Crowds at MK on Sunday after Thanksgiving?

smelton521

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 2, 2013
Hi! Our first park day is Nov 29, 2020. I originally booked MK because we were flying and staying at Poly and I figured it would be the easiest to go to in the afternoon. Well our flight was canceled so now we are driving down the day before and staying at a cheap Orlando hotel the night before and will have all day Sunday. My question is, how bad will MK be that day? Touring Plans has increased crowd level to a 7. I’m not sure it’s realistic for us to make it for rope drop. On one hand, it is my youngest’s first trip to WDW and I can’t imagine starting our trip anywhere other than MK so she can see the castle. But we will be there for 7 days and I have other MK days planned, so I also don’t want to start our trip with a really frustrating experience. Although with staying at Poly we could easily try going in the morning, leave to check in, possibly swim which my kids will love, then go back later.....Anyway, what are your thoughts on the MK experience the Sunday after Thanksgiving?
 
It's going to be a zoo. Crowds will be bananas. Plan for that and you won't be disappointed.
 
Thanks giving week is traditionally one of the busiest of the year so you can expect likely the largest crowds since the reopening. You know you won't have FP+ and if Rope Drop is not realistic I think you just need to be realistic on the waits you'll encounter and what attractions you want to do.

I wouldn't plan on your room being ready before the afternoon so no matter what you do, just skip check-in until later in the day. MK opens at 9 so if being parked and at the temp checks by 7:45/8:00 is not possible and you don't want to spend all day in a crowded park I might say you would have better luck going to the park after you have checked in and gotten settled. You can sleep in a little, eat a nice breakfast, maybe head to Disney Springs for lunch and then just wait on the text that your room is ready. With the park closing at 8 and can get there at 3 or 4 and spend the first few hours on some of the less popular attractions and save a headliner or two for the last hour.
 
Thanks giving week is traditionally one of the busiest of the year so you can expect likely the largest crowds since the reopening. You know you won't have FP+ and if Rope Drop is not realistic I think you just need to be realistic on the waits you'll encounter and what attractions you want to do.

I wouldn't plan on your room being ready before the afternoon so no matter what you do, just skip check-in until later in the day. MK opens at 9 so if being parked and at the temp checks by 7:45/8:00 is not possible and you don't want to spend all day in a crowded park I might say you would have better luck going to the park after you have checked in and gotten settled. You can sleep in a little, eat a nice breakfast, maybe head to Disney Springs for lunch and then just wait on the text that your room is ready. With the park closing at 8 and can get there at 3 or 4 and spend the first few hours on some of the less popular attractions and save a headliner or two for the last hour.
Thanks! I wasn’t sure if maybe the crowds typically start to thin out the Sunday after with the Thanksgiving guests traveling home. I know weekends have been crazy since reopening, though. Just wasn’t sure if I should expect Thanksgiving-level crowds that Sunday. I guess nobody knows these days! Thank you for your suggestions - we will probably do something like that. Maybe the afternoon and evening will be lighter if Thanksgiving people who reserved MK go to the park in the morning before traveling home in the afternoon/evening?
 


Our upcoming trip begins Friday, Nov. 27, and Sunday, Nov. 29, will be our first MK day. My group of 6 will be in the thick right there with you!
 
We went a few years ago the week after Thanksgiving, flying down on Saturday. We found Sunday still fairly crowded, Monday more crowded than expected, and by Tuesday it was a ghost town. Obviously things may be different this year as remote school has different requirements about when kids have to log on or not.
 


The week AFTER Thanksgiving used to be one of our favorite times to go. Crowds were going home after the holiday and wait times were low. After my kids started school we switched to the week of Thanksgiving. Some years are better that others but it is a madhouse.
 
In the past, starting on Sunday after Thanksgiving, parks were amazing... last couple years were a bit more crowded than usual, but nothing to worry about. Just not sure if anything will change this year under the present circumstances.
 
I’ve been at the MK twice since re-opening where they had signs up that they reached capacity. Wait times were 50 minutes at most attractions. 7DMT was 2 hours when we got into the queue for Pooh, but 70 when we got out.

Eating lunch at 3pm worked well for us. Because Cosmic Rays and Pecos Bills were crazy busy around noon.
 
Its been a few years since we have been there over Thanksgiving, but the times we went, I never thought the crowds were terrible.
Arrived the Saturday before Thanksgiving and left the Saturday after.
Now with capacity capped fro now, would expect it to be better, unless with more shows closed and rides with lower capacity offsets lower attendance.
 
We will be part of the crowd at MK on Sunday 11/29, 14 strong. It's our first day in the parks so it has to be MK. Expecting the worst, hoping to be surprised. We have a plan, and expect to only get some few rides done and will hope to do better on our second MK day on Friday. Just happy to be going back is all at this point. No real expectation of low crowds and short lines.
 
I have been there the Sunday after Thanksgiving for several years and i find that the parks do start to thin out. Most people are returning home that day after a long weekend or a week.
 
We will be in MK that day for our last day. We fly home Monday 11/30 as it was a significant drop in airfare to leave Monday so our trip is Monday to Monday.
 

Watch this V-logger. A Tuesday in October and he left without riding anything.


I was there that day, in fact my son and his friend are in this video walking by. Our experience was not as daunting.

DH and I rode Splash, POTC, Adventures of Winnie the Pooh twice, Carousel of Progess and Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

DS and his friend went on their own and rode Splash, Barnstormer, Big Thunder MT, Tomorrowland Speedway, PoTC, 7 Dwarf Mine Train, and It’s a Small World.

We ate at 3pm. Those noon lines were gone by that time.

The lines were long, but they kept moving except for cleanings. Wait times were less if you didn’t hit a cleaning cycle.

CD83B60E-4A64-497C-A6B9-B802F82CAE42.png
 
Hi! Our first park day is Nov 29, 2020. I originally booked MK because we were flying and staying at Poly and I figured it would be the easiest to go to in the afternoon. Well our flight was canceled so now we are driving down the day before and staying at a cheap Orlando hotel the night before and will have all day Sunday. My question is, how bad will MK be that day? Touring Plans has increased crowd level to a 7. I’m not sure it’s realistic for us to make it for rope drop. On one hand, it is my youngest’s first trip to WDW and I can’t imagine starting our trip anywhere other than MK so she can see the castle. But we will be there for 7 days and I have other MK days planned, so I also don’t want to start our trip with a really frustrating experience. Although with staying at Poly we could easily try going in the morning, leave to check in, possibly swim which my kids will love, then go back later.....Anyway, what are your thoughts on the MK experience the Sunday after Thanksgiving?

We went once after Thanksgiving.... Friday and Saturday was a zoo.... Sunday morning was very busy BUT the crowds thinned out in the afternoon... this was a few years ago....
 
Ditto. We check into AKL Friday night, doing AK on Sat and will be at MK on Sunday, a group of 10 of us.

AK will be our Saturday park, too! If you see a fat brown man and a skinny white woman trying to herd two toddlers while an older couple follows in electric scooters, come say hi! :D
 

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