January instead of May

[SilentFeline]

Okay, so my bf and I were supposed to go to DLR next May. He's in his last semester of student teaching right now, working on getting his teaching credential, and yesterday he told me that his mentor teacher is planning on getting pregnant within the next few months and he's 98% sure that he will be a long-term substitute for her while she's on maternity leave. This means that instead of going in May, we'll have to go during my winter break in January. I'm really happy that he'll probably have long-term work before he can apply for an actual teaching job, but I'm not too happy about going in January. I'm worried about rain and ride closures. My main question is how often are major rides closed down for refurb in January? I know there are a lot of major rides down this Summer, but I'm still worried. We don't have the money to go every year (the last time we went was in '09) and this will only be our second time going together, so I'd like all of the major rides to be open. We are probably going the 2nd or 3rd week in January. Any help would be appreciated. TIA!

 

[HydroGuy]

Okay, so my bf and I were supposed to go to DLR next May. He's in his last semester of student teaching right now, working on getting his teaching credential, and yesterday he told me that his mentor teacher is planning on getting pregnant within the next few months and he's 98% sure that he will be a long-term substitute for her while she's on maternity leave. This means that instead of going in May, we'll have to go during my winter break in January. I'm really happy that he'll probably have long-term work before he can apply for an actual teaching job, but I'm not too happy about going in January. I'm worried about rain and ride closures. My main question is how often are major rides closed down for refurb in January? I know there are a lot of major rides down this Summer, but I'm still worried. We don't have the money to go every year (the last time we went was in '09) and this will only be our second time going together, so I'd like all of the major rides to be open. We are probably going the 2nd or 3rd week in January. Any help would be appreciated. TIA!

There were not a lot of major rides down for refurb this summer. Only Matterhorn - and that was unusual and related to Disney's plan to put in entirely new bobsleds with lap bars.

Unfortunately January is prime time for major refurbs to start - as well as Haunted Mansion to be down. Credible rumors say Matterhorn will be down for the first six months of 2012.

On the other hand crowds are generally lower.

See

"Detailed Weather Data for DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=23004158

"Historical DLR Park Hours, Entertainment and Refurbs" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2291124

"What You Should Know About Off-Season at DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=18462889

 

[wdwfan22]

I am also going in January (hopefully, I was supposed to go later this month, but some family health issues postponed our trip). Here is the schedule for last January. That is what I looked at to get an idea of when Haunted Mansion goes down. I don't mind missing It's a Small World, but don't want to miss HM. And as long as Pirates is back up, I'm good with whatever else is down.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/park-hours.cfm?month=1&year=2011

 

[SilentFeline]

Thanks, HydroGuy! I was actually hoping you would respond because I did know to look for your reports, but for some reason I could only find your weather report, so thanks for posting links to your other ones as well!

Also, I must apologize for an error I made earlier in my original post. I had remembered reading about HM, Pirates, and Screamin' all being down at around the same time, and for some reason I thought it was Summer. After looking at your refurb report, I can see that it's September. I don't know what I was thinking. Fortunately, neither me nor my bf like the Matterhorn, so if that's down in January it won't bother us. However, the HM is one of our favorite rides so we'll have to plan accordingly. We also love Space Mountain, Pirates, and Indy and would hate for any of those to be closed. I guess we'll just have to wait until the official refurb lists are posted before we buy our tickets. Thanks again for the help!

 

[SilentFeline]

I am also going in January (hopefully, I was supposed to go later this month, but some family health issues postponed our trip). Here is the schedule for last January. That is what I looked at to get an idea of when Haunted Mansion goes down. I don't mind missing It's a Small World, but don't want to miss HM. And as long as Pirates is back up, I'm good with whatever else is down.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/park-hours.cfm?month=1&year=2011

Yeah, I really want HM to be open too. That's probably my bf's favorite ride. Pirates is of course also important (I think I like it more than my bf though), but I also want Space Mountain to be open because that's my personal favorite. I guess we'll just have to wait and see! Let's both keep our fingers crossed for Pirates and HM!