Arriving on Thanksgiving - advice/information please!

[sakiki]

Hi folks…

DW and I will be flying in to MCO on Thanksgiving Thursday. We’ve done this before (arrivals has always been virtually deserted - in 2019 we were through security/immigration in 20 minutes flat) but we’ve always been onsite in the past so could grab a QS meal that evening.

This time however we’re in a villa down at Four Corners and I wondered what food shops are likely to be open as at the very least we’ll want to pick up a few staples - bread, milk, butter, coffee, pecan pie and so forth. Will the ‘big boys’ (Walmart, Publix et.al.) be open or will we need to look for a 7-11? Does anyone have any experience of this? We’ll have a car, of course…

[JAF]

Last time we were there in 2019 Wal-Mart opened late afternoon but we heard the queries were horrendous. Fortunately we were already there so had a meal lunchtime. Not sure about the other supermarkets though.

[sakiki]

Thanks for that. I suppose I was really wondering whether the move over here for shops to stay closed on Boxing Day has any equivalent in the US for Thanksgiving, especially given the insane behaviour we’ve seen on Black Friday…

[SleepingBeauty]

Most stores in the US are open on Thanksgiving until at least 6PM or so. There are exceptions of course. And this year things might be a little different, because everything else is.
But it’s not like the old days where everything was closed.

[KK_Cat]

We arrived on Thanksgiving in 2019 and were staying in that general area (Bahama Bay). We didn't fancy tackling the Walmart queues but got everything we needed at a nearby CVS on US27.

[sakiki]

Originally Posted by KK_Cat

We arrived on Thanksgiving in 2019 and were staying in that general area (Bahama Bay). We didn't fancy tackling the Walmart queues but got everything we needed at a nearby CVS on US27.

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Well, thank you for that tip. I doubt CVS would have occurred to me, to be honest!

[sakiki]

Originally Posted by SleepingBeauty

Most stores in the US are open on Thanksgiving until at least 6PM or so. There are exceptions of course. And this year things might be a little different, because everything else is.
But it’s not like the old days where everything was closed.

See more...

So shopping has tended towards more opening over the years rather than less? That’s interesting. We might not make a 6.00pm close, depending on whether the flight is messed about, how long it takes to get through MCO, pick up the car etc (and to remember how to get out of the annoying airport road system )…

[SleepingBeauty]

Originally Posted by sakiki

So shopping has tended towards more opening over the years rather than less? That’s interesting. We might not make a 6.00pm close, depending on whether the flight is messed about, how long it takes to get through MCO, pick up the car etc (and to remember how to get out of the annoying airport road system )…

See more...

Back in the day Thanksgiving was basically a day where nothing was open at all except gas stations and maybe 7-Eleven.

Lately it’s been trending toward things being open at least part of the day. And before the pandemic many stores were opening on Thanksgiving night to start Black Friday early!

[DonnaD]

I expect Target and Publix will be closed. I would avoid Walmart especially around this area as it will be filled with last minute shoppers. For essentials definitely try CVS, Walgreens or even Wawa. 7-11's are usually pretty grim in comparison

[sakiki]

Originally Posted by SleepingBeauty

Back in the day Thanksgiving was basically a day where nothing was open at all except gas stations and maybe 7-Eleven.

Lately it’s been trending toward things being open at least part of the day. And before the pandemic many stores were opening on Thanksgiving night to start Black Friday early!

See more...

Sounds a bit like Christmas Day and Easter Sunday over here, then (shops with a floor area above 3000 sq ft can’t open by law on these two days).

Sounds like a 7-Eleven will be our best bet…