January 2019 Friendcation!

[tinypoltergeist]

Hello everyone! This is my first post ever on DISboards! I'm so excited to have found this place! Anyway onward to the real post. So I'm planning a trip to WDW for me and 5 other friends in January 2019 for a whole week! We're all college students and most of us like to ride all the rides especially the fast ones! I've only ever been to WDW on the busy season in the middle of the summer, so I have a question. Is the middle to end of January considered off season? And if it is off season I've heard that some rides are closed for extended maintenance during this time because of the lower volume of people in the parks. Is that true? If it is true which rides are usually closed? If some rides are closed on say a Monday will they reopen later in the week? I'm going with 3 people who have never been to any Disney park, so I want them to experience as much as they can!

 

[FCDub]

Welcome to the DIS!

January does see some ride closures, that's true. These tend to be water rides. These closures/refurbs are announced in advance, so you'll be able to plan around them.

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[tinypoltergeist]

Welcome to the DIS!

January does see some ride closures, that's true. These tend to be water rides. These closures/refurbs are announced in advance, so you'll be able to plan around them.

Hope you have a great trip!

Thanks for the welcome and the reply! So Splash Mountain will likely be closed? I didn't really plan to ride Splash Mountain because I don't like to be cold and wet at the same time and even 70 degrees is too cold for that. What about the Pirates? Do you think that one will be closed too? I hope not because that's my favorite ride besides Space Mountain!

 

[FCDub]

Thanks for the welcome and the reply! So Splash Mountain will likely be closed? I didn't really plan to ride Splash Mountain because I don't like to be cold and wet at the same time and even 70 degrees is too cold for that. What about the Pirates? Do you think that one will be closed too? I hope not because that's my favorite ride besides Space Mountain!

Pirates is closing later this month for a scene change/refurb, so probably unlikely that it would need another refurb next January. Think stuff like Kali River Rapids and Splash Mountain – stuff that most people won't really want to ride in the winter. Those are the best guesses for rides that might be under refurb.

You can see what's currently under refurb here: https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/closures

 

[hllb]

Late January should be low crowd times, but it wasn’t this year. We just got back yesterday. Predicted crowds were 2 to 5 (out of 10) during our trip but actual was 4 to 9. That said, we got everything done with good planning, getting up early, and good use of FP+.

 

[tinypoltergeist]

Pirates is closing later this month for a scene change/refurb, so probably unlikely that it would need another refurb next January. Think stuff like Kali River Rapids and Splash Mountain – stuff that most people won't really want to ride in the winter. Those are the best guesses for rides that might be under refurb.

You can see what's currently under refurb here: https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/closures

OMG I bet the refurbs are going to be great! I'll be pretty sad to not ride Splash Mountain, but you're right about not wanting to ride it in winter! And I can't even imagine riding the Rapids in winter! That's a cold waiting to happen! Also thank you for the website! It's super helpful!

 

[tinypoltergeist]

Late January should be low crowd times, but it wasn’t this year. We just got back yesterday. Predicted crowds were 2 to 5 (out of 10) during our trip but actual was 4 to 9. That said, we got everything done with good planning, getting up early, and good use of FP+.

Oh wow! I wonder why crowds were so heavy this year? Maybe they got wind of the legendary low crowds in off season? But I hope I can survive the new January crowds since I've been in the middle of June before. I'm super type A so everything is going to be planned to the ground and back and my boyfriend will make sure we get up early because he gets up at the crack of dawn everyday even Saturdays! I still hope we can get everything done though.

 

[hllb]

Oh wow! I wonder why crowds were so heavy this year? Maybe they got wind of the legendary low crowds in off season? But I hope I can survive the new January crowds since I've been in the middle of June before. I'm super type A so everything is going to be planned to the ground and back and my boyfriend will make sure we get up early because he gets up at the crack of dawn everyday even Saturdays! I still hope we can get everything done though.

I posted how our trip went (how we touring around higher than expected crowds). We absolutely got everything done and had a great time. And I hate crowds and was really worried about our trip.

