Tell me about Thanksgiving at WDW

[disneymyway]

I imagine it is ungodly crowded - any tips or suggestions or thoughts or experiences?

 

[coltow]

Get to the parks before they open and don't leave until you are done for the day.

 

[gatorfan03]

It's crowded but not that bad. My family have been at Thanksgiving several times, and that's actually our preferred time to go since it's decorated for Christmas already.

However, it could be that we like it because we've been to Disney a lot, and we're the types who like to take our time and enjoy ourselves at the parks instead of wait in line for every ride.

My suggestion is to just take advantage of FastPass and don't expect to be able to fit in every attraction while you're there. Crowds are kind of heavy then, but the temperature and weather are always great, so that's a bonus. To me, I'd much prefer dealing with crowds then than when it's extremely hot.

Hope that helps ... feel free to msg me if you have anymore questions. Also, I'm leaving for WDW tonight :sohappy: so if you don't get a reply for a week, that's why

 

[disneymyway]

Thanks to both of you!

We do go a lot and that's what we've been thinking, it's not the end of the world if we can't be in the parks much. We have tickets to the Christmas party and that should help! When my husband comes we need to do things away from the parks anyway or he gets moody, lol. A nice afternoon at DTD going to a movie will do him good!

Hey, have a great time gaterfan!

 

[DisneyMarg]

We've been a couple of times Thanksgiving week. We hit the parks early in the week and then use Thanksgiving Day to celebrate outside the parks with a nice dinner somewhere and maybe a day enjoying the monorail resorts. Or shopping. There's always shopping

 

[clairew]

I am getting to return to the World again this Thanksgiving! From past experience I can tellyou that the weather is fantastic, yes it is crowded but not unbearable...use FastPasses and be flexible...

Have a great time!:sohappy:

 

[cemeb4dk]

This will be our first Thanksgiving there also.

We are arriving the MOnday before and leaving a week after Thanksgiving. When do the crowds show up, Is it the Wednesday before thru Sunday. or are they there the entire week

 

[MGMBoy]

Just don't do like the people who always yelled at me. They'd not get to the park until 11:30-Noon and be furious because there were no more FastPasses. Get there early, juggle your Fastpasses as well as you can and save the less popular attractions for later in the day.

 

[MGMBoy]

This will be our first Thanksgiving there also.

We are arriving the MOnday before and leaving a week after Thanksgiving. When do the crowds show up, Is it the Wednesday before thru Sunday. or are they there the entire week

Except them pretty much all week. They generally start picking up the Thursday/Friday before Thanksgiving and begin thinning out on Sunday/Monday after.

 

[LoriMistress]

Get to the parks before opening; Fast Pass, Fast Pass, and did I mention Fast Pass? Also, take numerous breaks. Don't try to plan everything; just do must-do's when hitting the parks.

 

[progroupie]

As far as holidays go Thanksgiving is the least crowded. Not to say it isn't crowded but it's much better compared to say Christmas or Easter, which I actually found to be the worst since it seems to fall around Spring Break time as well. Thanksgiving is a great time to go if you can only go during a holiday/school break time.
As other people have said, use your fastpasses and do things in between to kill time such as the Hall of Presidents, visiting World Showcase, doing the walking trails at AK or just going from shop to shop at Hollywood Studios. There will always be attractions with no wait times even if they're random ones that you wouldn't normally do like Innoventions or Tommorowland Transit Authority. It's a good time to just see the sights. I'm not a fan of waking up early and neither is my family so we've always gone in late morning and stayed until close as opposed to waking up early and getting to the park as they open. The benefits are pretty much the same it just depends if you'd rather stay up late in the parks or get up early.

 

[360rico1]

things may be different this year because Florida public schools no longer have fall break it was the week of Thanksgiving so lets see what happens

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I figured Friday would be heaving so I booked a Keys to the kingdom tour.

 

[baz212]

How do THanksgiving week crowds compare to Fourth of July crowds. I've been at thye fourth of July before.

 

[DisneyGigi]

My biggest tip would be to stay away from MK on Thanksgiving day. It will be a nightmare. Or at least it was when we were there in 2000.(Full capacity) The other parks were not as bad. DAK was the best but at the time there still was not that much there so that may have had a big factor. As others have said get there early, use fastpass and be prepared for big crowds. Also make you ADRs ( I am sure that you have) We didn't and had a Turkey leg and Fries for Thanksgiving. :ROFLOLat least it was turkey)

 

[disneygirl76]

Are there any Thanksgiving decorations just for the day that goes up? I know Christmas will be up. But I didn't know if they do anything Thanksgivingy. Thanks!

 

[burninup4nick]

Ive been to WDW on Thanksgiving 3 times...and It was great everytime. It suprisingly wasnt overly crowded and it was a really nice atomosphere. The Christmas decorations were up (most of them anyways) and the weather was GREAT!!!! I am definitley looking forward to doing it again (maybe next year)