**The Official January 2012 WDW Thread**

[ladyfoundhertramp]

i should probably pay for the rest of our trip's balance :|

HAHA!! us too!

 

[ladyfoundhertramp]

January Travel Tips:

Since we are all going in January I thought we could share tips for going that month..and for those that have never been in January they can take a few pointers

I always pack hats/gloves/scarves/ponchos, because the weather is crazy!! To save room in your luggage for these bulkier items just vacumn seal them and if you need them just pop it open. It's much better to have them on hand then pay $30 for winter hat/gloves at the Emporium!!

 

[sunnylyn39402]

New Question of The Day: What Are You Doing This Month To Prepare for Your Trip?

This is a great question! I decided to start taking notes based on other posters' responses. I'm going by myself, so I don't have much to do to get ready for the trip. I have the week before my trip off from work, so I plan to do my packing and final preparations at that time.

This is the list I made after reading the other posts:

1. Pack swimsuit, shorts, scarf, and gloves. (Those items sound strange in the same sentence; however I must be prepared for variations in weather.)
2. Break in new tennis shoes.
3. Pay trip balance.
4. Finalize park touring plans and ADR's, and check park hours one last time before leaving.

 

[Colleen27]

4. Finalize park touring plans and ADR's, and check park hours one last time before leaving.

That's a good one to keep in mind. Final updates should come out around the middle of the month if Disney follows the pattern of recent months, and no doubt there will be at least some changes.

 

[Colleen27]

January Travel Tips:

Since we are all going in January I thought we could share tips for going that month..and for those that have never been in January they can take a few pointers

I like to travel as light as possible, so my tip is not to pack until you can see the weather forecast for your travel dates. I'll probably be packing on Jan 20!

Also, bring warm bathrobes. Disney's pools are heated to near-bathwater temps, making winter swimming a definite possibility, but the walk back to the room while wet can be a long, cold, unpleasant experience. A good thick bathrobe is the difference between sprinting while shivering and enjoying a nice post-swim stroll.

 

[carebee21]

I'm also working on finalizing our ADRs and other plans (and entertaining the thought of yet another resort change This one is all DD3's fault!) but the word "final" is one I use rather generously. Odds are I'll keep making minor changes until a week or so before the trip when I print out my plan cards.

So what resort are you thinking about changing to? Maybe we can help you make a decision

I actually made a lot of progress on my Disney World to do list this weekend. I got the house clean, laundry done and we got the Christmas tree up and decorated, so I figured I'd go through things and pull out some of the summer items. DS and I got that all done and the items are stowed in a tote in the closet.

I really wanted to go buy some new tennis shoes this weekend to start breaking in, but I thought about it being crowded with Christmas shoppers and trying to shop with DS, so I decided I'd go on Thursday before he gets out of school. Hopefully I'll be able to find what I need!

Hope you all had a great and productive weekend!!!

 

[Colleen27]

So what resort are you thinking about changing to? Maybe we can help you make a decision

I actually made a lot of progress on my Disney World to do list this weekend. I got the house clean, laundry done and we got the Christmas tree up and decorated, so I figured I'd go through things and pull out some of the summer items. DS and I got that all done and the items are stowed in a tote in the closet.

I really wanted to go buy some new tennis shoes this weekend to start breaking in, but I thought about it being crowded with Christmas shoppers and trying to shop with DS, so I decided I'd go on Thursday before he gets out of school. Hopefully I'll be able to find what I need!

Hope you all had a great and productive weekend!!!

Thinking about switching from Port Orleans Riverside to Pop Century. DD3 has been practically obsessed with Pop since our March trip (all week when we were there she'd see the sign and say "I home!", and she actually cried from missing the oversized Lady icon when we left). Plus my brother is working temp/part time at best so my mom is paying for his trip and would appreciate saving the few hundred dollars from downgrading. And Pop's size/layout is an advantage for winter trips - no long walk to the room from the food court or pool - and we loved having dedicated buses with only the one stop.

My only hesitation is the sleeping situation - at POR each of the kids would have their own bed because of the trundles, while at Pop the girls would have to share and we'd be bringing an air mattress for DS. It would be the 7 of us in two rooms (connecting request) for 8 nights and I'm just not sure if that's going to be too-close quarters even for as little waking time as we spend in our rooms.

I got nothing done today, thanks to some lovely meds for a sinus headache that leave me in another world, but DH took my advice and picked up his much-needed new shoes now to have time to break them in and we should have the rest of the holiday preparations done by the end of the week so we can turn our attention to the rest of the trip to-dos.

