Thanksgiving vs. Christmas break: which one?

[Disney OB RN]

Who has been during Thanksgiving week, and the week either before or after Christmas? Which one do you reccomend with regard to crowd levels? I've been the week before Thanksgiving, & the first week of Dec. (loved it best), but high school neccessitates to join the high crowd levels. Sigh. I have been warned against being in the parks on New Years Eve!:party:

[Zippy 1]

I would choose Thanksgiving. But I like lower crowds.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

We've been twice the week after Christmas and decided we will not do it again. The crowds are horrible.

We are trying the week before Christmas this year. Haven't been at Thanksgiving but heard its not as bad as week after Christmas. Good luck planning.

[spinnerf]

I have been both times and would say thanksgiving is better, but still terrible. Christmas time we remember some parks closing due to capacity in the morning hours. I do not recall that happening at thanksgiving.

[JROriole8Fan]

and certainly the week after Christmas is the worst of the three. Thanksgiving week is probably the best, but still crowded. The week before Christmas gets exponentially worse as you get closer to the 25th. The crowds never deter us. We know what to expect, take it in stride and do what we want, when we can. Hope this helps

[buzznwoodysmom]

We've been twice the week of Thanksgiving (2007 and 2009) and those were some of our favorite WDW vacations. The crowds were not nearly as bad as some make it out to be. Sure its busy, but still very manageable and enjoyable. We were able to do and see everything we wanted, and with proper planning you should have no problems getting any ADRs you want. We just can't take our kids out of school anymore, and have found Thanksgiving to be one of the best times to go when school is out. If you want to get a taste of Disney during the holidays, and must go during your kid's school break I think Thanksgiving is a great time to go.

We are going the week leading up to Christmas this year. We'll leave to go back home on Dec. 26th. I'm expecting it to be crazy busy, but we want to wake up in WDW on Christmas morning just this once! We don't care what we ride or what we do, we just want to have this experience! I'm 100% positive we are going to have a fabulous time no matter what the crowds are like.

Good luck with your decision and I hope you have a wonderful trip no matter which week you pick.

[faline]

I, too, would choose Thanksgiving week over Christmas week.

[RedSoxFan]

We've been twice during Thanksgiving break. Busy; but manageable. We are going again this during break as my daughter is in high school and boys in college. It works best for us now. Looking forward to it.

[awaggett]

We have done Thanksgiving twice, Christmas week once. I much prefer Thanksgiving. As an earlier poster said, it was crowded but very manageable. We were able to do everything we wanted without terrible wait times. We even walked-in to the Sushi bar near Kona for Thanksgiving dinner--long story about missing our ADR. Anyway, for future reference--they also serve the Kona menu.