Case 01: The Case of the Thanksgiving Getaway
Background Brief:
A family of 3 wanting to get away over Thanksgiving break. Looking for Disney World trip ideas that include holiday related activities, a good Thanksgiving meal, and seeing as much holiday decorations as possible. The family wants to stay as close to the action as possible.
Evidence Collected:
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party or Jollywood Nights which are both additional ticketed events and have lower crowds and lost of holiday theming and activities. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is being held on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Jollywood Nights is held on Saturday night.
Epcot Festival of the Holidays which celebrates the holidays in all of the countries of World Showcase is a great holiday related activity. You can walk thru each country in EPCOT and see holiday decorations and traditions from that country including many that have performers. Also at EPCOT is the Candlelight Precessional, which is a reading of the Christmas story by a celebrity narrator backed by a full choir
Many different restaurants have Thanksgiving specific meals. We typically stop at The Polite Pig in Disney Springs for a great Thanksgiving meal. Each resort also has a Thanksgiving meal in their food courts or resturants.
Many resorts, especially those on the monorail have holiday decorations including Christmas Trees. You also can see Main Street USA decorated for the holidays at Magic Kingdom and all of the other parks are also decorated for holidays as well.
Any resort on the monorail is a great choice to be close to all the action as is an EPCOT area hotel or even Pop Century, Caribbean Beach, or Riveria which are all along the Skyliner making EPCOT easily accessible
Case Analysis:
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party tickets average around $205 a person during this time. Jollywood Nights tickets are $199 for the Saturday night party.
Candlelight Processional is free, however, you should consider purchasing a dining package so you are guaranteed a seat. Otherwise you need to wait in line with 3 shows a night. Usually the line forms about 3 hours before each show and they only let in as many people as can fit after those with dining packages have been sat. You can listen to and watch the processional from the American pavilion promenade.
Arriving Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, and leaving on Monday following Thanksgiving is 5 nights. You can certainly arrive on Thanksgiving Day, we have done this in the past. The flights are less expensive and not very full.
A stay at Pop Century with 5 days of single park tickets is 4111
A stay at Contemporary garden view with 5 days of single park tickets is 7100
A stay at Wilderness lodge resort view with 5 days of single park tickets is 6700
Agent's Verdict:
Highly recommend buying a separate ticket to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party, there are fireworks, a parade, and snoap. EPCOT Festival of the Holidays is a great way to see how the holidays are celebrated in many different countries including traditions and food. Also highly recommend The Candlelight Processional, although a free event, you can pay around $100 a person for dining package which includes a meal and guaranteed seats. Polite Pig has an excellent Thanksgiving meal in Disney Springs for around $40 a person and the quick service restaurant at most hotels serve a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Finally, we recommend Pop Century which is a value resort. This not only puts you close to EPCOT but also frees up more budget to splurge on both ticketed events.