Thoughts on first week of January?

[shosh1530]

Alright, it might be finally time to plan our first WDW vacation for real! I booked a few different WDW resorts over the past two years, but always ended up cancelling in favor Disneyland trips since we are much closer to California.

I'm considering the first week in January 2023 (like Jan 1 or 2 through the 7th. Our kid will be out of school that week as the winter vacation falls later this year. Of course that means everyone else's winter breaks are probably later too? This would allow us to possibly visit family before NYE and then make our way to WDW just after the holiday (or New Year's Day it isn't too crazy).

Any thoughts on the parks/resorts that first week in January vs. the week between Christmas and New Year's? Any events or other things to be aware of?

Overall resort prices seem reasonable compared to December 2022. We are a family of 3, but also need at least three sleep surfaces. Thinking about CBR or POR with the 5th sleeper availability. I'm assuming the Skyliner is pretty reliable this time of year? We probably can't afford deluxe without a pretty good discount, although maybe we could try a split stay.

Thoughts on CBR or POR? Or another option I'm not considering?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

While I wouldn’t necessarily avoid these dates, it’s important to note the WDW Marathon weekend is 1/5-1/8, which is considered one of the more popular runD events of the year. 5k 1/5, 10k 1/6, Half 1/7, Full 1/8. The 5 and 10k are generally non issues for guests. Half is mostly a non issue but does start to bleed into some select park time and early morning logistics, the full is more material as there are a lot of road closures and other adjustments that day.

That said, rates after New Years are definitely lower than late December and you’re more likely to get a future discount. Discounts covering late December are usually non-existent.

Hope that helps.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Year or so before Covid we went in January. Cold. All three days we were there. There was snow on the ground just north...yes...in Florida on our way down. We rode Splash twice in a row with no wait. Got wet. Got miserable. Had my mother and aunt in tow driving them to their Ft Lauderdale condo. They almost refused to head to HDDR with us. Got there and it was a cold wait.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I'm considering the first week in January 2023 (like Jan 1 or 2 through the 7th.

The parks are still busy that week but it will be less crowded then the week between Christmas and New Years. There will be plenty of Christmas decorations up, too.

As far as the marathon goes, just avoid going to MK on Saturday and Sunday and you should be okay. If you decide to stay at CBR then you can use the Skyliner on those days. We really like POR and the boat to Disney Springs.

 

[shosh1530]

While I wouldn’t necessarily avoid these dates, it’s important to note the WDW Marathon weekend is 1/5-1/8, which is considered one of the more popular runD events of the year. 5k 1/5, 10k 1/6, Half 1/7, Full 1/8. The 5 and 10k are generally non issues for guests. Half is mostly a non issue but does start to bleed into some select park time and early morning logistics, the full is more material as there are a lot of road closures and other adjustments that day.

That said, rates after New Years are definitely lower than late December and you’re more likely to get a future discount. Discounts covering late December are usually non-existent.

Hope that helps.

It does! I didn't realize about the runD events happening that week. We would likely be heading home by either the 1/6 or 1/7 so maybe we'd miss the worst of it.

The parks are still busy that week but it will be less crowded then the week between Christmas and New Years. There will be plenty of Christmas decorations up, too.

As far as the marathon goes, just avoid going to MK on Saturday and Sunday and you should be okay. If you decide to stay at CBR then you can use the Skyliner on those days. We really like POR and the boat to Disney Springs.

Yeah, the Christmas stuff still happening is a part of the appeal for sure! Good tip on avoiding MK on those days. POR sure looks lovely! I might have to book both and decide as it gets closer. Right now CBR seems like it has more food options that would work for us (picky kid, plus vegetarian adults). Is it easy to walk over to POFQ for food too?

 

[Selket]

Alright, it might be finally time to plan our first WDW vacation for real! I booked a few different WDW resorts over the past two years, but always ended up cancelling in favor Disneyland trips since we are much closer to California.

I'm considering the first week in January 2023 (like Jan 1 or 2 through the 7th. Our kid will be out of school that week as the winter vacation falls later this year. Of course that means everyone else's winter breaks are probably later too? This would allow us to possibly visit family before NYE and then make our way to WDW just after the holiday (or New Year's Day it isn't too crazy).

