January-Low Time?????

[dixietime]

We just got back from a great trip to all the Disney Parks over the last 4 days, and my husband and I were surprised by the crowds. I booked that time after seeing it listed as one of the down times, but the crowds were huge. I wonder if next year's down times might be different?

 

[sahlink]

Which dates were you there? Which did you find to be the busiest? I am planning Jan9-16, 09.... Hoping for slower Thanks Krista

 

[dixietime]

Which dates were you there? Which did you find to be the busiest? I am planning Jan9-16, 09.... Hoping for slower Thanks Krista

We just got back we were there Jan 26-29. There were 40 minute plus waits on the more popular kiddie rides, and we didn't even try the big rides. Magic Kingdom was the most crowded yesterday, Monday. We got FL res rates for the weekend too, so that helped us pick this time, coupled with the low season crowds.

 

[GrammyJudy]

We have gone twice in Jan. 2005 and 2007 usually the end of the month as my bday is 29 and my DD is 26.2007 was busier that 2007 but still no lines and only used fastpass a couple of times. I know it is very busy around the marathon which will be Jan10, 2009 so that weekend will be busy.

 

[GrammyJudy]

Tha marathon is that weekend so it will be busy

 

[WDW Traveler]

We just got back from a great trip to all the Disney Parks over the last 4 days, and my husband and I were surprised by the crowds. I booked that time after seeing it listed as one of the down times, but the crowds were huge. I wonder if next year's down times might be different?

We thought the same thing. We were there from the 1/23 - 1/29 and thought the crowds were very large. I guess it's true that there really aren't too many less crowded times at Disney anymore!

 

[Pakey]

We were there 1/13-1/20. The marathon was on the 13th, we arrived in the afternoon after it was over. The parks were empty that week. We did not use one fastpass all week. The longest standy line we had was 30 min for Soarin. However, the 20th was MLK weekend and that day was very crowded; we just went into the parks to ride the favs one last time and then spent the day at the pool.

 

[kismet1003]

We were there from 1/14-1/20 and it was DEAD!!! The longest line was Soarin, 30 mins I think. I've never seen it so empty. We plan on going back next year the day after the marathon again and staying for the week- we're hoping we'll be lucky again

 

[Mrs. Bee]

We were at the parks the 24th - 29th and I thought it was somewhat crowded a lot of the time. Thursday night at Epcot was pretty dead. It was raining a little so maybe that helped. Tuesday night at MGM was pretty dead too. but the rest of the time it was fairly crowded. On Saturday at MGM there was a 90 minute wait for rock n rollercoaster in the afternoon.

We still managed to get on the rides we wanted but I just thought the walkways seemed pretty crowded a lot of the time. Not at all what I was expecting for a so-called slow time. But maybe my perspective is just different than other people's.

 

[vacation dreamer]

We just got back from a great trip to all the Disney Parks over the last 4 days, and my husband and I were surprised by the crowds. I booked that time after seeing it listed as one of the down times, but the crowds were huge. I wonder if next year's down times might be different?

January has picked up on its crowds for the last 2 years. We have vacation at WDW for years the last week of January but no more.

 

[Mrs. Bee]

We noticed that the last couple years at Disneyland in CA...there isn't really much of a "slow" seasons anymore. If you happen to be there on a slow day...you luck out. There aren't really any ways to predict it anymore. You can definitely predict super busy times like summer, spring break, and christmas. But I just think all the parks are so popular now that there aren't the super slow seasons anymore.

 

[jonestavern]

We just got in this morning after an 8 night stay.
It is more crowded than in past years, but still light--nothing like December or Thanksgiving.

Though, when we find a park jamming we switch.
The early morning hours at AK, DH was there for rope drop and had no problem & waits (w/using FP) no more than 10 minutes. It started to jam, we went to our ADRs at Yak 'n' Yeti, then left for MGM which was very pleasant without the long waits.
And...is there any Saturday when MK is not insane?
The PPP was light, too. Okay, Mickey & Minnie were swamped, but there were Princesses with only one or two young ones to entertain.

Epcot Evening Extra hours 'crowd' this past Friday were ridiculously light. It was lovely & we felt very 'magical' sitting on a park bench at the edge of Morocco, drinking wine and looking out at the 'big ball' and the white trees


Jean

 

[Mrs. Bee]

We were on the second floor of some place in Liberty Square.

January 27th....

In the first picture, off to the left you can see a HUGE line for the Haunted Mansion. The CM's were having a hard time containing it.

 

[Amyshubby]

That's weird. We just got back from a weeklong vacation on pretty much the same days (Jan 26th- Feb 3rd) and thought the crowds were very managable. We used the Unnofficial WDW guide touring plan and also visited each park on a day projected to be slow. We hit the major rides in the morning and used fastpass. Our longest line was about 10 minutes. We actually managed to ride Space Mountain, Buzz lightyear, Thounder Mountain, Mission Space each 4 times and the other major rides at least twice.

I guess it depends on what days you hit each park.

 

[PC MOM]

We were there 1/13-1/20. The marathon was on the 13th, we arrived in the afternoon after it was over. The parks were empty that week. We did not use one fastpass all week. The longest standy line we had was 30 min for Soarin. However, the 20th was MLK weekend and that day was very crowded; we just went into the parks to ride the favs one last time and then spent the day at the pool.

We were there at the same time...

Sun. the 13th -Downtown Disney was a little busy......But....

Mon. 14-Magic Kingdom
Tues. 15-Animal Kingdom
Wed. 16-Epcot
Thurs. 17- Typhoon Lagoon...........all days very quiet....no lines...no need for fastpass. LOVLEY!

