How busy is early January

[TracyK]

Hi
I'm thinking of visiting Orlando over the New Year and leaving on 8th January. The resorts go to Value season on 1st January. Does this mean the crowds empty out as soon as New Years day is over or is the first week of January still busy?
Thanks
Tracy

 

[bicker]

It depends on how weekends fall. If New Year's Day is late in the week, the whole week and weekend will be busy. Next year, New Year's Day is Monday, so by Tuesday morning things should be pretty quiet.

 

[TracyK]

Thanks Bicker. Might be a good time for us to go.

Tracy

 

[Harambe]

It's a ghost town for the most part - just be aware that they close attractions, have shorter park hours, and the weather can be down right cold! We've been twice at that time - one time 80s the whole week, the second time most nights were in the 40s. They were cancelling the Luau and things like that.

But the positive, like you say - value season, and low crowds!

 

[HopperFan]

And twice is was PACKED ! 2002 was unbelievably crowded. 2005 was very pleasant but not empty. But we had gone back to school and pulled the kids for a couple days for the marathon weekend.

The weekend you are leaving is the Disney Marathon Weekend which brings in something like 30,000+ runners and families including ours. Races are Saturday and Sunday, Expo ran Thurs through Sat.

If the school vacations include that week like ours has twice and will again next year (we return to school the 8th) then chances are it will be crowded. This last January we went to MK on Tuesday the 3rd and it was more crowded than I have seen most summer days. Seating at CS food was impossible. US/IOA were not as busy, Disneyquest was okay but got worse as day went on. We ran Sat the 5k through EPCOT and it looked like an average day in there to me.

We also notice a great many visitors from Europe where their money goes much farther at WDW than ours !

As I said before our last trip I am prepared for large crowds and will be thrilled to be wrong. I was not. It was crowded.

 

[dixiedizfan]

Well let me warn you now ... it will be VERY busy! We went last month from January 2 thru 8. MK on the 2nd got to be packed, so much so that we left that park in the afternoon rather than fight the crowds. Next day at EPCOT was the same. AK on Wednesday was jammed; we didn't get to see half of what we wanted. More and more schools don't return from Christmas break until the second week of January, which accounted for a LOT of tourists. Also it seemed that half of Florida stayed at Disney that week, and tons of foreigners. Several of the above posters meant well, I'm sure, but are absolutely misinformed about the crowd level the first week of January. Next year January 1st falls on a Monday, so I expect the entire week to be VERY crowded.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

I agree with the last two posters. We were down from Jan 2-7 last month with great expectations of low crowds....WRONG! We were so disgusted with the crowds and wait times that we ended up leaving some of the parks early. (Thank goodness for those AP passes or I would have felt like it was a total waste!) For example, we went to the MK early one of the days and were only able to complete three rides and Philharmagic in four hours! Usually when we go we can get everything we want done in about the same time. Wait times were so outrageous for TT and Soarin' that we completely skipped them, which was a first. Out of all the times we went--Jan, March, May/June, August, Sept.--I would have to say Jan was the second most crowded after the May/June trip. JMHO!

 

[Forevryoung]

I was there this past January (3rd-12th) and by the 11th the parks were EMPTY. I was solo and hit my favorites in the MK by getting there almost at opening. I was out of there by 11am (going through the whole park... walk on to space, splash, pirates... buzz was closed, only line was Jungle Cruise and it was 10 minutes and I was too lazy to wait).

You might want to wait until after the marathon and all the kids go back to school. It was COLD some days/nights though.

 

[jann1033]

we
ve never noticed much of an impact during the marathon except i wouldn't go to emh those days.

we've been there from about the 4th on and from the 9th on and neither time was it busy at all but if the school breaks are different that probably would mean more guests. so if you can maybe move it a back a few days? if i'ts value season i doubt disney expects much business or it wouldn't be value season

 

[MinnieGi]

We were there this year the second week in Jan. from the 8th - 14th. It was wonderful. The marathon was wrapping up on the 8th and the crowds were low in the parks. For instance RnR was a 10 minute wait, TT also 10 minutes, Splash and BTMRR - 15 minutes. We had incredible Jan. weather too with high 70's and sunny. We got to swim everday.

 

[TracyK]

Thanks for all the information.

Tracy

 

[antmaril]

We were there in January (this year) from January 9th - 14th. We arrived the day after the Marathon. We had a great week. We walked on to almost everything. The only thing we took a FastPass for was Soarin'. We rode it once in the a.m. and walked on, but in the afternoon we took the FP.

It was a great time to be at WDW. Weather was fantastic all week.

Sunny and mid 70's.

 

[BeckWhy]

My sister and I went in 2004 during the Marathon weekend. For the most part everything was walk-on. The longest wait was for the Home of Innoventions and that was 20 min. The day of the marathon we were in the MK and you did see a lot of the runners, but it didn't seem to affect the crowd level. My sister and I both agreed we'd only go again during low times (in the past, we've gone during spring breaks and summers). We hear a lot of people complaining about waits, but they were really nothing at all.

