Would you add a day with a crowd level 10?- Thanksgiving

[mster425]

My Fastpass booking day is coming up and I cannot decide what to do. We added two days at the beginning of our trip due to airfare etc, so I have a 5 day hopper with a 7 night trip. I am debating whether to add a day to our tickets when we get there so that we can go to HS on 11/24 (Saturday after thanksgiving)

Facts:
We will be at the Swan before moving to the Poly, that's why I was thinking HS
Crowd level- 10
It's a 2017 ticket, so cost to add the day will be about $100 for 4 of us and I can't add it until we get there
I probably would not make FP reservations for this day until we got there
I have another DHS day later in the trip where I'd be able to get SDD FP
We have a SciFi reservation at 11ish so we could just do non-TSL rides, a few character meets, then eat and leave?

TL; DR- Would you spend $100 total to take your family to a crowd level 10 park for 4 hours?

 

[Shanti]

My Fastpass booking day is coming up and I cannot decide what to do. We added two days at the beginning of our trip due to airfare etc, so I have a 5 day hopper with a 7 night trip. I am debating whether to add a day to our tickets when we get there so that we can go to HS on 11/24 (Saturday after thanksgiving)

Facts:
We will be at the Swan before moving to the Poly, that's why I was thinking HS
Crowd level- 10
It's a 2017 ticket, so cost to add the day will be about $100 for 4 of us and I can't add it until we get there
I probably would not make FP reservations for this day until we got there
I have another DHS day later in the trip where I'd be able to get SDD FP
We have a SciFi reservation at 11ish so we could just do non-TSL rides, a few character meets, then eat and leave?

TL; DR- Would you spend $100 total to take your family to a crowd level 10 park for 4 hours?

No. I recommend doing something outside of the parks, such as Fantasia mini-golf, Hoop Dee Doo Revue, Disney Springs, outdoor activities at Fort Wilderness, or boating on Crescent Lake.

 

[Greenfield1984]

Would also say no.

 

[kappyfamily]

I agree with the above. Maybe a reservation on the boardwalk then mini golf. Or spend a day at ft wilderness, hay ride or carriage ride, walk around and hoop Dee doo.

Crowd level 10 sounds like no fun, I’d stay away personally! Have fun on your trip!

 

[Babs1975]

All crowd calendars are different and I've seen HS as one of the recommended parks for that day. I don't think it will be a level 10.

 

[kwdw]

Not sure why you are limited to 4 hours and one park that day? You have hoppers. I judge 4 hours to be worth about $10-20 dollars per person typically when thinking about adding a day or not. So - you are right on the edge of whether I would say add a day.

 

[Klayfish]

My Fastpass booking day is coming up and I cannot decide what to do. We added two days at the beginning of our trip due to airfare etc, so I have a 5 day hopper with a 7 night trip. I am debating whether to add a day to our tickets when we get there so that we can go to HS on 11/24 (Saturday after thanksgiving)

Facts:
We will be at the Swan before moving to the Poly, that's why I was thinking HS
Crowd level- 10
It's a 2017 ticket, so cost to add the day will be about $100 for 4 of us and I can't add it until we get there
I probably would not make FP reservations for this day until we got there
I have another DHS day later in the trip where I'd be able to get SDD FP
We have a SciFi reservation at 11ish so we could just do non-TSL rides, a few character meets, then eat and leave?

TL; DR- Would you spend $100 total to take your family to a crowd level 10 park for 4 hours?

First, I'd say it's not a "fact" that it will be a crowd level 10...whatever that actually means. It's an opinion, and a highly controversial one. As is often discussed on the DIS, those "crowd" calendars...which aren't even measuring crowds...have very little accuracy value. So I'd ditch that.

We've done Thanksgiving week twice, including just last year. MK on Thanksgiving Day is packed, but beyond that all the other crowds on the other days really aren't horrible. So yes, I'd unquestionably add another day if it were me.

 

[Delirium]

Will you be able to do everything you want at HS on your HS day later in the trip?

If not, you should consider, for the following reasons.

• First off, it's not going to be a crowd level 10. A lot of people that had Thanksgiving week will be packing up and heading home. The following week is historically considered to be a low crowd week.
• It's the Holidays and HS has two nighttime spectaculars, which require you to be there on two separate nights to see both. On your first HS day (your not really a crowd level 10 day), you could use one of your FPs to see Fantasmic. On your second HS day/night, you could catch Jingle Bell / Jingle Jam.
• HS has a lot of shows (Frozen, Indiana Jones, Beauty & the Beast, Muppets, and Little Mermaid) that are PERFECT things to do in a higher crowd situation. Catch some of those shows on your first day/night to lessen some of the things you need to squeeze in on your second day. They are easy to do things even in large crowds, and they are time hogs that you could get out of the way to free up time for rides and characters on your less crowded day.
• Many of your alternative choices for that day (mini-golf, Disney Springs, etc.) will end up costing you, in some manner, an amount similar to the $100 your extra day ticket will.

I actually think you have a great opportunity to maximize your HS touring for the trip, and I would personally jump at that opportunity to get some things out of the way and make my second HS day even better. That strategy may not work in every park when crowds are high, but because of all the shows at HS, it works well there.

 

[ClapYourHands]

For $100, I'd definitely get the extra day. The larger the crowds, the better it is to have extra days so you don't need to try to cram everything into the days you're there.

I'd use that day to do less popular rides/attractions. If you're adding a day in HS, that's a great time to see the Indiana Jones stunt show or do the Frozen sing along. Make sure you see the streetmosphere performers. You can probably get same day FP+ for the less popular rides. Plus, you're staying a quick walk away. It would be ridiculously easy to RD and either get to ride the TSL rides or go do ToT or RnR as walk-ons. Then you do other stuff for a couple of hours before your ADR.

Then you leave, take a swim or whatever you like. See what same-day FP+ pop up for after your afternoon break. Since you have hoppers, you could even go to another park. You're walking distance to Epcot, too. It would be super easy for you to go to Epcot or DHS just to catch the fireworks in the evening.