First Half of January - Worth It?

[lawyergirl]

What are the parks like in early (read: first half) of January? We may be booking a cruise that leaves out of L.A. so I would love to see DLR again... The last time I went to DLR I was 7, so I don't really remember much!!

I'm assuming the parks won't be crowded at all, but is EVERYTHING being refurbed at that time (to the point that it's not even worth it to go)? Also - are the park hours drastically reduced? Finally, do they bother with fireworks/Fantasmic/Parades? We'd either be going for 3 or 4 nights (depending on specials) and it would be over a weekend...

Thanks!!

 

[EnnEss]

This year is heavy on refurbs, i dont know the schedule offhand. As for the reduced hours, you usually actually get to see more and do more in the off season, i've been in jan once and feb once, both times were awesome. You walk on nearly every ride and finding somewhere to eat and then waiting isn't insane as it can be. I personally love it because I can eat at the pancake place just passed indy every day without a huge line .


I'd highly recommend going unless the refurbs are just absolutely nuts but having one of the big rides isnt the end of the world there are so many. My faves are california screamin', twilight tower, grizzly river run, matterhorn, big thunder, space mtn and buzz. Seeing one of those closed whenever im there is always tough for me to swallow, but once I'm there I don't really notice it. Unless maybe its Screamin as I ride that at least twice a day usually lol.

 

[EnnEss]

Just noticed your name, did you go to McGill, and sorry to hijack . Was curious how the extra year is there.

 

[Mom2micayla]

I think I've been to DLR in just about every month.

There will definitely be some refurbs going on. I'm pretty sure that Haunted Mansion and IASW will both be down in early Jan., getting the holiday overlay removed. Matterhorn is scheduled to be down for quite a while. Not sure if that'll be up by early Jan. or not. I've also heard mixed things about Frances' Lady Bug Boogie being down indefinitely.

Typical park hours in Jan would be 10-8 at DL, and 10-6 for DCA during the weeks. Add a few extra hours on the weekends & friday. Crowds should be VERY light that time of year, so the shorter schedule really doesn't matter since you can generally almost walk on most rides.

The one big negative about Jan. is that it's right during CA's rainy season. So it's not out of the question to get rained on one or all of the days you're there. That can keep the crowds at bay, but it's a bit of a bummer if you're bringing kids.

Generally that time of the year, Fantasmic is only shown once a night on Friday & Saturday. I'm not much of a parade person, but I'd assume it would run on a limited schedule too.

So as long as you're not overly picky on certain rides being down and a limited events schedule and willing to deal with the rain IF it happens, you'll be fine.

 

[Itinkso]

And, if you are there around the time of the Rose Bowl game, the parks can be quite crowded with football fans. The first week of January usually has extended hours and the Christmas decor is still up until the 2nd or 3rd of the month.

 

[azgal81]

When you say early January do you mean new year's it will be packed then. But the weekend after it probably won't be that crowded at all. Haunted Mansion and it's a small world will most likely be down for refurb they go down usually right after new years weekend for two-three weeks. Here are the parks hours for January last year just scroll down to the bottom http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=dl060103xx

Fireworks will probably just be on the weekends since the park closes too early during the week. The parade is normally daily in the afternoon.

Matterhorn will not be down in Jan. it opens back up before thanksgiving. Lady bug boogie will open up sometime in Jan. they don't know when yet.

We normally go around the third week of Jan. and there are no crowds but I know with the new years crowds can get a little crazy. I do think you should go though even with the crowds you can still have fun!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I like going in Jan...good time to go...

 

[ScooterL]

A weekend in January isn't going to be as crowded as a weekend in spring or summer...but the weekends are always the busiest days of the week - unless it rains.

Still, early January should be good - you are probably going to be able to see Haunted Mansion Holiday and small world holiday - the last couple of years they have still been running through the second or third weekend of January. There will likely be a couple of other attractions down for rehab as well, though right now we don't know what those might be. Still, you won't go and find that half of the park is closed!

You indicated that you might be there 3-4 nights, which I think would mean you would have some non-weekend days to spend in the parks, and January is really a good time to be there mid-week - very uncrowded.

Laura

 

[stampinshauna]

I'd wait and go after the first week in Januray if you can. The first week still has residual crowds from the holidays. So if you went after the 7th or so, the crowds shouldn't be too bad. We were there over Martin Luther King Jr Day last year and it wasn't bad at all (and it was even a Saturday). Have fun!!!