First visit January 2016 - Please help me make a plan

[IamgoingtoDisney]

Hi Everyone,
I am so excited my lifelong dream of going to Disneyland is finally going to come true! We are travelling from Australia & will be visiting Disneyland 4th-10th January 2016.
We have a 5 day park hopper pass for myself, hubby & kids 9 & 7.
I want to get as much out of this trip as possible as I don't know when we will ever be able to come again. Do you think it will still be really busy as it is still quite close to Christmas? Do you think many rides will be closed?
Is it reasonable to think we will be able to ride every ride in this time & see every show or am I dreaming?
Any tips, ideas, plans & suggestions are really appreciated. It is going to be a surprise for my kids (they will find out on Christmas day) & my dream so I just want this trip to be perfect.
Thank you in advance

 

[HydroGuy]

Hi Everyone,
I am so excited my lifelong dream of going to Disneyland is finally going to come true! We are travelling from Australia & will be visiting Disneyland 4th-10th January 2016.
We have a 5 day park hopper pass for myself, hubby & kids 9 & 7.
I want to get as much out of this trip as possible as I don't know when we will ever be able to come again. Do you think it will still be really busy as it is still quite close to Christmas? Do you think many rides will be closed?
Is it reasonable to think we will be able to ride every ride in this time & see every show or am I dreaming?
Any tips, ideas, plans & suggestions are really appreciated. It is going to be a surprise for my kids (they will find out on Christmas day) & my dream so I just want this trip to be perfect.
Thank you in advance

That sounds awesome! I hope you have a blast.

That should be one of the least crowded times of the year. Which is good. And in other ways not so good.

Major entertainment will likely be on weekends only except for World of Color which runs every days. Look to do the fireworks and Fantasmic on the weekend.

Make sure you are prepared for some rides to be closed as that week is a prime time for rides to be taken down for refurb. Hopefully for you with it being the 60th anniversary of DL they will not want or need to do as many refurbs as they typically do.

It totally reasonable that you will be able to ride every ride with five days.

Other tips...

- if possible stay at a walking distance hotel (see "HydroGuy's Hotel Rule" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1199862).
- Get to the parks early each day and focus on rides for the first couple hours
- Learn how to use Fastpass and make use of that for the bigger rides ("The Fastpass Encyclopedia: Everything you need to know about FPs at DLR" by mysteriouspnai http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3094011)
- Learn the height requirements for rides in case your 7 year old may have to sit some out you will know ahead of time
- Keep reading this forum to get tips and ideas

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

Congrats! You are going to have a great trip.

How much you are able to do in 5 days will of course depend on your touring style, but it is definitely possible to do all of the rides and shows in 5 days. I typically go for 3 days and see 1-2 shows and go on all of the rides, usually multiple times. It is harder in the very busy times of the year, but you are going at a less crowded time. Remember to utilize your time in the mornings wisely - the first 2 hours in the park the lines are much shorter, so use that time to go on as many as possible. Save dining plans, shows, and breaks for the afternoon.

HydroGuy has already provided some good tips, especially about using FastPass (it's free, why not?) and finding a hotel just across the street, if you aren't already planning to stay at one of the resort hotels.

The only "bad" things about the time you are going is that some rides may be down for refurbishment, the park hours may be shorter, and major entertainment may only be offered on weekends. This year is kind of crazy and different because it is the 60th anniversary, so it is hard to make too many predictions just yet. In a few months we will know more about what January may be like.

 

[Sherry E]

This past January, "Frozen Fun" officially began on January 7th -- in the middle of the week. Haunted Mansion Holiday stayed open through that following weekend and then was closed for the overlay removal by January 12th. It's a Small World Holiday stayed open for another couple of weeks beyond that date, and then went down for its own overlay removal in late January.

In 2016, if Frozen Fun returns I don't know if it would return around that same time frame, or later.

In 2016, the holiday season should officially end after January 6th (though nothing has been announced yet). The tradition of the last few years has been to cap off the holiday season with Three Kings Day festivities. Since 1/6/16 will be on a Wednesday, I would not be shocked if Haunted Mansion Holiday stayed open through 1/10/16, and closed by 1/11/16. Again, nothing has been announced, but this is all just educated guessing based on what has been happening for the last few years.

In any case, I guess my point is that there could be some extra crowds in the parks if anything holiday-related stays up through January 10th, and if Frozen Fun returns somewhere in that time frame. It won't be crazy crowded like it will be between Christmas and New Year's, but maybe just more crowded than one would expect. If it's raining (and supposedly we Californians are going to get pummeled with rain this winter), that will keep a lot of people away.

 

[IamgoingtoDisney]

Thank you so much for these tips. There is just so much to read & plan it can get overwhelming. I am sure I will have a few more questions to post in the coming months leading up to our trip. Thank you to all on this forum for all the information, it is such a big help to someone on the other side of the world who has never been to anything like this before. When do they normally release opening hours & show times for these dates?

 

[Jrsy Boy]

When do they normally release opening hours & show times for these dates?

Looks like hours for the first week of September were just released today so five weeks out? Not sure if that's typical or not, especially around the holidays, but it sounds about like my experience last time I was out there. You can also do a search, here or using your favorite search engine, for historical Disneyland hours.