***Official Jan 2018 Thread****

[DISfirstTimer]

Hey All!! Due to crazy airfare we are in the process of moving our vacation from March to January 30th-2/8. Touring Plans is showing crowds levels 2 to 4 during this time period. We are staying on site 2 nights and offsite the rest. Originally we were going to do 6 park days. Do you think we can get away with just 5 this time of year? I ask because my husband is not super excited about this trip and all the park days and would like as many "chill" days as I'll allow!

 

[k8Davies]

Hey All!! Due to crazy airfare we are in the process of moving our vacation from March to January 30th-2/8. Touring Plans is showing crowds levels 2 to 4 during this time period. We are staying on site 2 nights and offsite the rest. Originally we were going to do 6 park days. Do you think we can get away with just 5 this time of year? I ask because my husband is not super excited about this trip and all the park days and would like as many "chill" days as I'll allow!

Yay once you have it all sorted I'll add you to the roll call

Depending on what you want to do I think 5 days would be fine - just do a list of your must dos plan it out and see if you can fit it all in.

 

[Texans_loyal]

Hey Y'all!

Not sure if i have posted here before but we just added 2 more days to our trip! we will be at AKL Jambo Jan 14-17. not sure where we will be staying Jan 12-14, still waiting on AP pricing.

Our departure flight is booked via southwest points. still waiting on prices to drop on arrival flights.

The hours don't look so good but i am hoping they change them once we get closer. MK closing at 9 pm on a sat?! that just doesn't sound right.

I was able to book BOG, Ohana and tusker house. going to wing the rest since we are not on the dining plan this time.


I am bouncing off the walls! Jan is my favorite time to go "home".

 

[k8Davies]

Hey Y'all!

Not sure if i have posted here before but we just added 2 more days to our trip! we will be at AKL Jambo Jan 14-17. not sure where we will be staying Jan 12-14, still waiting on AP pricing.

Well Howdy (OMG I'm so sorry, I just said that out loud and it sounds awful in a South London Accent lol - sounded more like "Owl"-"Dee")

So Watcha (sounds much better)

I have add your trip to the roll call - so when you know your 12-14 accommodation just let me know and I'll I update.

Also so glad you got your ADR.

I am bouncing off the walls! Jan is my favorite time to go "home".

I've never been in January but the fact your so enthusiastic about it make me even more excited for that time of year

 

[Texans_loyal]

Well Howdy (OMG I'm so sorry, I just said that out loud and it sounds awful in a South London Accent lol - sounded more like "Owl"-"Dee")

So Watcha (sounds much better)

I have add your trip to the roll call - so when you know your 12-14 accommodation just let me know and I'll I update.

Also so glad you got your ADR.



I've never been in January but the fact your so enthusiastic about it make me even more excited for that time of year

the weather isn't predictable but that's part of the fun. the crowds are low and the lines are short. parks close early so you get to relax and enjoy the resort.

 

[MinMou]

I am ecstatic that I found this thread I actually tried to start a Jan 2018 thread elsewhere on the board, so now I know where I should have looked. I haven't read all through this yet, but I hope to this weekend.

We are going to be at the CR 1/20-28, and I booked this last year about this time. I know, crazy, but I didn't want a convention to come in and take up all the rooms before I could get a reservation. We will have a 4 year old , like you k8davies, and I have a fantastic trip planned for that kid! LOL.

I turned my ADR selections over to my travel agent this week (our first chance to make reservations is Monday!!!!), and now I am trying to work out our fast passes. It's hard to know what a 4 year old will like 6 months in advance, but that's a reason to go in January, so it will be easier to change them if we have to. I have flights picked out, but I am waiting a little longer before I book them.

Are any of you getting family tshirts? I'm not sure if we should. My husband says NO, but he is probably just tired of me talking about this, ALL. THE. TIME.

 

[han22735]

Today was our ADR day and boy was that easy. Didn't even get up right at 6am and there wasn't a single place not available. I was actually quite surprised and even booked a BOG ADR as a "just in case". I hope this is a good sign for crowd levels.

 

[MinMou]

Today was our ADR day and boy was that easy. Didn't even get up right at 6am and there wasn't a single place not available. I was actually quite surprised and even booked a BOG ADR as a "just in case". I hope this is a good sign for crowd levels.

