Disneyland in early January

[disneegrl4eva]

Lynn, from what I have researched and read over the years, DLR bases the ending of its Holiday season on the local school holiday calendars, which base their return to school after the Ephiphany, which is widely celebrated among the S. Cal Hispanic and Catholic communities. The Ephiphany is celebrated the first Sunday after the New Year.

The time you went this year (Jan 5-7) was the final weekend of the holiday decorations, because Ephiphany fell on Sunday, January 6. I am sure the parks were very packed (especially since it was a weekend and the final weekend to see the holiday entertainment). The OP's dates for January '09 put her in the parks after Ephiphany, which will occur on January 4th. These are mid-week dates and she should see much less crowds than you experienced this year.

Just thought I'd throw that in fwiw. . .

Hey Callie,

thats exactly what I thought...however, the week after I went, Eatmypixiedust went and she said the christmas stuff was still up...in fact she made a comment about how weird it felt because it had started warming up and the christmas stuff still was going on...I cant remember which day it was she went but it was definitely gearing towards 2nd week of Jan...so who knows

 

[DangerMouse]

Hey Callie,

thats exactly what I thought...however, the week after I went, Eatmypixiedust went and she said the christmas stuff was still up...in fact she made a comment about how weird it felt because it had started warming up and the christmas stuff still was going on...I cant remember which day it was she went but it was definitely gearing towards 2nd week of Jan...so who knows

Hey Lynn, I totally believe the Christmas decorations were still up. It does take a while for them all to come down. We went during this time in 2007, and were there for the last day of the holiday entertainment (Epiphany Sunday), and it took 2 more days for the tree to be taken off Main Street. HMH went down on Monday, but IASW Holiday was still running through the 3rd week of January. But otherwise, after that Sunday, the hours were decreased, holiday entertainment was over (no more Believe fireworks, Christmas Fantasy Parade, ELP, etc.), no more holiday-themed music playing in the parks, and the crowds were minimal.

 

[heatherleigh]

I should clarify the time we went in January. We went at the tail end: the 30th until Feb. 2 or something. That probably makes a big difference. I didn't even think about New Years. I can imagine the crowds would still be pretty large around that time (plus most schools are still out for Christmas break.)

 

[wazowskiLOVER:)]

My family and I had a trip to DLR from the 4th-6th of January 2008 and that
was the last weekend that they had for the decorations. We were a group of
7 and pretty much went on all of the rides that way. The longest we had to
wait in line for any of the attractions was probably about 30 min TOPS. There
really wasn't that many people at the parks compared to summer. I don't mind
crowds at all, but it was nice having the park less crowded. I say January is
great.

I remember SPECIFICALLY looking at the calendar and seeing that they would
be taking down decorations on the 7th of January. If you do not want to deal
with the crowds who want to stay for the decorations then check the dates
when they will be gone and go then.