Reassure me about the week I picked? (week after Thanksgiving)

[Kelly loves Food]

We went the week after Thanksgiving in 2015. I had the same concerns as you, but would do it again in a heartbeat.The weather was perfect, only the last day was a bit chilly. The crowds were minimal. We never had much of a wait for rides or to get into our ADRs. Enjoy your trip!!

 

[Jupiter&Wolfe]

Woohoo, low crowds is the number one priority! I'm driving down and, being a New Englander, I always have a stash of gloves and scarves under my passenger seat of my car. We'll pack layers and bathing suits and just prepare for whatever. I'm weirdly getting less worried about the weather. Any time of year has its drawbacks, it sounds like this week has very few. It is my personal attitude not to get hung up on one potentially small problem when we are lucky enough to get to go to Disney and stuff our faces and indulge in pure pleasure for a week straight. So maybe some days will be in the 30s....BWI has a jacuzzi, right?!

 

[jaceraden]

Yes to hot tub.

 

[Trap]

we are going the same week we come from nh it will a lot warmer then home

 

[ScottlovesDisney]

I have been there twice the week after Thanksgiving, 2009 and 2011. And i LOVED it. The crowds are lower but still busy. But it's more people walking around crowded than Rides Busy crowded. The only rides that were long waits were Soarin and TSM and back then they weren't expanded gates/tracks. Plus, I used FP for both so no biggie. No problems with dinner reservations. The ONLY time the crowds got to be too much for me was HS during EMH at night but, of course, what drew in those crowds were the Osbourne Lights, which are sadly gone now.

I've been there many different times of the year and the week after Thanksgiving is by far my favorite. The decorations, the lower crowds, the music, the holiday cheer....just incredible. ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Meldev]

I'll add that we arrived the night day after Thanksgiving - hung out at our off site resort and then visited Downtown Disney that Saturday night after thanksgiving. That was awfully crowded, shoulder to shoulder. We didn't stay long. Sunday we checked into CSR, and it was smooth sailing from there. Even having the resort bus to ourselves one night!

 

[Flamingeaux]

Without reading all the comments...

We went last year for this week and it was fine. Weather is always unpredictable but it shouldn't be an issue. We had free dining!!! The one issue I had was that MK had too many Christmas parties which made it harder to pick our park days. I "gots" to see me some Wishes!!!!

 

[momto2js]

We were at Universal the week before Thanksgiving this year and it was chilly. My kids opted to skip most of the water rides or did one, once and then changed clothes immediately. We are from the south, so our blood is pretty thin, the kids swam in the evenings but I watched with a coat on. Being in the park with a light jacket beat being in the parks feeling like a pig on a spit!!

 

[klwdisney]

As a Disney Vet, this is my first time choosing this week too because I'm trying to plan the "perfect" trip for my BF and his son. These responses are making me feel better, as I'd read that last year that week was HORRIBLE!! His son is up very early every day so I"m sure we'll be at every park at or around rope drop. As a New Englander, I always pack prepared for all kinds of weather. Now I'm more comfortable with my choice of weeks! Whew!!

 

[mchelle77]

I haven't read other replies, but here is my input.

1. We went this particular week in 2013 and the day we arrived (the Wednesday before Thanksgiving) it was SO cold that we left our winter coats on. And we're from Boston. My daughter swam the day after Thanksgiving, but I couldn't bring myself to. There was only one day in that 10 day trip that I managed to swim.

2. We got free dining, but we had to check in on the Saturday - we were arriving on Wednesday, so we stayed off-site for a few days to see other parts of Orlando.

3. It was a fairly easy week, crowd-wise, but not as "dead" as the crowd predictors claimed. The best week I've ever gone was the first week of November. But it was solidly in second place.

4. I got a PH once and used it, but never did again. If you feel you'll use it for restaurants, go for it.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

The days I chose were nov 28th-dec8th (will be taking one day off but not till buy airfare) I have done a lot of searching this first two weeks after Thanksgiving seems to still be good times but has not been as dead as I heard about like 3 or 4 years ago.