Busy January?

[ashwaite]

We've always done Disney world in January as it's relatively quiet. This time it has been really busy,why? We know that it's summer holidays in Brazil, and there are always a lot of Brazilians about, but this time there were lots of American families, shouldn't the kids been in school?

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

I am also Interested in hearing others weigh on their experiences with the seasonal crowd pattern changes at WDW. We took 2 trips last summer: One first Week of June and one mid-July. Our June trip was as about as busy as we expected and we thought we had avoided the worst summer crowds.
When we returned mid July, we were prepared for the worst. Instead, the crowds were much lighter everywhere except Pandora, especially at Magic Kingdom.


We live in the deep south and don't mind the heat, but my guess is that cooler-season touring is finally catching on. Don't forget that Disney has added Festival of the Arts, NFL Pro Bowl Week, and races to fill the parks in January.

 

[ashwaite]

Any tips on when the quiet times are lately? Thanks for the information to those who replied.

 

[klmall]

Any tips on when the quiet times are lately? Thanks for the information to those who replied.

I just finished reading Tom Bricker's article "Is There an Off-Season at Disney World?". It makes a lot of sense to me and may answer your question.

 

[ashwaite]

Thanks, very interesting reading.

 

[ashwaite]

I just finished reading Tom Bricker's article "Is There an Off-Season at Disney World?". It makes a lot of sense to me and may answer your question.

Sorry, attached to wrong thread,thanks for the information.

 

[Happiest.Haunt_999]

Early Jan-Marathon
Mid Jan-MLK holiday
Late Jan-Pro Bowl and this year NHL All Star Game(Tampa for the latter but people travel to and from Disney while there)

All Month-Argentina(more) and Brazilian (less) tourists.

 

[ashwaite]

Thanks for all the responses,but it still doesn't explain why there are so many families there when the kids should be in school. In the UK you get fined for taking your children out of school to go on vacation. That's why we go during school times.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

Thanks for all the responses,but it still doesn't explain why there are so many families there when the kids should be in school. In the UK you get fined for taking your children out of school to go on vacation. That's why we go during school times.

As a teacher here in the southern U.S. about 6-7 hours from WDW, I wish our school had similar rules in place. I frequently lose students to family trips not during school holidays. In order for there to be real consequences, a student needs to miss dozens of days before action is taken. Most frequently, families extend school holidays to fit their travel schedules. For instance a 3 day weekend becomes a 5 day weekend or families will take trips that begin or end 2-3 days before or after holidays. I have had students tell me that they are missing several days of school for a Disney trip... The most I can do is assign makeup work.

In the US, absence and tardy rules are made by each individual school or school district. Rarely are the consequences severe unless the absences reach about 20.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

There are also tons of travel resources online. A familiar refrain is that the slowest month in WDW is January. I think the secret is out and travel-savvy parents are willing to sacrifice 3-4 school days to have a better vacation experience. As a teacher I'm not crazy about this, but If a kid is making good grades and turns in his or her makeup work before or after a trip, I won't raise Hell. Realistically, only about half of the kids that get pulled out of class for 3-4 days can catch up, and its their grades that suffer.

 

[belledreamer]

We just back from our trip a few days ago and found it much more crowded than we were expecting but I noticed about as many foreigners as those from the states. Met a lot of people from Argentina and Brazil and shared my glow sticks that I had brought with a family from Japan that were sitting next to us for fireworks.