*** January 2019 Thread ***

[bigeyedfish]

We have our first ever trip scheduled for 1/26 to 1/31. We will be staying at CBR. Also have our Disney After Hours tickets reserved, and I think I am most excited about that. This will be a Christmas morning surprise for the kids, and they are going to be thrilled!

 

[brewhome]

We have our first ever trip scheduled for 1/26 to 1/31. We will be staying at CBR. Also have our Disney After Hours tickets reserved, and I think I am most excited about that. This will be a Christmas morning surprise for the kids, and they are going to be thrilled!

Welcome, @bigeyedfish, I’ve added you to the roll call! I love CBR, and now that the new restaurant, pool bar, and quick service area are open, I’m sure it’s even better! We did a Christmas surprise for my boys for their first trip, too... it was awesome. Enjoy!

 

[Sydney2977]

Can anyone here tell me more about Festival of the Arts at Epcot? It seems it will begin on our last park day, which is also our real anniversary, and I had planned to be at MK that day. Should I switch things around so we can be at Epcot that day? What am I missing? TIA for any info.

 

[brewhome]

Can anyone here tell me more about Festival of the Arts at Epcot? It seems it will begin on our last park day, which is also our real anniversary, and I had planned to be at MK that day. Should I switch things around so we can be at Epcot that day? What am I missing? TIA for any info.

@Sydney2977, check out this link - the Disney Food Blog people give a good overview of the whole festival, and a deep dive into the food offerings. http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/epcot-international-festival-of-the-arts/

 

[tinabina919]

Can anyone here tell me more about Festival of the Arts at Epcot? It seems it will begin on our last park day, which is also our real anniversary, and I had planned to be at MK that day. Should I switch things around so we can be at Epcot that day? What am I missing? TIA for any info.

We have been for the past 2 years, its similar to any other Epcot festival if you've ever been. Lots of food booths, concert series, fun exhibits and demos. I love music and the arts so this is one of my favorite festivals although the food is better at F&W.

If you have special plans/reservations at MK I wouldn't say cancel but if you like the arts I think you can have a great time checking out something new, try some food booths and everything see else they have to offer.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Hi! We are going in January for the first time, we have been many other times but never January! I am really excited!
It will be my dd (19), myself, and my sister. We are staying at AKL with the Disney Visa promotion, great deal!
Our dates will be 1/23-1/30, with a DAH event on 1/28.

 

[brewhome]

Hi! We are going in January for the first time, we have been many other times but never January! I am really excited!
It will be my dd (19), myself, and my sister. We are staying at AKL with the Disney Visa promotion, great deal!
Our dates will be 1/23-1/30, with a DAH event on 1/28.

Welcome, @disneyAndi14, I’ve added you to the roll call! January is a great time to go! Happy planning!

 

[norrsund]

For all us January folks, when do you think is the best time to visit Trader Sam's? We'll be down 12/30-1/5. We'll be in MK 12/30 and 1/1 and then some partial time here and there. I'm afraid that the wait times at Trader Sam's will be very long due to the NYE crowds. What's your strategy for two people? Arrive at opening or wait until later in the night further into the trip when the parks close early?

 

[Sydney2977]

@Sydney2977, check out this link - the Disney Food Blog people give a good overview of the whole festival, and a deep dive into the food offerings. http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/epcot-international-festival-of-the-arts/

It doesn't have updated details for 2019 yet, but enough from 2018 to give me a good idea of what's to come. Thanks!

We have been for the past 2 years, its similar to any other Epcot festival if you've ever been. Lots of food booths, concert series, fun exhibits and demos. I love music and the arts so this is one of my favorite festivals although the food is better at F&W.

If you have special plans/reservations at MK I wouldn't say cancel but if you like the arts I think you can have a great time checking out something new, try some food booths and everything see else they have to offer.

We've done F&W multiple times and F&G once. We really enjoy all the extra stuff, so I may have to switch around our days. I haven't gotten to fast pass picks yet and our adr's aren't really difficult ones, so it may be doable.

 

[StageTek]

After doing some reading and a discussion here on DIS I decided against AoA. The walk to/from Little Mermaid rooms just seemed too much. Especially after several stays at POFQ. Just two days after I booked POP I got an offer in the mail - for POP. Even cheaper. Dates are the same but now I'm heading to POP Century!

 

[bebec22]

How long do the Christmas decorations stay up, particularly the lights on the castle at MK? I'll be there on Jan 5 & 6. TIA!

 

[coloredimage]

I was just looking at our roll call and realized that the first people on our list will have their FP+ day on Halloween! I can’t wait to hear how everyone does with their FP+ selections. Another milestone and one step closer to go time!

I'm so glad I read this post because I realized I never put an alert on my calendar for our FP day Mine's not 'til mid-November thankfully because we have made 0 plans lol

 

[Sydney2977]

I completely switched our planned park days around, just leaving the day in the middle for down day/Disney Springs. I cancelled our reservation for Restaurant Marrakesh so we can check out the food booths on Epcot day. I was able to get the other adr's for the same times on the new days. It all worked out for the best!

 

[SuperNEMOfan]

Just got back from my October trip!! It was fun but it was hot and now i can focus solely on this big trip in January! We make fastpasses on November 9th!

 

[ksibrel]

Sorry if this isn't the right place for this but I just had to vent/brag. We arrive at WDW on Jan 30 but we are taking a red-eye (we live on the west coast) departing Jan 29. That is until I got an email this morning that American moved our flight up 7 hours! So now we were scheduled to arrive at 11 PM on Jan 29, which meant another hotel night (and I didn't want to land that late with a toddler). They also moved our homebound flight up 4 hours, which annoyed me but I wasn't AS concerned about. After doing some searching though, I found flights on Delta with almost the exact times as our original American flights and for $100 less! I called American and was able to cancel our flights with a full refund and immediately booked with Delta.

 

[brewhome]

After doing some reading and a discussion here on DIS I decided against AoA. The walk to/from Little Mermaid rooms just seemed too much. Especially after several stays at POFQ. Just two days after I booked POP I got an offer in the mail - for POP. Even cheaper. Dates are the same but now I'm heading to POP Century!

@StageTek, I updated the roll call to Pop! Enjoy those newly renovated rooms!

 

[StageTek]

@StageTek, I updated the roll call to Pop! Enjoy those newly renovated rooms!

For a solo traveler that pull down bed looks perfect. I can just leave it up the entire stay and enjoy the space and the table.

 

[DisSteve89]

How long do the Christmas decorations stay up, particularly the lights on the castle at MK? I'll be there on Jan 5 & 6. TIA!

From what I’ve read, in the past the lights on the castle and decorations have generally stayed up till the end of marathon weekend. So they should still be there for your trip!

 

[brewhome]

From what I’ve read, in the past the lights on the castle and decorations have generally stayed up till the end of marathon weekend. So they should still be there for your trip!

I hope this is still true, since the marathon is a week later than it was last year. I’ve seen the lights on the castle, but my hubby and sons have not... and it is amazing.

 

[DisSteve89]

I hope this is still true, since the marathon is a week later than it was last year. I’ve seen the lights on the castle, but my hubby and sons have not... and it is amazing.

I hope so too. Really hoping to get to see the castle all lit up while we’re there in January.