Less crowded places on Thanksgiving / Black Friday?

[jaspereira]

Hi, folks!

Family of 4 (2 children, 8-year old and 4-year old) needs help in late november this year!

We arrive on Nov. 24th, and leave on Dec., 10th.

I know the first week shoul be busy/crowded (until Saturday -28th- or Sunday -29th).

But what should be less crowded these first days? Are Sea World and Universal parks better than Disney Parks?

What should we avoid these days? Parks, malls, shopping centers?

We don't mind losing the Black Friday's deals, we just want to be in the less crowded places possible.

What do you suggest?

Thank you!

 

[danjoan14]

I'll tell you that we were at HS on Thanksgiving Day last year, and the park was not that crowed. We were able to get all of our FastPass+ with no problem. The crowd level was not a problem on Black Friday as well. We went to MVMCP on the Sunday. Arrived to the park at 4 PM and used our FastPass+ getting on three major rides without a problem. By 8 PM, the park was starting to empty.

 

[scjo68]

In 2013 Thanksgiving day became crowded in the MK by mid-day. Before then it was OK.
We went to Epcot Thanksgiving night. Crowds were very light- as light as I have ever seen them during Illuminations. Christmas activities (Storytellers, CP) didn't start at Epcot until the next day (black Friday) so it seemed everyone was waiting till then to go to Epcot. Epcot was packed Saturday of Thanksgiving.

 

[Auntie D]

We were there that time frame in 2014. We got in on the day before Thanksgiving.we slept late and then had lunch at Mickeys Backyard BBQ, which had a special Thanksgiving menu...it was a great time. After lunch, we went to Epcot and it didn't feel crazy busy. We never felt like t was crazy crowded. We even attended 2 sold out MVMCP and loved it!

 

[Skin2000]

We can only vacation during Thanksgiving week. I didn't feel it was too terribly busy. We are a family of four.

 

[mickeymom22]

We arrived at Coronado Springs on Thanksgiving Day 2013. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at the Pepper Market. It was like a ghost town. We shared the entire place with one other family. They had a special station set up with traditional Thanksgiving foods along with a few other options. I couldn't believe how quiet it was. On our walk to and from our room to the Pepper Market we didn't see any other people. I guess everyone had reservations at table service restaurants.

The next morning was a different story: When we woke up early for our park day (on Black Friday), the place was busy! It continued into the parks. We only went to Epcot and Magic Kingdom and they were very crowded!