Notifications
Clear all

Thanksgiving Crowds

11 Posts
8 Users
0 Reactions
2,344 Views
(@Gregandmel)
Posts: 49
Cast Member
Topic starter
 

What are the crowds like during the Thanksgiving Break? I know Christmas is crazy-busy, but what about Wednesday - Sunday of Thanksgiving week (with T-Day being Thursday?). Just curious. Always trying to plan around school and work schedules. Blech!!


Melinda

Trips:

Offsite - June 1997
WL - October 2008
POFQ - April/May 2010
RPH - Universal - May 7th-11th 2014
POFQ - Sept. 27-30, 2014 (just the two of us!)
Royal Pacific Hotel - Universal - June 27th - July 1st, 2015
POFQ - Sept 2017

 
Posted : November 20, 2014 3:26 pm
(@ibelieveindisneymagic)
Posts: 2523
Staff Member Moderator
 

It is pretty busy then too! A lot of people take advantage of the holiday to miss less work/school.

I'd say that it is pretty close to Christmas, not quite as crazy, but still rather busy.

However, with good planning (and an early start most days), you'll still have a super time!


Heather aka ibelieveindisneymagic
INTERCOT Staff

Engaged at the castle!
My Disney Home is POFQ

 
Posted : November 20, 2014 3:42 pm
faline
(@faline)
Posts: 2935
Staff Member Moderator
 

I agree. Expect lots of crowds. As long as you expect it to be very busy and go with a mindset that allows you to go with the flow, you might be able to accomplish more than you might think.


Linda aka: Faline
INTERCOT Staff: Vacation Planning,Trip Reports and Disney Camping
faline@intercot.com

 
Posted : November 20, 2014 7:50 pm
(@ransam)
Posts: 712
Team INTERCOT Cast Member
 

I have heard it's busy, but I have had two friends go over thanksgiving and both said it wasn't that bad. I'm hopin.


Have A Magical Day-1970-1989-offsite, 2002-DLR, 2003-DLR, 2005-Sports, 2007-All Music, 2008-POP, December 12-21 2009-Pop, January 16-18, 2010-Disneyland. Disney Sports-Feb 1-6, 2012, Disneyland-December 7 and 8, 2012, DIsney Pop-Feb 1-5, 2013 (my son's first trip.)

 
Posted : November 21, 2014 2:39 am
faline
(@faline)
Posts: 2935
Staff Member Moderator
 

ransam;2440814 wrote: I have heard it's busy, but I have had two friends go over thanksgiving and both said it wasn't that bad. I'm hopin.

I think it all has to do with your expectations. If you know it will be busy and adjust your expectations to meet the situation, you'll be fine!! I've been to Disney when you can practically walk onto everything (not so true in recent years) and when you can barely walk through Fantasyland and have had fun regardless!!


Linda aka: Faline
INTERCOT Staff: Vacation Planning,Trip Reports and Disney Camping
faline@intercot.com

 
Posted : November 21, 2014 8:35 am
(@buzznwoodysmom)
Posts: 766
Team INTERCOT Cast Member
 

We have gone to Disney at all different times of the year. Thanksgiving week happens to be one of our favorite times to go. Yes, it's busy, but it's really not that bad.

We typically arrive around the Friday or Saturday before Thanksgiving and stay till the Saturday or Sunday after. The parks have been just moderately crowded up until about Wednesday in the past, with a gradual increase as the week nears Tday.

We usually skip the parks on Thanksgiving day, and do our last park on the Friday after. Friday usually being the busiest day of our trips, depending on the park we visit on that day. Last year we did Animal Kingdom on the Friday and it wasn't crowded at all. In our experience Epcot has seen larger crowds on the Friday after Tday because that was when they started their holiday festivities.

Honestly it's not been any worse than early summer for us. More recently we have found Mardi Gras week to be more crowded than Thanksgiving.


Denise

Resorts we've stayed at in 20+ trips: ASMo, ASMu, ASSp, PC, CSR, CBR, POR, POFQ, WL, AKL Jambo, AKL Kidani, Poly, Contemporary, BC, YC, BWV, OKW, SSR, Swan, Shades of Green, Vero Beach, Disneyland Resort

Next Trip: ???

 
Posted : November 21, 2014 12:19 pm
(@Gregandmel)
Posts: 49
Cast Member
Topic starter
 

I've been checking the wait times on my MDE app on my I-Phone this week just to get an idea. No surprises that the first hour the park is open - they are reasonable. The popular rides ramp up to a 90-120 minute wait time pretty quickly (Soarin', Test Track, 7 Dwarfs Mine Ride, Toy Story Mania, etc…). The rest of the rides that aren't the main attraction are 45 mins or less. The busiest times are between about 10am - 3pm and then the wait times start to lessen. As we were driving to my sister's yesterday morning, the wait time on Thanksgiving for one of the rides was 2 hours 15 minutes. Yikes! But guess there weren't any real surprises with the wait times other than the first hour or two of opening - they were less than I thought they would be.:mickey:


Melinda

Trips:

Offsite - June 1997
WL - October 2008
POFQ - April/May 2010
RPH - Universal - May 7th-11th 2014
POFQ - Sept. 27-30, 2014 (just the two of us!)
Royal Pacific Hotel - Universal - June 27th - July 1st, 2015
POFQ - Sept 2017

 
Posted : November 28, 2014 9:58 am
(@Kplaster)
Posts: 36
Cast Member Trainee
 

We just got back Sunday from a 10 day trip over Thanksgiving break and it really wasn't bad until Thanksgiving day. Prior to then we expected there to be a lot of people but I would say it was mild to moderate on crowd level. Much better than christmas week. I would recommend going this week if you can just make sure you come before Thanksgiving. It seemed like it just kept getting busier after Thanksgiving with everyone coming in.


 
Posted : December 2, 2014 1:04 pm
(@Katzateer)
Posts: 659
Team INTERCOT Cast Member
 

Our last day here at Disney I have a chance to go to universal with friends. Should i give up our last park day ( i already have a ticket for that day that is a length of stay).

This might be my only chance to ever go. I am a huge HP fan and my husband isnt (but he wont care if we go)


We'll Go On....Off To Neverland

Wishes!

It's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow....Where Dreams Really Do Come True

Never Forget It was All Started By A Mouse....TTFN

 
Posted : December 12, 2014 7:38 am
(@Katzateer)
Posts: 659
Team INTERCOT Cast Member
 

Not sure how i posted this here- was trying to post a new thread- if someone can delete?? I tryed :(


We'll Go On....Off To Neverland

Wishes!

It's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow....Where Dreams Really Do Come True

Never Forget It was All Started By A Mouse....TTFN

 
Posted : December 12, 2014 7:43 am
(@TIGGER17179)
Posts: 66
Cast Member
 

What about the week after Thanksgiving?


"Fantasy, if it's really convincing, can't become dated for the simple reason that it represents a flight into a dimension that lies beyond the reach of time." Walt Disney

Anniversary trip Oct 2017

 
Posted : December 16, 2014 2:08 pm