Is anyone else worried about January?

[psycbert]

I leave in 2 days for my dream Disney trip, and have researched and researched, and am going crazy waiting for the new prices/packages to be released early this morning.

However - is anyone else panicked that every resort seems to be sold out? I decided on this time specifically b/c I was told crowds would be low...but if Disney is entirely booked, it can't be that empty.

Just a thought.

 

[epcotfan]

I'm guessing since you are leaving soon there will be many people finishing up their Christmas/New Years vacations. That is probably why they are booked up for the time being. I know that the Marathon in January always draws crowds and there are some big conventions coming.

 

[CarolMN]

Even if every on site room is booked solid, it doesn't mean the parks will be crowded. The number of locals visiting the parks and off site hotle bookings really make a difference. IMHO, you are worrying for nothing - we've visited in January and it's wasn't crowded in the parks.

Have fun!

 

[Luv2Roam]

If you are leaving shortly, the marathon is coming up the weekend after this. That may be what you are experiencing.
When vacationing here for the marathon a few times we stayed at various All Stars. Cheerleaders were at ASMu, closely followed by boy's sports teams.
There are most likely a lot of sports activities at this time. But you actually picked a GREAT time to go.
ENJOY! I have been looking forward to this time myself! Little waits, if any. :jumping4:

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Me, me, me! I am worried!!!

We are going to be at Pop from Jan. 12-16 and I am VERY concerned. But on my other posts the rest of the DISers seem to feel like I am worrying unnecessarily. The deal with so many rooms being booked (for the time I am there) is this:

International Builders Show at the Convention Center
College Cheerleading championships
3 on 3 Soccer AND Basketball
Some sort of baseball thing
MLK holiday weekend

I can see how the marathon would fill a lot of rooms, but maybe those folks will be too tired to go to the parks.

I am TRYING to lighten up and have a good attitude. Have a terrific vacation!

 

[Carrieberry]

We are going in just under 3 weeks 1/21-1/28. I saw there will be a convention at The Dolphin but i am trying not to worry. We won't be staying at the values, and we have been there with the Cheerleaders in Dec before and had no issues with them. We have never gone in January before, always in the first 2 weeks of December and I think the fear of the unknown is what is worrrying me. I don't like not knowing what to expect. I went to bed at 3 am because DH and I were up talking about our trip, and then I woke up at 6:45 thinking about it again and as you can see below, we don't even leave for 18 days!! Can you say overly panicked???

 

[Rob418]

I think Jan. is the best month to attend, the only thing to worry about os the weather, due to an annual convention I attend, we have been at WDW the last 12 Jans.. The park are generally not crowded, like I said you need to pack for both warm and cold days. We have been there when it was 80+ deg and years when it got below 50 deg. Have a great time!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Carrieberry -

At least most of the people from my weekend should be gone by the time you all arrive!

Are you having nightmares yet? Mine have been about anything from deciding to leave early for our trip but forgetting that we didn't have park passes or money to buy them, DS getting horribly sunburned, to the one about being dropped off by our Town Car at the wrong resort (offsite, no less) and encountering one problem after another trying to get to the RIGHT resort. And the whole time I was saying "We are wasting our park time! We should be in the park now!" At least I woke up!

Maybe we should all take a deep breath and go do something non-Disney related for an hour or two!

 

[my3kids]

I am a little concerned also. I keep trying to pull up AKL and other deluxes to check prices for the time we'll be there in mid January and they are all sold out, so it says. I wondered if there was a possibility they were not listing availability because of the new packages coming online today and were olding back the nventory for that reason. In any case, it says not a single more person could fir in the AKL or Poly which are huge.

 

[KMDMom]

I am also worried about January. My husband booked a surprise trip for our family (3 kids, the two of us plus my mother) at the Fort Wilderness Cabins from 1/12 - 1/16 but I have been calling to try to switch to two rooms elswhere and have had no luck. The CM's that I have spoken to the last two times tried all the values, moderates and deluxes with the code we had and nothing came up. They then tried all of them with AAA and nothing came up. I finally gave up and asked for rack rate - they checked all the values and moderates and the only thing available was All Star Music. I, too, am hoping this is because of the new package release and will call again this week to see if we can switch. (I am concerned about transportation from the FW Cabins taking forever to get anywhere).

