Week After Thanksgiving

Nathalie_Rae

Nathalie_Rae
Joined
Sep 23, 2018
Hi all, does anyone have personal experience with the crowd levels in the week after Thanksgiving? Going from 11/26-12/1:earsboy:
 
The Monday- Tuesday were very slow last year..


However I’ve seen a ton of people with dates going the week after this year so all bets are off..

It will get busier and busier as the weekend gets closer.

Candlelight processional is Dec 1/2 so it will be very busy.

Make a plan, get their early, have an amazing trip!
 
The Monday- Tuesday were very slow last year..


However I’ve seen a ton of people with dates going the week after this year so all bets are off..

It will get busier and busier as the weekend gets closer.

Candlelight processional is Dec 1/2 so it will be very busy.

Make a plan, get their early, have an amazing trip!

Thank you!!! We are very excited.
 
The Monday- Tuesday were very slow last year..


However I’ve seen a ton of people with dates going the week after this year so all bets are off..

It will get busier and busier as the weekend gets closer.

Candlelight processional is Dec 1/2 so it will be very busy.

Make a plan, get their early, have an amazing trip!

Last year the Wednesday after was also really low crowds... I was there that day and it was totally amazing!
 


We'll be there that week as well. I am hoping for lower crowds based on historical info. But I do see lots of us here going :) Either way it'll be great, but I could use a couple quiet days for optical ride maximization.
 
Park hours were released today for the Monday. 9-11. I think they may be expecting slightly higher then last year. Last years hours were 9-9 and this year they are 9-11.

I’m happy about that! I’ll take more park time!
 


Park hours were released today for the Monday. 9-11. I think they may be expecting slightly higher then last year. Last years hours were 9-9 and this year they are 9-11.

I’m happy about that! I’ll take more park time!

I was looking at that this morning as well. I'm glad they are extended a bit. We probably won't get to partake, kid can't hang past 9pm-ish and we'll be starting at 8am at DCA with EMH, but it'll be good for anyone in the over 6 year old crowd! :) I'll be curious to see if the late closings continue though the week.
 
We’re there that week too! Fingers crossed for lower crowds. I typically go mid to late August so this time of year will be a first for me. I’ve been to WDW at Christmas and it was gorgeous so I’m looking forward the the beauty of Christmastime at DLR!!
 
there is no crowd level history for the 2018 week after Thanksgiving. 2018 has the longest extended holiday celebration in calendar history as Thanksgiving is the 22nd, the earliest that Thanksgiving is celebrated. So folks who traditionally visit the week after Thanksgiving, will probably move their visit to the first week in December, as that week, as gathered from the other posts on this thread and a whole year of reading about holiday visits in 2018, may very well be the lowest attended week of the year as folks make plans to avoid any November day visit, because of all these extra holiday days. What happens is the Thanksgiving myth.....ask friend when do they start to celebrate Christmas.....if they say after Thanksgiving, then their observation terms for the holiday are illogical because Thanksgiving has no numerical date . Next year a retailer nightmare, if everyone waits till Dec 1st to celebrate Christmas as opposed to November 24th that all those illogical folks choose to celebrate Christmas in 2018

Now....SWGE could change everything for 2018 holidays....folks doing their homework on SWGE may avoid their traditional holiday visit in 2019 and visit in 2018 instead.... a problem in in 2019 for any pre June visit.
 
there is no crowd level history for the 2018 week after Thanksgiving. 2018 has the longest extended holiday celebration in calendar history as Thanksgiving is the 22nd, the earliest that Thanksgiving is celebrated. So folks who traditionally visit the week after Thanksgiving, will probably move their visit to the first week in December, as that week, as gathered from the other posts on this thread and a whole year of reading about holiday visits in 2018, may very well be the lowest attended week of the year as folks make plans to avoid any November day visit, because of all these extra holiday days. What happens is the Thanksgiving myth.....ask friend when do they start to celebrate Christmas.....if they say after Thanksgiving, then their observation terms for the holiday are illogical because Thanksgiving has no numerical date . Next year a retailer nightmare, if everyone waits till Dec 1st to celebrate Christmas as opposed to November 24th that all those illogical folks choose to celebrate Christmas in 2018

Now....SWGE could change everything for 2018 holidays....folks doing their homework on SWGE may avoid their traditional holiday visit in 2019 and visit in 2018 instead.... a problem in in 2019 for any pre June visit.

