WDW in January

[rosanne91]

I have heard that January is a great time to visit WDW. Does Disney typically run any package deals at this time? I have had free dinig and free park hopper in the past and loved it !!

 

[GinnyEmma]

It is awesome, peaceful and pleasant. My opinion of course.

 

[Maddie2]

Sometimes deals yes, sometimes no. I guess it depends on how they are doing overall. We had free dining one time and lower room-only rates the other time. We also got great airline rates - purchasing in late October/early November.

We've been there twice in January and, IMO, it is the best time of year. Sure, there are refurbishments and things that are closed, but even with closures, we saw more during January vacations (with little/no lines) than in either of our other 2 trips (April and July), which again, IMO were crazy busy and hot weather. We also went to Disneyland in January once.

When our kids were little, it was easy enough to take them out of school for Florida vacations. However, now as teens, it is not a good thing to take them out of school, thus this year's July vacation. Never again. TOO hot.

 

[Judyat]

You might want to avoid January 5 -8 when they have the Disney marathon. Also it can be cold in January. We were at the Disney marathon 2 years ago. It was cold and rainy.

 

[sherry7]

We went in January 2009. We happened to choose a week when there were thousands of Brazilian teenagers there for group tours. Each group of 100 to 200 kids had only a couple of adult chaperones. Naturally, you can probably imagine the chaos, rowdiness, blatant line cutting, etc that happens when that many teenagers in a large group are mostly unsupervised.

From what I've read here on the DIS boards, this happens every January, concurrent with the winter break of Brazilian teenagers. We had a very un-Disney like time, and swore to never go in January again.

Just to add: I'm not trying to pick on this particular nationality. If you get that many unsupervised teenagers in large groups, it doesn't matter if they're Brazilian, American, or Martians...there's going to be some problems.

 

[caledonia]

A great time to visit have been in January 6 or 7 times and enjoyed the cooler weather for park visits the queues are virtually non existent and the hotels are less busy so the service is better.As to discounts I expect it depends on how quiet they expect things to be.That aside go and enjoy yourselves.

Ian

 

[mrsklamc]

Last time we loved it. This year, it was COLD. We saw the Brazilian tour groups but were never annoyed by them. We were annoyed by several Americans though.

 

[wekhogan]

We were there in Jan with the teenager hordes. I wouldn't go back at that time again. There were def thousands and I didn't notice so much bad behavior, but groups would descend en masse at the rides and create long lines at an otherwise fairly quiet time.

 

[lifesgr8]

When are these large teenager groups from brazil normally there?

 

[mom2t]

Last 2 trips were in Jan. in 2008 - warm even swam 1 day and this year much colder. My husband will only go then. We love the numbers - will agree with earlier poster - Lots of foreign tourists - especially Brazil - they were all polite. However I was crawled all over on 2 different occasions by Americans - who were so rude. My husband even threatened 1 with security it was so bad. It is summer in Brazil so the kids are on break is what I was told.

 

[mrsklamc]

When are these large teenager groups from brazil normally there?

I can't say it's the ONLY week they are there but they were there during both of our trips, which were MLK week.

 

[mom2t]

They were there Mk week in 08 and last week in Jan. this year

 

[WDWjen]

We love Jan in WDW but don't tell anyone
It's not too hot, not crowded, and we usually pay lower prices.
Last trip in 2010 we got the buy 4 get 3 free deal and it allowed us to book the beach club ( we were going to stay moderate) and it was a great 7 day trip!

It is colder than usual but we are from NY so we don't mind. There are nights we were in winter fleeces and pants but during the days it was shorts and tees and we brought sweat shirts just in case. There are refurbs ( we have yet to go on splash mountain) but honestly the short wait times on all the other rides makes up for the refurbs or construction walls you might find.

Park hours are shorter but again since you can walk on so many rides you don't need the parks open until midnight( our kids are usually tired anyway). We also had hoppers so we planned accordingly and went to EMH if needed.

Jan works great for us. Now we are just waiting on a good deal...either the 4/3 deal again or free dining and we will book Jan in a heartbeat! Usually good airfares too!


Ps didn't really encounter tour groups at all. We went end of Jan.

 

[MSSANDRA]

HUGE January fans here. Low crowds and cool temps!! Lowest rates too!!

 

[rosanne91]

everyone has been so helpfull. Thank you

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

We enjoy Jan trips a lot, but when people say cold, TRUST THEM! Jan 2010 at the marathon my daughter and I sat and waited for DSIL to cross the finish line. It was SLEETING and 28 degrees. We come from Kansas with serious cold winters and we nearly FROZE for about 5 days. We had brought sweatshirts, coats, hats and gloves, so we were properly dressed. But it really does get cold!!!!