Let's plan Together! Jan 2009

[kellymonster23]

Hey All, we just made our reservations, WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!
Going January 7-15, 2009-Mom, Dad, brother, sister, boyfriend, and 2 friends. We reserved 2 family suites and a standard room at ASMu. Because of a quite loud "snorer" we need to have a some extra room. We requested Calypso so hopefully we'll get that. We went this past January and had 2 family suites in Calypso and it was amazing!!! Cant wait to go back!!!!! Counting down the days until we can make ADRs!!!!

 

[HappyCamperToo]

Hi! Are you staying at Pop Century? If so, maybe you'd like to join us in a refrigerator swap and save a bunch of money instead of renting one from WDW. Follow the link in my signature for more info....

 

[Alarose]

woot woot

Subscribing!


Count me in for the January 2009 Walt Disney World crowd! We are going January 8th through the 16th for our honeymoon! I am so excited! I'm not sure if I'm more excited about marrying the love of my life, or the honeymoon lol. My Fiance' Steve jokes about me marrying him just for the honeymoon

So...my AAA agent (and yes, you can book right through AAA get the discounts) advised me not to book until the rates come out for the year, but I think from reading through these threads I don't like that idea. I want my room reservation! I also think it would be best to get the flight tickets earlier than later. Who knows what the prices will be months from now.

Question about booking through AAA...I am not sure if I liked the lady I was working with. Does anyone know of specific AAA agents that really know Disney? I might just call again and try to work with someone else.

ALSO, so...if I read this right...they normally have January perks that give Disney guests free ticket upgrades for January/February? So, if we are going January 8th-16th, this will probably qualify for us? I know no one can confirm this yet. I hadn't heard of this! Woot woot! SOO...would it be best to just get a base ticket and get the free upgrade, or would we get the discounted ticket price later if we upgraded now?


Thanks for any help!

 

[wannabePRINCESS]

We are looking at going Jan 3rd - 10th as well! Most US schools start up on the 5th, so I think that should eliminate a lot of the crowds. At least, that is what I am hoping.

Anybody have access to the Touringplans crowd calendar that can shed some light on those dates please?

Touring plans is showing this: (# in center is crowd level, first column shows best parks, and 2nd column shows parks to avoid on these days)

Sat, 03 Jan '09 7 EP AK MK DS
Sun, 04 Jan '09 6 DS AK MK
Mon, 05 Jan '09 5 EP DS AK
Tue, 06 Jan '09 5 MK EP DS AK
Wed, 07 Jan '09 5 DS AK
Thu, 08 Jan '09 6 EP AK MK
Fri, 09 Jan '09 5 AK EP DS
Sat, 10 Jan '09 6 MK EP DS AK

We also plan on going back in January ...I just need to sit down and figure out the dates!

Hope EVERYONE has a WONDERFUL time!

 

[Fastman]

Touring plans is showing this: (# in center is crowd level, first column shows best parks, and 2nd column shows parks to avoid on these days)

Sat, 03 Jan '09 7 EP AK MK DS
Sun, 04 Jan '09 6 DS AK MK
Mon, 05 Jan '09 5 EP DS AK
Tue, 06 Jan '09 5 MK EP DS AK
Wed, 07 Jan '09 5 DS AK
Thu, 08 Jan '09 6 EP AK MK
Fri, 09 Jan '09 5 AK EP DS
Sat, 10 Jan '09 6 MK EP DS AK

We also plan on going back in January ...I just need to sit down and figure out the dates!

Hope EVERYONE has a WONDERFUL time!

Thanks for the post! Looks like it will be a great time to visit.

 

[Pluto_fan]

So, have any of you started a pre-trip report yet?
I've thought about it, but don't know if I could keep it going for 8 months!

 

[Mom2apirate&princess]

I'd like to do one, I've never done one. I'm thinking it's still too early though. Then again I have Disney on the brain...

 

[danceintherain]

I'll probably do one... eventually. I'd like to actually have reservations before I do though. I'll probably wait until like September before I start one, because at that point I'll most likely have pretty stable plans.

 

[minniebeth]

Well, it's official, we booked our room at POP Century for Jan!
I was a little freaked out that they charge you at full peak price, though, This was an unanticipated trip, so we need to budget as much as we can. They have no AAA rates yet and we have to call back to add the package when they come out, and I would love to have a code to for upgraded tickets (hoppers, water parks, etc.) but I'm a little freaked out about how this will all happen! I've done this once before, but for the life of me I can't remember how I did it! I'll need some hand holding with a lot of questions!

 

[Alarose]

Minnie, we just booked our trip at POP Century for January too! I will be there on my honeymoon January 8th-15th! I am SOO excited! I was first going to stay at one of the All Starz resorts, but after reading some thing on here, we changed!

As for what to do when the codes come out...it sounds like you booked right through a AAA agent (so did I). When a code comes up, just call your agent and they SHOULD plug it in for you. I asked my AAA agent this before we booked, and she said it was no problem too. Yeah, we got full rack rates too...like $120. My AAA agent said that the price in January for AAA SHOULD be around $70 (not a prefered room).

I have a question about that possible upgrade though (I know I don't really need to worry about it for a few months). So, we SHOULD be able to book a park hopper ticket and we should be refunded after we plug in codes if Disney is doing the free upgrade thing? Or, would it be best to just get a base ticket and wait to see what happens...I guess we can always upgrade if we don't get anything.


