Thanksgiving Week at Disney

CynBeth

Active Member
We are considering a visit the week of Thanksgiving and were wondering if they have a lot of the Christmas parades,etc that week and also what the experience/atmosphere is like. Our previous trips have been early June. We don't have kids. Also, do some of the restaurants have a Thanksgiving meal of some kind? Thanks!
 

Mukta

Well-Known Member
The Xmas decorations are up by then. You will have to buy a separate ticket to the Xmas party at the MK to see the parade. Most of the resorts will have their decorations up too.

Parks are extremely crowded. One of the most crowded weekends of the year.
 
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ThinkTink721

Well-Known Member
We are considering a visit the week of Thanksgiving and were wondering if they have a lot of the Christmas parades,etc that week and also what the experience/atmosphere is like. Our previous trips have been early June. We don't have kids. Also, do some of the restaurants have a Thanksgiving meal of some kind? Thanks!

We went during Thanksgiving week last year.
We saw the Christmas parade at the AK & it was great!
Most of the decorations are up by that time, especially in the parks.
Make sure you visit the resorts to see other decorations...for example, the gingerbread house at the GF.
Liberty Tree Tavern at the MK serves some of the traditional Thanksgiving items.
:wave:
 
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cowanfamily

Well-Known Member
We were there last year for thanksgiving. Crowds were ok Mon and Tues. Brutally crowded the rest of the week. All the deco's were out in full force. Tony's at the MK had a Thanksgiving dinner and it was incredible! Don't listen to the haters. Get ressies there as soon as you can. By the way, the weather was incredible.
 
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Lisalyn

Well-Known Member
Ditto to what the Cowan family above is saying. As someone who has gone the past 3 years in a row over Thanksgiving week - the atmosphere is incredible, the decorations are up (MK is beautiful!), the weather is great and from about Tuesday on.....it is PACKED! However that is part of the charm and ambiance and of all things do NOT miss Osborne Family Lights at Disney Hollywood Studios - unbelievable!
 
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Magical Dreamer

Well-Known Member
We always go the week prior to Thanksgiving week and it's great.....

Decorations are up, Crowd Levels are low and the weather has always been perfect.

We love the 5 to 20 minute wait times as opposed to the busier 40 to 90 minute wait times.
 
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puntagordabob

Well-Known Member
We are considering a visit the week of Thanksgiving and were wondering if they have a lot of the Christmas parades,etc that week and also what the experience/atmosphere is like. Our previous trips have been early June. We don't have kids. Also, do some of the restaurants have a Thanksgiving meal of some kind? Thanks!


The week of Thanksgiving is crowded...my brother wouldnt believe me and he insisted that we all take a big family trip that week... after it was over he admitted that he would never do it again.. lol
 
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Mongomil

Well-Known Member
Our last trip down was the week of Thanksgiving and the week after. Most of the decorations were up. The begining of the week wasn't to bad it really picked up each day and then the monday after was nice. Again though it picked up each day as they was getting ready to film the Christmas parade at the end of the second week.
 
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powlessfamily4

Well-Known Member
We were there for 8 days last Thanksgiving. It was great up until Tuesday. We actually left Thanksgiving afternoon to go home. We had an awesome time! We knew the parks would be packed Wednesday and Thursday so we planned our departure accordingly. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at Tony's and it was GREAT!!! (I will see if I can find the picture to post). The decorations were all up and everything was festive. If you know in advance when it is going to be crowded, you can plan around it like we did.



picture.php
 
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mickeysshoes

Well-Known Member
Its been a few years (2007) since our Thanksgiving trip. Weather was great and the entire World is all done up for Christmas. You should take the time and at least check out the deluxe resorts...decorations are awesome!! GF and WL are 2 good ones to start with!! As for the crowds..We have done Spring Break, Thanksgivng and the week of Christmasa and out of the 3 Thanksgiving was the best crowd wise!! I did not think it was terrible but trends may have changed since 2007. I would suggest you get up and out early to the parks and once the crowds start to over run then that is when you start checking out resorts for the Christmas decorations!!! We did Thanksgiving dinner at Hollywoood and Vine at HS and would not suggest you try. It was a some what traditionl holiday meal but was not good at all. Have a awesome trip!!
 
