January Historically

[mericletwins]

Hi all~
We may have the opportunity to go to WDW in January. This is a huge deal for me since I am a teacher and can only go at Christmas or Easter. I have to have surgery in December and I will be out of work 4-6 weeks. We are thinking of doing Disney the week before I return to school. Since we have never been able to go at this time of year I haven't really paid much attention to what kind of discounts and special events are going on in January. Can anyone give me some info based on past Januarys? Do they have good room/package discounts? I think the Pirate and Princess Party was last year in January. Any good info on that? We are a family of 5 and are tossing up two moderate rooms vs. one deluxe. Decisions, decisions! Anyone have any thoughts, opinions or experience?

 

[mericletwins]

Anyone, anyone? No one with info?

 

[Chester's Mum]

Was there Jan 30 - Feb 9 2006. Rides were a walk on most days, except for Soarin (of course). We were able to get reservations for Crystal Palace about 4 hours in advance. The weather was cool in the mornings and in the evenings, we needed jackets, but it warmed up during the afternoon (to around 75-80). It rained only once, for the entire day, buckets and buckets of rain, and windy too. We finally threw the ponchos away, because they were as wet inside as out. The only discount we received was free park hopping and water parks, but it was value season so the rates were quite low. You might consider renting points on the dvc board for your family of five. It might not be much more than 2 rooms at a moderate. In my opinion its a great time to go, but then I'm a crowd avoider and I don't really like hot weather. Have a great time.

 

[sleepingbean]

Hi! We went last Jan and we did get some discounts. I can't remember exactly what the deal was, but it seems like we got free park hopper, free pool passes and I think a room discount, but maybe it was just an upgrade to Savannah from standard?
We had no trouble booking meal reservations with only 2-3 months advance notice for travel in mid January. (unlike the trouble we have with travel in Nov/Dec). The lines were not long at all at MGM. Nothing had a wait. At Magic Kingdom, it was a breeze in the morning. No long lines until later in the mid afternoon. Animal Kingdom was pretty busy the day we were there. Downtown Disney was just DEAD while we were there. ALmost like we had it ourselves!

Our resort seemed busy enough. Restaurants were full of people when it came time to eat. Swimming was okay (some days too cold, other days were hot ... bit of both) and we had beautiful weather overall.

I would love to go back in January! Have fun trip, if you are able to go!

 

[heatherlynn444]

was there january 6-14th of this year. PERFECT weather except one day was really cold. I wore shorts all the other days. didn't rain until our departure day. no crowds until friday (it was martin luther king w/e) and we got there as ppl were leaving from teh marathon. most rides were walk on or very short wait. we made allof our ADR'smonths in advance, but did have to change a time for one on teh morning of (narcoossees) and had no problem. we even laid out by the pool one afternoon. we are going back Christmas of this eyar, but after that i only want to go in january!

 

[scottnorth]

Myself and my wife stayed at POR from January 18, 2007 through Feb 1, 2007. The resort was relatively empty. We only saw a couple of families in the mansion to which we were assigned. I think that we recieved a very good discount through AAA during that period of time. Further, the lines at the theme parks were almost non-existent.

-Scott

 

[antmaril]

We were at WDW from 1/8/07 - 1/13/07. We love this time of year. Moderate temps, low crowds and no humidity or rain. Beautiful.

I didn't have any deal through Disney, but we booked with our AAA discount and it was value season. We like the Boardwalk Inn - lovely.

Good luck with your planning.

 

[grumpy.uncle]

We have been three times always in January. It's when my neices are out of school also. We have gone the first week in January and it tends to be a little more crowded. They also have the Disney marathon that first weekend, so you have more people there because of that. After the first weekend, the crowds drop off substantially. We have had beautiful weather all three trips. Only had 1 stormy day our first trip. No bad weather the second trip which was 2 weeks of wonderful Florida sunshine; even went to water parks a couple times. This past January, had a 1 hour downpour one day. It was so miserable that we headed back to our room. By the time we got back to the resort, the sun was back out. We like to travel in January because you don't have the severe heat and humidity that FL has during summer months. It's also fairly miserable here at home during that month, so any sunshine is nice to us. I don't recall getting any discounts other that there was a pretty good deal on tickets. I think I only paid an extra $5 when adding an extra day. Tix become a better deal the more days you stay. We stay DVC and do most of our own cooking in our room. Not sure if they offer free dining or other perks the month of January. Good luck planning. Ed

 

[Shasta]

When you guys mention that the first week is "a little more crowded" or "more crowded". Do you mean than the rest of January?

We are going 01/01/08 to 01/07/08 (Marathon is late this year) and am curious how will compare to summer.

Thank you!

 

[mrslur]

There are still quite a few schools on vacation that first week of January so crowds will probably gradually drop off as the week goes along. The marathon is the weekend of the 12th/13th. We picked the 5th-11th for our dates.

 

[n2mm]

There are almost always AP discounts on rooms and FL resident discounts on rooms. There are blackouts the first couple of days of the New Year. MLK weekend and days surrounding will be busy. And there is usually a huge marathon that brings the crowds in and fills rooms. Not sure what dates, someone will know. Other than that you should be fine. We booked this year a week starting Jan. 27 to the beginning of Feb. It will be cold, no way around it. You may get some sun during the day if you're lucky, but when the sun goes down, be ready with sweatshirts and jackets (I also take a hat and gloves). I'm from a cold climate (WV, mountains) and still find the nights in WDW for Dec/Jan/Feb to be very cold.

 

[Vickie46]

so does anyone know what the WL goes for in January?

 

[heatherlynn444]

so does anyone know what the WL goes for in January?

http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/faq_wl.htm

click and scroll down

 

[flowergirl]

We will be there January 17-22, during MLK weekend. Can anyone tell me what to expect with the crowds? TIA

 

[always_learning]

We will be there January 17-22, during MLK weekend. Can anyone tell me what to expect with the crowds? TIA

As far as I have read they will be perfect! You might have a tiny increase w/ MLK but not to many families take that weekend off IMO.

 

[mdsouth]

We will be there January 17-22, during MLK weekend. Can anyone tell me what to expect with the crowds? TIA

Lots of locals, Florida residents, and others go during the MLK weekend so it will probably be busier than you expect. Plus during the time you are there, there is the large cheerleading competition going on. I just saw a similar thread in Disney Resorts so you can read the posts there for more information.

 

[mreid1974]

I went last january and stayed at the POP.. Lines for buses were short.. Except at MK after wishes.. But that is to be expected. Barely had to wait in line for any rides.. Except Soarin and Test Track.. But they werent to bad either.. As far as the weather i found it to be perfect no excessive heat.. The days were just right to walk around the parks.. The nights get a little cool.. But still were lots of kids in the pool at night.. The only thing i dont like about january is its a little to cool to do the water parks.. And i have been wanting to do blizzard beach for some time now. I will have to plan a trip in a warmer month one of these times..

Going to POP in Jan. 2008

Anybody remember if they have done free dining before in January?

 

[LarryJ]

Outside of Marathon Weekend which has some, but little impact after about Jan 3 rides are walk-on, weather is great and is a great time to go.

Larry

 

[Goofy_4_WDW]

We were there last MLK weekend. Crowds were a little less than late August. There was a special then, buy base tickets, get upgraded to park hopper/water park for free.