low crowds. Then again, I dont think there is any time of year with low crowds any more.

Yes I am hoping it was a fluke too. But I was also there in September of last year (another "dead" period) and while not as busy as November was, it was more crowded than we expected. Either 2014 was an unusual attendance year, or Disney has finally succeeded in overcoming the slow periods.

 

[Sage of Time]

I'd think they were low, but this is shocking.

 

[JIMINYCR]

When we went for the 2 weeks before, the crowd levels started out low. But every day as it progressed through the week I noticed things getting buzier and more hectic. The parks and resorts started to buzz and everything began to fill up. By the end of the 2nd week I was actually glad to leave because the feel of my vacation had changed dramatically. I was no longer having fun dealing with the extra throngs of guests that materialized. So expect it to be buzy and every day to get buzier. But it wont be as bad as the actual holiday and the week after.

 

[UnhealthilyObsessed]

We were there the week before Thanksgiving last year, including the Friday and Saturday before.

I will say this: the whole week seemed busier than I expected. I kept reading about how low the crowds would be, and that just didn't seem to be the case. That said, we had a great time and did most of what we wanted to do, which we didn't mind because it's always great to leave certain things for next time.

The Friday before Thanksgiving, we didn't go to any parks. We made it a resort day and had an absolutely amazing time, watching the Frozen castle show from California Grill and watching Holiday Wishes from Poly Beach. If you don't have park tickets for every single day of your trip, I'd definitely recommend making one of the busier days a resort day. It was maybe the highlight of our last trip.

Then we spent Saturday at AK and had a terrific time. Crowds were moderate, but nothing we couldn't handle. We single ridered Everest like seven times and used our FastPasses wisely. Basically, expect it to be busier than you may want it to be, but nothing you can't handle with a little strategy.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We went around this time in 2012. This may not be recent enough for you, but we didn't really feel the crowds building until Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and while tolerable- it never felt crowded until the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I think we arrived a week before Thanksgiving and everything earlier in our trip was pretty quiet.

 

[bigorangeandy]

We did the weekend prior to Thanksgiving in 2011 and at AK that Sunday morning it felt like we had the park for ourselves for an hour or two. As the week continued each day got busier until Thanksgiving. We are going from the Wednesday (Nov 18) the week prior to the Monday before Thanksgiving this year, and I'm hoping for lower crowds. When trying to get our ADR's for this period many places had no dinner reservations left, so that's why I'm thinking the parks will be crowded.

 

[PinnySmart]

We are there that week every year and the last two years were dreadful.