It’s January!!! This is crazy!!! The crowds are insane. Hi

[mco65]

We went in early Jan a few times... godawfulcrowded.. never again.. now it seems the entire Month of Jan is a big christmas hangover.

 

[ccbloom]

it is unpossible to staff for rain. weather forecasts are usually just suggestions. what happens when they staff 4 bartenders, and 4 servers, because there was supposed to be rain. but the rain never shows......now you have 8 upset workers with nothing to do and no tips to be had.

I can understand when it rains for an hour or two that it wouldn’t be feasible. It was 100% downpour from 5am until the next day and predicted as such. I can’t imagine at noon or 2pm some management couldn’t have called in additional staff seeing what was going on. People were at their tables for 20-30 min before anyone would come to them and several left. We asked one of them for a menu, and she replied “that’s not my job” yet went to the table two away from us and gave them a menu and a cup full of snack mix. The one waitress would take a drink order, put it in the computer and then disappear in the back for 5 min and come out with nothing. Every time.

Just went down to the Screen Door at the Boardwalk and the cashier mentioned they are understaffed right now at that location. How is Disney understaffed?

 

[ccbloom]

We were in Epcot today and it didn’t seem too bad but the wait times were high. I’m assuming because they are running less on rides or are using less cms

We were in AK and Epcot on 1/29 as well, and it was fine. Beautiful day to be in the parks. Crowds seem to have lessened a bit, but we haven’t been to MK in several days. Probably going again tomorrow and Friday. Maybe the Pro Bowl has more of an impact than it originally had when it first started in Orlando.

 

[Haley R]

We were in AK and Epcot on 1/29 as well, and it was fine. Beautiful day to be in the parks. Crowds seem to have lessened a bit, but we haven’t been to MK in several days. Probably going again tomorrow and Friday. Maybe the Pro Bowl has more of an impact than it originally had when it first started in Orlando.

We’re doing mk Friday and I’m expecting high crowds. There’s a dance competition this weekend which I know will bring lots of people. We’ve been during the contest of champions and there always seem to be big groups of families and teams at mk

 

[ccbloom]

We’re doing mk Friday and I’m expecting high crowds. There’s a dance competition this weekend which I know will bring lots of people. We’ve been during the contest of champions and there always seem to be big groups of families and teams at mk

We’ve been during cheer and dance comps previous Jan/Feb, and there is definitely some additional crowding from them, so we expect that. This is when we’ve traveled the past 10 years. We did skip Jan ‘18 and went in Jan ‘17 and Oct ‘17 instead. There seems to have been a major increase since Jan ‘17 overall, I guess. More crowds and less attention to overall experience details from Disney for the premium pricing they charge. For the dance and cheer teams, I don’t mind them as much since they typically have to be to bed early, and many times it’s not all of them all at once since different categories compete different days keeping them out of the parks.

 

[ABE4DISNEY]

We have been twice a year for the past ten years. In the early years, we would have said that November was a slower time--not anymore. But in the last 5 years, there has only been one trip that I would say was less busy than the others (which all seem about the same, busy crazy). The winner was July 2018.

Times have changed. If you find a "down" time, consider yourself lucky. I know we did last July!

 

[hereforthechurros]

it is unpossible to staff for rain. weather forecasts are usually just suggestions. what happens when they staff 4 bartenders, and 4 servers, because there was supposed to be rain. but the rain never shows......now you have 8 upset workers with nothing to do and no tips to be had.

Before we even took off which was four days before the rain, wunderground was forecasting an inch of rain on Sunday 1/27. By 5 am it was raining. By noon it was pouring. Lounges don’t even open until 4 pm. There was time to make adjustments. This wasn’t a random pop up summer storm but a trackable winter front. I mean for the resorts to adjust. In park it is what it is.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Before we even took off which was four days before the rain, wunderground was forecasting an inch of rain on Sunday 1/27. By 5 am it was raining. By noon it was pouring. Lounges don’t even open until 4 pm. There was time to make adjustments. This wasn’t a random pop up summer storm but a trackable winter front. I mean for the resorts to adjust. In park it is what it is.

