January: Christmas 2.0?

[DaniLovesDisney]

Our family has been going to Disney in January over the past few years. Our first year was amazing–very low crowds, great weather, etc. But, the past two years have been dreadful. Each year, the week we select (the 4th week of the month, after MLK week) has been mobbed. I think it may have something to do with Pro Bowl weekend, but I’m not 100% sure.

This year, we decided to move our dates by a week, hoping the crowds would be less. We’re planning on 1/29-2/3, which is listed as the second least crowded week of the year on many crowd tracking sites. I just logged into Touring Plans today and it says Saturday, February 2 is expected to hit a level 10 at Animal Kingdom. I’m sorry, but is it Christmas?!

Can anyone explain to me why the crowds are so heavy lately? Am I missing something? Perhaps the days of low crowd levels are a thing of the past…

Thanks in advance!

 

[rwdavis2]

The Pro Bowl has nothing to do with it. Were the crowds huge or were the attraction wait times very long. Touring Plans did some research and discovered that WDW was just running rides at significantly lower capacity this past January. The actually counted the number of people coming out of some attractions at the Magic Kingdom. WDW has apparently stopped the slow down.

 

[DaniLovesDisney]

The Pro Bowl has nothing to do with it. Were the crowds huge or were the attraction wait times very long. Touring Plans did some research and discovered that WDW was just running rides at significantly lower capacity this past January. The actually counted the number of people coming out of some attractions at the Magic Kingdom. WDW has apparently stopped the slow down.

It may have been a combination of the two. The crowds were definitely on the heavier side. We could barely walk through them in some places, and when HEA started, forget about it. You couldn't move. We stood in the Haunted Mansion line for 90 minutes, which has never happened. Zero fastpasses available in the late afternoon/evening. Maybe I'm just spoiled--we always try to go during the least crowded times. Our go-to weeks are end of January/last week of August. This is definitely the worst it's been in a long time.

Thanks for letting me know about the research! That definitely could be adding to the madness.

 

[eeyoresmom]

We were there that same week in January. The crowds and the freezing temps were less than magical. I listened to a podcast that Len Testa was on and there was a discussion about how surprising to everyone the crowds in January were. They discussed a few other factors that may have contributed.
# 1. The tax break many Americans have gotten or knew they were getting, recently ( mine is $50/ month), may have been enough to give tourism a boost that month # 2. A lot of guests cancelled their trips when hurricane Irma hit that fall, rescheduling into January. My DD was there the week of MLK day, and she said crowds were insane and she's a former cm.

 

[theone74733]

I think there were several factors:

• Weekend events like the Pro Bowl, Dance competitions, WDW Marathon pack crowds to varying degrees and bring in families.
• More international tourists from South America. Their economy is improving from the recession they had in 2015-2016 and January is their Summer period.
• Similarly, the US economy has been improving with low unemployment rates, rising wages which means more disposable income. Like previous poster said, tax breaks probably helped as well as some companies were giving bonuses to their employees.
• Maybe some cancellations from Hurricane Irma

Cast Members I talked with still stay January is the best time to visit for lower crowds. The Disney resorts were pretty slow/uncrowded, but the parks were slammed. I think no matter what time of period you go, it will still be crowded.

 

[SarahC97]

We were there this past January from 1/28 to 2/04 and it wasn't just that ride capacity was down -- it was crowded. Like what summer used to be. In fact, it was the most crowded we'd ever personally seen it, but we normally go in October.

It seemed to me that there were a lot South American tourists, but there were simply just a lot of people. Personally, I was really disappointed with the crowds. Why bother making my kids miss a week of school when we could go during a school break and have similar crowds?

This past January/February could have been a fluke, we'll just have to wait and see. For my family, I'm now more inclined to travel during more traditionally busy times with longer park hours and more staffing.

 

[StarSeven7]

So do people think that this year was an anomaly or do you think this is a new trend for late January / early February to be crowded? We normally go during that period as well and have had great crowds and weather in past years. This year we're going in April instead (my DH has a conference down there then) so I didn't experience it myself. My extended family is looking to plan a trip for next year and we're trying to decide on dates. Everyone wants to select end of January/beginning of February but I'm nervous after hearing all the reports from this year!

 

[SarahC97]

So do people think that this year was an anomaly or do you think this is a new trend for late January / early February to be crowded? We normally go during that period as well and have had great crowds and weather in past years. This year we're going in April instead (my DH has a conference down there then) so I didn't experience it myself. My extended family is looking to plan a trip for next year and we're trying to decide on dates. Everyone wants to select end of January/beginning of February but I'm nervous after hearing all the reports from this year!

Disney has found a way to balance staffing with crowds that always make the parks feel crowded and the wait times about the same no matter when you go. I think you just have to decide on a time to go that works for you and hope for the best. I'm inclined to agree with many others on this board and say that the low crowd days are gone -- it's either busy or really busy or insane. Pick your poison, I guess!