Originally Posted By oredisneyfan on a whim we (Myself, DH, dd15, dd12, dd5 decided to spend Thanksgiving in DL. I was able to get reservations at the DL hotel on just 7 days notice so that was good. ( short 2 day trip) We are a 12 hour drive from DL and couldnt leave until around 3pm on Wed so we stayed at Santa Nella in the smallest motel 6 room I have ever seen, I think my car may have been bigger : ) Day 1: we checked into the DL hotel at 1pm and our room was ready. 10th floor pool view, only complaint was the lack of close parking. After getting settled we made our way to House of Blues for a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner with the most deliciouse pumpkin cheesecake I have ever tasted. then into DL at around 3:30pm. The park was very empty and we took our time walking through main street enjoying all the Christmas decorations and took some pictures in front of the Christmas Tree. As our family tradition we headed over to Pirates for our first ride. the line was short and we got right on, then haunted Mansion Holiday, a first for us, which was a must do on this quick trip. Again the line was not to long and we got on it very quickly. My dd5 wanted to go on Pooh so we headed over to critter country and walked right on. stopped and took some pics of Tigger, Eyeore, and Pooh in thier santa hats. then headed over to see the Reindeer. talked with Mrs Clause for a while but dd5 did not want to see Santa. Pluto was by the Reindeer and there was no one there but us, dd5 was very shy and ignoring Pluto so he grabbed her hand and started running/dancing around the petting zoo with her.....she was delighted. We headed over to IASWH and would have walked right on but the ride broke as we were getting to the front of the line so had to wait about 10 minutes but we got to take some really nice pictures of all the lights, again a first for us. then we spent some time in toon town walked right on Roger Rabbit and took in all the holiday decorations....jusst love holidays in DL. coming out of toon town we were just in time to see the snow falling on IASAW. It is about 8pm so we decide to get some churros and head over to DCA. We ride toy Story Mania and decide to call it a night because the dd5 is starting to fall asleep. I remembered to bring cookies for the evenings in the hotel room but forgot to get the milk in dtd, so we order two milks from room service for the girls...15.00 for milk....since we were not able to get the concierge with turndown service I had brought chocolates for the girls pillows but completely forgot to run back and put them out.....so I gave them to dd5 to put them out and she had a ball, however we were finding chocolates in our shoes and everywhere else for the rest of our stay. : ) day 2: took the monorail into the park at 8:30am. first ride the Matterhorn. got fast passes for space mountain and Indiana Jones. rode teacups and pinochio then headed over to NOS to ride Jungle cruise and watch the princess/frog Jubilee thing. had some gumbo for lunch and then rode Big thunder Mountain rr. headed back to tomorrowland to ride space mountain and then took the Monorail back to dtd to take a break at the hotel. enjoyed walking around the dlh grounds and seeing the sights took a rest and then to dtd to get some pins at world of Disney dd12 is an avid pin trader. also a little shopping at Sephora for dd15. Then over to ca adventure to pick up fast passes for soarin and ride M Madness at the request of dd5, she loves this ride I think it is the scariest in the parks lol. went to ride screaming but it was down indefinately. dd5 had to ride the carousel a couple of times. Headed back to DL to have dinner at Big Thunder Ranch, enjoyed this very much, not very busy and my dh loves bbq. dd5 was called up to sing carols with the show. We finished just in time to get a good spot in front of IASW to watch the parade. the girls were right in front and dd5 was dressed as Mulan and was delighted that Mrs Clause rememberd her, saying "hello Mulan" and the gingerbread men and snowman bowed and curtsied to her. Tigger came over and threw snow on her and chip and dale also came up to her. that was the highlight of the trip for her. we walked over to mainstreet just in time to see the lighting of the castle and have it snow on us. back over DCA to ride soarin and spent some time in the lobby of GCH listening to carols by the fire and relaxing dd5 made friends with a little girl dressed like Ariel and had fun dancing around the Christmas tree. Santa was there taking pictures but again she was not interested in seeing Santa. with dd5 getting very sleepy we decide to go back over to DL and use our fast passes for Indy. because dd5 can not ride we have to do child swap. My dh and dd12 get right on but when myself and dd15 get on we get right to the front of the line and the ride breaks. we decide to wait it out since it will be our last ride of the trip but after almost an hour we are given two fastpasses to the ride of our choice and told they dont know when it will be up and running. We decide to call it a night and give our fast passes to a family sitting at coke corner. We stop to buy candy on mainstreet, another family traditon. and head back to the dlh. the only thing about a two day trip is it seems like you go back and forth between dl and dca more than you would otherwise. having already gone twice this year I did not need to see everything and really wanted to see HMH, IASWH and the christmas Parade, mission acomplished. cant wait to go again!!!!
Originally Posted By LuLu Very cool! I enjoyed your report. So it wasn't crowded on T'giving... how was the day after?
Originally Posted By oredisneyfan The day after was a little busier but still very enjoyable, We would definately go again this time of year....only wish we had one more day. This was one of our favorite trips to DL and the shortest. the pace was much slower than I have seen other times of the year, not the frenzied crowds we have seen during spring break or summertime. Unfortunately we do not have the luxery of going in the off season, Our daughters play a lot of sports and cant afford to miss school so that limits us to long weekends and vacation breaks, and those are usually busy. Pleasantly surprised by the Thanksgiving crowds, or lack there of : )
Originally Posted By LuLu Yeah, I guess a big difference now with the throngs of locals with "blocked" APs, vs. less out-of-town visitors. No off-season anymore, October is mobbed now.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 What a lovely trip you had I loved reading about your Thanksgiving Day, it sounds magical. Thank you for sharing your vacation with us LOL! about your car being bigger than the hotel room!
Originally Posted By WDWdreamin I really enjoyed reading your report. Thanks for sharing. It sounds like it was wonderful an fun.
