Families headed to Walt Disney World for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday will find the parks and resorts already decorated in their holiday best.
Disney’s Grand Floridian during the holiday season.
WDW will be immersed in a wonderland of candy canes, ornaments, and catchy seasonal tunes. Remember, you won’t see much décor with pilgrims, the Christmas trimmings will add to the festivities. Yes, you’ll need to embrace the holiday season along with your Thanksgiving meal.
Thanksgiving Dinner
Gratefully, your family won’t go hungry as there will be a bounty of menu options. From quick, casual meals with traditional entrees to table service meals with specialty fixings, your loved ones can easily find a familiar holiday meal on Thanksgiving day.
The “Yacht Club” Club Sandwich at The Boathouse.
In fact, you’ll find 28 dining locations offering a full buffet or special plated meal of traditional turkey day cuisine. Some of the places that your family can feast are:
• Akershus Royal Banquet Hall – Lunch and dinner
• Biergarten Restaurant – Lunch and dinner
• Chef Mickey’s – Dinner only
• Coral Reef Restaurant – Lunch and dinner
• Jiko – The Cooking Place – Dinner only
• Le Cellier Steakhouse – Lunch and dinner
• Olivia’s Cafe – Lunch and dinner
• The Wave… of American Flavors – Lunch and dinner
• Whispering Canyon Cafe – Lunch and dinner
Carving Board Dinner at Port Orleans Riverside.
More festive flavors will be offered at:
Magic Kingdom’s Pecos Bill’s Tall Tale Inn and Café – turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce and gravy.
Plus, Pinocchio’s Village Haus has Thanksgiving-inspired flatbread that is offered all month. The menu boasts cheese, turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce drizzled in gravy.
Epcot’s Sunshine Seasons – turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans and cranberry sauce for lunch and dinner.
Animal Kingdom’s Satu’li Canteen will feature the Na’vi’s version of a holiday meal. On Pandora, wood-grilled roasted turkey breast with gravy, apple and sage stuffing, green beans, orange marmalade glazed sweet potatoes with candied pecans, mashed potatoes and cranberry boba pearls will be served; available in both adult and kids’ portions. You’ll find a delicious pumpkin cheesecake mousse for dessert.
Or… you might want to make the holiday even more memorable by noshing on a turkey leg or a decidedly non-traditional meal like Via Napoli’s Italian offerings in Epcot’s Italy pavilion.
Pizza at Via Napoli.
Suggested Thanksgiving Itineraries
Reserve a carriage ride. Dine at your hotel food court. Take a walk around your resort. Visit Disney Springs for dessert. End your evening with miniature golf.
At Epcot, take in some of the shows around World Showcase that you’ve skipped on other trips. Collect photographs with characters. Stop by the Liberty Inn for dinner; get cobbler for dessert.
Go horseback riding at Fort Wilderness and then have a take-out meal/picnic from P&Js Southern Takeout. Take the boat to Disney’s Contemporary Resort to check out the holiday decorations. Board the monorail and visit the Polynesian Village and Grand Floridian resorts; pose for family photos in front of the holiday trees for your Christmas cards.
Find a football game on in one of the resort lounges before going to dinner at your resort hotel. Take a walk around the BoardWalk, then get ice cream at Ample Hills Creamery.
Take a walk around the boardwalk from Beach Club to BoardWalk.
Go shopping at Disney Springs, graze at the quick service spots, then go see a movie. I love the idea of having an appetizer at one place, entree at the next, and finishing up with dessert at another location.
See a movie.
Thanksgiving Day Planning
If you’re just planning a last minute trip to Walt Disney World, don’t despair. While most restaurants are booked to capacity, you won’t go hungry. Some restaurants still have availability and many quick service venues offer delicious meals. Next year, plan 180 days in advance to secure your first-choice Advance Dining Reservations.
The most popular restaurants, including Liberty Tree Tavern, offer traditional meals in a memorable atmosphere.