 

[oxfordcircus]

And twice is was PACKED ! 2002 was unbelievably crowded. 2005 was very pleasant but not empty. But we had gone back to school and pulled the kids for a couple days for the marathon weekend.

The weekend you are leaving is the Disney Marathon Weekend which brings in something like 30,000+ runners and families including ours. Races are Saturday and Sunday, Expo ran Thurs through Sat.

If the school vacations include that week like ours has twice and will again next year (we return to school the 8th) then chances are it will be crowded. This last January we went to MK on Tuesday the 3rd and it was more crowded than I have seen most summer days. Seating at CS food was impossible. US/IOA were not as busy, Disneyquest was okay but got worse as day went on. We ran Sat the 5k through EPCOT and it looked like an average day in there to me.

Hopperfan,
Good luck in the 1/2 Marathon! My wife is planning on running the 1/2 in '07 also. Just curious if the week following the marathon is better than the week leading up the marathon.

 

[jaysue]

Well let me warn you now ... it will be VERY busy! We went last month from January 2 thru 8. MK on the 2nd got to be packed, so much so that we left that park in the afternoon rather than fight the crowds. Next day at EPCOT was the same. AK on Wednesday was jammed; we didn't get to see half of what we wanted. More and more schools don't return from Christmas break until the second week of January, which accounted for a LOT of tourists. Also it seemed that half of Florida stayed at Disney that week, and tons of foreigners. Several of the above posters meant well, I'm sure, but are absolutely misinformed about the crowd level the first week of January. Next year January 1st falls on a Monday, so I expect the entire week to be VERY crowded.

Yes it was very busy this year - we were one of the families not going back to school until Monday Jan 9 so we came down over NYE - doing the same this year - once the calendar turns again we will not be coming down as we only come down when there is enough days in January to justify coming down for NYE since we like to have Christmas at home

Cheers
jaysue

 

[airtime]

We went there Jan 3-10, 2004, and it was no problem. We never encountered any crowds at all. We were in Orlando Jan 7-14 this year, and although we did not visit WDW parks (it was a USF/IOA/BGT year for us), we couldn't get into 'Ohana as a walk-in on Jan 7, which completely floored us, since we had never had a problem doing that before. (Sure, we had waited an hour on occasion in other years, but this time we were flatly turned away!) We were also amazed when we called Dining on Jan 7 and found out that we couldn't get an ADR for 'Ohana until Jan 14!!

So maybe things are changing. I mean, I could understand the first week, but the second week???


Tim, who thinks that no one goes to WDW anymore - it's too crowded!! (HA!! I KILL ME!!)

 

[Markstudy]

Well let me warn you now ... it will be VERY busy! We went last month from January 2 thru 8. MK on the 2nd got to be packed, so much so that we left that park in the afternoon rather than fight the crowds. Next day at EPCOT was the same. AK on Wednesday was jammed; we didn't get to see half of what we wanted.

Several of the above posters meant well, I'm sure, but are absolutely misinformed about the crowd level the first week of January. Next year January 1st falls on a Monday, so I expect the entire week to be VERY crowded.

This is a case where Disney could have been less crowded if you planned different.

Don't do the parks in the order you did them, because....
Most people try to hit MK on Jan 2nd (day after the holiday rush)...Its Packed
Then people hit Epcot (2nd biggest park) on Jan 3rd. 2 day after rush.. Jam Packed again
And on the 3rd day they hit the next biggest park- AK (which you guys did)

I know people that were there Jan 2nd through the 9th and walked on everything.

DO do the parks in this order- (makes all the differance)
1st day after New Years holiday, hit MGM... short lines
2nd day after New Years holiday, go to AK .... no lines
3rd day after New Years holiday, now you go to MK .... walk on most ride
4th day after New Years- Epcot .... had no problem with lines.

This is why you can ask two people and get two different answers.
Park order is very important! Guess what most people will do, and then find the empty park.

Hope this helps

 

[tic-toc-croc]

Which is the most crowded park on New Year's eve? We want to avoid the most crowded park. All parks stay open till midnight? or later?
Thanks for sharing "crowd" tips on days after New Year's day.

 

[Harvestmooner]

We have been twice in January. The 2nd through the 8th and the crowd is very managable. We were there this year for New Years Day-it was NUTS!!! We ended up staying until mid-afternoon and leaving to back to the hotel to swim.

 

[momto2]

We were there Jan 2-7 this year and had been told by many people that it would be empty - walk right on the rides. While it was doable, it was very crowded. Very similar to when we went in June, of course the weather is better. We worked out FP and stayed late when we could (although that late part didn't help much). I think if you prepare yourself for crowds and they are down, you will be pleasantly surprised. If you prepare for little crowds and there are some, you will just be disappointed. So I say prepare for crowds and enjoy, after all it is still DISNEY!