First week of jan or week before christmas?

[PigletGurl]

which is more enjoyable? will the decorations still be up in jan?
say, jan 3 - 9?
haha yeah, so my parents asked me if i wanted christmas presents or a trip to disneyland... um yeah i dont have to think twice to figure out that answer

thanks

 

[ballarinamom]

We went the first week in January before right after the peak holiday season. We missed Haunted Mansion as it was down for overlay removal. Even though the schedule is not up online, if you call Disney Planning, they know when things will be shut down. I can tell you when we went everything was walk on- no crowds. Good Luck and have a Merry Christmas!!

 

[Sherry E]

The thing is, it is tricky what to advise you to do. The week before Christmas is super crowded (though not as bad as the week between Christmas and New Year's), but the holiday stuff that is up - including the Haunted Mansion Holiday ride - is so magical and worth seeing. If you go on even a couple of days into January, the stuff starts to slowly come down. The Haunted Mansion is down (as PP said), the Carolers go home, one by one, the decorations start to come down, the holiday treats are not sold, and I think they are supposed to all be down by Jan. 4. So it depends on how much you want to really get the full effect of Christmas in the park vs. less crowded. I have been to DL right before Christmas and right after, into New Year's Eve. After Christmas is just too ridiculous to deal with. I would choose before, even though it is crowded, to get the full effect of the holiday splendor, but if you go in the first week of January, you will definitely not encounter any huge crowds and will get on more rides.

 

[PinkBudgie]

We are going Jan 2, for just one day. According to the DL website, the "holiday season" goes through Jan 4. So I hope they don't decide to take down the HM early. Supposedly you would have the 3 and 4 with decorations. After that, somethings will be closed.

 

[PigletGurl]

I was thinking more enjoyable crowd wise, as my family and I have been there when the decorations were up. We went last year Nov. 15 - 20 and it def felt very christmasy. I really want to get a lot of rides done, so the decorations dont really matter.

 

[DoomBugger]

Tough call. Christmas decorations and huge crowds or no or not as much holiday decor but the crowds are much more manageable.

Personally I would go for it in January, it won't have the full holiday feel but you will get to do more because it won't be as crowded.

 

[Sherry E]

I was thinking more enjoyable crowd wise, as my family and I have been there when the decorations were up. We went last year Nov. 15 - 20 and it def felt very christmasy. I really want to get a lot of rides done, so the decorations dont really matter.

When you went last year, only some of the holiday stuff was up and running. It doesn't get into full swing until right around Thanksgiving. Only partial holiday stuff will still be up in early January...but if the point is to get on the most rides and you don't care about seeing the snow on Main Street or the carolers and all that, then definitely go in early January!! No question about it! I used to be all about the rides and now that I am older, I am more about soaking in the whole ambience, seeing the little details that are hidden, eating the special treats, taking pictures of unexpected things and I am okay if I just get on 5 or 6 rides in a day (IF that many). You will miss the Small World Holiday ride, too, probably, and that is really cool to see (and sniff the peppermint as you sail through the 'candy factory' on the ride). But if you want to hit as many rides as possible and not deal with people, January is the way to go.

 

[2ndStar]

I get a three-week Christmas vacation, so we regularly go during one or the other times you are considering. We base it on how my vacation runs and which week is the farthest from the actual week Christmas falls on. Avoid Christmas week entirely. Otherwise, you should have good luck the week before Xmas. week. We are going to go the first week in January this year - which I actually usually personally prefer. It just makes the Christmas holiday stretch out a bit longer for us. Usually at the end of Christmas Day, it's kind of all over, but with a Disney trip a couple of weeks away, the magic of the season gets extended.

Having said that, I just noticed the post above about the Disney holidays ending on the 4th. We're actually not planning to arrive until the 5th (usually we arrive on the 2nd or 3rd, but I wanted to avoid the weekend), so I may have to rethink things!

Either way you go, as long as you avoid the actual week Christmas falls in through Jan 2, the crowds are generally light that time of year. We love it!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

id go right after christmas closer to new year jan 2-4th would be to close to them closeing hm and stuff down i wouldnt want to miss but best time is right after thanksgiving