 

[tinypoltergeist]

I posted how our trip went (how we touring around higher than expected crowds). We absolutely got everything done and had a great time. And I hate crowds and was really worried about our trip.

I don't mind the crowds too much, but my boyfriend does not like them one bit. I just don't like all the waiting that I had to do the other times I went. I still enjoyed it because it's Disney World and all, but that was the worst part. I'm sure we'll be okay though. If we don't get to see everything it's just another reason to go on another trip! How was the weather for your trip? I'm a little worried about it because we live in the same type of climate that Orlando usually is and it's been in the 50s where I'm at lately.

 

[hllb]

I don't mind the crowds too much, but my boyfriend does not like them one bit. I just don't like all the waiting that I had to do the other times I went. I still enjoyed it because it's Disney World and all, but that was the worst part. I'm sure we'll be okay though. If we don't get to see everything it's just another reason to go on another trip! How was the weather for your trip? I'm a little worried about it because we live in the same type of climate that Orlando usually is and it's been in the 50s where I'm at lately.

We generally waited 15 minutes or less for things!

We are from Michigan so the weather was great for us. We had two colder days where it didn’t get above 60. So we wore capris and light jackets or hoodies. The other days ranged highs from mid 60’s to high 70’s. We took our jackets most days (maybe 2 or 3 days we didn’t take them out of 7) but removed them late morning.

 

[tinypoltergeist]

We generally waited 15 minutes or less for things!

We are from Michigan so the weather was great for us. We had two colder days where it didn’t get above 60. So we wore capris and light jackets or hoodies. The other days ranged highs from mid 60’s to high 70’s. We took our jackets most days (maybe 2 or 3 days we didn’t take them out of 7) but removed them late morning.

OMG 15 minutes is so short! In the summer lines get to be like 300 minutes long! I'm from south Louisiana, so the weather here is usually so hot and humid that it's like walking through hot soup, so 70 degrees warrants a cardigan for me! I bet getting out of the tundra that is northern winters was so nice for ya'll! But hopefully that beautiful Orlando sun will quickly warm things up next January!

 

[hllb]

OMG 15 minutes is so short! In the summer lines get to be like 300 minutes long! I'm from south Louisiana, so the weather here is usually so hot and humid that it's like walking through hot soup, so 70 degrees warrants a cardigan for me! I bet getting out of the tundra that is northern winters was so nice for ya'll! But hopefully that beautiful Orlando sun will quickly warm things up next January!

7DMT And FoP were generally at least 2 hours. We had FPs for those. Navi was generally 60 to 90 minutes, but we did that one at rope drop for an 8 minute wait. Peter Pan was generally an hour but we did that at rope drop and waited 10 to 15 minutes. The other rides were generally under an hour wait at peak times (30 to 45 minutes depending on the ride) and we either were able to get FPs, or hit them early when the waits were short.

 

[belledreamer]

OMG 15 minutes is so short! In the summer lines get to be like 300 minutes long! I'm from south Louisiana, so the weather here is usually so hot and humid that it's like walking through hot soup, so 70 degrees warrants a cardigan for me! I bet getting out of the tundra that is northern winters was so nice for ya'll! But hopefully that beautiful Orlando sun will quickly warm things up next January!

Not too far from my neck of the woods then! And welcome to the DisBoards!

I was there the week before hllb and our experience was pretty similar to theirs. We went expecting level 3 crowds and got between level 5-8 all week with Animal Kingdom being the busiest from what I can only assume was the popularity of Pandora.

However, we managed to see everything we wanted to see, saw all the shows and had for the most part really good weather (although some evenings got a little chilly) and temperatures during the day stayed mainly in the 60's and 70's. There have been freak cases where it was unusually cold-enough-you-need-a-coat-weather but that's not typical. Layers are your friend when it comes to what to wear in January.

I'm hoping that this kind of crowd level doesn't become a trend in January (though I think I'll be sorely mistaken) but all I can say is that Fastpasses, being there for Rope Drop, and AM Extra Magic Hours were our friends. We did the vast majority of our rides before 11am and had very little wait times in standby and FP lines during that time. I think the longest we waited for anything was 30 minutes.