Any thoughts on the parks/resorts that first week in January vs. the week between Christmas and New Year's? Any events or other things to be aware of?

Overall resort prices seem reasonable compared to December 2022. We are a family of 3, but also need at least three sleep surfaces. Thinking about CBR or POR with the 5th sleeper availability. I'm assuming the Skyliner is pretty reliable this time of year? We probably can't afford deluxe without a pretty good discount, although maybe we could try a split stay.

Thoughts on CBR or POR? Or another option I'm not considering?

Many years ago we'd go after the New Year and this was before Run Disney - seems like a lot of people were still there hitting the parks after going to the football Bowl games in Florida or coming then to avoid the week between Christmas and New Year. The weather was....pretty meh. Sunny, warm days are amazing but you can have 50 degrees and rain. If you're prepared for cold, cloudy and rain (and cold rain - haha!) you'll be fine and maybe you'll end up with sunny and 70 all week!

Have you looked at some of the renovated All Star suites? They have a bedroom with a queen bed plus TWO pull down queen beds. Everyone would get a queen bed and you'd have more space in the room overall. The 5th sleeper rooms at POR, etc. are cute but those beds are small - perhaps find a YouTube video room tour so see what you think of the options.

 

[shosh1530]

Many years ago we'd go after the New Year and this was before Run Disney - seems like a lot of people were still there hitting the parks after going to the football Bowl games in Florida or coming then to avoid the week between Christmas and New Year. The weather was....pretty meh. Sunny, warm days are amazing but you can have 50 degrees and rain. If you're prepared for cold, cloudy and rain (and cold rain - haha!) you'll be fine and maybe you'll end up with sunny and 70 all week!

I kind of hate the sun (mild sun allergy) so the possibility of cloudy sounds great! And I'd much rather be cold than hot. The only bummer would be for swimming that time of year.

Have you looked at some of the renovated All Star suites? They have a bedroom with a queen bed plus TWO pull down queen beds. Everyone would get a queen bed and you'd have more space in the room overall. The 5th sleeper rooms at POR, etc. are cute but those beds are small - perhaps find a YouTube video room tour so see what you think of the options.

Good point on the beds being small. I'll check out some videos. DS did well in the ones at the Grand Californian this past year, so I wonder if they are any smaller than those? Of course, he is only going to get bigger and will already be 11 if we go in January.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Is it easy to walk over to POFQ for food too?

It is a quick walk over to POFQ from POR. The boat stops there, too, although the boat doesn't start running until 10am.

 

[Selket]

I kind of hate the sun (mild sun allergy) so the possibility of cloudy sounds great! And I'd much rather be cold than hot. The only bummer would be for swimming that time of year.


Good point on the beds being small. I'll check out some videos. DS did well in the ones at the Grand Californian this past year, so I wonder if they are any smaller than those? Of course, he is only going to get bigger and will already be 11 if we go in January.

Hmmm...I bet the pull down beds (for kids) are all the same size but good question! We had one once and it was ok for kids - kinda depends on the size of your kid! I agree that I don't mind it being cooler and I can handle rain. We were there once in early January and it was chilly and rainy and I remember getting hot chocolate! We were there early December this past year and I was able to wear long sleeves and bought a cute pom pom ear (like Mickey ears) knit hat. If you have a kiddo intent on swimming the pools will be open but it might be cold!

 

[TheHulamuffins]

We have had wonderful times at WDW with a group of 6-8 from 2 or 3 families, arriving a few days before New Years Day and generally staying through the Run Disney events, in which we do not participate. We have done this a number of years in a row, because it works with everyone's schedule.

The crowds drop off a bit after the New Year, though the parks are still more crowded than they are at most other times of the year. The Christmas decorations are usually still up when we arrive, which we appreciate, and there is Christmas music in some of the locales. We have been able to make most of the dining reservations we wanted, starting when we are first eligible to make reservations.

The weather has generally been quite nice. I only recall one year with substantial rain while we were there. A few times, it was warm enough to swim outdoors in January, which I really enjoyed. An advantage, though, is that it is nowhere close to as hot as it is in the summer. So if your energy holds out, you can spend the entire day in a park, without needing to go back to the hotel. Sometimes we had dinner in a park, sometimes not.