 

[my3kids]

KMD: We stayed at the cabins and loved it. We will be elsewhere this trip b/c DH wanted concierge, but my kids are sad we won't be at the cabin. The tansportation was okay. We did have a car and drove to some of the parks. We also did use the busses and boats and it was all okay.

 

[bizeemom4]

I think they ABSOLUTELY are holding back rooms for the MYW package!! I've been obsessively checking the disneyworld site for over a week - nothing was available for 1/11 - 1/18. This morning, I got a quote for ASMovies, ASMusic, Pop Century AND AKL. Coincidence that suddenly all four resorts were open? I think not.

 

[lomillerin]

I just booked last week for Jan. 16th to 20th but we couldn't book Jan. 15th to 20th because that Saturday was sold out. The CM told me they only show if the entire stay is available not each night. So, when we changed the date by 1 day, we got Pop at 55.oo AAA discount.
It could just be that Sat. is booked. At least that it is what I am hoping.

 

[n2mm]

Not worried here. I'll be at the WL from Jan. 15-22 and looking forward to a nice relaxing timeoff. One of the things that MIGHT be affecting the resorts is that WDW extended the holiday discount to it's CM until Jan. 31th. This was because of the hurricanes this fall and to reward them for going the extra mile during that horrible time. Because of the extension, CMs were able to book the resorts for a month longer than usual at the holiday discount so that could spend more time with their friends and families. Needless to say, I got a great holiday discount on our room at WL.

I haven't even started packing yet--at least not until I see the weather forecast. We were there in December (10-13) and it was so cold that I plan to pack my hat and gloves and more warm clothes! And, of course, my bathing suit for the hot tub!!

 

[micmacmissy]

No worries!

If it makes any of you feel better, the resorts were TOTALLY booked when we were there (12/10-12/15). I was also worried it would be packed--but it was great!

I'm talking wait lines of 5-10 minutes, if at all! We rode everything without waiting. Epcot and Animal Kingdom were like ghosttowns--we had so much all to ourselves. One exception was Saturday after 2pm at Magic Kingdom. Then it got a little congested--a little.

It will still be a thousand times better than the can't-even-walk-the-crowds-are-so-thick summertime, not to mention the wonderfully cool temperatures!

So relax and look forward to it--it will be great!!!

 

[Bride In The Attic]

my husband's company is having it's nat'l convention at CS MLK weekend and I think they've booked up most all of the rooms at that resort however they won't be spending any time in the parks...so as others have said - just because the resorts are full doesn't mean the parks will be jammed...

have a great time!!

 

[Carrieberry]

jackskellingtonsgirl-

Nightmares? AHH! Not yet anyway-only happy Disney dreams for me, though that might change the closer we get! I think we are more worried about flying with our DS who has never been on a plane! I expect to encounter weather like it is here in AZ in January so amazingly weather is the one thing I am not freaking out about. We usually go within the first couple weeks of december and it has been warm and freezing so we always take layering clothes, jackets, gloves and hats along with our bathing suits. Oh my oh my this trip is going to give me a nervous breakdown. I always think of what can go wrong and I HATE NOT KNOWING WHAT TO EXPECT! I like to know every things cost,time and everything else before i get there. I do not like suprises while on vacation. I think i am driving my DH nuts!!

 

[JoyMouse]

We leave on 1/15 and are not worried at all! Just excited. We've been in Jan. before and the crowd was light, but it did get very cold! Be sure to bring a coat just to be on the safe side!

 

[my3kids]

We're flying US Airways, so that probably worries me more than the overbooked hotels, actually!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Carrieberry -

you sound very much like me! And my DH is in exactly the same boat as yours! He keeps threatening to stay home.

I went online yesterday to check our airline reservations. Fine, except we aren't sitting together anymore! American told me they have to hold a certain number of seats as "handicapped accessible" which is making the entire plane show as full. For some reason they decided to move DH to row 14 and put DS and me in row 29. The rep said we can ask at the airport if they will group us together on board. On the flight home we are still showing as being seated together. DS and I both had free tickets but we had to buy DH's so they don't recognize us as all being together.

I am still worried about what sounds like SO many people at WDW, but I have to worry about something.