Thank you for posting this. I am less nervous now for tomorrow, our ADR day. I also feel better about making a "just in case" reservation at Tusker house.

 

[IndianaRRT]

ADR morning, baby!! Other than Christmas and departure day, ADR day is the best reason to get up at 0445! We were super blessed to get all of our first choices today. With no further ado...

Arrival day: BOG dinner followed by HEA dessert party
Day 2: brunch at Kona (dinner that night at Flame Tree, which makes me a happy girl!)
Day 3: lunch at Sci-Fi Dine In. Right now, ADRs are not needed for our dinner choice, ESPN Club on the BoardWalk. But it's the day of the NFL conf championships. I feel like we'll need to watch that one.
Day 4: Dinner at Le Cellier. We'll eat our way around the World Showcase for lunch!

 

[katherine52478]

1/27-2/3 at BCV for me! Last trip was 11/16 with the hubby and son. This trip is with my mom, sister and son for my 40th! So excited! ADR's open on 7/31.

 

[k8Davies]

I am ecstatic that I found this thread I actually tried to start a Jan 2018 thread elsewhere on the board, so now I know where I should have looked. I haven't read all through this yet, but I hope to this weekend.

We are going to be at the CR 1/20-28, and I booked this last year about this time. I know, crazy, but I didn't want a convention to come in and take up all the rooms before I could get a reservation. We will have a 4 year old , like you k8davies, and I have a fantastic trip planned for that kid! LOL.

I am so glad you found us and to the thread I have added your trip to the roll call.

Also good luck with all your ADR I'm glad that most people seem to be getting their booking thanks @han22735 and @IndianaRRT for the updates.

Gives me hope that everyone will get what they want and because there's lots of space it means that it's not that busy.

We were thinking about out FP planning at the weekend as the little man will be 4 and he's tall, so debating Tower of Terror - Tall enough yes but is he ready as don't want a scarred for life situation lol

 

[k8Davies]

1/27-2/3 at BCV for me! Last trip was 11/16 with the hubby and son. This trip is with my mom, sister and son for my 40th! So excited! ADR's open on 7/31.

yay so glad you got your trip sorted and I hope you have a fab birthday

Make sure you wear your button so we can all say Happy Birthday

I've added your trip to the roll call and good luck with the ADRs.

 

[MamaJessie]

I keep checking for the January hours - not even sure why since I don't necessarily adhere to crowd calendars anyway. Just something to obsess over I guess

Also check for RoL and F! packages daily. I realized I made more ADRs than I have credits - oops! We have such a hard time trying new places when we have so many favorites. Not a bad problem to have I guess lol

 

[Kemilyna]

Hi everyone! We're going Jan 20-27 for our first trip! Ok, so technically it's my 2nd, but I was only 5 the first time and have very vague memories of MK and an under-construction Spaceship Earth. I woke up early this morning and got our ADRs: Hollywood & Vine (D), Crystal Palace (L), Fireworks Dessert Party, Biergarten (L), Le Cellier (D), Be Our Guest (Dinner), Tusker House (D), Sanaa (D). I had to call to book our Keys to the Kingdom tour and got my first taste of excellent Disney customer service.

We are so excited! 2018 is our 20th wedding anniversary year, and this is the kickoff of our year-long celebration. <3

 

[MelinaYasmin]

I started my ADR's!!! We're going 14 nights so I could only do 10 days of reservations, but still... I HAVE RESERVATIONS!!! It just makes it so much more real!

The only one I couldn't get was for dinner at House of Blues - but I don't know if it's because there is no more space, or if it's just not open for reservations yet. Does anyone know? Is it generally a hard reservation to get?

