Best Week to Go? Late January vs Early February?

[Spoon full of Sugar 12]

Hi all! We are a family of 6....looking to go late January/early February. Any suggestions? Crowds, weather, events? Thank you for any insight & opinions!

 

[armerida]

We’ve been both times you’re considering, and found them similar crowd and weather wise. (Lower crowds, pleasant weather) The Epcot festival of the arts runs from Jan 17-Feb 24 and is our favorite festival. I would avoid the weekend of January 8-12 and February 20-23 as they are both marathon weekends and will be more crowded.

 

[Spoon full of Sugar 12]

We’ve been both times you’re considering, and found them similar crowd and weather wise. (Lower crowds, pleasant weather) The Epcot festival of the arts runs from Jan 17-Feb 24 and is our favorite festival. I would avoid the weekend of January 8-12 and February 20-23 as they are both marathon weekends and will be more crowded.

Thank you for the info! We love lower crowd levels...so def will avoid the days you suggest! Thank you again!

 

[armerida]

Thank you for the info! We love lower crowd levels...so def will avoid the days you suggest! Thank you again!

If you are staying at a value resort, might want to avoid these dates, too:

 

[SweetJulia23]

How much of an effect would those have on the parks?

 

[armerida]

How much of an effect would those have on the parks?

You’ll notice big groups of cheerleaders moving en masse and often cheering as they walk around the parks. But it seems there’s always some type of event going on. I think the impact is worse at the resorts where they block off rooms for them.

 

[WEDWDW]

If you are staying at a value resort, might want to avoid these dates, too:
View attachment 441853

Also January/February is "secondary season" for The 15s who impact the Values and Moderates as well.

 

[armerida]

Also January/February is "secondary season" for The 15s who impact the Values and Moderates as well.

Are the 15s also there in July? There were tons of groups of teens from South America there this past July.

 

[mamamelody2]

Well, if you want to stay on-site in a value resort, there is no availability early February. I know because that's when I wanted to go. We are going last week of January instead since I could actually get a value room that week.

 

[Spoon full of Sugar 12]

If you are staying at a value resort, might want to avoid these dates, too:
View attachment 441853

Thank you! We usually stay at POR....will this impact our resort?

 

[Spoon full of Sugar 12]

Also January/February is "secondary season" for The 15s who impact the Values and Moderates as well.

Which moderates? We love POR....will this impact POR? :{

 

[Spoon full of Sugar 12]

How much of an effect would those have on the parks?

Wondering this as well....

 

[Sweet Pea Reed]

PPs, the past times I've stayed at Caribbean Beach around the week of the cheer comps, they've been at CBR. Didn't notice an impact in the parks, but surely noticed them at the resort, with practice sessions in the grassy areas of the villages, and resort dining was busy in the morning. One unpleasant experience in 2017, our room was smack in the middle of a team, and we were woken up at 1 AM when several girls decided to go running and pounding on all doors. But no noticeable impact in the parks, perhaps because of competition schedules.

 

[gharter]

As long as you avoid the Marathon weekend, I don't know that it will make much difference.

 

[WEDWDW]

Which moderates? We love POR....will this impact POR? :{

The 15s can stay at POR,but I would not worry much about it.

July is the PEAK Season for The 15s with January/February numbers being less than half of July numbers.

 

[focusondisney]

Thank you! We usually stay at POR....will this impact our resort?

We stayed at POR the last week in January 2018. The resort was pretty full. The food court was packed every morning. As in, people were walking around with their trays looking for tables. This seemed to be families, not groups. It was our first time going that time of year & we thought the crowds were moderate, especially in MK.

This year we stayed at YC starting February 3rd. Again, the parks were moderately busy. There really are very few hit & miss quiet days. I personally don’t think there is any significant difference in your 2 weeks.

Also remember the Super Bowl is February 2nd in Miami. I know many people don’t think that will affect WDW. But there very well may be a parade in MK Monday or Tuesday. We went to that this year & the park was packed with NE fans. We talked to some who went to the game in Atlanta then came to DW for the parade. So I think it is possible for higher crowds Monday & Tuesday.

 

[emilyrachael]

We went at the end of January last year. It was much more crowded than we expected, but I'm sure it's just the new normal at Disney. The weather was on the chilly side - I have pictures of the kids in their heavier coats. That being said, I'll take coats over hot, sweaty weather any day! I don't think you'll get much difference between late January or early Feb. We did see cheerleaders there, but had no issues with them.

 

[emily nicole]

Our lowest crowd experience ever was MLK week January 2014. We also went first week of February 2019 and I was surprised at how much more crowded it was compared to 2014. BUT, this may just be because WDW is more crowded overall in more recent years, or so I have read.

 

[starjazz]

These are our go-to Disney trip times and we love it. Don't worry about cheerleaders or whatever 15's are. Point is, the parks are less crowded during these months, so just go and enjoy it. Both of those weeks are about the same - last in Jan and first in Feb.

 

[Spoon full of Sugar 12]

We stayed at POR the last week in January 2018. The resort was pretty full. The food court was packed every morning. As in, people were walking around with their trays looking for tables. This seemed to be families, not groups. It was our first time going that time of year & we thought the crowds were moderate, especially in MK.

This year we stayed at YC starting February 3rd. Again, the parks were moderately busy. There really are very few hit & miss quiet days. I personally don’t think there is any significant difference in your 2 weeks.

Also remember the Super Bowl is February 2nd in Miami. I know many people don’t think that will affect WDW. But there very well may be a parade in MK Monday or Tuesday. We went to that this year & the park was packed with NE fans. We talked to some who went to the game in Atlanta then came to DW for the parade. So I think it is possible for higher crowds Monday & Tuesday.

Thank you for this info! Do you know if the pro-bowl has any affect on the parks/resorts?