Tell me about New Year's Day and first week in January

[GCM]

My family has always gone during September or December free dining. This year due to conflicting schedules we are planning to go to DW on December 31 and leaving January 7. I can find information about parks closing on New Year's Eve, but can't find anything regarding New Year's Day. Are the parks to capacity on New Year's Day too? What's the week like? I've looked at crowd calendars and then I've read posts, but I guess I'm looking for some reassurance that even though the crowds will be larger than September/early December we will still have a great time...???

Also, if a discount comes out for midweek and I add that to our reservation, will we have to check out and check back in or how exactly is that handled?

Thanks for the help!!!

 

[Eastern]

Go to Epcot on NYE, they never close. Plenty of room. (long ride waits though)

New Year's Day will be busy, but if you get a very early start you can still get on a few rides. It's nothing like NYE.

People will start to leave after NY Day because they have to get the kids back to school, so you should be ok the rest of that week.

 

[WooPigScientist]

People will start to leave after NY Day because they have to get the kids back to school, so you should be ok the rest of that week.

Due to the way the holiday falls this year, our school is out until Jan 3. I could see some families staying later to combine the holiday with a shortened school week so they get more WDW days with fewer absences (while hoping for lower crowds than Christmas week, etc). We considered this, but since the holiday ends up running smack into the marathon, I'm wondering if that whole week might stay more crowded than the past couple years. We were there that week last year, and while marathon crowds weren't horrible, we could tell a difference vs our previous trip in late Jan. Still very manageable with a loose game plan though!

 

[PrincessJo]

We arrived on NYE and didn't have a dinner reservation. We took the bus to what was then Downtown Disney and found a table at Planet Hollywood with no wait. It's busy, but it's not that bad. We still had a good time.

New Year's Day was busy, but the crowds dwindled after that. We head to the parks early when the crowds are smaller and take a break when they get heavier in the afternoon. Back to the parks at night and we had no problems riding everything we wanted.

I think you'll have tons of fun!

 

[GCM]

Thanks for the information. I'm glad to hear NY Day is manageable. I know we are spoiled by low crowd levels, but I keep telling myself crowded Disney is better than no Disney at all! I wish we could go later in January, but that too doesn't fit our schedule. It's either first week of January or wait until May 2017 and no one wants to wait that long.

 

[pa. dad]

We spent New Years day 2016 at the ak. It was crowded but we thought it'd be the best choice for the day. A lot of people including us arrived a little later as they had been out the night before. The next few days (MK and EP) were extremely crowded also.
But like you, this was the only time we could get allthe family so we did it over the holiday.

 

[BelleinPA]

Hi! Our only holiday trip was Jan. 1, 2015-Jan. 6, 2015. We arrived around 2 pm on New Year's Day and went to the MK around 5. We had an ADR at the Plaza and our 3 fastpass+ reservations, and were able to do much more that night. The crowds thinned out as it got later. I think everyone was tired from being up for NYE!!
We did not think the crowds were really that bad. We are used to summer (August) crowds. The rest of the week was crowded, but not horrible. As many people say, there are no "slow" times in WDW anymore. You will have a great time!! Even though the holiday season was winding down, it was really festive!