Considering January

[boudreaux0]

How is Disney the first couple of week of Jan. How are the hours, weather, ride referbishment? Will there be any rooms available at DVC resorts? I appreciate any help and comments

 

[mikesmom]

We went Jan 2-5 this year for just a quick getaway. It was abnormally cold for Florida, but not bad if you're used to cool weather. We took layers of t shirt, sweatshirt, windbreaker and it worked out fine. DS swam every evening - the pools are heated, though he had to run for it when he got out as the outside air was cold. (teenagers! - better him than me!)

The parks were not the least bit crowded - it was very enjoyable to be able to see all the details and park hop leisurely without fighting crowds. An added benefit was that AK was more pleasant in cool weather and more animals were out and about.

The parks do close earlier, but you get to see more while they are open so it works out. We'd definitely go again in January if we have the chance.

 

[ssgan]

We have been there twice in January. This year and in 1999.
Both times were great. In 1999 the weather was great the
whole time, in the high 70's the whole two weeks we were
there. This year the first week was in the high 70's low 80's
but the second was in the 60's. But we had one good week
so we were fine with the cooler weather. The crowds were
great, not too crowded at all. In 1999 we stayed at the BW
and this year at OKW, OKW was the easier of the two to get
in to. In 1999 Space mountain was closed, but dont remember
if anything was closed this year. Hope this helps

Scott

 

[dianeschlicht]

We have gone many times in January. Crowds are very small. The weather is unpredictable, but usually little or no rain. If there is a cool day, we just put on layers and keep going. It could not possibly be as cold as it is at home that time of year ! Sometimes a favorite ride will be down for refurbishing, but we know we will be back again, and they never refurbish the same time for any given attraction.

Because the parks close early, we tend to do MK, AK, and MGM early in the day and save Epcot for all the evenings. We like the evening activities at Epcot anyway, and they are always open until 9, so we can see everything we want on evenings.

January is also a great time to do the mini golf things as crowds are less. Water parks aren't much fun then, but we don't usually partake in those any way.

 

[dizneeluvr]

We've gone to Disney for the third week of January in both 2000 and 2001 (non-DVC members at that time). It was a perfect time to go.
Yes, we had some cold weather. But when I'm in 55-60 degree weather and the rest of St. Louis is having 20's, I can't really complain! Just dress in layers and peel em' off as the day goes on.
We only made advance character dining reservations for the castle and chef Mickey...the rest we made the night before or the day of!!! There were virtually no lines for anything we chose to do, and our kids seemed to get a ton of time with the characters and picked to do all sorts of stuff that may have been a lot tougher to get picked for during the crowded months.
As someone else pointed out, the parks close earlier...but you still get your fireworks and because the crowds are so low you can easily do what you want to do in a day's time. The ONLY real crowds we ran into were on Saturday at the MK (the day we left). So on our opening weekend we always hit MGM because it seems to be less crowded IMO.
And now with DVC, we can go every January!!!!! Woo Hoo!

Laura

 

[Regina]

Doesn't Disney have it's annual marathon during the second week of January?

 

[sumessefui]

We went this year on January 4th for 9 days. There was no rain and the crowds were very light. Went to Universal and did IOA and US in 5 hours, just walked right onto everything. Of course it was in the middle 50's witha stiff breeze, so that may have kept down the crowds.
There were 2 days that it got to 70 by late afternoon. We left for WDW 2 days after a 14 inch snowstorm so the weather was great for us. The only downside was that at 3 in the morning the day of the marathon, we were awakened by the loudspeakers and really didn't get much sleep.

 

[Buttercup]

We love January! 2002 will be our third January in a row. It's a great time to go!

dvcreg, the marathon is on Sunday 1/6 next year.

 

[Diznut84]

There can be huge variance in January. We've had days where the lows dropped into the high 20s and never got out of the 50s. This past year we wore our hats and mittens to the parks in the mornings, then peeled them off by 11am or so.

On the other hand, we've had some January days (2 years ago) where highs went up into the 80s. In short, it is very unpredictable. Some people don't like going to Florida when the highs are only in the 50s. On an "average" day, the highs will go up into the low 70s, but as I indicated, there is wide variance. Park attendance is usually pretty light, but don't expect to walk on popular rides. Also remember that parks close early, except for Epcot's World Showcase.

 

[Diznut84]

Here is historical weather data for Orlando.

Enjoy!