Disney or Universal Around Thanksgiving?

[Murphy]

We will be in Orlando the week of Thanksgiving, and my girlfriend really wants to try and get a day in at one of the Disney or Universal parks while we are there. I imagine this to be one of the worst times of the year to try and do this, but would anyone here have a recommendation on which park to test our luck at? Any insights on which days would be our best/worst bets around the holiday?

 

[warfelg]

I've done Universal the Sunday-Wednesday before Thanksgiving and it honestly wasn't all that bad.

 

[phurst]

Agreed, I've done Universal Thanksgiving week, and it wasn't too bad. I have no real interest in Disney, so I can't shed any light on that.

 

[Unagi]

These parks are very manageable for most of November UNTIL Thanksgiving Day. Definitely avoid these parks November 25-27 this year.

 

[Murphy]

These parks are very manageable for most of November UNTIL Thanksgiving Day. Definitely avoid these parks November 25-27 this year.

Haha, those are pretty much the exact dates that we would have free to drop by the parks. I figured it would be among the worst times to try.

 

[Murphy]

Sorry to double post, but does anyone have any suggestions on hotels in the area?

It looks like we are doing Epcot one day, and then headed to Universal Islands of Adventure for the other. We're hoping to stay near enough to each park, and getting any sort of ticket/hotel combo would be a big bonus.

 

[Nicole]

It depends a lot on how much you want to spend, whether you want front of the line passes, and whether you will have your own car.

Staying on property at either will give you benefits that would probably be useful at that time of year. Since Genie+ can be used regardless of where you plan to stay, a Universal resort might be a good idea. You can look up the benefits online.

 

[Murphy]

Thank you! We will have a car. We're likely shuttling to and from Epcot since the loose plan is to drink around the world. It looks like almost all of the Disney properties for the night we will be there are sold out, so we're going to get something near-ish.

As for Universal, we're definitely interested in front of the line passes and staying at one of their properties. The prices for the night that we will be there are pretty wild, but I see a few of their properties are still relatively reasonable for that night.

Thanks again for the tip!

 

[Nicole]

If you are getting Express at Uni, do the math on Royal Pacific, Portifino Bay, and Hard Rock. Since they include Express, very often the room is cheaper than one of the other hotels plus Express. Put more clearly, if you stay at Hard Rock, for example, for one night, you get Express included for everyone in the room both the day you check in and the day you check out.

If you are planning to switch hotels (I have done Disney from Uni resorts on occasion, so it might not be necessary), look at the Bonnet Creek area hotels. Many get Disney benefits.