how is DL in the Middle of Jan?

[pyrateswife]

My hubby and I will be going to DL for the first time as a family this Jan.. I grew up out there and have many memories of DL.. Now my kids are 13, 11 and 4 and I cant wait to see the faces of them, when we go... I am going to suprise them with a gift card and something else (havent thought of what yet) on christmas morning and reveal that we are going to disneyland in two weeks from then!!!! Gosh I hope I can keep a secret... I am the most excited..... any sugestions or advice.. I need all I can get.. I want it to be so memerable for my kids... I cant wait!

We are going Jan 15 - the 20

Lisa

 

[DangerMouse]

How fun! We did that last year for Christmas, and the kids were thrilled! We went the 6-9, and expected it to be cool, but experienced record high temps (85-89 degrees). Overall, I think it's a great time of year to go. HM will most likely be down for the removal of the holiday overlay. IASW may be going down during your stay for the removal of its overlay as well. With the exception of the weekend (which is MLK holiday weekend), I'd say you should have a pretty low crowd level.

Have a fun time planning and keeping the secret!

 

[talie95]

We went in Jan (only for 1 day) and it was the Sun of MLK weekend. The crowds were really light, especially for a holiday which I wasn't expecting. I think the key with any DL trip is to get to the park at opening. We got so much done in the first 3-4 hrs that we could spend the rest of the day just relaxing and wandering around to do whatever we wanted. I think you'll have a great time that time of year. My only concern would be if it rains but this is Cal so you may even get some warmer temps!

 

[stampinshauna]

We were there in 2006 for the Friday & Saturday of MLK weekend and the crowds weren't bad at all. It may have helped that it was overcast and rainy on Saturday (but with a poncho nothing was going to stop us). The longest wait was for Monster's Inc (which was brand new at the time), all other waits were under 20 minutes. We had a great time and hope that you will too!

If you want something else to suprise them with on Christmas, start checking out disneyshopping.com. You can find some great deals if you watch for things to go on clearance. Last year we found t-shirts for under $4 that we wore in DL.

 

[pyrateswife]

Thanks for the great tips... another thing is... Is our vacation ruined if it does rain or can u still have fun? Do they keep things going as normal? I am a little scared..

 

[Albort]

Jan... I was freezing my butt in Jan... :'(

Hopefully you will get lucky and it will be warmer...

 

[HydroGuy]

That will be low season as long as you are no there on MLK weekend. If you have flexibility on choosing days of the week, then pay attention to the info in this thread:

What You Should Know About Off-Season at DLR
www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=18462889

 

[disney-super-mom]

Thanks for the great tips... another thing is... Is our vacation ruined if it does rain or can u still have fun? Do they keep things going as normal? I am a little scared..

Well, many of the rides are indoors, so that's a good thing.

I think the only rides they close down in the rain are the coasters (Screamin' and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad). Not sure if they also close down the little coaster (Gadget's Go Coaster) in Toon Town during the rain.

So, most things will be going as normal. Have a great time!

 

[stampinshauna]

We had rain on 2 of 4 trips last year, but still had a wonderful time. I actually liked the rain because it seemed less crowded (I think it kept some of the locals away). Some people like the dollar store ponchos, and you could bring them just in case. We just go and if it rains we get ponchos in the park (like $7 for adults). DH wears his poncho to football games back home.