No reservation? Think of an alternate plan; for example, try Columbia Harbour House in the Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square. Get your meal, then dine upstairs on the second floor.
Find quaint seating on the second floor of the Columbia Harbour House.
Thanksgiving Touring Plans
Your Thanksgiving touring plans should accommodate the crowds. Utilize FastPass+; checking for last minute availability as some families will decide they are too tired to tour after their holiday feasts. Plan to use single rider lines.
Eat a holiday meal at your reserved restaurant. Hit up a park and ride the overlooked attractions that have little wait. How long has it been since you’ve seen Carousel of Progress or rode the train around the Magic Kingdom? Finish the night with a caramel apple on Main Street U.S.A.
Finish your holiday with an old-fashioned treat.
Look for information on the Thanksgiving Parade of Bands. This mass marching band performance includes award-winning bands from around the country, along with the Boston Brass. They have performed traditionally at 2PM in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Finally, don’t forget about Black Friday at Disney Springs! Arrive around opening time at Disney Springs for an uncrowded experience and some fun deals. Crowds pick up around 11AM.
Plan some time at Disney Springs.
Walt Disney World Holidays are always fun. With our tips you’ll find navigating Thanksgiving at WDW to be memorable. Turkey dinner has a variety of options; look for quick service meals featuring a traditional menu or full service restaurants offering special plated entrees.
From carriage rides, movies, and fishing to shows, rides, and shopping, Walt Disney World serves up a bounty of Thanksgiving fun!
We’ll be in Walt Disney World for the Thanksgiving week. We hope you’ll follow our holiday explorations; we plan to dine at Tusker House for our holiday dinner!
Share your Thanksgiving holiday experiences at WDW with us.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom: Ten Expedition Tips for Pandora
Pandora – The World of Avatar opened on May 27, 2017 in Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. While fans of “Avatar” and the Animal Kingdom wondered how this mythical land would come alive, the unveiling of Pandora quieted the skeptics with out-of-this-world scenery. Nearly ten years after “Avatar” touched viewer’s hearts at cinemas, Pandora is now experiencing intense fandom.
With peak crowds rushing to Pandora and waits for Flight of Passage over two hours, I wanted to share these tips before you journey to this exotic land. Don’t miss a thing; Pandora is worth the effort!
It’s time to step inside the Valley of Mo’ara; here are your expedition tips:
Welcome to the Valley of Mo’ara.
FastPass Plus for Pandora Attractions
My Disney Experience and FastPass+ (FP+) are going to be your must-use tools for a visit to Pandora.
I recommend narrowing down your FastPass+ choices before your booking window opens. Book your Animal Kingdom day first, and grab any availability for Flight of Passage. If it’s not available on your first-choice touring day, go to your second choice, and so on. You can go back and edit your FastPasses and touring plans once you secure a FastPass for this incredible attraction.
Flight of Passage Queue.
What if you don’t secure a FastPass+ before your Walt Disney World Arrival day? Don’t panic. In fact, the same thing happened to us recently. I kept looking for availability and one popped up while we were at Walt Disney World. It was about midnight when I secured the FP+ for a late Animal Kingdom morning that was three days away. Score!
What if you are unable to reserve a FastPass for Flight of Passage? You have two options: one, plan to be at the Disney’s Animal Kingdom one hour before opening and put yourself in the swarm of early-risers headed for Flight of Passage. Two, enter the standy-by line about 60-90 minutes before park closing.
To appreciate Pandora’s beauty and excitement, it’s not necessary to see the film. However, your personal journey to Pandora will be somewhat richer after seeing the movie. Consider “Avatar” to be a familiarization travel video. Then, let yourself wander Pandora and experience the interactive power of nature.
The power of nature.
Visit Pandora Day and Night
Repeat visitors to Walt Disney World already know that many attractions should be seen in the daylight and after nightfall. However, this is absolutely a must for the bioluminescent world of Pandora.
Beautiful Bioluminescence.
You’ll see and hear details by day and by night that are of otherworldly beauty. Visually inventive, Pandora’s emotional resonance is memorable for the whole family.