 

[carebee21]

Thinking about switching from Port Orleans Riverside to Pop Century. DD3 has been practically obsessed with Pop since our March trip (all week when we were there she'd see the sign and say "I home!", and she actually cried from missing the oversized Lady icon when we left). Plus my brother is working temp/part time at best so my mom is paying for his trip and would appreciate saving the few hundred dollars from downgrading. And Pop's size/layout is an advantage for winter trips - no long walk to the room from the food court or pool - and we loved having dedicated buses with only the one stop.

My only hesitation is the sleeping situation - at POR each of the kids would have their own bed because of the trundles, while at Pop the girls would have to share and we'd be bringing an air mattress for DS. It would be the 7 of us in two rooms (connecting request) for 8 nights and I'm just not sure if that's going to be too-close quarters even for as little waking time as we spend in our rooms.

I got nothing done today, thanks to some lovely meds for a sinus headache that leave me in another world, but DH took my advice and picked up his much-needed new shoes now to have time to break them in and we should have the rest of the holiday preparations done by the end of the week so we can turn our attention to the rest of the trip to-dos.

Are you guys on the free dining plan? If you are, keep in mind that values only get the QSDP and if you're upgrading to the regular plan, that eats into the cost savings of a value.

I'm not much help though. I loved POR and hated Pop, so I'm biased. We had a brazilian tour group staying in the block of rooms right above our room last January at Pop and they were LOUD, amongst other issues. But if your daughter loves Pop, I can see why you're conflicted!

 

[Colleen27]

Are you guys on the free dining plan? If you are, keep in mind that values only get the QSDP and if you're upgrading to the regular plan, that eats into the cost savings of a value.

I'm not much help though. I loved POR and hated Pop, so I'm biased. We had a brazilian tour group staying in the block of rooms right above our room last January at Pop and they were LOUD, amongst other issues. But if your daughter loves Pop, I can see why you're conflicted!

Yeah, we are on free dining and that does eat into the savings. For my family the difference is only about $200. But for my mom, it is close to $500 because they're just two adults so the difference in DDP upgrade costs isn't as signficant as the difference in room rates, particularly since we're comparing garden view at POR to standard at POP.

I didn't even think about tour groups! I was under the impression most of the Brazilian groups stay offsite.

I didn't really love POR when we stayed there, but that was the first year of free dining and they seemed rather caught off guard by the occupancy level so I'm willing to give it another chance. I'm a bit worried about the lack of elevators in the AB section, though, and I'm not sure we'll get much use of the pool slide/hot tub because of the potentially long walk back to the room. The compact size of Pop was really nice, and DD3 is just so cute in her love for the place. POR is beautiful but I don't think it has the same little kid appeal as the bright, oversized value themes. Right now I'm leaning toward changing but I'm going to sleep on it and see how it looks in the morning.

 

[KaseeLee]

Now that we are less than 30 days until we get to the magic things are falling into place. Over Thanksgiving we finally got to figure everything out. This is the plan:
We arrive Sunday, Jan 1st at 12:30pm, pick up our rental at 1pm and head to the condo to unload then off to pick up our tickets. We have a free ticket so we are thinking of heading to MK to do a few things, but nothing really planned. We will need to go to the grocery store at some point that day (we are eatting most breakfasts at the condo).
Monday Jan 2nd is HS with Fantasmic ressies at Mama Melrose's at 2:50pm
Tuesday Jan 3rd is MK with CRT @ 2:35pm...I have seen a couple different times for the parade 3 and 3:30....does anyone know which is correct because the parade is a must and if we are having lunch at the time of the parade we will need to see it on Sunday?
Wednesday is Harry Potter World full of Butter Beer....we are obsessed with HP
Thursday is AK with 1900 Park Fare at 8am....we wanted to be at AK by 8:45am but we know that is not going to happen so we will stay til the park closes.
Friday is Epcot and we are drinking around the world....we are going to make it happen one way or another.
Saturday we leave but not til 5pm with no plans because we are thinking we will be a bit hung over.....we may head Downtown Disney for the afternoon.

Please feel free to comment on any or all of our ideas.....oh and our car rental is only $114 with taxes for the week....go me!!!!!

 

[tommygirl79]

I like to travel as light as possible, so my tip is not to pack until you can see the weather forecast for your travel dates. I'll probably be packing on Jan 20!

Also, bring warm bathrobes. Disney's pools are heated to near-bathwater temps, making winter swimming a definite possibility, but the walk back to the room while wet can be a long, cold, unpleasant experience. A good thick bathrobe is the difference between sprinting while shivering and enjoying a nice post-swim stroll.

OOoohhhh - the bathrobes are a great idea! I'm adding that to our list for sure!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

I've got nothing. I put together a snowflake design that came out okay, but not quite what I was looking for, and every other design I tried to work out ended up too busy. I think I'm going to do something a little different this year, inspired my my DS13's duct tape adventures... I found lime green duct tape and I think I'm going to do my tags that way. Last trip, the photo tags came off their ribbons when they got wet despite my packing-tape "lamination" and duct tape will be much more weather-resistant.

