Attendance in first week of January?

[RedRuby]

(x-posted to the Canadian forum)
I'm wondering what the first week of January is normally like, re crowds, availability of attractions, etc.
What's been *your* experience? Or, what is the 'common wisdom' about first-week-of January.

Our school break (in most of Canada, it seems) 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 spans 2 weeks. But it seems that a lot of American schools go back in the first week, potentially meaning lower attendance/crowds? I'd also expect lower crowds in the week after the *busiest* week of the year with the highest attendance.

FWIW, my frame of reference is one midweek day at DL in November (2004) when it was pleasant and empty; and 10 days at WDW in October (2005) when the parks got busier and more crowded the longer we were there. I imagine food and wine, the new MYW tickets and the free dining offer were all factors in the crowds this year (2005).

I'd be going with two just-turned-four year olds, one adult of my generation (sister or friend - *maybe* DH), and one or two grandparents. Definitely staying on site and quite possibly splurging for a deluxe property. Probably 4-5 nights (depending on deals available).

Thoughts?

 

[wee-haggis]

(x-posted to the Canadian forum)
I'm wondering what the first week of January is normally like, re crowds, availability of attractions, etc.
What's been *your* experience? Or, what is the 'common wisdom' about first-week-of January.

Our school break (in most of Canada, it seems) 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 spans 2 weeks. But it seems that a lot of American schools go back in the first week, potentially meaning lower attendance/crowds? I'd also expect lower crowds in the week after the *busiest* week of the year with the highest attendance.

FWIW, my frame of reference is one midweek day at DL in November (2004) when it was pleasant and empty; and 10 days at WDW in October (2005) when the parks got busier and more crowded the longer we were there. I imagine food and wine, the new MYW tickets and the free dining offer were all factors in the crowds this year (2005).

I'd be going with two just-turned-four year olds, one adult of my generation (sister or friend - *maybe* DH), and one or two grandparents. Definitely staying on site and quite possibly splurging for a deluxe property. Probably 4-5 nights (depending on deals available).

Thoughts?

We were there this past January (through to Jan 8th)....the first few days (just before and just after New Years) was very busy. But, after the 2nd Of Jan it really quietened down quite a bit. If you look in this website you can scroll down to the historical crowd levels on these days.
http://www.touringplans.com/BestDays.htm

 

[riu girl]

We were just there (Dec 31 - Jan 8) and personally I found the parks to be crowded until about Jan 4-5 , then much quieter. I can only compare the first week of Jan/06 to the week prior to Christmas 2004.

IMHO, just make sure you understand the layout of the parks somewhat, have an idea of what attractions you want to do and get to the parks before/at opening.

We found Jan 1 (for the first few hours) at Epcot to be so QUIET. I kept looking around wondering where everybody was. By around noon though it was BUSY.

I spoke to a couple cms about crowds (asking if they felt it was busier/quieter then norm) during the the first few days of January and they both told me they didn't expect it to be that busy.

 

[dhluvsDisney]

We were there this past January, and returned on the 9th. We found it quite busy, with long lines for attractions. We usually go in May, October and have even been late August, and have found this first week to be quite crowded. The CM's we spoke to said they were all caught off guard by the size of the crowds this time of year, as typically they die off after Jan 2. A couple of them said they ended up being late for work due to the unusual traffic and crowds. The biggest reason they seem to think was the WDW Marathon which was on the weekend of Jan 6. They have ballooned to over 27000 runners (and families) and it has become the l0th largest one in the U.S.

Linda

 

[murcor]

We were this this Jan from the 1st to the 12th. Very busy for the first 3 or 4 days. Moderate until about the 8th and after that another huge decrease in people.

We enjoy going in January..this coming year are going from Dec 30 - Jan 11th. The plans are not to go to any parks for the first 4 or 5 days, maybe do some character meals etc, enjoy the resorts and then hit the parks when the crowds die down abit.

Last year went from the the 12th - 23rd. Great time of year.

 

[mousy_in_canada]

Sorry to steal this thread but I was looking at http://www.touringplans.com/BestDays.htm and they don't have any 1's at all.. I know that I planned my trip from Dec 7-15th because it will be quieter then but it is listed as a 4-6 why is this? Is this site right???
Help reassure me that it will not be crazy busy!

 

[wee-haggis]

Sorry to steal this thread but I was looking at http://www.touringplans.com/BestDays.htm and they don't have any 1's at all.. I know that I planned my trip from Dec 7-15th because it will be quieter then but it is listed as a 4-6 why is this? Is this site right???
Help reassure me that it will not be crazy busy!

Yes...this site is updated regularly and I have found it quite accurate.
I don't think i've seen any 1's in all the times I've looked at it .

 

[tmli]

January use to be my month of travel anually because of low crowds and value season.

I found how busy it was in the beginning depended on how xmas break fell for us here. This past year because the kids were off the first week I am not surprised it was busy. We went the first week when the kids here were back in school and it was very quiet. We found the second week to the third the most quiet.

I have since started going other times in the year due mostly to weather. At times it was so cold in January we couldn't use the pool and there were times when it was beautiful every day. The unpredictability meant more packing and major meltdowns if ds couldn't use the pool.

I have also found during this time there are some rehabs but not any more than other times in my experience...one water park was always closed. Also park hours are usually considerably shorter and often spectromagic was a max of twice a week.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I was there this past January 9-15. Great weather and low crowds except for the weekends, when the crowd level really increased.