How busy does it really get during Thanksgiving?

[mdcpr]

Our trip is Nov 27-Dec 1. I keep hearing that it’s really busy and very crowded, but what is the baseline?

We live in NYC, walk everywhere and are used to crowds. So when people say is crowded, crowded as in Times Square during summer or New Year’s Eve? Trying to get a good grasp on this.

 

[OneofThree]

Our trip is Nov 27-Dec 1. I keep hearing that it’s really busy and very crowded, but what is the baseline?

We live in NYC, walk everywhere and are used to crowds. So when people say is crowded, crowded as in Times Square during summer or New Year’s Eve? Trying to get a good grasp on this.

Body to body in the parks. You're not so much "walking" as you are flowing as a wave in a sea of humanity.

 

[mdcpr]

Body to body in the parks. You're not so much "walking" as you are flowing as a wave in a sea of humanity.

So it is an all day subway ride!!!

 

[OneofThree]

So it is an all day subway ride!!!

Exactly. You basically have to just "hop on" or "hop off" the flow of the crowd at your next Fast Pass stop.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

So it is an all day subway ride!!!

We go every year at Thanksgiving and it is not that bad, just avoid MK on Thanksgiving day, of course with SWGE you may want to avoid HS Thanksgiving day as well, it actually clams down on black Friday as tons of people are returning home that day.

 

[Ricky Spanish]

We went a couple years ago for Thanksgiving week-Sunday til Saturday
Great trip.
If I remember correctly, MK was open til 2am on Wednesday which was pretty sweet.
We didn't get back to the hotel til after 3am.
We didn't feel it was crazy crowded until Friday(day after Thanksgiving) and that was at MK.

 

[MrsPrice96]

I am going this year as well and am curious to see how it goes. We went back on 2003 when it used to be empty during that time. Sure miss that.

 

[mdcpr]

We go every year at Thanksgiving and it is not that bad, just avoid MK on Thanksgiving day, of course with SWGE you may want to avoid HS Thanksgiving day as well, it actually clams down on black Friday as tons of people are returning home that day.

Well, we’re going to be at MK Thanksgiving Day because I got an early dinner ADR at Be Our Guest. Definitely avoiding HS, the plan was to go back to MK on Friday and hop to Epcot.

 

[GrumpySue]

How about the week right after Thanksgiving week ?? Is it any better ??

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

My parents started going the last 2 weeks of November in the 70's and continued once they had kids in the 80's. I grew up going during that time and went every year until 2005. In 2006 I started going basically when ever I wanted to. Since then I only went during that time in 2012. However my parents have continued to go during that time each year.
If it were really "that" crowded they would choose another time to go since they are in their 70's and could choose any time.
So basically in my family's experience no its really not bad during that time.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

My parents started going the last 2 weeks of November in the 70's and continued once they had kids in the 80's. I grew up going during that time and went every year until 2005. In 2006 I started going basically when ever I wanted to. Since then I only went during that time in 2012. However my parents have continued to go during that time each year.
If it were really "that" crowded they would choose another time to go since they are in their 70's and could choose any time.
So basically in my family's experience no its really not bad during that time.

My parents took us to Disney once when we were kids- Thanksgiving week, 1995. To this day, whenever she hears anyone discussing the best time to go to Disney, my mom chimes in to say how wonderful Thanksgiving week is and how it’s not that crowded at all.
She doesn’t believe that things have changed *just a bit* in the last 20 something years

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

My parents took us to Disney once when we were kids- Thanksgiving week, 1995. To this day, whenever she hears anyone discussing the best time to go to Disney, she chimes in to say how wonderful Thanksgiving week is and how it’s not that crowded at all.
She doesn’t believe that things have changed *just a bit* in the last 20 something years

Ha so we were there at the same time!
Honestly my parents haven't seen much of a shift in their opinion.
I only started going other times of the year because I wanted to expand my experiences lol.
When I went in 2012 we went to MK on Thanksgiving and that also was the opening day of Be Our Guest. It really wasn't terribly busy.
I think people think its going to be like Easter or Christmas/NYE but having been at both of those times I can tell you its not at all.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

Well, we’re going to be at MK Thanksgiving Day because I got an early dinner ADR at Be Our Guest. Definitely avoiding HS, the plan was to go back to MK on Friday and hop to Epcot.

If you can avoid the MK in the morning do, it is overrun with cheerleaders and "pagent queens" , they do seem to disipate some after the afternoon parade.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We've been at Thanksgiving and our experiences at that time aren't nearly as bad as Christmas to New Year's. Sure, there are going to be areas that cause bottlenecks (but they always do to some degree) and things like fireworks/night shows will always make things feel overly congested. Now, I'm not saying it won't be crowded, but I wouldn't compare it to Times Square on NYE either.

 

[lief13]

I was at MK for mickey's 90th birthday (11/18) and for Thanksgiving. Both days were busy. The 90th birthday was worse in terms of crowds. I still wasn't able to do all the things we wanted to do in MK because of how busy it was even though we were there for 2 days. The park did not close to capacity so NYE and Christmas are way busier.