Typically January is when they do their refurbs but it's hard to say what will be down. With new things coming in around the time you're going, you probably will see some closures but Disney's usually pretty good about keeping an updated list of what will be down months in advance.

 

[tinypoltergeist]

Not too far from my neck of the woods then! And welcome to the DisBoards!

I was there the week before hllb and our experience was pretty similar to theirs. We went expecting level 3 crowds and got between level 5-8 all week with Animal Kingdom being the busiest from what I can only assume was the popularity of Pandora.

However, we managed to see everything we wanted to see, saw all the shows and had for the most part really good weather (although some evenings got a little chilly) and temperatures during the day stayed mainly in the 60's and 70's. There have been freak cases where it was unusually cold-enough-you-need-a-coat-weather but that's not typical. Layers are your friend when it comes to what to wear in January.

I'm hoping that this kind of crowd level doesn't become a trend in January (though I think I'll be sorely mistaken) but all I can say is that Fastpasses, being there for Rope Drop, and AM Extra Magic Hours were our friends. We did the vast majority of our rides before 11am and had very little wait times in standby and FP lines during that time. I think the longest we waited for anything was 30 minutes.

Typically January is when they do their refurbs but it's hard to say what will be down. With new things coming in around the time you're going, you probably will see some closures but Disney's usually pretty good about keeping an updated list of what will be down months in advance.

Thank you for the welcome! I also hope that crowd level doesn't become the norm for January because if this trip works out, January might be our trip month. The summer is just too hot and crowded for my boyfriend and he would not enjoy it at all.

I haven't gotten to ride the new Pandora rides yet, so I'm super excited for those! I would love to take advantage of AM magic hours, but I tend to be more of a night owl. I'll make an exception for Disney though!

There's only a few rides that I would be super sad to not get to ride. Space Mountain and Pirates being the top two, so I hope those are open!

 

[Christy702]

I was there in early January, it was our first time going this time of year. We usually go during summer or spring break, so we were excited to go during a lower crowed time. However, it was a lot more crowded than we expected. BUT, it was marathon weekend so keep that in mind when picking dates. The crowds were still very manageable and the weather was only freezing the first two nights we were there. We're actually planning another trip for January 2019, but were actually planning on doing the 5k/10k this time

I'm currently planning a spring break trip with my college friends who have never been, so believe me, I FEEL your stress

 

[tinypoltergeist]

I was there in early January, it was our first time going this time of year. We usually go during summer or spring break, so we were excited to go during a lower crowed time. However, it was a lot more crowded than we expected. BUT, it was marathon weekend so keep that in mind when picking dates. The crowds were still very manageable and the weather was only freezing the first two nights we were there. We're actually planning another trip for January 2019, but were actually planning on doing the 5k/10k this time

I'm currently planning a spring break trip with my college friends who have never been, so believe me, I FEEL your stress

I've heard that the festival and event weekends can get crazy crowded! The only thing that close to our trip is Martin Luther King Jr. day I think, but we might leave before that day.

OMG It's SO stressful! I'm type A and also need everyone to have a good time because it's not a cheap vacation, so I'm pulling out all the stops. But one of the people going on the trip has food allergies, so they're a picky eater, so the most stressful thing is picking where we're going to eat.

 

[Christy702]

I've heard that the festival and event weekends can get crazy crowded! The only thing that close to our trip is Martin Luther King Jr. day I think, but we might leave before that day.

OMG It's SO stressful! I'm type A and also need everyone to have a good time because it's not a cheap vacation, so I'm pulling out all the stops. But one of the people going on the trip has food allergies, so they're a picky eater, so the most stressful thing is picking where we're going to eat.

We're going in 6 weeks and my friend's haven't even bought tickets yet, so no FPs until they do It's fine, I'm fine (not really).
I don't have any first hand experience, but I've read on the boards that Disney is very good at dealing with food allergies.

 

[tinypoltergeist]

We're going in 6 weeks and my friend's haven't even bought tickets yet, so no FPs until they do It's fine, I'm fine (not really).
I don't have any first hand experience, but I've read on the boards that Disney is very good at dealing with food allergies.

