Everyone knows that Thanksgiving is the second best Holiday in the world. I mean, so many good episodes of Friends, so many types of pie, and a full on good excuse to wear stretchy pants all day. We almost always go out of town for Thanksgiving, mainly because we like to eat our body weight in good food, without having our mashed potatoes tainted by the weight of family expectations. This past year, we spent Thanksgiving in Disneyland, and had the most MAGICAL time of our lives, which are words I don’t take lightly. So today, we’re helping those like ourselves, that plan hella far in advance, in case you wanna make the trip out for Turkey Day.
Thanksgiving Dinner:
You have several options for where to have your Thanksgiving feast while at Disneyland. The crown jewel of Disney’s Thanksgiving offerings is a four course meal at the Napa Rose. This meal is super hard to get a reservation for, and is incredibly expensive, but is many people’s family tradition. We chose to have Thanksgiving dinner at Steakhouse 55 at The Disneyland Hotel, which we LOVED. They have a special Thanksgiving Menu, but you can also order off the regular menu as well (which steak for Thanksgiving is always a good choice in our opinion). There’s a special buffet available at the Disneyland Hotel ballroom as well. These are probably the three hardest to go reservations.
Some of your other options, that aren’t as hard to get reservations for, are special Thanksgiving menus at Goofy’s Kitchen, Storytellers Cafe, Carnation Cafe, The Plaza Inn, French Market, and Cafe Orleans.
Decor:
Good news guys – THE PARKS ARE DECORATED FOR CHRISTMAS! While fall and Thanksgiving decor is great, there’s really nothing better than getting to celebrate Christmas, while celebrating Thanksgiving at the same time. Especially, when you factor in the fact that Disneyland is the best, most heavily decorated parks in the US. We think that celebrating Thanksgiving at Disneyland is the perfect way to kick off the Holiday season.
Crowds:
I’m not going to lie to you. It’s going to be one of the most crowded times of the year. Will it be a mad house? Yes. Is it manageable? Yes. If you have a plan, get there early, and utilize the parks Fast Pass system, you’ll be fine.
Stay:
If staying on property is out of budget (it is for us, a lot of the time – Disneyland hotels are expensive!), we recommend staying at a Good Neighbor Hotel, so you can be within walking distance to property!
We love spending Thanksgiving at Disneyland, and we think you will too. You get all the magic of Christmas decorations, combined with all the magic of eating until you pass out of Thanksgiving. In short, it’s perfect.