What goes up must come down, or in this case, what comes to Central Florida for Thanksgiving must eventually go home. Orlando International Airport is expected to welcome nearly two million visitors to Central Florida during the Thanksgiving week, and now, those people must find their way back home. However, that will be a problem for thousands of them.
Credit: Inside The Magic
Orlando International Airport has posted that it expects over 500,000 people to head to the airport over the next three days. The breakdown is:
Saturday, November 29: 175,855 travelers
Sunday, November 30: 177,400 travelers
Monday, December 1: 173,383 travelers
The #Thanksgiving travel period is in full swing!
Top 5 projected busiest days:
1️⃣ Sunday, Nov 30 – 177,400 travelers
2️⃣ Saturday, Nov 29 – 175,855
3️⃣ Monday, Dec 1 – 173,384
4️⃣ Sunday, Nov 23 – 169,728
5️⃣ Friday, Nov 21 – 163,553
Check out these tips for smooth travels.✈️ pic.twitter.com/gPr4wkPijr
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) November 29, 2025
The next three days will be the most-traveled at the airport this holiday season. While the weather in Orlando is fine, several nationwide issues could cause problems as guests attempt to return home.
On Saturday and Sunday, a significant storm is expected to drop six inches to a foot of snow across the Midwest, and by Sunday, it will bring snow and rain to the East Coast. That includes major metropolitan areas such as Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C.
Credit: Inside The Magic
There were more than 4,000 flight delays or cancellations on Saturday, as thousands headed home from Central Florida. Most of that was due to the weather, but there were also hundreds of delays and cancellations caused by a software issue on the Airbus A320 planes, which forced some of them to be grounded.
Thanksgiving weekend was one of the busiest recent weeks at Disney World. While Disney doesn’t release exact numbers of guests who enter the parks, outsiders get a good idea of how many people are in the parks based on Lightning Lane prices and availability.
Credit: Inside the Magic
Nearly all of Disney World’s pricy Lightning Lane Premier Pass was sold out for two days during the Thanksgiving week, and the pass at the Magic Kingdom, which cost $429, was sold out for five days over the week.
Those weren’t the only passes that sold out. Disney’s Lightning Lane Single Pass was sold out for most rides during the Thanksgiving Week. Disney’s Individual Lightning Lane passes are available to skip the line at one ride per day. Those rides are: Tron Lightcycle/Run, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Avatar Flight of Passage.
Credit: Inside the Magic
Now that Thanksgiving is over, it’s time for those Disney World guests to head home, and home could be covered in ice and snow. At least they got to enjoy a few days in the warm Central Florida sun.
What’s the best way to pass the time when your flight is delayed? Let us know in the comments.