January 1-9,2007 trip in the planning

[CanadianPrincessMom3]

hi all,

this probably sounds stupid, but we were planning on going from January 1 and starting oour "touring the 2nd and so forth and then say leaving around the 9th.
Can we expect to go on a lot of the rides?? I am afraid we go down to WDW and things are closed or being repaired. Also rides like Splash Mountain, how are they??

thanks Isabell

 

[2Xited4Disney]

We went the 3-10 two years ago.... it was empty... it might be crowded on the second but it will DROP off each day

 

[dixiedizfan]

Well things have certainly changed since the above poster was there. We went the first week of January this year, and could not believe how crowded it was. The whole week! With January 1st falling on a Monday next year, you can bet it will be packed again. I guess because more and more schools have extended Christmas holidays (ours returned January 10th), plus there were TONS of foreigners there. The weather started off pleasantly warm, but not warm enough for us to go on Splash Mtn. or Kali, or use the resort pool. By the end of the week it got really cold. The only two attractions I can remember being closed for rehab were Buzz and the Paddlewheel boat. If you do go then just realize it will be waaay more crowded than you expect. BTW we'll be there again, too. Good luck.

 

[kaabost]

Oh gee whiz.. Schools are starting back as late as the 10th? How do you think the crowds will be if we arrive on the 7th of January? Getting back to the topic at hand.............in my past trips during offseason, I have learned that the likelihood of a particular ride being closed is increased but not by much. I have never been when it seemed like alot of stuff was closed. Usually, only one or two attractions were being refurbished but luckily, they weren't ones that I was dying to do. Water rides are also great in January but I always bring ponchos in case it is chilly outside. Maybe we'll see you in January.

 

[Mickeefan]

We're also planning a trip from the 4th through the 8th (short, I know) because my nephew doesn't go back to school until the 9th or 10th. The way the holidays fall, some schools get the "extra" time before Christmas or after New Year's. Some friends of my sister's went last year and said it wasn't too bad, but not as slow as she'd seen it in previous years.

 

[Nancyg56]

Well things have certainly changed since the above poster was there. We went the first week of January this year, and could not believe how crowded it was. The whole week! With January 1st falling on a Monday next year, you can bet it will be packed again. I guess because more and more schools have extended Christmas holidays (ours returned January 10th), plus there were TONS of foreigners there. The weather started off pleasantly warm, but not warm enough for us to go on Splash Mtn. or Kali, or use the resort pool. By the end of the week it got really cold. The only two attractions I can remember being closed for rehab were Buzz and the Paddlewheel boat. If you do go then just realize it will be waaay more crowded than you expect. BTW we'll be there again, too. Good luck.

This was our experience this year, also. We were there Jan 1 thru Jan 8, and it was crowded for the better part of the week. By Friday, the crowds thinned out, but the restaurants were busy because of the Marathon, and Saturday, Epcot was mobbed. Some friends went to US, and their experience was the same. We are going later in the month this time to avoid the crowds.

 

[Skwinkles]

We were there Jan 1-7th this year. The first few days were fairly crowded, but no where near as bad as our trip in July the year before. The crowd seemed to thin out significantly by Wednesday. BUT - we were still able to do everything that we wanted to do, multiple times. Get to the parks early and do the most popular attractions first and use FASTPASS!!!

 

[Jynohn]

We go every year in January. Yes, the parks will be crowded the first few days of your trip, but not unmanageable. The marathon also brings crowds, but many of the runners are too busy preparing for/recovering from the race to impact the crowds by much. The weather is always iffy. Last year we enjoyed temps in the upper 70's, low 80's all week, while this year we wore winter coats for much of the time.

I think January is a great time of year to go. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Jodi3530]

We were there from 1 thru 10 this year. Our first day in the park was the 2nd at MK and later in the day AK. By noon it was getting to crowded for us but we had hoppers and really enjoyed taking afternoon breaks. Getting there at park open and using fast pass made the trip very managable. On the 2nd and 3rd I thought the crowds by noon were getting huge and I really regreted coming then but it did slow down later in the week. We seen most attractions(some we just skipped as we were not real interested) and even went on some big ones many times. as far as closings we got to go on everything execpt the paddle boat as that was already closed. Things closed starting around the 4th. I just made sure I knew which ones we had to do by which day. Our trip was not suppose to start until the second week but we moved it up so we could go on Buzz since it was our first trip!!! The weather was ok started out good we even went swimming on the 3rd but I have to say the water was cool but it was also night when we went. then it got cold out for the weekend and then started to warm up again.before we left we did go swimming again and the walk back to the room was a touch chilly. During the cold days people were still swimming in the asmo pool I bet that was one cold run back to the room.

 

[TinkGirl]

January is a great time to go! We've been to WDW for the past three Januarys. I would agree with another poster that you should check and see when Florida kids go back to school just so you're mentally prepared. The first time we went in Jan. we expected it to be totally empty. Well, we arrived on the second which was still a holiday weekend and it was packed! Crowds did get smaller each day. The next year we didn't go until the 5th, and it was very uncrowded. It turned out that marathon day was the emptiest I'd ever seem MK. I don't know if it's still like that now that they've separated the half-marathon and the full into two different days. This year we went Jan. 22, and it was awesome. The longest wait we had all trip was for our resort bus. The only problem is that many big rides were down for refurbishment. I think you'll be okay coming right after the holidays. It seemed like attractions didn't close until later in the month (except one water park will be closed).