Let's plan Together! Jan 2009

[Disney Fans]

We were thinking of going down Jan29-Feb.6. Now thinking of Feb 6-Feb 13. We are a family of 10, booking 3 rooms at Pop. What's the best option crowd wise? We will have 3 babies and really want to avoid crowds, but can't go late summer.
All suggestions welcome...................

I know a mom whos daughter works at disney and when we came back ( from the trip this past Jan) I asked why it was so so crowed for Jan.? She told me that WDW has crowds a lot of the time now due to so many families traveling Jan., Feb. from other countries.
If you can 1st week of Jan. or do mid Feb to late Feb or 1st part of Nov. or 1st week of Dec or May right before the schools start getting out I am told those are really about the only times left for WDW that have the least crowds. The mom said we here in the states do not see all of the promos given to those outside of the states. Most people think just Canada and England get them but Disney gives really good rates and deals to other countries also. They have been doing this for the past couple of years and it is made such a differnce for WDW so it is not so dependent on US for its money source. Hope that helps. But to be honest if you are really concerned I would go around the times that I stated above would be your best bet.
Good luck!!

 

[Poohbug]

I am planning a trip with my sister and her family. We were thinking about end of January but we don't want to run into crowds. We will have two babies and I am a big baby when I have to wait in line. We may change to late Feb. Will we run into big crowds because of Pres. Week??

 

[GoofyFairie]

There is a fair amount of speculation that there will be crowds around Feb 1 because the super bowl will be in Tampa and I read in another thread that there are superbowl parties planned at the GF resort. We were there this Feb and left the Sat of Presidents weekend. We noticed on TH that people were starting to arrive and on Sat morning when we left at 9 a.m. that the food court was packed and we stayed at WL. I have read on here presidnets weekend is busy beacuse a lot of schools have long weekends so families travel then w/out missing much or any school.

 

[aprincesswannabe]

We're hoping to travel Feb. 6-13...
Podcast seemed to say that crowds weren't bad this year during that time frame; hoping that most of the super bowl crowd will have left by then.

Spoke with Disney travel rep the other day and she indicated that package prices for 2009 would be out in June. Sure hope she was right!

 

[Kazooie01]

Sadly unless it is a super good deal I will Never go around MLK holiday it was as crowded as high season for a few days!! I am not kidding. All of the hotels were sold out most of last Jan and early 1st Feb. We saw large groups and also their was about 40%-50% families from from Brazil ( it is their summer time I think) I have been to Disney around every season and it was no different then going at Thanksgiving but with out the cool deco. Lines every where with 2 hour waits for rides every rest. was booked and we were lucky that we already did ARDS!! So be aware of this month! Free dine was less crowed then Jan!

I guess it's different for everyone. My family has stayed on sight the last two years in January (23-29 and Jan 30-Feb 6). We never experienced a line over 20 minutes with using just a few strategic fast passes. Sure we saw large tour groups and dance competitions, but it never seemed to effect the wait times. We were so pleased with our experience last year we have already rebooked for next January. I'm not overly concerned with the Super Bowl crowds. More power to a family if they can afford $1000+ per ticket for the game and Disney too!!

 

[blestmom]

More power to a family if they can afford $1000+ per ticket for the game and Disney too!!

 

[danceintherain]

Yeah.... and maybe extra people will decide to make their trip to Florida next year a Super Bowl trip instead of a Disney trip, and the parks will be emptier...

Or people will think that it will be crowded because of the Super Bowl so they don't make plans to come. This means less crowds and more discounts.

 

[laurainsem]

I just switched our dates because of the marathon. It looks like we will be going January 20th-27th. Anyone ever gone during this timeframe? It is the day after MLK and pre-superbowl. I'm really hoping it's not that bad!

I'd wait till February but i'm a pastor (well, in 6 weeks) and it will be Ash Wednesday/Lent prep. The 20th-27th is basically my only hope!

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

LAURAINSEM - as you can see by my ticker and signature - we will be there at that time too! We are also hoping for good weather and lower crowds! But we will take what we can get - after all it's Disney! We will be happy no matter what!

 

[ggatheringplanner]

Hi. I am very new to all of this.

Basically I have been to WDW when I was a kid and the last time in 2003, but have never planned a trip to WDW. My parents have now told us they would like to invite the whole family to WDW. We are 6 adults and 6 kids (ages 10, 8, 4, 4, 1- 4 girls 1 boy). We decided to go the first week of Jan.

Which resort do you recommend? (we are thinking deluxe-4 rooms....we do not wish to cook)

We are not US-citizens. Can we get a AAA card? Do you recommend us to get one in order to get a discount? Can we make reservations for 4 rooms with only one card?