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PolynesianPrincess

Well-Known Member
I've been twice during Thanksgiving (2001 and 2010) we had Thanksgiving dinner at the Spirit of Aloha dinner show in 2001 and in 2010 we ate just quick service in the Magic Kingdom. Crowd wise, I personally didn't think it was that bad. Thanksgiving Day at MK we hit everthing we wanted to see without super long waits. Friday we hit DHS and walked onto the ToT 4 times at the end of the night. Crowds seemed less than when we went during spring break. The Christmas decorations were all up and it was a great time :animwink:
 
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lbrad

Well-Known Member
DH & I were there Black Friday through Monday after Thanksgiving in 2008. It was PERFECT!!!! Weather was warm enough for shorts.
Christmas decorations everywhere....saw DHS- Osbourne Lights Friday,
Epcot- Christmas Around the World Saturday, MK- MVMCP sunday:sohappy:
Crowds:shrug: were light.
Have a great trip!!!
 
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cowanfamily

Well-Known Member
We were there for 8 days last Thanksgiving. It was great up until Tuesday. We actually left Thanksgiving afternoon to go home. We had an awesome time! We knew the parks would be packed Wednesday and Thursday so we planned our departure accordingly. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at Tony's and it was GREAT!!! (I will see if I can find the picture to post). The decorations were all up and everything was festive. If you know in advance when it is going to be crowded, you can plan around it like we did.



picture.php

Now I'm hungry, thanks. By the way how did you manage to get your reservation there?:drevil:
 
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dramamama

Member
Yes, BUSY, but beautiful! Get your biggest rides in early in the week and enjoy the ambiance the rest of the week. Turkey legs seem to be sold everywhere that week and some restaurants have traditional fare. The funniest to me is the very American turkey and dressing/stuffing on the buffet line in Biergarten at the German pavilion. I second the suggestions to resort decor-hop. The gingerbread house in GF is gorgeous (I recommend buying the spice cookies more than the gingerbread shingles) and Fort Wilderness is really pretty. AKL has a truly unique lobby Christmas tree that makes a great background for photos.

Does anyone know if Boardwalk still does the gingerbread carousel with hidden Mickeys? It has been a few years since we went over there.
 
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becanya

New Member
We always go the week prior to Thanksgiving week and it's great.....

Decorations are up, Crowd Levels are low and the weather has always been perfect.

We love the 5 to 20 minute wait times as opposed to the busier 40 to 90 minute wait times.

We will be there the exact same week as you guys! Finally reached the 8 month countdown point! Where are you guys staying? We are at VWL.
 
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Lisalyn

Well-Known Member
Yes, BUSY, but beautiful! Get your biggest rides in early in the week and enjoy the ambiance the rest of the week. Turkey legs seem to be sold everywhere that week and some restaurants have traditional fare. The funniest to me is the very American turkey and dressing/stuffing on the buffet line in Biergarten at the German pavilion. I second the suggestions to resort decor-hop. The gingerbread house in GF is gorgeous (I recommend buying the spice cookies more than the gingerbread shingles) and Fort Wilderness is really pretty. AKL has a truly unique lobby Christmas tree that makes a great background for photos.

Does anyone know if Boardwalk still does the gingerbread carousel with hidden Mickeys? It has been a few years since we went over there.[/QUOTE

Actually was there in November and walked over to Boardwalk with my daughter just to see that carousel - yes it was there! Along with a couple other chocolate goodies! :) However, I didn't know anything about hidden mickeys in the carousel so guess I need to go back now LOL ]
 
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