WHAT?! 6 weeks out and no tickets yet? No ma'am I would be stressing too! Fortunately I'm making all the arrangements for my friends along with myself because even though I love them it's like trying to round up kittens to get them to do anything.

I've also heard that Disney is very accommodating for people with diet restrictions, so I'm not too worried about that part. What I'm worried about is that he won't eat many things because he's so picky and I really don't want him to ever be hungry. He keeps telling me to not worry about him and just make plans how I want, but I'm the mom friend so I can't help it.

 

[belledreamer]

OMG It's SO stressful! I'm type A and also need everyone to have a good time because it's not a cheap vacation, so I'm pulling out all the stops. But one of the people going on the trip has food allergies, so they're a picky eater, so the most stressful thing is picking where we're going to eat.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/special-dietary-requests/ I'd recommend you or your friend giving this page a look. Don't know what their allergy is but Disney is very accommodating in that regard. We had a lady in front of us in line at one of the quick service restaurants in Epcot who had four different allergies and they were able to give her a menu and had the cook come out to speak to her as well.

I've also heard that Disney is very accommodating for people with diet restrictions, so I'm not too worried about that part. What I'm worried about is that he won't eat many things because he's so picky and I really don't want him to ever be hungry. He keeps telling me to not worry about him and just make plans how I want, but I'm the mom friend so I can't help it.

Is it possible to bring some of your own food with you in that case? We brought a good bit of our own food into the parks (not because of dietary restrictions, but to save some money) and this worked really well for us. Of course, we drove so that could make a difference in how much you can bring.

My mom made banana bread the day before we left which pretty much covered breakfast for the week and we each picked a couple of snacks we wanted to have to munch on. Some of what we found works best was trail mix, mixed nuts, string cheese, grapes or some other fruit that travels well, and our biggest hit was teriyaki beef jerky. I honestly wished we would have had another bag of that more than anything else. We've also found that things with chocolate didn't do well since they don't travel well and mostly just made us thirsty. More than anything, we craved things with protein and some kind of salt content.

I'd also recommend downloading the My Disney Experience app and checking out the restaurants on it. I'm fairly sure that they have a menu for every restaurant on there and that he could find something that he'd enjoy.

 

[tinypoltergeist]

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/special-dietary-requests/ I'd recommend you or your friend giving this page a look. Don't know what their allergy is but Disney is very accommodating in that regard. We had a lady in front of us in line at one of the quick service restaurants in Epcot who had four different allergies and they were able to give her a menu and had the cook come out to speak to her as well.



Is it possible to bring some of your own food with you in that case? We brought a good bit of our own food into the parks (not because of dietary restrictions, but to save some money) and this worked really well for us. Of course, we drove so that could make a difference in how much you can bring.

My mom made banana bread the day before we left which pretty much covered breakfast for the week and we each picked a couple of snacks we wanted to have to munch on. Some of what we found works best was trail mix, mixed nuts, string cheese, grapes or some other fruit that travels well, and our biggest hit was teriyaki beef jerky. I honestly wished we would have had another bag of that more than anything else. We've also found that things with chocolate didn't do well since they don't travel well and mostly just made us thirsty. More than anything, we craved things with protein and some kind of salt content.

I'd also recommend downloading the My Disney Experience app and checking out the restaurants on it. I'm fairly sure that they have a menu for every restaurant on there and that he could find something that he'd enjoy.

Oh wow! I knew Disney was accommodating, but I didn't know they would do that! That makes me love them even more!!

Also we're driving too because it's so much cheaper. So we can bring our own food, but are we allowed to bring snacks into the park with us? Because for most of the days we're planning to be in the parks all day. Also we're getting a meal plan, so at night we'll be doing table service meals. I told him that if he ever leaves dinner hungry because he didn't like his food we could go get him something in town? Even still I'm so motherly that I don't want anyone to feel like they're burdening me because they're hungry ya know?

I know what you mean about the teriyaki beef jerky! That stuff is great for long road trips like the one to Disney! That and honey roasted peanuts are my favorite road trip snack!