Crowds New Years week (2nd-5th), which Defcon level???

[Shane0724]

Looking to surprise the family with 3 full days at parks (park hopping) Jan 2(Fri)/3 (Sat)/4 (Sun), are crowds worse than thanksgiving and xmas? We plan on rope dropping most days and using early and extended hours for sure. I know it will be crowded but just curious your experience and what to actually prepare for. I assume LL is a must for this time of year? Thanks in advance.

 

[scrappinginontario]

There are no crowds that are more crowded than Christmas (and Thanksgiving). Christmas Day MK will likely fill to capacity. That sometimes happens at Thanksgiving too.

Your dates will be high crowds but I would anticipate they will lessen with each day as many schools are either back in session or return to session on Mon, Jan 5th. Your dates are also before the first 2026 marathon so some will have arrived by then but the following weekend will be busier.

Personally, I think you will hit the sweet spot during a busy time of year. There will still be a lot of people but less than the weeks before or the week after I believe.

 

[Disneylover99]

Looking to surprise the family with 3 full days at parks (park hopping) Jan 2(Fri)/3 (Sat)/4 (Sun), are crowds worse than thanksgiving and xmas? We plan on rope dropping most days and using early and extended hours for sure. I know it will be crowded but just curious your experience and what to actually prepare for. I assume LL is a must for this time of year? Thanks in advance.

Not worse, but not that much better.

A lot of the holiday/new years crowds will extend into the weekend and a couple of the Florida resident annual passes will be back in play.

 

[lorimt]

It will still be pretty crazy. We did those dates in 2023 and 2025 and I'm not sure that we will do it again but those low point DVC nights keep sucking me back in! Every day will get a little better but HS in particular feels insane. Long lines and little to no LL availability after your first three. As long as you pack your patience and anticipate crowds, it can still be great. Rope dropping will help a lot. As my kids get older, I struggle to get the teens out of bed in the mornings and we always miss those low line times.

 

[baggs32]

We did January 1-4 back in 2024 and yes it was very busy, way moreso than we are used to in other months. That was to be expected but it was busy enough that we never plan to go back during Xmas or NY ever again. I don't have confidence that the crowds will go down as the days pass partly due to what Disneylover99 said but also due to the RunDisney event that starts on 1/7/2026. Back in 2024 there was also a race that started that same date I think, and that crowd was there the whole time we were too. They basically replaced the part of the crowd that left the first couple days of the month. Oh, and MCO was insane as you might imagine and we learned that a lot of the college bowl game fans fly in and out of there too which adds to the mess.

We used all the tricks to extend park time and get on rides without the really long waits so that part is definitely manageable. Disney Springs was awful though and gave a whole new meaning to wall-to-wall people. Men's bathroom lines were a half hour long if that gives you any clue.

So yes, expect big crowds but if you do your planning it will work. Pack your patience pills too!