While that web page shows only six steps, I count 20+.
Baby steps.
Having my parents and my sister’s family over to our house.
Even though our big Thanksgiving dinner was in October, my wife and I will continue our tradition of having a November Thanksgiving meal with the Native Americans.
We have reservations for Wednesday night at a nice restaurant at Mohegan Sun. (Discovered over the past few years that Thanksgiving night is chaotic at the casino, but the night before is pleasantly chill.)
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That’s in poor taste
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Just me and spouse and the two kids who still live here are guaranteed to be around, other two kids and their SOs may come by at some point. We’re still making all the fixings because we love them 
Looks like it might be a bit (or a lot: 30mph!) windy, so outdoors might not work. Not if we don’t want leaves on our plates.
I might still eat outdoors.
I think we are likely to have 11 people.
We typically do a charcuterie board for lunch/appetizers - atm I have a variety of pickled veggies, capers, mustards, jellies, and multiple cheeses. I will be smoking a salmon filet for that tomorrow and still need to pick up some type of Italian meats to throw on it. If I get a bug (which at this point is unlikely) and can find nduja or some other soft spicy pork sausage I may add some bacon wrapped dates stuffed with the sausage and cooked in a balsamic glaze.
Main course (for most but not all since some attendees don’t eat meat) is a smoked (most likely - might depend on the rain chances) turducken. I think the “traditional” sides will be mashed potatoes and possibly roasted sweet potatoes. I think (I don’t remember everything we decided on atm) we will also have some roasted green beans, brussel sprouts, corn maque choux, and shrimp and grits. Oh, and my brother is bringing a can of “cranberry sauce” that holds the shape of the can when removed because that is one of his son’s favorite Thanksgiving dishes. I am not sure what stuffing is in the turducken, but we also make a half-corn bread half gluten free regular bread dressing (one of the kids is gluten sensitive so has cut gluten out of her diet).
I am pretty sure there are 3 pies on the list as well. IIRC, pumpkin, pecan, and cherry.
Isn’t it the “ducken”?
No. There is frequently a traditional bread stuffing (which I think is what is in this one) but depending on where you get it (or if you make it yourself) I have seen cornbread, boudin, dirty rice, crawfish rice, and jambalaya (not all at the same time).
Alright, then where does it go? Into the chicken? That doesn’t seem to be a lot.
We haven’t stuffed a turkey with afterward-edible food in forever. Put in some lemon, garlic, apple and such for aromatics. Maybe it only makes the house smell nice or it actually enhances the turkey’s flavor? Who knows.
Anywho, brine is done and turkey is in it. I was surprised as I thought wifey would want to do this early tomorrow, then take it out tomorrow night. I believe in a longer brining session. Google says 8 to 18 hours, so either tonight or tomorrow morning we will be rinsing the bird thoroughly, then letting it dry until Thursday morning.
I love stuffing like that. But my wife won’t do it because we’ll all get sick and die.
So I asked my brother who’s a credentialed chef about this, so i could have my stuffing back.He said no way do it in the bird. The stuffing inside the breast cavity doesn’t get hot enough, so have some salmonella poisoning. He won’t cook it that way. Stovetop it is.
So my plan backfired.
Another protip from my brother when I asked him how to cook scallops. He said be sure not to overcook. If you do overcook, add bacon to it. I asked him what the bacon does to help the scallops being overcooked and he said it does nothing. But now at least your overcooked scallops have bacon.
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OK, NOW I’m hungry!
So, the duck is not a whole bone-in duck? And the chicken as well?
And, how long will take to smoke that, and at what temp?
Over the past 15 years I (or my wife) have cooked probably 20-25 turduckens (we have a friend who owns a winery who does a pre-Thanksgiving potluck for members and we prepared 2-3 turduckens for years plus those we occasionally make for family holidays) and have never had an issue. Now, we aren’t making/stuffing it ourselves. We have always purchased one that is prepared by a local specialty meats store so we know it is handled properly. When we cook turkeys, we don’t stuff the bird for the reason you cite, but I am unconcerned with a professionally prepped bird from a place that has been doing it for decades.
I’m seeing online prices starting at $120 for a turducken. Probably includes shipping, because, of course, the turkeys cannot fly.
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Chicken and duck are deboned. Turkey is mostly deboned (except for legs and wings).
I am planning to smoke it between 225-250 and shoot for an internal temp of 160 before pulling it off to rest. I have a 16 pounder so will likely take up to 10 hours (recommended time is usually 30-40 minutes per lb).
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You need to find a cajun meat market that makes them on-site.
Man!
For doing it all on your own:
Involves a lot of deboning, and 18 hours later… wait, for a 4PM meal, that’s… starting at midnight.
I assume some of this can be done the day before, but, yeah, buying it prepared might be worth it. That web page shows six steps, but of course, it’ll be at least 40 after I parse it.