Any thoughts on January?????

[Eganclan]

Hi all. Well, I have given up on free dining and my family is in need of a Disney fix I missed bounceback which may have worked for us(should have paid more attention to the DIS because I never saw/heard anything about it while I was there). I waited for the April free dining promo but the dates just don't work for us.

Although I have always thought that it would be fun to be in WDW for Christmas my family doesn't agree. But, no objections to New Year's so I am thinking possibly Saturday 12/29 to Saturday 1/5 (oldest DD needs to be back in Boston by 1/7). Thinking of possibly booking a family suite. We have done 2 rooms before and I think that it would be nice to all be together and have the extra living room space. I will have at least one AP so if something else comes up along the way I may change my mind.

We have never gone to WDW in January so any input would be appreciated. Weather, decorations, New Year's celebrations????

 

[Bob P]

January weather is completely unpredictable...you could have warm days with cool mornings, or you could have mornings near freezing with afternoons in the 40s or low 50s.

I can tell you that December 29-January 5 will be VERY crowded.

 

[Eganclan]

Thanks Bob. My sister was there this past January and the weather was terrible-it really put a damper on things and they wound up leaving early. Of course the day they left weather was beautiful.

Are the crowds any worse than what we would have seen over July 4th? We managed by either getting to the parks super early or my kids have no problem with staying till the bitter end of an EM night.

Don't know when else to go the kids schedules are just crazy at this point.

 

[Bob P]

This past Christmas week the MK and the Studios were closed for parts of two days due to the large crowds. Christmas week is the most crowded week of the year, but if you have been to WDW over July 4 you have some idea of what it will be like.

I know what you mean...we have two teenagers. Once they get to that age it's impossible to go any time except school vacations...and even then, that can be difficult based on extracurriculars!

 

[DVC-Don]

We used to go in late January until the kids hit middle school.

 

[bettydau]

We were Land/Sea Jan. 10-18. Weather was great; cool nights, but shorts and swimming during the days. Cruise was perfect. When we got back into FL on the 18th the weather was foggy, cool, so we were lucky. We're going next year Jan. 16-24, Land/Sea (with more family members) and hope our luck holds!

 

[Tinkerbell24]

I have gone in January once. The weather was nice and I was bummed that I didn't bring more shorts than I had. The family I went with said they had been in January and it was cold, but our trip was really nice (we were also espcaping the northeast winter). We went Jann 7-14. The crowds weren't too bad and we were still able to see the Christmas lights and trees.

 

[HopperFan]

Been that week 2007, 2006, 2005, 2002 ~

Weather: Hit or miss. We have had very warm where we swam everyday, we have had record cold where we had to buy hat & gloves at park, we have had in between very enjoyable, but no swimming.

Decorations: Most parks and hotels are still decorated that week. Most of the holiday activities will end New Year Eve.

NYE: NYE in parks is jammed. Some will close to more guests early in day. PI and City Walk offer parties at a very high ticket price each.

Crowds: There will be lots. The last two years have been exceptionally crowded. Many of us off that week (and again next year) and the parks are full of visitors from UK, EURO and SA as they are still out on holiday. After the 6th it will get much quieter.

 

[Eganclan]

Thanks everyone. Last time we were all there together was 7/05. I can't believe that there isn't one week this summer that works for us but the same thing happened last year as well. But, we did have a great family trip to California. So, it's time for a new strategy. Oldest DD and I meet my sister down there every November for a girls weekend weather has always been perfect and it's a great way to get in the holiday spirit. But, it's an impossible time for my sports kids.

I keep second guessing myself but it looks like it may be the only time to go. How bad are the parks on the 30th? Probably just as bad as the 31st. When we were there for July 4th we gave the kids the option of heading into the parks and dealing with the crowds or just hanging out. We wound up going to TL until it got too crowded, then headed back to POR and swam there, then we had a fantastic dinner at Spoodles and headed outside just in time to catch the fireworks. We would probably handle NYE the same way and let them make the decision about what they wanted to do that day. Hoping that the crowds would then start clearing out after NYE??? Maybe, just a little??? My kids are pretty flexible and I think that their only must see would be Everest. Thank goodness for fast passes and child swap wouldn't even be considering this trip without them.

 

[ThreeAngels]

Ugh, this seems to be our only option of going, too, and I was really hoping the crowds would be light right after New Year's like it says in the books. I guess I knew that was too good to be true..... Everything sounds good about going at that time EXCEPT the crowds.

 

[ANTSS2001]

Hi all. Well, I have given up on free dining and my family is in need of a Disney fix I missed bounceback which may have worked for us(should have paid more attention to the DIS because I never saw/heard anything about it while I was there). I waited for the April free dining promo but the dates just don't work for us.

Although I have always thought that it would be fun to be in WDW for Christmas my family doesn't agree. But, no objections to New Year's so I am thinking possibly Saturday 12/29 to Saturday 1/5 (oldest DD needs to be back in Boston by 1/7). Thinking of possibly booking a family suite. We have done 2 rooms before and I think that it would be nice to all be together and have the extra living room space. I will have at least one AP so if something else comes up along the way I may change my mind.

We have never gone to WDW in January so any input would be appreciated. Weather, decorations, New Year's celebrations????

We did a January trip about 2 years ago and love it! The week before the marathon and it was awesome. You're going to love it over all.. the weather.. the crowd.. and the decorations! GoodLuck!

 

[MomofKatie]

We went to WDW this January- arrived on 1/3 and stayed through 1/10. It was definitely more crowded on the 4th-6th than the 7th on. FL schools, among many others around the country, didn't get back in session until the 8th, so folks weren't in hurry to leave after the 1st. The WDW Marathon was also that weekend, so there were more people there for that.

That being said, we didn't have an awful time because of the crowds (and we usually go during slower times of the year- October and November). We just made sure we were at the park entrances before rope drop every morning so we could have time for the big rides before the lines got too bad. We used FP a lot, and we didn't get sucked into the "I have to see everything" mentality. We had our must-do's, and whatever else we saw was a bonus.

Have a great trip- as long as you have the right attitude, a trip to WDW anytime of year can be a blast!!