Fri. 18-Magic Kingdom
Sat 19-Hollywood Studios (cheerleading competion)
& Sun. 20..........................................................were very busy!

It was cool but I would trade a few degrees for the lovely first few days that we had!

 

[Mrs. Bee]

That's weird. We just got back from a weeklong vacation on pretty much the same days (Jan 26th- Feb 3rd) and thought the crowds were very managable. We used the Unnofficial WDW guide touring plan and also visited each park on a day projected to be slow. We hit the major rides in the morning and used fastpass. Our longest line was about 10 minutes. We actually managed to ride Space Mountain, Buzz lightyear, Thounder Mountain, Mission Space each 4 times and the other major rides at least twice.

I guess it depends on what days you hit each park.

which parks did you do on which days?

 

[Amyshubby]

which parks did you do on which days?

Starting on Sat the 26th:

Sat- Hollywood (I can't give you much info about the crowds because we spent the entire afternoon trying to get picked for the Jedi Academy)

Sun- Epcot. Very light crowds. Test Track three times, Soarin twice, Mission Space twice. Several hours in Innoventions with the kids.

Mon- Epcot. Also light crowds. Finished everything up, including all of world Showcase.

Tues- Magic Kingdom. Best day of the week. Between getting there early and using Fastpass we pretty muched walked on to everything. We did several rides more then once and managed to cover most of the park even though it closed early for the P&P party.

Wed- off day- Downtown disney, Disney Quest and Hoop De Doo.

Thurs- back to MK for part of the day, then Epcot again.

Fri- Animal Kingdom. We did the majot stuff in the morning, then used Fastpass for the safari. We skipped the 3D movie because my kids were a little freaked in Honey I Shrunk the kids and they hate bugs (however, don't miss Mickey's Philharmagic- it was amazing).

Sat- back to Hollywood to finish all the things we missed trying to get picked for the Jedi Academy, then to Magic Kingdom for the P&P party.

Sun- our flight was at 3:25, so we had time and went to MK in the morning to go back on our favorite rides again.

The crowds were noticeably heavier the last three days, but we still managed it by hitting the bigger attractions early each day and using fastpass throughout the day. The planning I did using the Unnofficial Guide and especially this website really helped.

 

[minniebeth]

We have gone in January (the end) for the last 4 years. We've noticed that each year the crowds pick up. Just like any time of year, go early when the parks first open and you will get to do more.

 

[Mrs. Bee]

Starting on Sat the 26th:

Sat- Hollywood (I can't give you much info about the crowds because we spent the entire afternoon trying to get picked for the Jedi Academy)

Sun- Epcot. Very light crowds. Test Track three times, Soarin twice, Mission Space twice. Several hours in Innoventions with the kids.

Mon- Epcot. Also light crowds. Finished everything up, including all of world Showcase.

Tues- Magic Kingdom. Best day of the week. Between getting there early and using Fastpass we pretty muched walked on to everything. We did several rides more then once and managed to cover most of the park even though it closed early for the P&P party.

Wed- off day- Downtown disney, Disney Quest and Hoop De Doo.

Thurs- back to MK for part of the day, then Epcot again.

Fri- Animal Kingdom. We did the majot stuff in the morning, then used Fastpass for the safari. We skipped the 3D movie because my kids were a little freaked in Honey I Shrunk the kids and they hate bugs (however, don't miss Mickey's Philharmagic- it was amazing).

Sat- back to Hollywood to finish all the things we missed trying to get picked for the Jedi Academy, then to Magic Kingdom for the P&P party.

Sun- our flight was at 3:25, so we had time and went to MK in the morning to go back on our favorite rides again.

The crowds were noticeably heavier the last three days, but we still managed it by hitting the bigger attractions early each day and using fastpass throughout the day. The planning I did using the Unnofficial Guide and especially this website really helped.

We were at MGM on Saturday and even with the light rain, I thought it was somewhat crowded. More than I had expected. We went back on Tuesday night and the crowds were much lighter.

We were at Epcot for part of the say Monday and the crowds were just so-so for me. Not heavy crowds but not light either. Other than that, we went to different parks on different days.

 

[BrerRabbit_fan]

We've gone in January four times and this year was busiest by far.
Jan 20-HS. Very crowded.

21-Universal. It was MLK day and we thought the parks would be very crowded but they weren't. We did both parks in one day and saw everything we wanted.

22-Epcot and Fantasmic. It was EMH morning at Epcot and the place was a zoo. By 11, waits were an hour. We used fastpass and had fun talking to people but it was crowded. Not as much in World Showcase. We were going to do the late hours at HS but the park was so full, we left after Fantasmic.

23-AK, MK, Illuminations. AK was full at opening (it was a late night there). I should have started in MK and gone to AK but I figured all the experts would do that so I'd be ok. Long lines for safari from opening. Only Kali had no wait. MK was quite empty, we accomplished a lot in three hours and even did COP(yay). We left at 7:30 and got in two Test Track rides before watching Illuminations-crowds not bad. First time I did three parks in one day and it was great!

24-MK. Early entry was ok, only Peter Pan had lines. The park was full the rest of the day. Lines for all attractions, fastpasses finished by midday. I've been in Disney many times and am a commando. This was my first time waiting for POTC, 30 minutes! (I had done everything else by then but still). We decided to head over to AK for some more rides on EE. Waits were about 30 minutes but worth it. We headed back to MK for Spectro (mob scene- but it was the first showing since Sun, hence the crowds). We shopped in the Emporium for a full hour after closing and so did everyone else.

January is not low season any longer!