How is Thanksgiving Week?

[disneycat321]

We live in CA, so DLR is our home park and WDW is an every few years experience for us. It is my absolute dream to visit WDW during Christmas time. It's my favorite time of year in general and the better weather is super appealing. (Our only WDW trips have been in the summer.) Problem is, I'm a teacher, so our ability to visit at Christmas time is pretty limited.

This is super far ahead, but we want to wait until Epcot, our favorite park, is done, so we are thinking Thanksgiving 2021. We'd probably arrive the Saturday before Thanksgiving week and leave the Saturday after Thanksgiving, since that's what fits with my break. Since travel to and from CA takes the better part of an entire day each way, we'd be in the parks Sun-Fri of Thanksgiving week. I realize that 2021 is also the 50th, and this is one of the most crowded weeks of the year in general, so yikes all around. We are very adept at crowd management at DLR and crowds don't scare us there, but WDW is a different experience altogether. We do know the drill about dining reservations, FP+, etc. - I am a planner and we had a very successful trip this past July using all the tips I got on these boards.

So my questions:
1. Is it still enjoyable, despite the crowds, given the fact that it's my dream to go at this time of year and our only other option for this would be the weeks of Christmas and New Years? In other words, do the crowds ruin Thanksgiving week?

2. I noticed that MVMCP is not offered during Thanksgiving week, but this year was offered the Sunday before it. Is that typical, or should we expect to not be able to do it? We could attend if it was that Sunday.

3. I know about MVMCP, the Candlelight Processional (which I see starts Black Friday - yay!), and the Epcot International Festival of Holidays. Are there other special holiday things to consider that would be available the week of Thanksgiving?

Thanks in advance! I know it's silly to be dreaming about this almost 2 years ahead, but I also know there are others like me on here who think about Disney trips far in advance!

 

[mrsap]

I personally did not find it to be too crowded this year Thanksgiving week. Went to MK Thanksgiving morning, and we hit all the rides we wanted before leaving for the day (went to dinner that night, so not sure how the crowds were that evening.) We haven’t done MVMCP in a couple years, so I can’t help you with the other questions. I hope you have fun planning, it’s such a wonderful time to go with all the Christmas decorations up and Christmas music wherever you go! Enjoy it.

 

[sharonabe]

1. You already know it's going to be crowded, so I would say you're as set as you can be for that. Thanksgiving week is definitely better than Christmas/New Year's. Make your plan and enjoy it. You should have some longer hours that week too.

2. Yes, the last MVMCP B/4 Thanksgiving is usually the Sunday night of Thanksgiving week. Just keep an eye out for when dates are released that year and plan accordingly.

3. HS and AK both have Christmas stuff too. You should be able to find descriptions of both somewhere online.

 

[disneycat321]

I personally did not find it to be too crowded this year Thanksgiving week. Went to MK Thanksgiving morning, and we hit all the rides we wanted before leaving for the day (went to dinner that night, so not sure how the crowds were that evening.) We haven’t done MVMCP in a couple years, so I can’t help you with the other questions. I hope you have fun planning, it’s such a wonderful time to go with all the Christmas decorations up and Christmas music wherever you go! Enjoy it.

That's great to hear! For some reason, I would have assumed that MK would be the worst on Thanksgiving day - glad to hear it's still doable! I love the idea of Christmas music everywhere.

 

[TheBigErn]

We were there this Thanksgiving. If you do rope drop you get get in a number of rides before the crowds build. By around 11am the parks are very crowded. If you don't do rope drop you'll be waiting in long lines and won't get much done.

 

[mrsap]

We were there this Thanksgiving. If you do rope drop you get get in a number of rides before the crowds build. By around 11am the parks are very crowded. If you don't do rope drop you'll be waiting in long lines and won't get much done.

If you have your 3 FP’s that week, you’ll be just fine. We never rope drop. We get the parks by 9:30-10 (if we can get ready by then.) Get on the 3 FP rides, get 4th FP for whatever is available, and then leave. If you’re going in without FP’s, we’ll then, that’s another story

 

[TheBigErn]

If you have your 3 FP’s that week, you’ll be just fine. We never rope drop. We get the parks by 9:30-10 (if we can get ready by then.) Get on the 3 FP rides, get 4th FP for whatever is available, and then leave. If you’re going in without FP’s, we’ll then, that’s another story

We had 3 FP's each day. There were no chances of getting a 4th except very late at night. If you arrived at the parks at 930 over Thanksgiving weekend, you were standing in long lines shortly after arriving. The parks were very crowded.

 

[mrsap]

We had 3 FP's each day. There were no chances of getting a 4th except very late at night. If you arrived at the parks at 930 over Thanksgiving weekend, you were standing in long lines shortly after arriving. The parks were very crowded.

We’ve been going that same week since 2004. We personally did not find it to be that bad this year. We had no issues, arriving 9:30 and later every day. That was our experience.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

We had 3 FP's each day. There were no chances of getting a 4th except very late at night. If you arrived at the parks at 930 over Thanksgiving weekend, you were standing in long lines shortly after arriving. The parks were very crowded.

You are so right! This was the first trip I've taken where it was impossible to use refresh to move up FPs and score more. Rope drop was the only way we could accomplish anything besides the three advance FPs we had.

 

[SamFaniam]

3. I know about MVMCP, the Candlelight Processional (which I see starts Black Friday - yay!), and the Epcot International Festival of Holidays. Are there other special holiday things to consider that would be available the week of Thanksgiving?

