Gross.

OP, be sure to let us know how it turned out.

Tell DH to man up and get up at 6:30 Thurs. to build the fire. If the turkey's in the smoker by 7:00 a.m., it'll have plenty of time. He'll get the pleasure of sunrise, fresh air, and getting to crack that first beer outdoors before anyone else is up.

Don't cook it in advance.

Normally you'd use the drippings from the turkey and mix with milk (or cream) and cornstarch (or flour) to make gravy. But you're not going to get drippings cooking it that way, so you can buy some turkey or chicken stock instead and make gravy using that.

I personally hate jarred gravy.

I don't get the hot/cold thing and how it would be a bacteria fest. If we just put it into the fridge once it's cooled off a little, why wouldn't that be like putting any other meat in the fridge?

It's huge, it's enclosed, and you're giving it very little surface area to cool. A whole, hot, smoked turkey will take a long, long time to cool down. During that time, it will spend a long time, too long, in the temperature zone where bacteria may flourish.

If you put it in the fridge after just a little while, it's still going to be warm when it goes in, maybe even hot on the inside. (I know this sounds like it belongs in a different section.) That's how to grow bacteria in your fridge.
If you leave it out longer, to wait for the inside to cool, the outside (with all that surface area exposed to the air) will have cooled faster, and will be spending time in the bacteria-friendly, unfavorable temperature zone.

You just can't cool an entire turkey fast enough without slicing it up. If DH is bound and determined, do it the way PP^^ just suggested. It'll be passable. But it won't be anything like fresh and served hot.

Once the turkey is done, you should let it rest for 30-60 minutes before slicing. Slice it up and don't put it in the fridge right away, let it cool a bit more so it's not steaming hot. Then refrigerate. When you want to serve it, heat up some chicken or turkey stock on the stove. Place the meat in a baking dish and ladle over some of the hot stock and stick it in the oven, I would say about 350 degrees. The stock will help keep the meat moist and warm it up quicker. Don't heat it for too long or it will dry out, just get it good and hot again. Shouldn't take too long. Good luck, OP!

OP here. He's pretty determined about this. I don't get the hot/cold thing and how it would be a bacteria fest. If we just put it into the fridge once it's cooled off a little, why wouldn't that be like putting any other meat in the fridge?

Don't knock it until you've tried it. And if you don't like nontraditional stuff at Thanksgiving, try it at some nontraditional time, like a summer barbecue. You'd be amazed.
(This assumes you like smoked meat in the first place. If you don't, don't smoke your turkey.)

are you serious? so glad I'm not coming to your house for Thanksgiving. terrible idea

One great thing to do with a smoked turkey (or ham):

Stab it all over with a sharp paring knife. Then, into each hole, stuff in a peeled garlic clove (or if the cloves are fat, a sliver of a garlic clove). If you're so inclined, you can also do this with slivers of fresh jalapeno.
Those little puppies will mellow out over the long hours in the smoker, and flavor the meat all around. Quite tasty.

Buy the gravy. Or make it from stock you've prepared separately. You're not going to get usable drippings from a smoked turkey. (Nor would you want to--smoked gravy on top of smoked turkey would be too much.)

Please don't do this. My grandmother used to do this and it was awful every year.

I wouldn't do it. That's the one thing you really want to be fresh. Sliced and reheated wouldn't be the same.
And you really wouldn't want to try to cool it and refrigerate it whole. The inside and the outside wouldn't cool down at the same time--depending on whether you put it in the fridge too early or too late, one of them would be a bacteria fest.

We are hosting - 7 adults & 7 kids. DH wants to smoke the turkey and says that since he's off on Wednesday, he'll do it then.

How do we keep it overnight? How do we keep it from drying out? Do we slice it all up while it's still hot and then chill it and then re-heat it?

I'm not opposed to the idea but don't really understand how it will work!

(also, how do you make gravy? or should we just buy gravy?)