We've had days that were forecast to be all rain all day and turned into a couple of hours of light rain. It was actually four days in a row of that. I thought our vacation was going to be awful. And every day turned out to be overcast with some rain here and there. I asked the bartender at the pool about it and he said that was normal and that I shouldn't believe the all day rain forecasts because all day rains were rare. We have also had two days of all day rain in about 35 days in Orlando so they do happen but predicting them apparently isn't as easy as one would think.

 

[TeresaNJ]

We were there January 17th-24th, and the crowds for the first six days were absolutely ridiculous, way more crowded than any other time we've gone, and we've been during every season except from the week before Christmas through New Year's. This was our first January trip, and it will definitely be the last.

 

[Rpiercecab]

Is January at least still a time for generally cheaper room rates? We are considering going the last week of January next year. Especially after reading this thread, saving some money on a room is the ONLY reason we would pick January.

 

[gharter]

We used to go in January. After a few years of cold, windy and rain, we switched months. The crowds used to be low in January, sounds like thats changed.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We were there January 17th-24th, and the crowds for the first six days were absolutely ridiculous, way more crowded than any other time we've gone, and we've been during every season except from the week before Christmas through New Year's. This was our first January trip, and it will definitely be the last.

MLK weekend is busy. I saw lines worse than Thanksgiving in MK last year.

 

[TeresaNJ]

MLK weekend is busy. I saw lines worse than Thanksgiving in MK last year.

I would have never chosen January, mainly because I like going when it's warmer, and when the parks are open later, but this was a trip to celebrate my grandsons turning 6 & 13. I tried to convince their mom that we should go the following week, mainly because of the MLK weekend falling during our trip, but she was adamant she wanted to be there during their birthdays. Oh well, live and learn. From now on no one is talking me out of going with my gut, especially when it's my DVC points being used to book the trip! Not only would it have been less crowded the following week, it wouldn't have cost me as many points, and I could have squeezed another trip in for my husband and I. The National Dance & Cheer competition teams were also there that week, we saw many many many tour groups, we saw lots of people with lanyards stating winter break 2019, and that week was leading up to the Pro Bowl. Not to mention the start of the Festival of the Arts. My January newbieness definitely showed booking this trip!

 

[SaintsManiac]

I would have never chosen January, mainly because I like going when it's warmer, and when the parks are open later, but this was a trip to celebrate my grandsons turning 6 & 13. I tried to convince their mom that we should go the following week, mainly because of the MLK weekend falling during our trip, but she was adamant she wanted to be there during their birthdays. Oh well, live and learn. From now on no one is talking me out of going with my gut, especially when it's my DVC points being used to book the trip! Not only would it have been less crowded the following week, it wouldn't have cost me as many points, and I could have squeezed another trip in for my husband and I. The National Dance & Cheer competition teams were also there that week, we saw many many many tour groups, we saw lots of people with lanyards stating winter break 2019, and that week was leading up to the Pro Bowl. Not to mention the start of the Festival of the Arts. My January newbieness definitely showed booking this trip!

Lesson learned

I'll never go in January again, either. The weather was terrible!!!

 

[Haley R]

Lesson learned

I'll never go in January again, either. The weather was terrible!!!

I can’t complain about the weather we’ve had. I think it’s been really nice out but we came from -40 at home

 

[jess20k]

Last year was definitely insane compared to past trips during the same time frame..the last week or 2 in Jan. It used to be great regarding lower crowds. But, like others have stated, they is hardly any "slow time" anymore. The parks should be open later too. For seasonal seems not to matter like it used to. We are going next week. I keep my fingers crossed, but I won't be shocked at all if there are large crowds.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Is January at least still a time for generally cheaper room rates? We are considering going the last week of January next year. Especially after reading this thread, saving some money on a room is the ONLY reason we would pick January.

Even if it normally is, I'm guessing it won't be next year. The coming SWapocalypse will probably wipe out any discounts for early next year.

 

[snappy]

Not crowded in AK today, but lines for headliners long. My belief is that ride capacity and staffing are reduced. It’s how Disney works now.

 

[Haley R]

Not crowded in AK today, but lines for headliners long. My belief is that ride capacity and staffing are reduced. It’s how Disney works now.

We’re coming to ak tonight for dah

 

[snappy]

Have a blast!!