Thanks giving - Educate me :)

bouncybeth79 · 7 Mar 21, 08:50 AM

Hi all, I have just discovered we will be in Orlando for Thanks Giving this year. Im ashamed to say I know very little around the history of this Celebration but recall seeing images of family feasts and something along the lines of our traditional Christmas lunch.

So my questions are
- what can I expect to be happening for this occasion?
- Will crowd levels be increased?
- What should I avoid?
- What should I do on this date?
- What are your recommendations?

Thoughts on if or how much Covid will have an impact are appreciated but please be nice - I am stead fast in my positivity that we will be attending

*Note - we will be staying in a Villa on Champions Gate on this date which I believe is the 25th November.

Thanks in advance

Tinks2014 · 7 Mar 21, 09:21 AM

We have been there at thanksgiving. On black Friday We knew it would be extremely busy so we avoided the parks and had a shopping/swimming and
rest day. The shops were mega busy and there were queues outside the car parks and the shops. Well organised with crowd control of only letting a certain amount of people in at a time and 50% off most places at premium outlets. Got some fantastic bargains though and did all my Christmas shopping. We booked a thanksgiving meal but it was nothing special ( I do a better one at Christmas)
If you don�t like mass crowds a pool and relaxing day is a good option ..

123 · 7 Mar 21, 10:06 AM

It's very busy those 4 days (Thanksgiving, black Friday and the weekend).

Thanksgiving is generally the quieter of the four in the parks as most will be at home stuffing Turkey in themselves with family.

You then have to remember Americans don't get many public holidays. They don't (usually) get Easter Monday and they don't get Boxing Day, so two public holidays in a row are rare. So they go shopping on the Friday (and this is why black Friday is so popular).

That said the parks will generally be ok, but the shops will be rammed with bargain seekers.

It carries on into the weekend, but goes down quickly to usual "off-peak" levels after the Friday

YorkshireT · 7 Mar 21, 10:12 AM

Thanksgiving morning the parks I have known to be dead, but haven�t been in 10 years at that time.

chrisxal · 7 Mar 21, 10:46 AM

On Thanks Giving day, many shops and restaurants are closed and as others have said Friday is mega busy in the shops, if you love to go shopping and love a bargain, they have pre-black Friday deals and post-black Friday deals so no real need to venture out in the crowds, my friend queued up for 2.5hrs to pay for a cardigan in Tommy Hilfigr 3 days later I bought the same cardigan without having to waste time queuing and it was only $5 more. My advise is to stay at the villa and relax by the pool.

waiting4disney · 7 Mar 21, 02:47 PM

We used to love going around Thanksgiving before DS started school. Weather perfect and Christmas decorations all up.
Thanksgiving weekend is busy at the parks but you can get a few hours in early morning.

SleepingBeauty · 7 Mar 21, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by 123

It's very busy those 4 days (Thanksgiving, black Friday and the weekend).

Thanksgiving is generally the quieter of the four in the parks as most will be at home stuffing Turkey in themselves with family.

You then have to remember Americans don't get many public holidays. They don't (usually) get Easter Monday and they don't get Boxing Day, so two public holidays in a row are rare. So they go shopping on the Friday (and this is why black Friday is so popular).

That said the parks will generally be ok, but the shops will be rammed with bargain seekers.

It carries on into the weekend, but goes down quickly to usual "off-peak" levels after the Friday

We have 9 public holidays per year. On most of them, stores and restaurants are very busy, so they're not a day off for some people. However, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Years Day are mostly true holidays for most people for at least most of the day.
Thanksgiving is a nice day to hit the parks.

Helen J · 7 Mar 21, 03:08 PM

I've been in Orlando for 3 Thanksgivings, and each one of them has been manic. The Thursday through to Sunday have been extremely busy in the parks, compared to the days either side. We don't arrive very early so we tend to stay later than most, but the parks were still really busy just before closing.
We don't go to shopping malls very often so I have no idea how it impacts the shopping side.
The first time I was worried that restaurants would be closed, but in Orlando they definitely don't close, they were a lot busier though.