January crowed or not crowed

[joby]

We are going to Disney in January 2007 and I wanted to know if it was a good or bad time to go. Weather? Crowds?(Please help)We have been during spring break and summer which are hot and crowed so this visit we wanted to avoid those.

 

[Bob P]

Welcome to the DIS!

Holiday crowds leave during the few days after New Year's. The rest of the month is pretty empty.

Weather is completely unpredictable. You could have mild days with cool mornings, or you could have mornings near freezing with afternoon highs stuck in the 40s.


Bob

 

[joby]

Thank you for your reply. I'll be sure to check the weather there before we leave so i can pack some warmer clothes for us.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

We went for 4 days after New Year's. The parks were absolutely empty. We actually thought that Epcot was closed because we were the only people in some lines. The weather was great (compared to us)

Jen

 

[zara]

We were there this year from 12th to 26th January and it was great. Parks were quiet. Lovely weather. Only needed jacket in the evening. Going again next February..

 

[amarberry]

I just responded to your other thread about January weather too...

Recently, we've been at WDW in Sept. 2005 and January 2006. Both trips were during value session, so the crowds were pretty light during bother trips. In Sept., it was about 90 degrees every day and, like I said in the other thread, the weather in January fluctuated. I liked Sept. a lot, but you always have the hurricane risk during that time of year. Packing was a lot lighter for Sept. as well because we knew that it would only be hot weather. I felt like I packed everything we owned for our January trip!

Even on the cooler days, I found the weather on the January trip to be quite pleasant for park touring. I never felt like I was melting from the heat, but the sun always felt warm and toasty in the afternoon.

It was definitely nice enough in January that we (okay...that would be me since DH is sort of Disney-ed out) are tentatively planning our next trip for January 2007 as well.

 

[mommyceratops]

We went this year in the end of Jan begining of Feb and it was awesome. We didn't wait 5 min for any ride. Now it was on the cold side some days and we wore shorts some days so be prepared for ALL weather ranges.

 

[DVC Sadie]

We love being in WDW for New Years Eve and spending a couple of weeks. As others have posted it can be quite cold or unseasonably warm or both within a weeks time. If swimming is a priority for your family its not always doable in January IMO. What we love is the low crowd levels and the easy, carefree dining. Have a great time.

 

[all4fun]

January has historically low attendance levels so it's a great time to go, crowd-wise.

I will heartily agree that the weather in January can be completely unpredictable too. We went a couple of years ago and the first three days we were there were absolutely beautiful shorts weather and the rest of our stay it was in the 40's with a windchill factor of -30 degrees. Not really lol, but I'm from a cool to moderate climate and I was freezing (because of the wind - it was seriously cold and cut through the light jacket I had brought along thinking that would be "enough"). We had to spend $48 to buy my ds a jacket in the parks because we (foolishly) were not prepared for such cool weather. So my warning is that even if the long-term weather forcast's beautiful weather, bring some sweaters and jackets anyway (layering up is the best in case the weather fluctuates during the day). We still had a great time but it would have been better if I'd brought a warmer jacket to wear.

 

[joby]

Thanks everybody for your help. I will just make sure i pack warm clothes. It's also nice to know that the crowds are not bad in January

 

[welovedis]

It depends on when you'll be going in Jan too. We were there early in Jan and there were crowds the first week then tapered off after the marathon weekend. They picked up again when we were leaving due to the MLK holiday weekend.

I wouldn't say the parks were crowded as opposed to the busier seasons (like summer or holiday time) but they definitely were slightly more crowded at the times I mentioned.

Also, the first couple of days we were there it was cold, and we are from NY so we're used to it, but colder than we anticipated IMO. We wore our winter coats, hats and gloves because it was pretty windy at night. After that it warmed up and we were able to swim a couple of times, but not so hot that we felt we could walk around in shorts all day. We tried it once and froze and we like it cooler, so just come prepared and dress in layers so that you can take a layer off or add one on if necessary. HTH!

Gl with your planning!