This is the snowflake I came up with. I can upload the blank if anyone is interested, but like I said I'm not real happy with the design. I like yours better!

We're going later in January so really this month is just about picking up some odds and ends in between preparing for the holidays. Most things will wait until after Christmas, when things (hopefully!) slow down around here!

I am keeping an eye out for some snow/winter themed window clings as I'm out doing holiday shopping, I ordered the EL wire kit to deck out DD3's stroller (lime green, of course), and I'm making sure things like swimsuits and sandals still fit. I'm also working on finalizing our ADRs and other plans (and entertaining the thought of yet another resort change This one is all DD3's fault!) but the word "final" is one I use rather generously. Odds are I'll keep making minor changes until a week or so before the trip when I print out my plan cards.

Okay, is there a way to make a hybrid of your LGMH with our snowflake overlay? We are not that good with photoshop or any other artsy computer programs...not like you! What do you think? You are a busy woman, so please do not take this on if you can't!!

 

[Kazooie01]

January Travel Tips:
These our more general park tips but I’d thought I’d throw them out there

(*The tip on the robes is a great one, the kids and I live for the sprint back to the room every January night we swim! Lol)

1. A good clothing tip for the young ones- Pack a few pair of the cheap two/three pack knit stretch gloves/mittens (Wal-Mart for a buck or two). They work perfect on the cool mornings/evenings for little hands and it’s no big deal if they get misplaced.

2. With a little strategic use of the FastPass system (Toy Story, Soarin’, Everest, TOT, Space Mountain, etc.) you shouldn’t have a wait over 20-25 minutes (including MLK weekend). We’ve had years with nothing over a 10 minute wait (later in the month).

3. Use the Extra Magic Hours. In January it takes a lot longer to warm up in the morning and it gets cooler quicker at night. This tends to scare away some of the crowds. The late night EMH’s (10pm-12am) can give you a near empty park. So, if you can stand the cold…

4. Be on the lookout for rare characters. Over our last 5 Januarys, due to the weather and the crowds being down Disney sometimes throws the customer a bone. We were at Hollywood Studios a few years back on a cool rainy morning and they sent out 16 characters (in one location at the same time!!!). Clarice, Cruella, Ratcliffe, Bullseye, Bert, Mr. Penguin, Maleficent, Prince John, Rabbit, Foulfellow and Max are some of the “not as common” characters we’ve seen out and about in January.

5. Keep an eye out for good deals on leftover Holiday merchandise. Last year my daughter was able to get three cute WDW Christmas shirts for $5.00 each. We bought a size up and they fit her great this year.

Hope they help (I’m sure I’ll think of a few more).

 

[Marshay]

Bring a duffle bag, backpack or other bag to put your extra clothes in during the day.

In the AM, you'll have many layers but come afternoon it may actually start to get nice out or even warm. You'll want a place to put all the jackets/coats/scarves/gloves when you don't need them and to prevent them from getting lost. But as soon as the sun starts going down, it'll get cold/cool again and you'll want them close by.

 

[keypooh90]

Thanks for the bathrobe tip! We have never done a January trip so we appreciate the tips. I love the LGMH with the snowflakes!

 

[ppony]

DUDE! Who has room in luggage for a robe? I swear, I'm not sure I can pack any lighter. I'm even skimpin' on the skimpies! I long for the days of more than a stinkin breadbox to travel with.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Since we drive, I always over pack. DH says I need to go lighter and I probably will this time, since we will be in a Villa for a few days and will have a washer and dryer.

I don't even own a bathrobe, but we have so much going on, we probably wouldn't have time for a swim. I am secretly wishing for a warm enough day to venture over to whichever water park is open, but I can bet it won't be. There have only been a few times we have been able to use the pool in December.

 

[Cin]

oh and our car rental is only $114 with taxes for the week....go me!!!!!

Where in the world did you find rates like that?!!! I have looked and I can't find anything even close. In fact we decided it would be cheaper to get a cab the 6 times we will need one at 20 each ride. But with your rates, it might be less to rent. GO you!

 

[Cin]

What are you doing to prepare for next month's trip?:

Just looking at resort pics and dining menus for our upcoming ADR's. Not much else since I am still trying to get Christmas things taken care of first and a big test at work that I am studying for (a recertification we have to get every two years). I will probably not have much more time for WDW stuff until after the first of the year and the holidays are behind us.

 

[PolkaDotLuggage]

YAY! Finally purchased our tix to the parks during my lunch break! I had been holding off waiting for my vacation to get approved!! I may have shed a tear or 2!! Let the countdown to January 14th begin (or continue..)