To those that have arrived Saturday after Thanksgiving

[christianweecare]

We are trying to plan way ahead to 2004! DH & I are considering arriving at WDW on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and staying for a week. To those of you that have experienced this weekend in the past, what has been your experience with crowds, etc? We will be driving down and will arrive midafternoon on Saturday. Your suggestions will be appreciated!

 

[jonsmom57]

Hi

We arrived the Saturday after Thanksgiving just this past year. We chose not to do the parks as we were tired from having been on the Auto Train all night. We checked into our room, showered and went to DTD and had dinner. Checked out the decorations as well. Listened to a choir. Magical.

Anyhow.....we did have some friends there as well who chose to do the parks on Saturday and commented on how crowded it was. They couldnt move or see any of the parades. They were only there for 4 days so they didnt really have a choice.

By Sunday most people are headed home. Crowds are lighter. You can always go to Epcot the first day. Generally not crowded, but it does get crowded at night. Epcot became one of my favoirte holiday parks. AWESOME.

We are going again and flying this time and we will arrive the day after Thanksgiving. We will stay away from the parks that day since we dont arrive til 3pm. We will go to AK the Saturday after and maybe hit MK in the pm since we have already seen most parades so we wont mind if we miss anything. (Just trying to make the most of that 4 day hopper!).

Happy Planning

 

[Zoo Keeper]

We arrived the Saturday after Thanksgiving (already almost three months have past) We didn't do the parks since we landed about 6pm. Sunday, we were at EPCOT. It wasn't that crowded. As the week progressed the crowds got smaller and smaller except @ MVMCP. We walked on most rides and FastPass wasn't in use on most rides.
It was a great time to go.

 

[christianweecare]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. DH & I probably won't try one of the parks on Saturday. Maybe we will go to Downtown Disney instead.

 

[OhMickey]

We arrived on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2000. We, like others, didn't go to the park on Saturday. On Sunday crowds were low & we were able to enjoy the park without much wait for the rides.

 

[jonsmom57]

Another fun thing to do that we did is go resort-hopping.

The resorts are beautifully decorated this time of the year. We visited Grand FLoridian, Wilderness Lodge and Beach Club while we were there last time.

 

[soccer mom]

We have done this several times. If you are like us and can't stand not going to a park when you get there, I would suggest Epcot. It has never been overly crowded. We make a PS (way in advance) and just enjoy Epcot and being at the World!

 

[jonsmom57]

Soccermom-how did you get your countdown clock?

 

[christianweecare]

Not soccermom, but you can go to this site's tech board for instructions on how to install your own countdown clock. But if you are like me, a teenager is required to make the necessary applications! LOL! Computer dumby!

 

[Dis-knee]

This is the week that we go each year. Perfect! Just don't forget to do Candlelight Processional at EPCOT, and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom. MVMCP requires a separate ticket for admission but is well worth it. The dates for MVMCP will come out sometime this summer. Have a great time!!

 

[becka]

We will be probably be arriving late on Friday night and I am considering not doing a park on Saturday but it will be hard to not go to a park.

I had thought about doing Epcot on Saturday since it is the largest and seems to handle crowds better. I am glad to see that looks workable.