Parks on Thanksgiving Day or not?

[Surgie]

We (family of 6 adults and 5 kids ages 4-11) will be offsite at WDW Saturday-Saturday of Thanksgiving week. I know it’s one of the busiest weeks of the year. What are the pros and cons of being in a park on Thanksgiving day?

We possibly want to have a simple Thanksgiving lunch at our villa so a park day would be early afternoon through the evening.

 

[StageTek]

And Thanksgiving Day is one of the busiest days of that busy week - the Friday after being typically even busier.

The only pro I can think of is you're in Disney World! Prepare yourself for very long lines for everything and you'll still have a good time.

 

[Surgie]

We have super low expectations for a super high amount of money LOL. Makes no sense but want the littlest ones to experience MK like the older three have. And school schedules mean this is it! Luckily we all move fast in the early mornings if that’s still a helpful strategy.

We’ll have to think some more on how to handle Thanksgiving Day.

 

[_19disnA]

My guess would be Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday before Thanksgiving will be somewhat lower crowds. It seems to me that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is a HUGE travel day where LOTS of people are driving somewhere on the freeway or flying to their destination for the holiday. As I recall, airports usually report that Wednesday as one of their busiest days all year long. People don't all return on the same day after the holiday so that tends to be more spread out. I would imagine those @ Disney for Thanksgiving probably stay through the weekend so it doesn't surprise me that Friday would be VERY crowded. Unless there is some special parade on Thanksgiving at MK, I don't really think you would miss out on anything you won't see any other day you are there.

If you plan to be @ Disney for a week, I doubt you plan to do a park every day. Friday would be one of the days I would skip since it is likely so crowded you won't get to do very many rides/shows. Other choice would be to get park hopper passes and go to Epcot which tends to be less crowded since there are wider walkways to spread out the crowds. Go to MK later in the day when crowds tend to be lower. The very early arrivals have probably worn themselves out by later in the day and are back at their hotel resting.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We have gone during Thanksgiving 4 or 5 times and went again last year. Truthfully, we thought last year was not as busy as the previous times. MK will be a very busy park on Thanksgiving, this trip we decided to go to Epcot and it was not bad at all. We went Sunday through Saturday, and pretty much got to ride most everything we wanted. I would get up early to do the stupid G+, but then we would not go to the park until around 10. We like the parks so much better at night, so we usually get back to the resort late and try to sleep in a bit (except for me and G+). We do not use hopper, there is enough to do in each park to keep you busy the whole day and we do not take midday breaks, even when our DDs were infants and toddlers. Just go there and enjoy yourself and not stress over trying to get everything in.

 

[Robber Baron]

We (family of 6 adults and 5 kids ages 4-11) will be offsite at WDW Saturday-Saturday of Thanksgiving week. I know it’s one of the busiest weeks of the year. What are the pros and cons of being in a park on Thanksgiving day?

We possibly want to have a simple Thanksgiving lunch at our villa so a park day would be early afternoon through the evening.

We went for a week over Thanksgiving this past November.

On Thanksgiving we rope dropped MK, went to Steakhouse 71 for lunch, then the Pre Dessert Fireworks party in the evening.

We did not find the Park super crowded that day. Or maybe it's just that because we always rope drop we didn't find it that busy.

 

[Disney_David]

We have gone during Thanksgiving 4 or 5 times and went again last year. Truthfully, we thought last year was not as busy as the previous times. MK will be a very busy park on Thanksgiving,

Just go there and enjoy yourself and not stress over trying to get everything in.

This is great advice. I’ve been many TG. This TG was definitely quieter, and also the days in and around TG were quieter than previous years IMO.

It will be busy, but go to enjoy the atmosphere and the park. There’s always something magical about being in a park on a holiday.

If you do want to do rides, take the advice above…rope drop/Genie + and split up the day by going back home

 

[Stacybaeasm]

If you are doing a park on Friday, remember that Festival of the Holidays (or whatever that festival is called) starts at Epcot on that Friday. It's great to get to be one of the first people to try the new stuff at the booths but it can also make world showcase busier - especially at night.

 

[poohs_hunny]

We did Thanksgiving twice in 2013 and 2014 and went to AK both times. We figured it would probably be the least crowded of all the parks. We didn’t find it to be any more crowded than any other day. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Tusker House - so fun! Of course, this was 10 years ago (!!) so things may be different now. Have a great time!