Need a second opinion on projected crowds in January 2017.

[mjallemand]

My fiancee and I are planning a January 2017 trip during the second week of January after our wedding. We're going to do three park days, and I'm currently trying to decide what's my best choice between going Monday 1/9, Tuesday 1/10, and Wednesday 1/11 or going Tuesday 1/10, Wednesday, 1/11, and Thursday 1/12.

I'm getting conflicting reports on crowds.

Is It Packed says that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are all "Ghost Towns" and so those three would be the best days to go. Monday is tagged as "Hey Its Alright" so while it would probably be alright, I like the sound of Ghost Towns better.

RMHTravel Meanwhile is implying that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are the best days to go, being "5", "4", and "3" crowd levels respectively and Thursday being a "6", also tagged with the Star Wars Weekend Marathon.

Mickey Visit is the most worrying because it says that "The week before Christmas through the first couple of weeks of January, Christmas Day and New Years Eve bring in some of the largest crowds the park sees all year long." We'll be going the second week of January, and this will likely be a once in a lifetime trip so I'd love to avoid "largest crowds" situations.

Disney Tourist Blog also implies that "Christmas Week through Early January" is "Insanely Crowded."

Now I know that it's Disneyland and like WDW there's not really such a thing as a "Ghost Town" park anymore, but I'd love to manage the least amount of crowds possible so we can have the most leisurely trip possible and get the most amount accomplished in our short time there.

Thanks for any help or insight you can offer.

 

[SMD]

Thursday is the first day of the SW race expo. The crowds will start to build in the afternoon as people pick up their packets. Traffic around the resort and crowds around DLH will grow noticeable from the previous days.

 

[GatorChris]

I wouldn't worry about big crowds during the week you're going. That'll be the week after the school break. M-W or T-Th should be really good for you.

 

[mjallemand]

Honestly kinda considering the nuclear option and just going all four days, Monday through Thursday. I dunno if my significant other would be up for that though.

 

[figment_jii]

I would take all of the crowd calendars with a large grain of salt at this point. They're mostly just best guesses as to what crowds will be like.

I think it really all depends on when the Holiday season ends. That's probably why sites like "Mickey Visit" say the first couple of weeks of January can be very busy. It all depends on when the Holiday season AP blockouts end and when the Holiday season ends (which is usually in early January). There is often a bump in crowds when the AP blockouts end as AP holders come back to the parks to see the holiday offerings one last time. In 2017, the blockouts end by the Jan 4, so I would expect to see decent/high crowds that week. If the Holiday season ends on the Sunday, Jan 8, then the parks will probably be fairly quiet the following week (up until the race crowds start to arrive on Thursday). DLR has Jan 9 to 12 listed as "Value" days for single-day tickets, which further makes me think the Holiday season is ending on Jan 8.

 

[SMD]

I think that Christmas will technically end on the 6th like it has the past few years with Three Kings Day with entertainment and seasonal food and characters ending then, and HMH possibly staying open through Sunday. I expect Jingle Cruise to be closed on the 7th.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

We did that same week last year and are planning to be there again this year at the same time as you. It was definitely not "insanely crowded" but it wasn't a "ghost town" either. The crowd levels were tolerable but there were considerable wait times for Hyperspace Mountain and RSR so we still used FPs for those and Indy and even for California Screamin'. I would agree that most of the holiday-level crowds are gone that week but maybe not the week prior. I don't know how much difference you'd see between your two options, though. We felt like we got to do everything we wanted to in those three days without having to over-plan.

 

[MommyLove]

Honestly kinda considering the nuclear option and just going all four days, Monday through Thursday.

DO IT!!