Official: January 2009

[smoochie]

January 25 to February 1st
First time land and sea.

Kids don't know yet

 

[gellybean]

We just switched from Feb 5-11 to Jan 21-27 b/c of DH job drama. Thankfully I had gotten airfare with Southwest and they don't charge for changing reservations! AND I was able to get all the same ADRs and actually got to add a few because we're not going to have to park hop as much to catch Spectro and Fantasmic! Go figure!!

We're staying at the POP but keeping my eyes open for codes for Wilderness Lodge. Would love to stay there in the winter!! (What little Winter there is in Florida )

 

[speaksfam]

We're there! Booked our Jan trip last Saturday and I am soooo excited. Last visit to WDW 2/07. We were in DL in March- alot of fun but not the same Would love to hear about the crowds on MLK day! Our vacation will be 1/14- 1/19 at Shades of Green. Can't wait

 

[tinkkkloveee13]

jan 7-13..running the 1/2 marathon and going to chefs tableeee :0) staying at beach club villas!! :0)

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Visiting WDW for the very first time from Jan. 10 - 16th. Celebrating DS's 13th birthday on January 11th .

Staying at POR and hoping we'll get weather decent enough to swim at least a few times. From our frosty corner of Canada, anything over 60 degrees will do just fine!!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Hi everyone. I just joined the boards today. My family and I are also going in January. We will be there from January 24th-31st. We were originally planning on going in February on DD's winter break, but once airfare came out, we couldn't afford it. So, we are pulling her out of school (she'll be 6 next month and is in 1st grade). Oh, one more thing! She doesn't know we're going! We don't plan on telling her at all. When we wake up at the crack of dawn, we are just telling her we are getting on an airplane and going somewhere. She is going to flip out!

We went two years ago with my parents and sister and she had a blast. We have never been in the winter, so I'm still trying to figure out what to pack. I guess I will just have to wait to check out the weather the week before we go. It will be nice to get out of Buffalo for a week! I can't wait!

 

[jcemom]

Welcome to the DIS!

My DD will be 6 next month also and is in first grade, but we homeschool so I don't have to pull her out for our trip.

As for what to pack... pretty much a little of everything, LOL. Really, my family calls January at Disney "pack everything but the kitchen sink" weather. We've needed swimsuits and coats/mittens all in the same week.

Still, even if it gets cold enough to need coats and mittens, it's only for a couple of days and it warms up again. It's way better than our weather at home!

Last year during the last week or so of January we got one day in the mid-upper 70's, we visited Blizzard Beach that day, and a couple of nights in the low 40's... eek. That was the coldest weather we've had in quite a few late January trips. We've had days in the 80's before, but not last year.

 

[dundeehunter]

DH, DD12 & DD9 and myself are making our way down to Pop Century for another January visit to WDW. We will be celebrating my DD's 10th birthday while we are there. I can't wait to start packing. I am just hoping that the airlines will have better specials coming out in the next couple of months. In the past years, I have been able to find excellent deals for AirTran....but nothing so far.

I have my fridge and coffee pot all set up in a fridge swap. Has anyone done LaNouba and how far out do I need to make reservations?

 

[Singinglizzie]

HI Everyone. We will be there Jan 21-25 @ CSR, or at least that is the current plan. We have already bought our airline tix, but I am thinking of shifting our dates to Jan 22-27, since I can get direct flights, on those days. I couldn't reach anyone at Continental yesterday since they were busy redirecting all their passengers who were affected by IKE. I am a bit nervous to switch without knowing for sure what discounts are available, so I will have to decide today if I should just wait to October to see what is what. In any event we will be there Jan!! whohoo

 

[disneygrl122]

Hello everybody! My DBF and I are also going in January. We'll be over there from Jan. 3- 13 and staying at POR. I hear its very beautiful. It will be my first time ever at WDW! We're going to celebrate my 21st birthday, my real bday is in December but because of school and finals we wont be able to go until January. But its all good because I finally get to go! We also will be doing the Circle of Life 5k. Im soo out of shape but how can i pass up a chance to do a race in AK? I'm so excited! I can't wait!!

 

[stresspenguin]

Hi Everyone!

Our DD will be 4 in January and now that she's officially potty trained we're rewarding her (and ourselves LOL) with a trip to Disney World. Woo Hoo!!!! My DH wanted to go in the spring but I booked our flight for January 23-30th because I couldn't wait anymore LOL

We used to go several times a year before she was born, so these last almost 5 years have seemed like an eternity! My last trip was for my 30th birthday and this trip we'll be there celebrating my 35th and our daughter's 4th so that'll make it extra special. My BIL and SIL and their boys will be taking the trip too and it'll be the boys' first trip to DW - they are 9 and 12. We are planning to surprise the kids at Christmas with the trip. My inlaws, my parents and my other BIL and SIL may also join us and my brother and his family already live in Orlando so it'll be quite a party if everybody happens to go. I better put aspirin on my packing list.....LOL

I haven't booked the hotel yet, but I'm leaning towards CSR. I've stayed there for Orlando CKU and it was wonderful. My only concern is being able to get to the Magic Kingdom for an early princess breakfast at CRT and returning from a fireworks cruise at Epcot since we didn't plan on renting a car while at the parks. I'll probably just need to judge it when I get there and decide at that point if I need to rent a car to save my sanity...

Heidi

Yacht Club ~ Honeymoon ~1997
Wilderness Lodge May 1999
Dixie Landings 2000
Boardwalk 2001
Animal Kingdom 2001
Boardwalk 2002
Coronado Springs 2003
Animal Kingdom 2003
Pop Century 2004

 

[Poohbear Family]

YAY! We're going from Jan 23 - Jan 31! I'm so excited! I feel like I have so much to plan in the next 4 months (shouldn't be hard w/ Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and a couple birthdays between now and then, right?).

