Jan hours-When can I expect them?

[ajwolfe]

About when does Disney publish the park operating hours? I was just curious when to start looking for Januarys. Thanks!!

 

[Bob P]

Hi Amanda,

They should be released the first few days of November.

Bob

 

[Gabriel&Nana]

Hi Amanda,
I'm waiting anxiously for January hours , too !

FYI : It will happen a big convention in Orlando Jan 12 to 15 (120.000 people) , so I think the city (and maybe the parks) will be very crowded.


Nana

 

[ajwolfe]

Thanks, Bob!

Yuck, on the big convention, but we are getting into town on the 16th, so I'm not going to fret over that.

 

[jkh1978]

what convention?

 

[Meezers]

Thanks for the question....me too!

Anyone know of any conventions or whatever between Jan 23-31? Hoping for cool weather and low crowds!

 

[Kris & Steve]

Ok, so I realized yesterday that there is going to this huge marathon in the middle of my DW vacation & now I find out there is going to be a gigantic convention the day after I leave. As stupid as what I just wrote sounds. So you think this convention will have any affect on the last few days of my vacation? I am leaving to come home of the 11th of Jan.

 

[Nancyg56]

I'm waiting for the hours also. Will November never come??

 

[trirae]

Here is a link to an earlier thread talking about the convention the Builder's Convention: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=865860&page=1&pp=15

Just some information. I'm still trying to hope that the crowds will feel light in comparison to other times of the year.

I wanted to add this, a link to the actual show site: http://www.buildersshow.com/Home/

I'm encouraged that the director's reception is at Universal. Maybe more people will go there.

 

[antmaril]

I'm bummed about this big convention. We arrive on January 9th - staying three nights at Boardwalk Inn - then two nights at Portofino Bay at Universal. We are going home on January 14th! I thought I picked a VERY slow time (the day after the Marathon Weekend at WDW and before MLK). Now I find out 120,000 conventioneers will arrive - YIKES.

I'm not as excited about this trip as I was yesterday

 

[QT Pooh]

You can check the calendar at the Orange County Convention Center website at www.occc.net/global/calendar. I'm not sure how much impact conventions have on Disney parks, but the Home Builder's is one of the largest ones of the year - right before a 3 day weekend. I would assume some conventioners would bring their families down.

 

[antmaril]

You can check the calendar at the Orange County Convention Center website at www.occc.net/global/calendar. I'm not sure how much impact conventions have on Disney parks, but the Home Builder's is one of the largest ones of the year - right before a 3 day weekend. I would assume some conventioners would bring their families down.

Thanks for the link - looks like more than 100,000 people. Oy. I went to the builders website and they have a list of the official hotels for that convention. They include POFQ, POR, The Beach Club, Grand Floridian, and all three Universal Hotels. I'm going to talk to my family and we may postpone this trip. We've been there every year for the last few years and it wouldn't be the worst thing to cancel. I really wanted it to be an easy trip - not much traffic, short lines, low crowds. It's just putting me off.

We'll see.

 

[trirae]

It is frustrating. Because I teach college, and my dd will start school next year, I saw this as the last time we could go during a non busy season. I really wanted to go one time when things would be walk on. After this, our vacations will likely be during the busiest times of year. Like I said in another post, I had specifically picked between the marathon and MLK weekend in the middle of the week because I hoped the crowds would be lower.

I'm still keeping an open mind, though. I have to: flight and room are already paid for! I know with the right itinerary, it should still be manageable. Fingers crossed!

 

[antmaril]

It is frustrating. Because I teach college, and my dd will start school next year, I saw this as the last time we could go during a non busy season. I really wanted to go one time when things would be walk on. After this, our vacations will likely be during the busiest times of year. Like I said in another post, I had specifically picked between the marathon and MLK weekend in the middle of the week because I hoped the crowds would be lower.

I'm still keeping an open mind, though. I have to: flight and room are already paid for! I know with the right itinerary, it should still be manageable. Fingers crossed!

I was planning this trip while my son is home for the holidays from college (he's a freshman). It seemed like the perfect week to go. Right between the Marathon and MLK weekend. The timing was also good because he'd be home a few more days before he goes back to school. I have to say I was in Vegas once during the National Association of Broadcasters Convention - about the same amount of people - 110,000. Vegas was an absolute zoo. Now, I realize that these people may not affect the parks during the day - because they will be at the convention. However, think about Downtown Disney at night and International Drive - YIKES. The Boardwalk area will be very busy and they may even have evening events at Epcot or MGM. I'm seriously considering canceling our trip. I can get my money back on the hotel deposits. I would lose a little on the air, but we could hold the balance for a year. I think that is what I may do.

Good luck!

 

[JenDaveBrendan]

Great - we are going Jan 8-22. I had planned on taking off from the parks MLK weekend, but now with this convention, I guess we have no choice but to go when it is busy..... I wish I could postpone the trip by a week!! I am really kicking myself now!
We already paid for the timeshare for that week, and I can't get refunded.

 

[mtdevine615]

Don't worry about the convention. It was in Orlando last year also and I don't think it had that much of an impact on WDW. At least I didn't notice it. It is always more crowded over MLK weekend but not like during the summer or Easter. You may see more convention people in the nicer restaurants but you can work around it. Most of the time when I've been to WDW for conventions I've been to busy to go to any parks during the day. However, World Showcase is a favorite place for conventioners at night. Don't sweat the stuff you can't control, just make a plan B in case it gets very crowded where you are. After all you're still at WDW.

 

[Jynohn]

They had this convention last year during my trip too. I was there for the marathon and the crowds were great the beginning of the week, but towards the end they picked up quite a bit. The Friday night before we left, the MK was packed with conventioneers and their families I also heard that the roads outside of WDW were a mess due to the increased traffic, but luckily this didn't affect us other than the driver on the way to the airport told us we would have to leave an extra hour for driving time in order to make our flight.

I had really hoped this was a one time thing as we love to go in January due to the low crowds.

 

[antmaril]

This convention turns out to be a revolting development

 

[DonnaDuck]

Oh no...we will be there Jan 13-24 during MLK weekend and this convention. Now I am really worried about crowds. Just subscribing to this thread...

 

[JoBird]

I don't know if this has any bearing on this topic or not, but just an experience...
About 3 years ago, my husband had a meeting in Orlando with the company he used to work for. Anyway, they stayed at the Swan and one night the company rented out the ENTIRE Universal Park...just for them! It began around 6:00, though and I am not sure that Disney would ever do such a thing; however, during a slow season, I guess anything is possible! I do know, however, that with big corporations, they meet like crazy during the day and play, play, play at night!!!!! Hope this helps.