Crowd level @ DL in January

[Samantha_Mommy]

Going to DL Jan 19, 20 & 21st of this coming year, how is the crowd levels. Has there been any postings of ride closures yet?

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Ride closures: Haunted Mansion and/or Small World will be closed to remove the holiday overlay at that time. I don't think they do them both at once but there may be some overlap in days. Usually Haunted Mansion is first then Small World. Also the rumor is that Matterhorn will be closed the first half of 2012.

I expect crowds to be low.

 

[skiingfast]

Ride closures: Haunted Mansion and/or Small World will be closed to remove the holiday overlay at that time. I don't think they do them both at once but there may be some overlap in days. Usually Haunted Mansion is first then Small World. Also the rumor is that Matterhorn will be closed the first half of 2012.

I expect crowds to be low.

Agreed, about as low as crowds can be on a weekend.

With the extended Holiday Season this year the closures to remove the overlays may overlap and extend to the OPs dates.

Check the weather before you leave. An umbrella may be handy then.

 

[SilentFeline]

Agreed, about as low as crowds can be on a weekend.

With the extended Holiday Season this year the closures to remove the overlays may overlap and extend to the OPs dates.

Check the weather before you leave. An umbrella may be handy then.

Hmm, I hadn't thought about that. I forgot that the holiday season is extended in 2012. We were tentatively planning to go Jan 16-21, but maybe going Jan 9-14 would be safer so HM will still be open? Ugh, I just don't know what to do! I would have thought the OP's dates were safe since I forgot about the extended holiday. In any case, I need to make my decision soon so I can ask for the time off from work.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

With the extended Holiday Season this year the closures to remove the overlays may overlap and extend to the OPs dates.

Totally forgot about that too.

 

[skiingfast]

Totally forgot about that too.

I was agreeing with you because usually they try to stagger these closures. But I wanted to point out with the way the dates fall it may not be possible to do it to neatly this year. They try to get ride capacity(which is large for both of these attractions) ready for MLK weekend by getting one of them up and ready.

Hmm, I hadn't thought about that. I forgot that the holiday season is extended in 2012. We were tentatively planning to go Jan 16-21, but maybe going Jan 9-14 would be safer so HM will still be open? Ugh, I just don't know what to do! I would have thought the OP's dates were safe since I forgot about the extended holiday. In any case, I need to make my decision soon so I can ask for the time off from work.

I'm not sure but if I recall correctly HM closes first, since it's been in overlay longer, IASW second. So it may surely be down on the earlier dates that follow the end of the Holiday Season.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I'm pretty sure HM closes first.

 

[miss.potatohead]

I was there around those dates last year, the only ride that was closed for us was its a small world, HM reopened just before we got there I think.
Crowds are great, especially during the weekdays; we had walk ons for many rides in Fantasyland, especially early morning (although Peter Pan had a 10-15min wait) but we managed to ride everything in one day at the park!

ETA Drat I forgot about Splash...that was also closed, but that was when it was closed for a long time due to refurbishment

 

[It'sKim]

We were there about a week after that this year and during the week it was fantastic. The weekends however were pretty darn busy. It started getting a little busier on the Thursday, Friday was busier, and Saturday was really busy.

We only had a couple of ride closures. Splash and Star Tours were the main big ones that were down. I think there were more things closed when we just went in September.

 

[Samantha_Mommy]

I will check DL probably Thursday & Friday and do Disney Adventure on Saturday. I think that will be my best bet.

So sad if Small World is closed, may seem silly but its one of the things I remember first seeing on my first trip to Disney world when I was a kid. My daughter would like it as she loves dolls. Well there's only hope it might be open.

 

[Bran]

What does extended holiday for 2012 mean? Will the park still be decorated the second week of January? We are coming January 8, and was wondering if we would be able to see any of the holiday decorations at that time. Thanks for any info...

 

[skiingfast]

What does extended holiday for 2012 mean? Will the park still be decorated the second week of January? We are coming January 8, and was wondering if we would be able to see any of the holiday decorations at that time. Thanks for any info...

We call it extended because it goes beyond New Years Day(or weekend) for another 7 days, not a partial week like most years. It's because New Years 2012 will fall on a Monday.

The 8th is the last day of the season this year. So make sure you see the special Parade, special fireworks and WoC(if rumors are true and it has a special holiday segment). Also, probably HM but the calendar will confirm in plenty of time will close right after to have its holiday overlay removed. There are also some special Character Meet and Greet. While you are there you will see the decorations coming down. So get it while you can.

 

[skiingfast]

I will check DL probably Thursday & Friday and do Disney Adventure on Saturday. I think that will be my best bet.

So sad if Small World is closed, may seem silly but its one of the things I remember first seeing on my first trip to Disney world when I was a kid. My daughter would like it as she loves dolls. Well there's only hope it might be open.

The bolded is a common mistake. Get a hopper and hop as you see fit. It's simple because the parks are a minute apart. This way you can see two night shows in a day. Or eat where you want to eat. Catch the opening or closing or both parks. Maximize hours.

We'll have to wait and see how it turns out but hope you get to do Small World too.

 

[libstar]

Touringplans.com has crowd levels for those days as follows:

Jan. 19: DL 1.9 out of 10, DCA 5.8 out of 10
Jan. 20: DL 4.6/10, DCA 4.6/10
Jan. 21: DL 4.3/10, DCA 4.8/10

 

[Samantha_Mommy]

Touringplans.com has crowd levels for those days as follows:

Jan. 19: DL 1.9 out of 10, DCA 5.8 out of 10
Jan. 20: DL 4.6/10, DCA 4.6/10
Jan. 21: DL 4.3/10, DCA 4.8/10

Sorry what does this mean?

 

[lachargers]

Have you found these numbers to be accurate?

If you are a subscriber, can you check on the week of October 24, 2011 and January 9, 2012?

I wouldn't mind paying for the subscription if they have a history of being accurate.

Thanks.

 

[libstar]

Samantha_Mommy: These numbers are from the web site touringplans.com, where they predict the crowd levels at Disney based on past attendance data, etc. So for example, on Jan. 19th, they are projecting Disneyland to be a 1.9 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being insanely crowded like 4th of July or Xmas), and they say California Adventure is going to be a 5.8 out of 10. Hope I explained it better this time

 

[libstar]

Have you found these numbers to be accurate?

If you are a subscriber, can you check on the week of October 24, 2011 and January 9, 2012?

I wouldn't mind paying for the subscription if they have a history of being accurate.

Thanks.

I am VERY happy with touringplans.com. I have an AP so go to Disneyland a lot, and found it to be very accurate so far. We're going to DisneyWorld in Jan. so I'm curious to see how those plans work out for us. I checked on your dates:

Oct. 24: DL is 1.1 out of 10; DCA is 3.7
Jan. 9: DL is 1.3; DCA is 2.3

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Have you found these numbers to be accurate?

If you are a subscriber, can you check on the week of October 24, 2011 and January 9, 2012?

I wouldn't mind paying for the subscription if they have a history of being accurate.

Thanks.

Subscribers have to agree to keep this info to themselves. It wouldn't be fair for one person on the Dis to get a subscription and share the paid information with everyone. I also believe it's against dis policy to post such info.

 

[lachargers]

Subscribers have to agree to keep this info to themselves. It wouldn't be fair for one person on the Dis to get a subscription and share the paid information with everyone. I also believe it's against dis policy to post such info.

That makes sense and I didn't intend for anyone to violate their policy. However, this worked out because I had never heard of the site and I am going to subscribe.