Sample the Unique Food and Beverages at Pandora
Fortify your troops at Pandora’s Quick Service Restaurant — Satu’li Canteen.
The chocolate cake is one of my must eat snacks at Walt Disney World!
Chocolate Cake at Satu’li Canteen.
The friendly expats working at Pongu Pongu have concocted some unique frozen cocktails. Get one with a glowing Unadelta Seed!
Pongu Pongu in Pandora.
Bonus Tips: Satu’li Canteen is a welcoming refuge from the elements. However, this place gets jam-packed by lunch time. A word of caution: signs note that tables are for the canteen’s patrons only. Really need a respite? Get a beverage and small snack!
Dining Room at Satu’li Canteen.
To save time, use Mobile Order to pre-order your meal at Satu’li Canteen.
Save time with Mobile Order.
Plus, you’ll want to see the morning “entertainment” here:
Yes, we did jump the “rocks”!
Avatar Flight of Passage – a Pandora Thrill Ride
Relive one of the film’s powerful scenes by taking your own flight atop a banshee. Imagineering marvels outdid themselves when they created this 3-D simulator. It’s a multi-sensory thrill ride like none other at Walt Disney World.
RDA – Mining the Universe, together
So, there are no disappointments, note before your visit that the minimum height for riders is 44 inches.
Na’vi River Journey through Pandora
Gently floating down this mysterious river, your reed boat will journey through exotic caves filled with wondrous plants and creatures. Through music, the Na’vi Shaman of Songs fills the rainforest with positive energy.
Watch the Weather on Pandora
Disney’s Animal Kingdom has always been the park that our family avoids on rainy days. It’s also a really tough park to tour in the Florida heat and humidity. While the park is lush with greenery, it’s difficult to find air-conditioned spots to recharge and dry areas to get out of storms. This is even more of a concern in Pandora.
On a recent visit, we had to wait for our FastPass+ time at Na’vi River Journey underneath a sparse tree that did little to keep us from getting soaked in the pouring rain. After the attraction, we found a hidden cave to escape the downpour and lightning. Yet, a lot of Pandora visitors were heading to Discovery Island to seek shelter. Expect long walks to find a place to take cover and be prepared with rain jackets or ponchos.
Shop at Windtraders
Even on Pandora, the main attraction, Flight of Passage, dumps you right into a gift shop. Or you can enter at your leisure.
Windtraders has an assortment of mystical treasures to take back to Earth. Look for items that glow in the dark, an Avatar Maker, Adopt a Banshee opportunities, and all kinds of souvenirs.
Take a souvenir back to Earth!
Be an Explorer
Informative Alpha Centauri Expeditions (ACE) guides can teach you Na’vi phrases, point out special plants and creatures, and answer your questions about this exotic land.
In this interactive world, find the creatures and plants that react when touched by a human. Will it light up, mist, or spit? You’ll only find out if you take time to explore!
Flaska Reclinata, near the entrance to Pandora, sprays a mist of spores when humans transfer their energy by touching it.
Flaska Reclinata.
The landscaping is stunning!
Lush landscaping and floating mountains.
Bonus Tip: Look for two Wilderness Explorer stations in Pandora. Kids can begin Wilderness Explorers at any station throughout Disney’s Animal Kingdom. These are fun and free activities for young trekkers.
Earn Wilderness Explorer Badges.
Visit During Extra Magic Hours for WDW Resort Guests
While you’ll be arriving Pandora with many other excited trekkers, Walt Disney World hotel guests can still get ahead of the masses by touring on a day that Disney’s Animal Kingdom has a scheduled morning Extra Magic Hour.
Explore nature in Pandora.
Bonus tip: Get a FastPass+ for later in the morning so that you can ride Flight of Passage twice!
With some advance planning, your adventure to Pandora can be stress-free.
Contact Us, Friend Us on Facebook, or comment below to share your tips for exploring Pandora. Let us know when you’ll be traveling to Pandora!
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