Quantcast Thanksgiving or Week between Christmas and New Year's - opinions
 
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
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    Default Thanksgiving or Week between Christmas and New Year's - opinions

    Trying to figure out how to get a Disney vacation in this year. The kids are getting older and taking them out of school is not an option. We have been to Disney around Thanksgiving and it is very crowded then. We'd deal with those crowds again, but we'd have to take a shorter trip than we'd like and worry we wouldn't be able to do everything we'd like to do due to the crowd levels. We'd have a little more time at Christmas time, but I've heard the crowds are unbearable the week between Christmas and New Years. I heard that the crowds are the highest all year at that time, but recently heard someone say that Thanksgiving crowds are worse? I am surprised by that. Can anyone who has been at both times of the year help me understand what to expect the week between Christmas and New Years?

    Thanks in advance for any opinions and advice!
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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
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    Both are very busy times of the year. It's been quite some time since I've been there for either Thanksgiving or Christmas week but I know you can plan on having plenty of company during either time frame. Careful planning and use of the fastpass option can help you maximum your trip despite the crowds.
    Linda aka: Faline
    INTERCOT Staff: Vacation Planning,Trip Reports and Disney Camping
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  5. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
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    We've been plenty of times Thanksgiving week and we never found crowds to be that bad. Sure its crowded, but still manageable. We would not hesitate to go again at that time. As a matter of fact the only reason we haven't gone for Thanksgiving the past few years is because our kids play football.

    Have been Christmas week, up until Christmas day, but never the week between Christmas and New Years.

    Keep this in mind. The parks pretty much always close due to reaching capacity the week between Christmas and New Years, but we have never experienced that during Thanksgiving week in all our trips.
    Denise

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  7. #4
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    We have found the week of Thanksgiving very doable. Now the week between Christmas and New Year can be very very busy. This past Christmas wait times for some of the popular rides was between 90 minutes and 145 minutes. It can be doable if you are at the park at opening and maybe take a break mid day and go back for night time hours

  8. #5
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    When I went the week between Christmas and New Years the parks closed due to full capacity just about every day and one day it occurred at 10am! We were shocked!
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  9. #6
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    We have been the week of Thanksgiving the past two years. The cheerleaders selected UCA All American are in the pre-parade on Thanksgiving Day so there are a lot of cheerleaders and their families that add to the crowd levels, especially Magic Kingdom on Thanksgiving day. The parks are busy that week and fastpass+ has created a situation where even the basic rides have long lines. You can expect the popular rides such as Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Space Mountain, Rocking Roller Coaster, Soarin', Frozen, etc. to have wait times in excess of 90 minutes and we saw in excess of 120 minutes at times this past Thanksgiving. We were in line for Seven Dwarfs over 2 hours the first time we rode it and about an hour the second time.

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  11. #7
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    I just went at Thanksgiving and the crowds were insane. This apparently is a change in recent years as it use to be that the crowds were not too bad until Thanksgiving day.

    I have also been the week been on Christmas day and for most of the week between Christmas and New Years (Our trip was from the 23rd to the 29th). I found Christmas to be very manageable if you did not go to MK or EPCOT on Christmas day (which is where everyone else is going). We went to DHS on Christmas Day and had light crowds until 11 am when MK closed it doors.
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  13. #8
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    Thanks for the reply! I seem to recall one of our trips Thanksgiving week being similar - much more crowded than we'd thought it would be. I totally agree with the Fastpass+ comment - you couldn't get on any rides without a decent wait. This is what worries me - having a shorter time at Disney than we'd ever taken in the past - and having crowds like that. I've never been there when they have closed to capacity and even when it was super crowded, we were told that they were nowhere near capacity - so the thought of the crowds during the week between Christmas and New Years really scares me.
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  14. #9
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    While a few days on either side of Thanksgiving can be very busy, it typically seems to be much worse between Christmas and New Year's. If it came down to it, I would visit at Thanksgiving, and make sure we planned out FPs and dining reservations. But we will never try to tackle the last week of the year!

  15. #10
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    Dec 2006
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    The week between Christmas and New Years can be CRAZY crowded, especially the days right next to the holidays themselves. We go, but kinda "law low" and do mornings.
    If you go, it's very pretty and fun! just relax and know that the parks are crowded and adjust accordingly.
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