Freaking out!!!!

[nicole48040]

My WDW vacation is Nov.15th-22nd. I knew the parks were going to get busy near Thanksgiving BUT now WDW has extended park hours for that whole week and I am completely bugging out that is going to be insane there the whole vacation!!!! Any thoughts on the subject?????

[MMouse6937]

OK, deep breath!! It's going to be ok.

From what I can tell from previous crowd trends you will probably be ok for the first weekend and then things will start to get a little busier the closer you get to Thanksgiving. Just make sure you have a plan ahead of time. Get to the parks early if you can, see what you can see, use fast pass as much as possible, and then go back to the resort for a little while and relax, then go back around dinner time and see some more things. With the parks open later you should be able to see everything, you'll just have to take your time.

Regardless, you're in the happiest place on earth, whatever you do will be fun. Don't stress and have a GREAT time!! :thumbsup:

[mouseketeer mom]

AAAH! Extending the park hours means its going to be crazy??? Yikes. We will be there the 16th thru 24th of November. Our first time there that time of year. I hope its not toooo crazy. That would be way too frustrating.

[BigRedDad]

We were there over Thanksgiving, allbeit 6 years ago. The crowds were very low until Wed before Thanksgiving. Even then, it was manageable. don't freak out. just plan ahead and hit things that you have to early, break during the early afternoon, hit the hot rides around dinner, and take advantage of EMH.

[NJMan66]

I concur with what others have said. Do the parks early in your trip and no-one will be around. I've done Disney 15th-21st of November before and I had the parks practically all to myself the first three days of the trip.

[Pixie Dust '59]

Just check to see if the Soap Weekend is at the time you will be at WDW. If it is DO NOT go to MGM that weekend. I was at WDW at that time and it was a mad house. The other parks were moderate, not bad at all.
Have fun.

:mickey:

[wdw_bound]

We were there in 05 for Thanksgiving. Several friends of ours were there last year and I think it was more crowded last year than the previous year, but here is how we (and our friends) had a GREAT trip:

We arrived the Sat. before Turkey day, checked in around lunch and hung out at the pool until it was time for our Ohana ADR. We went to Epcot Sunday morning, then MK that evening (somewhat crowded, but not crazy). We committed as a family to get all of our "must-dos" done by Wednesday afternoon. We did notice the crowd build on Wednesday. We spent Thursday resort hopping to see the decorations, then had dinner at Ft. Wilderness, followed by a trip to DTD to get a photo of the kids with Santa. We heard from others in line for Santa that the parks were a MADHOUSE that day. Friday, we went to Epcot to see the Holidays around the World. Definitely much more crowded than earlier in the week, but still very do-able.

Take advantage of am EMH, even more so that pm EMH. I know its your vacation and no one likes to get up early, but trust me, you'll be VERY glad you did. Frankly, we find the pm EMH to be too crowded for the first hour, and with the ages of our kids, staying much past that is out of the question.

Make your TS ADRs, and try to eat your CS meals at "off" times. We would eat lunch at 11:30 and have our pick of seats at any CS. Of course, since we had been at the parks so early, we were ready to eat by 11:30, then go back to the hotel for a nap/swim.

It will probably be more crowded than you thought, but with proper planning, it can be a better time than you dreamed!

[texasteacher]

I went Thanksgiving week 2005 and found only Thanksgiving Day in Magic Kingdom to be horribly crowded. I would make use of EMH when going to the MK and I would avoid it altogether on Thanksgiving Day.