The ones I have so far are:
Ohana - dinner our first night
Boma - dinner too
Be Our Guest - breakfast
Homecomin
Boathouse
Kona
Via Napoli
50's Prime time
Morimoto
Bongo's Cuban Cafe

Im still missing Tusker House, BOG dinner and that House of Blues one I couldnt get yet.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Put us down for January 2018. We'll be at BWV from 1/20 to 1/27. This will be our third trip in January. We love going then since it's not terribly hot. Festival of the Arts and Pro Bowl seem to be bringing in more people during our week trip, though, than the same time frame of our 2015 trip. Still, we'd rather go in January than in the summer. Hope you enjoy your trip, OP. Bring a jacket for the evenings and in case of a cold day, but it's usually pretty nice.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Hi everyone! We're going Jan 20-27 for our first trip! Ok, so technically it's my 2nd, but I was only 5 the first time and have very vague memories of MK and an under-construction Spaceship Earth. I woke up early this morning and got our ADRs: Hollywood & Vine (D), Crystal Palace (L), Fireworks Dessert Party, Biergarten (L), Le Cellier (D), Be Our Guest (Dinner), Tusker House (D), Sanaa (D). I had to call to book our Keys to the Kingdom tour and got my first taste of excellent Disney customer service.

We are so excited! 2018 is our 20th wedding anniversary year, and this is the kickoff of our year-long celebration. <3

Too many coincidences so I had to comment.

1) We are going the same dates as you guys.

2) Our first trip was also for our 20th anniversary. Now we're hooked.

3) I also made ADRs this morning and have three of the same places booked as you guys: Fireworks Dessert Party (we'll be there on 1/21 and have the Garden Viewing section booked), BOG, and Tusker House.

Wishing you a wonderful anniversary trip!

 

[MinMou]

My TA was busy this morning! She got me all the restaurants I wanted, plus Pirates League and Lilo's Playhouse for my son, AND a fishing trip!
When I woke up, Chef Mickey was almost gone, so what she did was very appreciated.

Most of our ADRs are character meals for our 4 year old. Chef Mickey (D the night we arrive), Crystal Palace (B), Hollywood & Vine (B- for Disney Jr characters), Garden Grill(L), and 'Ohana (B the day we leave). We are also doing the Sci-Fi Drive In, Sanaa, T_Rex, the Boathouse, Biergarten, and we are hoping that our boy will stay at Lilo's Playhouse so we can go to California Grill like grown-ups.

It's amazing that we still have lots to plan - flights, FastPasses, Magic Bands, a grocery order - this feels more like an Exodus than a vacation! LOL

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

So today was our ADR day. I'm not a morning person, so instead I stayed up all night and was on the laptop at 5am my time with different tabs open to each of the restaurants we wanted all set and ready to go. Horror of horrors, I kept getting the PAWS error on the Disney website when using my laptop or Kindle. By 5:22, I was ready to give up and wait for the phone line to open when I decided to try the app on my phone. Wahoo! It worked for 9 of my 13 reservations. I had trouble with CRT, the Fireworks Dessert Party, afternoon tea, and Yak and Yeti even with the phone app. The nice lady on the other end of the phone line was able to help me with three of those four (and she said others had also mentioned having trouble with the online reservation system today), so here's how things played out for us:

Chefs de France arrival night dinner
Happily Ever After Fireworks Dessert Party Garden Viewing
BOG lunch x 2 different days
BOG dinner
Mama Melrose late lunch/early dinner (hope to exchange this for a dining pkg when available)
Bon Voyage Character Breakfast
Afternoon Tea at the GF
Tusker House breakfast (also hoping to trade this one for ROL dining pkg whenever released)
Boma dinner
Yak and Yeti lunch
Ohana dinner
Akershus breakfast

I had hoped for CRT, but no openings the two days we will be at MK. Perhaps just as well since I still also hope to book the Frozen Dessert Party and the SW Dessert Party when they open up. One of those can take the place of CRT's expense. I do have a couple of reservation finders active for it on Touring Plans, though, so we'll see what happens.

Curious if anyone else experienced trouble with the online reservation system today and if they were able to still get all of their ADRs? I can't help but wonder if I would have gotten CRT if I had tried the phone app right away. For anyone still waiting to make ADRs, have more than one device ready when your window opens up just in case you also end up with error messages.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

It's amazing that we still have lots to plan - flights, FastPasses, Magic Bands, a grocery order - this feels more like an Exodus than a vacation! LOL

I agree. After my trouble with ADRs this morning, I told my husband that planning for London in 2019 will be much easier than planning for WDW.