We just got back from our first amazing trip to WDW on 6/5 with our two DDs. We of course started planning our next trip in the long drive home. :cool: I work in our local school system and we actually have the whole week of Thanksgiving off this coming year. I'm thinking that we might head back down to the World the Saturday before Thanksgiving and leave either T'giving day or the next day. I know I've read that the week leading up to T'giving is considered moderately crowded.

I'd just like to get some first-hand opinions on the week of T'giving at WDW as far and crowd levels, and what's the weather like at that time? If you don't mind sharing some of your experiences at this time I would appreciate it so very much! :)

Mary

The weather could be shorts and tees or jeans and jackets. One thing for sure it won't be hot and humid. Bring a jacket or sweatshirt for the night time.

The crowds will be nuts from Thanksgiving day until the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I would plan on a somewhat busy week that week before. More and more schools are taking the whole week off. Also, a lot of parents do pull their kids out for those three days before Thanksgiving adding in the weekend before and the holiday this way they get a longer trip without the kids missing that much school.

On the plus side most of the holiday decorations will be up by then. If you can swing it in your budget I would plan on doing the parks the first few days you are there. Then add a day or two after Thanksgiving and use those days to see all the extra stuff the holidays have to offer. Don't miss the Osborne Lights at the Studios, the huge ginger bread house at the Grand Floridian, The lights of winter and the story tellers at Epcot or The Candlelight Processional which is also at Epcot. Christmas at WDW is so very special. In our neck of the woods the Christmas season hasn't begun until we go see WDW all decked out for the holidays.

Mily

Thank you so much for your reply. I know that the gates get shut down due to crowd levels during Christmas/New Years. Do you forsee this during Thanksgiving? (I know that requires you to pull our your WDW crystal ball....)

Historically, I don't think they've closed to new entries at Thanksgiving.

We were there for Thanksgiving a few years ago. As with spring break and other, busy times, it will be especially important to plan your days around the crowds. Assuming that you are staying on-site, take advantage of EMH. We have found that, if there are early EMH at the Magic Kingdom, and if we get there right when the park opens, we can get in a good hour to two hours of park time, before the crowds really hit. Do the rides and attractions you want the most then. A lot of people start hitting the parks around 10AM, and, by noon, it will be wall-to-wall people. That's when you cut out, and, maybe take some time to do a monorail run to check out the holiday decorations at the Deluxe hotels. Epcot can handle a lot more people, so go there later in the day. During a spring break trip, we did the Behind the Seeds tour at Epcot, which was enjoyable, affordable, and also got us out of the crowds and lines for an hour. It goes without saying that you will need to make AR's as soon as you are able, for your meals. Our Thanksgiving trip was, relatively, last minute (planned in late September), and almost every restaurant was fully booked for Thanksgiving dinner. We ended up having our meal at Jiko, which was actually a great choice. It may or may not be warm enough to swim-that Thanksgiving it was, unusually cold the year we went, and we did not swim, but we have gone swimming in November, and even February, so pack your suits.

Thank you so much for your reply. I know that the gates get shut down due to crowd levels during Christmas/New Years. Do you forsee this during Thanksgiving? (I know that requires you to pull our your WDW crystal ball....)

We've been there for the past seven out of eight Thanksgivings and the parks haven't closed due to crowds any of those times. I don't even think it's been close.

Just make sure you make your dining reservations at the 90 day mark if you want a Thanksgiving Day meal in the parks. And remember to check out the special menus - you don't want to get to a restaurant and find out all they have are special Thanksgiving meals and not the regular menu.

Disnut, I'm from GA too! Jasper! How neat. What is your favorite restaurant for T'giving dinner? We're not really concerned about a "traditional" dinner, but if there is one that has a particularly spectacular special menu then I'd like to give it a shot. DH is in love with Le Cellier so that's where he's wanting to go for our TS meal on T'giving.

Thank you again everyone for your replies. Keep the T'giving info coming if you have something else to add. :)

For whatever reason, Le Cellier has proved to be one of the busiest restaurants on property. If you want to eat there on Thanskgiving, be sure you are booking your rez as early as possible (90 days out from the FIRST day of your visit). You might want to check into the new online reservations, where you seem to be able to squeak in a few minutes before the official 7am eastern opening time.

You might want to check into the new online reservations, where you seem to be able to squeak in a few minutes before the official 7am eastern opening time.


How early are the online reservations opening up? I was going to call for my initial "big" reservation session (I've played around with the online system and it irritates me how you have to navigate around), and then fill in with the online as we tweak things around if needed. Maybe I'll do both and see what's faster, get started online and then call and keep working online while I'm on hold. I think the only place we'll have trouble getting in to is Le Cellier. We had dinner at 4:30 on our last trip there.

Disnut, I'm from GA too! Jasper! How neat. What is your favorite restaurant for T'giving dinner? We're not really concerned about a "traditional" dinner, but if there is one that has a particularly spectacular special menu then I'd like to give it a shot. DH is in love with Le Cellier so that's where he's wanting to go for our TS meal on T'giving.

Thank you again everyone for your replies. Keep the T'giving info coming if you have something else to add. :)

We actually avoid the restaurants with the traditional Thanksgiving meal. We've had nice meals at the Biergarten and at Japan - the one where the food is prepared at your table.

I would suggest that you look at lunch instead of dinner. Maybe a late lunch if you have your heart set on one place and you can't get in for dinner.

How early are the online reservations opening up?

I read on another thread that when online reservations opened up for travel agents only, they could get in at 6am, while the phone lines opened at 7am. There is some evidence that people have had luck 20 minutes or so before 7am, so it might be that the full hour is in play. And it could also be an error that they'll soon correct. But it'd be worth it to give 6am eastern a try anyway.

Good luck!

We actually avoid the restaurants with the traditional Thanksgiving meal. We've had nice meals at the Biergarten and at Japan - the one where the food is prepared at your table.

I would suggest that you look at lunch instead of dinner. Maybe a late lunch if you have your heart set on one place and you can't get in for dinner.

Don't limit your restaurant choices to the parks; you will probably have better luck at the resort restaurants. When we had Thanksgiving at WDW, one of the few places left was Jiko, at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. While not "traditional," I figured that I can make turkey and mashed potatoes at home, anytime, and we really enjoyed our African-themed meal. My kids had steak, and my husband and I had a variety of appetizers and desserts. That was a terrific Thanksgiving.