Keeping my fingers crossed that they'll have the Pirates and Princesses party while we're there!

 

[manntra]

Jan 12-17th for my second trip home this time at SSR. Taking my niece Kaila (19) as she is on break that month from college. Have never gone in the winter so it will be great to leave the snow and ice behind for a week!

 

[frankenpooh]

January 9-12 for me! DH and I are both running the 1/2 marathon. It's our first WDW trip without the kids (woo-hoo!). We'll be at POFQ.

 

[kids of the kingdom]

I'd love some advice from our experienced DISers about going to the World in January. We've always gone in the late summer/early fall.

How's the weather? Which resort is best? Are there any deals people have gotten in the past that are traditionally January deals? What special events have happened in January? Are there times I should avoid going in January?

What are your experiences?

The thing is, we're planning the DS's 5th Bday for mid Jan 2010. DD had her's there. It was unforgetable! A little girl's dream. We're hoping to capture some magic for the DS, too.

Thanks!

 

[jcemom]

January is great in terms of crowds... or lack of crowds. The first few days are crowded but once the New Year's crowds leave the rest of the month is great. The marathon brings people in, but from what I've read the parks are still uncrowded, you just need to work around the runners and what parks they'll be going through, be wary of closed roads, etc, but that's only for the weekend. MLK weekend also brings in crowds, but again, it's really only for a few days then they taper off again. We've gone the last week of January several times and it's very nice and very uncrowded. This year we arrive over MLK weekend though.

As far as weather goes, it's variable... very variable, LOL. We've had days where we went to Blizzard Beach and days where we wore mittens all in the same week. Most days are pleasant for park touring but you do need to be prepared for hot days and cold nights both. Layers of clothing work well, IMO, because it's usually cool in the mornings and evenings but warms up nicely by midday.

Special events... New Year's eve celebrations, the Marathon, and the last two years there were Pirate and Princess Parties, though it doesn't look like they're having it in January next year, darn it.

There have been deals in January for as long as I've been checking. The last few years it's been discounted packages rather than discounted room-only rates.

As for which resort is best, it's a matter of opinion, I think. My favorite is Animal Kingdom Lodge, followed by Port Orleans (Riverside and French Quarter are both great). The only value resort I've stayed at is Pop Century. It's brightly decorated and clean with a great selection in the food court and doesn't share buses with any other resort and has only one bus stop itself. There isn't any resort I've stayed at that I disliked though.

Still on my to-stay list is the Polynesian. Up to now it's been beyond my budget. It's in such a convenient location, as are the Contemporary and Grand Floridian.

 

[kids of the kingdom]

Tracey, that's a big help. I love the planning stages almost as much as actually going Stayed in POFQ last time and POR coming up. Did you find any problems with the busses @ these resorts? (ie overcrowded/underserviced?) Did you find it took much travel time when staying @ AKL? I hope they bring back Pirates and Princesses for Jan 2010. DD and DS would LOVE it (and me, too!)

 

[jcemom]

I didn't mind the buses. POFQ is nice because there's only one stop, but then you usually have to hit all the POR stops before heading to the parks. Coming back you're usually the first off the bus and that's nice too. At POR the POFQ folks are usually on the bus by the time it gets to you, but in less crowded times of year it's not a big deal at all. Personally, I don't mind hitting multiple stops within one resort. It's hitting multiple stops at different resorts that tries my patience (like BW, BC and YC sharing with the Swan and Dolphin... ugh).

As for AKL, personally I LOVE the bus service there. When the DVC section opens next year there will be an additional stop to make, but for now it's only one stop. When we've been there the buses have not generally been crowded except for park closing after Spectro, Illuminations or Fantasmic. Even then, if you hang out in the park for 15 minutes or so, slowly make your way to the bus stop, by the time you got there it shouldn't be bad. Oddly enough the buses we've waited the longest for at AKL were AK buses. Strange. But even then it wasn't ever over 15 minutes.

I've heard many people complain about AKL being too far away from the parks, but when I timed it I couldn't tell a difference. We got to MK via bus from AKL in about the same amount of time we got there via boat from WL, for example. Once on the bus it was around 15-20 minutes on average to MK, 10-15 to DHS and Epcot, and only 5-10 to AK. Downtown felt like a long haul though, 30 minutes or so if I remember correctly.

Oh, and that reminds me, I LOVE the boat to DtD from POR and POFQ! Oh, and if you haven't seen him be sure to check out Bob Jackson aka Piano Bob at POR's River Roost Lounge. He's a riot!

 

[manntra]

Thanks for the weather information....I usually travel in the summer when it is hot, hot, hot so it will be a nice change. I am thinking capris might be safe?

Just had my first trip "home" to AKV in August and the bus service was great. Only one time did we wait long and that was for DTD. I just love the atmosphere and really just everything about this resort!

I am hoping for the PandP too....Went last year and it rained the whole night. They still had the special parade and fireworks but of course it would have been nicer without the rain so I would love to do it again.

Anyone have any special dinner plans? My niece is kind of picky so I am not sure what to do with her! Can never go wrong with breakfast so maybe we will try for something at Crystal Palace of ooooh even the Castle? I did Chef Mickey's in August and we had fun there too. There are places that I would like to go but we will probably just play it by ear...I have years of DVC vacations ahead of me so there will always be time.

Tracy

 

[kids of the kingdom]

We absolutely, hands down, LOVED CRT. Took DD there as her Bday treat after BBB. The food was some of the best we've enjoyed in the parks. Our DD and DS are both picky, too, but for some reason they did eat here. Guess it was part of the magic Each princess spent individual time with each of our kids, chatting, posing for pictures. We'd definitely do this again.