I would hope that the calendars from 2017 will be similar to what will happen in 2018. The dates on the calendar are very similar, at least the dates after Thanksgiving. Last year Thanksgiving was on the 23rd, this year it's the 22nd. I don't expect they will be exactly the same, and you make a very good point about people opting to visit now instead of next year. That is one of the reasons we picked these days. We don't typically look at actual calendar dates when planning but more so how the week will fall.

If someone asks me when I start to celebrate Christmas I say as soon as I can sneak decorations into the house! That could be as early as Nov 1st, much to DH's chagrin. :)
 
We were there last year the week after Thanksgiving, Thursday-Saturday. It was what I would consider very busy and got increasingly busier each day. The Park was very well staffed and everything was open and working, that made a huge difference so with fast passes we were able to do everything we wanted without waiting forever. Honestly we felt like we waited longer for some rides on a weekday in April then on this trip. World of Color, Fantasmic, Parades and Fireworks were where we really felt the crowd, walkways and shops also felt crazy. That Saturday was the candlelight processional and some walkways near mainstreet were closed, the areas they were diverting people to were CRAZY and you had to go way out of your way to get from one side of Main Street to the other. We for example had dinner reservations at Carnation Cafe so that we could see some of the processional (which was lovely) but leaving and trying to cross over to see Fantasmic was a nightmare because all walking traffic was one way and they had lots of areas closed off. It was just really hard to get anywhere and ride lines were very long.
 
I'm starting to get a little bit worried about crowds now too - will be there from Nov 22-29 with park days Nov 23 and 25-28! Expecting insane crowds on Nov 23 and maybe 25 but had been hoping for nice light crowds after...
 
I do think everyone going this week may want to adjust their expectations a bit. The longer park hours suggest they are expecting more people. I did a hotel search for science... a few more popular good neighbor hotels are sold out even on the 25-27th. The Disney hotels are not, however.

Some advice from someone whose very first trip was the week after Christmas .. and absolute amazing, make a plan, be prepared, have expectations and it will be amazing no matter the crowds!
 
My sister and I are planning to go Saturday, December 1st, and I'm feeling nervous about the crowd levels. We originally planned to do park hoppers, but now I'm thinking we might just do California Adventure. I'm not sure if we want to pay $100 more total (on already peak days) for a park hopper when DL is going to be a bit of a mess from Candlelight Processional. I haven't gone on a Saturday pretty much ever, and I'm just feeling a little anxious about it being completely packed! I went on a Monday of the same weekend (so the Monday after the week after Thanksgiving) last year, and it wasn't that bad, but I just don't know...
 
Hours were released for Tuesday of that week this morning. 9-11 also... and a surprise: Indiana Jones Adventure is going down on that Tuesday. So get your Indy rides in on Monday the 26th!
 
Hours were released for Tuesday of that week this morning. 9-11 also... and a surprise: Indiana Jones Adventure is going down on that Tuesday. So get your Indy rides in on Monday the 26th!

Oooo thanks! I didn’t notice that!
 
Hours were released for Tuesday of that week this morning. 9-11 also... and a surprise: Indiana Jones Adventure is going down on that Tuesday. So get your Indy rides in on Monday the 26th!

Oooh thanks for the tip. Definitely want to ride Indiana Jones this trip, as it was closed on my last trip a few years ago. I still remember riding it as a kid in 1995 and getting laughed at by my sisters because I didn't dare to open my eyes the whole ride! And managed to go back on it since. But have been on Dinosaur at AK many times and also actually Indiana Jones at TDR (which might be a clone?) so looking forward to trying the original again!
 
I do think everyone going this week may want to adjust their expectations a bit. The longer park hours suggest they are expecting more people. I did a hotel search for science... a few more popular good neighbor hotels are sold out even on the 25-27th. The Disney hotels are not, however.

Some advice from someone whose very first trip was the week after Christmas .. and absolute amazing, make a plan, be prepared, have expectations and it will be amazing no matter the crowds!

I'm a little surprised by the later hours on Tuesday and I'll be curious to see what happens for the rest of the week. I'd assumed that Friday on would be open later, but early week is making me rethink things a bit.

When we were there a few years ago we spent mornings in the park, then took a three hour break at the hotel and returned for more. I had planned to skip that route thinking that if the park was closing early (8pm) we'd need to push though. Now we won't need to do that. Maybe. I think it's time to start sleep training the little to make it to fireworks though! :)

When I was there in Feb, sans child, we went from 6:30am to midnight four days in a row and rode 86 rides. I know I won't get those kinds of numbers with the kiddo.

I guess I'll have two running spreadsheets... Hello my name is Erin and I am an over planner.
 

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