Help! January 2020 vs. December 2020

[ParryOttertheChosenBoy]

I need your great minds to help us decide! We are planning our second trip to WDW. Our "musts" are cooler weather and a good price, as well as bearable crowds. We were originally planning for December 2020, however the price would be about $550 more and we are concerned about crowds. We went in early December 2017 and loved the atmosphere, but it did get to be pretty crowded during the tail end of our stay. Nothing unbearable, but with SWGE I imagine it'll be a lot worse. We are also worried because we'll be taking our daughter out of school and she'll be in higher grade if we wait until December. On the other hand, we loved the holiday atmosphere and it will give us a lot more time to save.

We thought late January might be slightly cooler (very important to us!), calmer, and cheaper, though we are also not sure how SWGE is going to affect either dates, with one being close to the full opening and another being during the holidays. Finally, even though we are assuming Free Dining will not be offered in December 2020, the bounceback offer gave us a glimmer of hope. We took advantage of this in 2017 and it was a huge savings for us. We will probably stay at Pop, or possibly ASM. I would appreciate any opinions!

January 22-29th, 2020
December 9-16th, 2020
January 2021?

 

[sethschroeder]

I would choose January '21 to be away from Star Wars opening and before the 50th anniversary crowds.

 

[wdw&sonny]

I am not sure there is much difference in weather between Dec-Jan. I would suggest if you decide on December, earlier is better and if you decide on January, later is better. Avoid marathon week and MLK weekend. We have gone a couple of times in late January and loved it. My suggestion is go in Jan 2020. Why wait? Get to WDW as soon as you can.

 

[3Series]

I booked 1/2/20 - 1/9/20. Marathon Week starts 1/9/20. Does anyone have any experience with the parks right after New Years?

 

[mco65]

both..

I don't think you would see a discernible difference between weather or crowds at those 2 times but just to cover your bases... go both times and report back with your findings!!!!

 

[mco65]

I booked 1/2/20 - 1/9/20. Marathon Week starts 1/9/20. Does anyone have any experience with the parks right after New Years?

Yes and to be honest, if felt just like the week after christmas.. crazy busy. In fact we did both weeks, 1 each in back to back years. 1st year we went the week between Christmas and New Years.. PHEW, never again. The very next year i thought i was gonna be smart and book the first week of the New Year because surely, every one would have gone home.. NOPE.. there was little to no difference.. Maybe there was and i just didn't notice it after a year had passed but it was the busiest 2 weeks we have every been.. regardless of how you rank 'em...

That was a few years back so things could easily be much different this year...

 

[ParryOttertheChosenBoy]

I'm sure my husband will totally be on board with the idea that we just need to go ahead and do two trips.