Crowds in early January?

[mdoc]

What are the crowds like in early January? Say 12/30-1/7. Is there still a lot of Christmas traffic then? Are the decorations still up? And how's the weather at that time of year? The kids' winter vacation is a week later than normal this year so we're thinking about WDW. Of course, all the other schools probably have vacation then, too, so maybe it's not such a good idea. . .

 

[Bob P]

The first half of your trip will be quite crowded, the second half will not be as bad.

January weather is completely unpredictable. You could have cool mornings with warm afternoons, or you could have mornings near freezing with daytime highs in the 40s. And you could have both in the same week! No way of knowing until right before you go.

Bob

 

[dixiedizfan]

We were there the same time period this year. From 12-30 thru 1-2, the parks will be jam-packed. From 1-3 (or 4) the crowds should taper slightly , then will pick up at the end of the week (marathon). Of all the times we've been to WDW, that was THE most crowded we've ever seen it. I expect it to be even more crowded next year, as January 1st falls on a Monday. For most of the week we had warm temps, but not warm enough to risk going on Splash Mtn. or Kali (or use the resort pool). The end of the week we had a cold snap (35!) ... so you need to be prepared for anything. Watch the weather channel before you go. Our kids have Christmas break until January 9 next year, so we're planning to go again that week (like many, many others!). Good luck.

 

[dixiedizfan]

Almost forgot to add that yes, the Christmas decorations stayed up the whole week after New Years. I really didn't want to keep hearing Christmas music being played all over the place that whole week, though.

 

[mamacatnv]

Almost forgot to add that yes, the Christmas decorations stayed up the whole week after New Years. I really didn't want to keep hearing Christmas music being played all over the place that whole week, though.

Oh man is that ever the truth by the 3rd we were all saying the same thing!

 

[mamacatnv]

Our kids have Christmas break until January 9 next year, so we're planning to go again that week (like many, many others!). Good luck.

Us too, 1/1-9/07. We are keeping the kids out of school 2 extra days, they are supposed to go back on the 7th. I wonder how many other schools across the country have this week also???

From what I have read the crowds will taper down heading to the marathon, we left early on the 5th but started to notice the decline on the 3rd. The resorts are full with marathon folks, but my TA mentioned that a lot of them do not go to the parks, they need their energy for the marathon. I have no idea how true this is, but I have read from several posters that the park crowds were very manageable. Nothing could be worse than our last 2 visits that began between Christmas and New Years, that is pure chaos!