Crowds after New Year's Day?

[missypie]

Do the crowds thin out quite a bit after New Year's Day? Our kids are often out of school until around the 6th...would Jan 1-5th be a good time to visit?

 

[missypie]

C'mon...can't anyone answer my question?

 

[Gluman11]

I'm a beginner on this site, but I'll try to help you out.....

My family and I usually head down to WDW in January, but generally later in the month (excellent time for less crowd).......based on my experience, I would suspect that you'd be pretty safe for 'thin' crowds after Jan 1.....

And next year, New Year's Day is on a Saturday.........I am going to go out on a limb and say that I would expect most of the Holiday visitors to be checking out on the Sunday following New Years Day................If I were planning your trip, that would be my thinking.................

 

[Simba's Mom]

Hi, fellow Texan! That's when I went for 3 years in a row-that very first week of January in 2000, 2001, and 2002. It was always a very slow time. I remember commenting to one CM how the crowds seem to thin out so quickly after the first. She agreed, suggesting they only had enough money to last til right after NYE. In addition to the lack of crowds, one other thing was fairly consistent-the weather, it was COLD! One year, it was so cold AK cancelled some morning shows and there were very few animals out in the AM there. Although there were a few "cold-weather" types swimming, it was definitely much too cold for this Texan's blood! Overall, an enjoyable time to go. Only one tiny complaint-the very beginning of January, although I've had my fill of Christmas music, they were still playing it in all the parks. Maybe if I'd been prepared for that it would have been OK, but I wanted my Disney music!

 

[Jynohn]

We just got back from our visit Jan. 1-11th. I was actually surprised that the parks were still fairly crowded until mid-week (around Jan. 7th). I expected them to be busy through the weekend, but thought they would have thinned out more dramatically by Sunday. I think on our next visit we'll plan to arrive the second week in January instead, so we'll miss the end of the holiday crowds.

I also agree with the previous poster about the Christmas music. I was excited to hear the Main St. music when I first arrived to remind me that I was really FINALLY here. The last thing I wanted to hear was more Christmas carols. We've been listening to them since September in the malls. Enough already! LOL

 

[Snoopymom]

Yes!

We were there Saturday, Jan 3rd. We went to Animal Kingdom in the morning and MGM in the afternoon and the longest we waited for anything was 10 minutes (Did not do ToT or RR, ). We arrived at MGM seconds before the parade started and we had a perfect view. The weather was incredible...sunny, but cool and we had a blast!!! We had relatives who couldn't even park to get into Epcot on Thursday and those that were there, said it was unbearable.

We were in MK last year on the 2nd and a CM said that it was a very light day. We waited probably 20-30 minutes for rides that we didn't get fast passes for.

We're trying to decided to go at that time again next year or go the week after Thanksgiving. I wanted to go in March or April, but then there's Spring Break, and dh says "we were just there! " LOL.

After being there in Jan, and seeing how nice it is to go when it's not hot or crowded, I don't think we'll go in the Summer again. We were able to go all day without drinking gallons of water, and we even bought some souveniers (Usually we're too tired and hot to carry bags.)

 

[HowieHowie]

me and my family were there from the 24th-3rd, and after new years, it was very crowded.... at night we expected MK to clear out, but it didn't. my dad thinks it may be cause of the high temp. it was like 50's at night, really nice.. compared to 20's or even single digits here in ny. but i would say it gets very crowded after new years.

 

[funhouse8]

We were there also this year and thought the parks would empty out after NY but they didn't. One cm told me local schools were out until tuesday, this proably is the reason. We still had a great time. Used fastpasses and just showed up early for parades and shows. The only thing I didn't like was that the parks closed so early after the holidays.

 

[MarkLem]

This year with NYE being a Wednesday and New Years on THursday, it was crowded right through the weekend. BUt by Jan 10 (Saturday) it was quite thin.

 

[Melann]

I was just there Jan 3 to the 10th (sat to sat)...i thought it was crowded, but nothing crazy up until the wednesday I was there. The lines until wednesday weren't that bad...you would just use fastpass, and if you had to wait, you waited 15-30 minutes. After wed, you did not even need fastpass! Some attractions did not have their fastpass machines open. It was a great time to visit, and if i have it my way, I will be going back the same time next year!