Wow, it's really changed since my kid was little. We went the days before Thanksgiving and on Thanksgiving. There were people but not crowds.

Nope. The crowds will make it miserable.

Anonymous wrote:Consider that Disney sponsors many sports tournaments over Thanksgiving - I sent 3DC to basketball, cheer and field hockey trips there.

Yeah that’s part of what’s reflected in the red level crowd calculator. Interestingly the weekend before thanksgiving is only orange, as is the Sunday after thanksgiving so if you have the whole week off school that might be your play. Fly down Friday night, sat and Sunday in parks, Monday and Tuesday try to do limited ticket entry items, Wed and Thursday do stuff outside the parks or just do rope drop with LL….

Consider that Disney sponsors many sports tournaments over Thanksgiving - I sent 3DC to basketball, cheer and field hockey trips there.

We did this a few years ago when mine were teens. I prefer Disney in cooler months. We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Beauty & the Beast restaurant. Stayed at the Beach (Yacht?) Club hotel that's walkable to EPCOT.

See this for Hollywood nights. I would be ready to buy tickets for Mickey’s party and jollywood as soon as they drop. They will sell out. This is basically what we did for Xmas last year and it was a lot of fun. We stood in almost no lines by combining this with lightening lanes, rope drop, and then some leisurely meals and just walking around to look at stuff or watch the small shows like the Chinese dragon dance at the China pavilion on Epcot. It’s also fun to go to disney springs for shopping but that was honestly the worst crowds we saw. We combined that with our Hollywood nights day — slept in, had a character brunch outside the parks, went shopping and a snacky late lunch at the momofuko place, and then got ready for jollywood.

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-jollywood-nights-christmas-party-hollywood-studios-guide/

I used to work at Disney seasonally and had a late start for college (quarter system) if you can swing it, my experience is the weekend after Labor Day was one of the quieter weekends.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years are capacity days, which are honestly terrible. We'd occasionally hit capacity in the summer but never early in the morning like those holiday days.

How much money can you throw at this? The pros are that weather will be nice and Xmas decorations up. The crkwds might not be bad earlier in the week — check the crowd calculators.

I would check to see if they have any special events that week, especially if youri kids are olay on the evenings. Limited ticket sale events like Mickey’s very merry chrtkstmas party or jollywood nights give you access to the parks with limited lines. We did that last year at Christmas and it was great.

Then stay on property and get the lightening lanes for popular rides. If you want to see one of the shows consider getting the dinner/show package for priority show seating. We did the Xmas show at Epcot — they have a famous star read the Christmas story and some choirs sing Christmas songs. Or, use the time during popular shows like fantasmoc to ride rides. Chet there at rope drop every day and you’ll be able to do a few rides without much in the way of lines (especially if you don’t do the most popular line at rope drop because you’ve got a lightening lane reservation for it). Enjoy the directions and holiday snacks and wander around. I was honestly surprised how many rides we could do by combining rope drop with lightening lanes, then having a meal, then picking up again when the lines in park start to drop.

We went in early November one year and nearly had the place to ourselves. I'd imagine that it will be very crowded over Thanksgiving, though.

Hell, no. And I worked for Disney. Best time to go is in October when school is in session. And not a holiday weekend. The kids out of school if little.

PRO:
The weather should be beautiful. It won't be too hot, but not cold either.

The parks will be decorated for Christmas, which is really fun

Your kids won't miss school, if that is a consideration for you

CONS:
crowds. This is one of the most crowded times of year, I think the week between Christmas and New Year is the only week more crowded.

Expensive. It will be one of the most expensive times to go, not just at Disney, but your airfare (if you fly instead of drive) will be more expensive

Anonymous wrote:It will be crowded. The weather will be cooler than summer but maybe not too cold. Went the week after Thanksgiving and it was decorated for Christmas. Weather was good; pools are heated. Not very crowded. Spring break is crazy - don't go then.

We’ve been over winter break, in early February, and spring break. I would never go in the summer.

FTR, Disney always seems busy/crowded. The less crowded time was the first week in February. Regardless, spring break was no more crowded than any other time of the year—and the weather was gorgeous.

Stay at a Disney resort and you’ll have a good time.

It will be very busy but cooler than summer. I wouldn't do it.

It will be crowded. The weather will be cooler than summer but maybe not too cold. Went the week after Thanksgiving and it was decorated for Christmas. Weather was good; pools are heated. Not very crowded. Spring break is crazy - don't go then.

DH feels this is the absolute best idea he has ever had. I’m not sold. I think when I consider Disney, I think Summer.

Pros and Cons for Thanksgiving?