Nov 16-Nov 20??

[cperry92380]

How busy are the parks the week before Thanksgiving? I'm having a tough time finding dining reservations.

[Basket Mommy]

We were at WDW last year in the days leading up to Thanksgiving and didn't find it very crowded at all. One morning we practically had MK to ourselves; we were able to ride Astro Orbiter for the first time since 2002 because there was absolutely no line (I refuse to stand in that line because it moves so slowly due to the elevator being so small). Of course, the closer to the holiday we got, the more crowded it was. I did not have much trouble getting ADRs last year, even though we didn't book until about 5 months prior. This year we booked about 8 months out, and at the 180-day mark I had trouble getting some things I wanted, but there were still some choices. Our trip starts the 20th and ends the 25th.

[Strmchsr]

Historically that's been a pretty good week, crowd-wise. But crowd patterns are shifting so much, and crowds have been increasing so much year after year, that's it's hard to say in advance what any week will be like now. I think the problem with your ADR search is not huge crowds but "free" dining is offered that week and lots of people go completely gaga over that deal. So almost everyone is using the dining plan and eating on property that week. When "free" dining isn't offered folks tend to not eat at the TS places as much or eat off property where it's cheaper.