If your schedule allows, I would definitely do a little resort hopping to see the holiday decorations. I think WL, AKL, GF, and BC are particularly good.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

We had a great trip this last year. This is the first year MVMCP was offered during the week and was a sold out party of course. Thanksgiving at EPCOT was great, we wanted to avoid MK on the holiday. Don't miss the special Thanksgiving dinner that many of the restaurants have. Just know that they weren't available at the 180 day mark, it was about a month later that these special meals showed up on MDE.

Crowd levels are ok until Tuesday, then start ticking up, but I didn't find it bad until Friday at EPCOT. It was packed and the only day I felt overwhelmed with crowds. Everyone else wanted to see the first day of FoH too I guess. We tried to do the cookie stroll and the lines were super long, plus they kept running out of cookies.

Definitely take some time to travel to the different resorts to see the decorations.

 

[BL82]

We had a great trip this last year. This is the first year MVMCP was offered during the week and was a sold out party of course. Thanksgiving at EPCOT was great, we wanted to avoid MK on the holiday. Don't miss the special Thanksgiving dinner that many of the restaurants have. Just know that they weren't available at the 180 day mark, it was about a month later that these special meals showed up on MDE.

Crowd levels are ok until Tuesday, then start ticking up, but I didn't find it bad Friday at EPCOT. It was packed and the only day I felt overwhelmed with crowds. Everyone else wanted to see the first day of FoH too I guess. We tried to do the cookie stroll and the lines were super long, plus they kept running out of cookies.

Definitely take some time to travel to the different resorts to see the decorations.

We are thinking NOV 20-25, that’s the Friday before Thanksgiving and leaving on the day before Thanksgiving. So hopefully we can have decent crowd levels for a good chunk of the trip. We’ve never been during this time and are excited to see the Christmas decorations.

Side note...we would like to attend the MVMCP the Sunday before thanksgiving week should they do it again and you mentioned that it sold out, would I need to get those tickets the day they dates and tickets are released?

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

We are thinking NOV 20-25, that’s the Friday before Thanksgiving and leaving on the day before Thanksgiving. So hopefully we can have decent crowd levels for a good chunk of the trip. We’ve never been during this time and are excited to see the Christmas decorations.

Side note...we would like to attend the MVMCP the Sunday before thanksgiving week should they do it again and you mentioned that it sold out, would I need to get those tickets the day they dates and tickets are released?

I think that would be a really great time to visit. I don't remember exactly when MVMCP sold out for that date, but I think it was about 2 months before the party. So, no you don't have to get them the day they're released, but I also wouldn't recommend waiting a long time to get them.

 

[BL82]

I think that would be a really great time to visit. I don't remember exactly when MVMCP sold out for that date, but I think it was about 2 months before the party. So, no you don't have to get them the day they're released, but I also wouldn't recommend waiting a long time to get them.

Thanks for the info

 

[SaintsManiac]

Here's our experience from 2019 which was almost completely opposite of our experience in 2017:

Sunday--We started out at Universal before heading to WDW. Uni was fine. Went to HS that afternoon, because we wanted to ride the Skyliner and we had a FP for ToT. HS was chaos. I was so worried, as I have never seen that many people in that park before. We grabbed a popcorn bucket (20 minute wait) and walked around and into GE just to see it. You could hardly move.

Monday-- MK for RD and then we left at 1 because there were so many people in that park we could not walk easily. Again I was getting very worried. Took a break and went to Epcot in the evening and it was so much better. We rolled FPs there for the rest of the evening. Ahh the day was redeemed!

Tuesday--HS for the 7am EMH. That was well worth the waking up early! Hit just about everything and left for a break. Came back and did GE and rode Slinky at night and then the dessert party. Crowds were completely different from that Sunday. It was very, very laid back.

Wednesday--MK again. We arrived at 1pm and stayed until close. We rolled FPs the entire time. Crowds were lighter, believe it or not. Our Skipper at Skipper Canteen said it was one of those weeks were it started out crazy and then got better. He thought people were probably checking in/out that day and we agreed from what we saw at Pop.

Thursday--AK. We arrived at about 10am and used our FPs. We refreshed for FOTLK and NRJ and my husband rode EE single rider a couple of times. It was a beautiful day. Ate dinner at Tusker House. CMs were amazing and definitely in the holiday spirit. I sang Christmas carols with them and embarrassed my kid. Our only hiccup this day was the bus service. We waited an hour for a bus to Pop at park close.

Friday-- Epcot--NEVER AGAIN. Why didn't I listen to the DIS? It was such an insane crowd. We left early, because you could not walk in WS. Believe people here when they tell you to avoid it!!! FW was fine in the morning, but after hitting a few food booths it became impossible to navigate.

Saturday--MK RD again. We had a fabulous time. Hit our favorite rides and then had to leave for the airport.

Good luck! If you have any specific questions I am happy to answer! Make sure to have ADRs at least once a day, because quick service lines were ridiculous.

 

[LizGirl]

Friday-- Epcot--NEVER AGAIN. Why didn't I listen to the DIS? It was such an insane crowd. We left early, because you could not walk in WS. Believe people here when they tell you to avoid it!!! FW was fine in the morning, but after hitting a few food booths it because impossible to navigate.

OMG, yes, this. Epcot was NUTTY that day. We were there all week too and this is the only day that really stands out. We managed to get a bite to eat and then ran out of there. The benefits of being AP!

 

[SaintsManiac]

OMG, yes, this. Epcot was NUTTY that day. We were there all week too and this is the only day that really stands out. We managed to get a bite to eat and then ran out of there. The benefits of being AP!

We did it to grab the Chip and Dale magnets and I am so glad we got in that line when we did. It was so long when we left that area.