Also, someone mentioned in here about Water Park tickets...has anyone gone in Mid-January before? Is it warm enough for water park? We've been thinking about that...but, some days seem so cold. The parks look sooo cool though.

 

[Yzerbear19]

As for what to do when the codes come out...it sounds like you booked right through a AAA agent (so did I). When a code comes up, just call your agent and they SHOULD plug it in for you. I asked my AAA agent this before we booked, and she said it was no problem too. Yeah, we got full rack rates too...like $120. My AAA agent said that the price in January for AAA SHOULD be around $70 (not a prefered room).

I have a question about that possible upgrade though (I know I don't really need to worry about it for a few months). So, we SHOULD be able to book a park hopper ticket and we should be refunded after we plug in codes if Disney is doing the free upgrade thing? Or, would it be best to just get a base ticket and wait to see what happens...I guess we can always upgrade if we don't get anything.

Also, someone mentioned in here about Water Park tickets...has anyone gone in Mid-January before? Is it warm enough for water park? We've been thinking about that...but, some days seem so cold. The parks look sooo cool though.

When my sister and I went last year in mid-January we had the AAA rate of I think $65 a night for Pop, which wasn't a preferred room. As far as swimming goes, when we went we went swimming quite a few times, but we're kind of crazy.

We're thinking of going again in Jan. 2009 for my sister's birthday, though it would be a slightly shorter trip than others.

 

[Bobo912]

Also, someone mentioned in here about Water Park tickets...has anyone gone in Mid-January before? Is it warm enough for water park? We've been thinking about that...but, some days seem so cold. The parks look sooo cool though.

I would wait until you get there and buy the water park tickets separately. On our Jan trips, we've had lots of days in the low to mid 70's which is great for the theme parks, but can feel cold when you're wet and there is a breeze. On our trip last Jan. we had one day in the 40's and one in the 80's with a lot of 60's and 70's in between, so you never know what you're going to get. A day that is warm enough for the nice heated pool at the hotel may be too cold for the water parks.

 

[PrincessNala]

Weather from past trips is mid 70's in Jan. Hotel dip in the pool is fun, but that random 80 is a fun run to the water parks. Isn't this the time of year that they close one of the water parks for the yearly upkeep? Not totally positive. Does anyone else have some info?

We too will be coming during the holiday Jan 18-21 hoping to stay at French Quaters. Nervous after reading this thread. Sounds like I need to book hotel now and wait for fun codes/packages later.

 

[princesspat209]

We will be @ WDW 1-17-22. Have not made hotel reservations yet but we are cruising on the Magic 1-10- 17 & have those reservations made along with plane tickets. need to decide if we will stay @ OKW Or All stars . Will be looking for some codes so will be watching these boards. Happy planning to all. ::

 

[robincorn]

Question for you all. If the free park hopper and water parks and more promotion is done again this year will you be able to take advantage of it if you have a AAA discount. Trying to decide if I should join AAA just for the discount.

By the way I am planning on going Jan 24-31 with just me and my two boys 7 & 9.

 

[Bobo912]

Question for you all. If the free park hopper and water parks and more promotion is done again this year will you be able to take advantage of it if you have a AAA discount. Trying to decide if I should join AAA just for the discount.

By the way I am planning on going Jan 24-31 with just me and my two boys 7 & 9.

We booked that promotion for May and just took our trip two weeks ago. Initially I had booked with a AAA room discount. You can't keep the room discount if you book the package with the ticket upgrade. In this case, the ticket upgrade turned out to be a better deal. That may not always be the case. Besides Disney discounts, there are lots of other discounts and benefits associated with being a AAA member. I definitely think it's worthwhile to join, if you travel very much at all or have local attractions for which AAA offers discounted tickets. For us the membership pays for itself many times over.

 

[suzieQ36]

Between Marathon weekend, MLK, Super Bowl, Daytona 500, President's day and Mardi Gras, I can't decide when the best time to visit would be for Jan or Feb. We would like to go for 7 days and use the weekends for travel. Originally, I've booked for Feb 7-14, but now, I'm concerned that the Daytona 500 (scheduled for Feb 15 2009) may bring as many crowds to Disney as the Super Bowl.
HELP! Does anyone know the history on this? Thx for your input

 

[HillPete]

We are booked for Jan. 24 - Feb. 1. When do Super Bowl crowds start arriving?

 

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

According to "some" sites, the crowds will start building the Friday before the Super Bowl, which is the 30th.

 

[backinoz]

I've started on my pre-trip report - we'll be there for 1 night on 22 Dec, then from 30 Dec thru to 14 Jan (with a night or two at Universal). I know it's a long trip, but when you're spending big $$ to fly from regional Australia we've gotta make the most of it!

Any ways, if you're interested my pre-trip report is here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1753045

I know it's ages away, but I figure we'll need to make our ADRs at the 180 mark for NYE, and to get CRT dinner on the day we want so plans are coming along pretty quickly. Just hanging out for SW to release next round of fares on 27 Jun to book the last leg of our trip.

Also, does anyone know what the AP rates for Pop were for Jan this year? Trying to figure out how much we'll actually be paying per night, and it seems like I'll be better off buying an AP for me to get the discount, and then we'll get the DDE card too as DDP isn't gonna be worth it for us.