Or will they later anounce some kind of discount for value season?

I've got so many questions I don´t even know where to start.

For the pp who said that WDW gives some discounts to other countries, Do I just call Disney and ask for prices for my country? Or is there anywhere to look specifically?

Thank you so much. This is my kids' first trip to WDW and I know my ODD will love it (she loves anything that has to do with a Disney Princess).

 

[Shleedogg]

AER is the marathon code for booking a room. We used it for our stay Jan 9-16. It's valid for any stay Jan 1-Jan 18. They didn't ask for confirmation that dh was running, he hasn't registered yet. We also used the code for my in laws who aren't running. We were able to reserve our room, pay the $200 deposit and we'll change it later if a better deal comes along.

 

[cinderellamom123]

Count us in too! Our dates are Jan 22- Feb 1 at Yacht Club

Going the exact same dates! Have not yet picked the resort, but I have a reservation at the cabins. Don't know why Disney can't get firm prices yet.
All other hotels in orlando are giving definite prices!

Anyway, want to jump in. Hi to all!

 

[SplashMtnCrew]

Hello all!
What a great thread! We have been going to WDW in Jan the last two years and plan on going next Jan too! I'm actually reading this thread and taking notes on the events going on during Jan, this has been helpful. I had no idea that the Super Bowl was going on in Tampa! I believe this past Jan when we were there from 1/20-1/26 we had just missed a cheerleading competition or something like that...does WDW host that each year? and if so does anyone happen to know the dates on that for Jan 09?
We also noticed a LOT of touring groups from Brazil there this past Jan. And the lines seemed longer than they did the year before. But the weather was great, and it's nothing like the crowds/weather in Aug
Thanks for the great tips, advice and info disers

 

[jrasmom]

We're considering January between the 6th & MLK weekend. Or February after the 9th before Presidents day weekend. Or even December 6 before the 18th. Just can't choose!! I'm trying to read up on each of these dates mentioned then we'll see what deals come out and go from there hopefully.

 

[swanc02]

We'll be at the Poly. My 4 yr old grandson's first WDW trip. I can't wait. I've been planning it since last year. I have a spreadsheet with 20 tabs each on different topic. For example, one for each park. One on transportation. One on Downtown Disney.
I was hoping to stay at AKL for the last 3 nights but they no longer offer deluxe rooms. The DVC took them all! I think I will try to rent DVC points.
Happy planning!

 

[brooklynheights]

we are looking to go in january too want to get in before the liitle guy DN turns 3 and take a new pic of him in his mickey ears evertime he comes over he runs to my stuffed Mickey and says heyyyyyyyyyyyy and gives him a hug I got him hooked .

 

[Mom2apirate&princess]

I was so excited to find this thread, I am a fanatic about planning. This will be our 2nd trip, the last was in 2003.

My family will be coming to WDW in late January. The dates we have are Jan 24 thru the 31st. We are a military family living in Italy. (We've done Euro Disney and it's just not the same!) We just got word that my dh will be deploying this fall to the desert. It was dh's idea for me to plan a trip for all of us when he gets home in early Jan. He thought it would keep me busy while he's gone, silly guy, I've already jumped head first into this.

It will be me, dh, ds - 11 and dd - 6. We have our hearts set on staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. In fact, I'm getting ready to call them and reserve the room.

Does anyone know if I can just reserve the room and if we decide to later, add a package instead? Right now we've been offered discounted tickets by a close family friend that works there. I also want to check out Shades of Greens park tickets. Oh and what is a Magical Gathering? Is that just a type of package? TIA

Tawney

 

[danceintherain]

Congrats on being able to plan!

You can book the room now, and change it to a package later. Actually, all you can do is book a room now, and change to a package later. However, if you're planning on buying tickets through Shades of Green I'm pretty sure you cannot book a package through Disney. The same applies to any other discounted tickets (unless it's part of a package code).

Magical Gatherings are for groups of 8 people or more.

 

[Mom2apirate&princess]

Thanks!

I just booked our room at AKL, ouch! Almost $500, but I was assured that the rate would go down. The person I spoke with told me that it would be better for us to buy tickets at Shades of Green if we plan on forgoing the DDP. I still have tons of time to decide how we want to do it, but I feel extremely excited to have a room waiting for us!

 

[marypatsy]

My sister is giving birth to her second child in late dec/early january. I am gonna go down and visit her and see the baby and the go to disney too ( she lives two hours away). Thinking about going with the boy around January 1-15, somewhere in there for a weekend. Woohooo.