Thanksgiving 2026 at Disney World

By Dave Shute

THANKSGIVING 2026 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

My itinerary is designed to put you in Magic Kingdom on Wednesdays, as across the year Wednesdays and Saturdays are the most reliable nights to be able to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks.

Thanksgiving week is a recent exception to this, as Disney now schedules Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party the night before Thanksgiving, meaning the park closes to regular guests at 6p—and no evening fireworks for such folks.

SIMPLEST FIX

The simplest fix is switch Wednesday and Thursday, so that you spend Thanksgiving itself in Magic Kingdom, culminating with the fireworks which are scheduled that evening.

LOWER-CROWD FIXES

However, because of early closures for parties the two days before and the day after, Magic Kingdom will likely be very busy Thanksgiving, so to avoid crowds you might wish to do something different.

• If you wish to take Thanksgiving off entirely, then switch Second Saturday with Wednesday—thus going to Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Wednesday and Magic Kingdom on Second Saturday, seeing the fireworks on Saturday. Also switch Friday and Thursday, so your off day moves to Thursday.
• If you wish to keep Friday as your off day, while still avoiding Magic Kingdom on Thursday, then move current Second Saturday to Tuesday, move current Tuesday to Thursday, and move current Thursday to Second Saturday. This lets you see the Magic Kingdom Fireworks on Second Saturday, and puts you in the traditionally lowest-crowd park, Animal Kingdom, on Thanksgiving.

RELATED STUFF

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