Given the crowd level, it is helpful to have a group that can take it easy and that does not have to go on every attraction--if people were insistent on getting on every ride, they would need to get up early (for rope drop), which is not our style on vacation, even at WDW. Genie+ did not work very well for us, for that reason. My nephew was deputed (willingly) to get up at 7 am to make a Genie+ reservation, and then he went back to sleep. Having said that, when Rise of the Resistance opened and the next year, we got to Hollywood Studios between 6 and 6:30, specifically to get a boarding group for that ride. That worked fine. I think we ended those days earlier than normal, though.

 

[TheHulamuffins]

Oh, also, the Skyliner was great--it is almost like an extra ride. I guess it is an extra ride. We used it both for transportation between sites, and also just for riding around. Very interesting views, and no problems with the Skyliner.

 

[shosh1530]

We have had wonderful times at WDW with a group of 6-8 from 2 or 3 families, arriving a few days before New Years Day and generally staying through the Run Disney events, in which we do not participate. We have done this a number of years in a row, because it works with everyone's schedule.

The crowds drop off a bit after the New Year, though the parks are still more crowded than they are at most other times of the year. The Christmas decorations are usually still up when we arrive, which we appreciate, and there is Christmas music in some of the locales. We have been able to make most of the dining reservations we wanted, starting when we are first eligible to make reservations.

Thanks for your insights! Given our school schedules I feel like we are pretty relegated to going when it peak crowds. Our other options are basically spring break and summer. We are usually able to hit the parks pretty early, although our kid can't really hack rope drop (we aim for just after). We have used DAS at Disneyland, so that will likely be helpful for us in WDW and we definitely won't even attempt to ride everything.

I love the idea of taking the Skyliner, but I have no idea how my kid will react to it. He has an intermittent fear of heights. He refused to ride the gondolas at the San Diego Zoo in 2021 and was fearful on the escalators and bridges. But then he did just fine with rides that went up high (including Mickey's Wheel of Death aka Pixar Pal Around ferris wheel) on our recent trip to Disneyland. I wish I had a crystal ball!

 

[TheHulamuffins]

You are enclosed in a car in the gondola, which might help your son. You can see out through the windows, but it feels pretty secure. The gondola moves up fairly rapidly when it is taking off from the ground-level stations, but after that, it moves at a level height, and does not seem as fast. You can't look straight down as far as I can recall. The gondolas do not rock much at all.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Alright, it might be finally time to plan our first WDW vacation for real! I booked a few different WDW resorts over the past two years, but always ended up cancelling in favor Disneyland trips since we are much closer to California.

I'm considering the first week in January 2023 (like Jan 1 or 2 through the 7th. Our kid will be out of school that week as the winter vacation falls later this year. Of course that means everyone else's winter breaks are probably later too? This would allow us to possibly visit family before NYE and then make our way to WDW just after the holiday (or New Year's Day it isn't too crazy).

Any thoughts on the parks/resorts that first week in January vs. the week between Christmas and New Year's? Any events or other things to be aware of?

Overall resort prices seem reasonable compared to December 2022. We are a family of 3, but also need at least three sleep surfaces. Thinking about CBR or POR with the 5th sleeper availability. I'm assuming the Skyliner is pretty reliable this time of year? We probably can't afford deluxe without a pretty good discount, although maybe we could try a split stay.

Thoughts on CBR or POR? Or another option I'm not considering?

So January is a great time to visit if you still want to see Christmas decorations and enjoy a little cheaper pricing. The local school districts go back that Wednesday, 1/4 so it still may be crowded the earlier part of that week/weekend but it is a nice time to visit and likely less crowded than the week between Christmas/NY.

As far as weather, it usually is nice but it can also be really cold. You can't really count on any one temp other than you know it won't be humid so that's a win. We've been in the winter months and more often times, it's usually great weather than it is freezing. Hopefully, it will be layering weather but still able to wear shorts.

We've stayed at both CBR and POR. We prefer POR theming, rooms and grounds over CBR since CBR is really large but the skyliner is a winner if you'll be at DHS/Epcot a good bit. Another good option in that same price point is Swan/Dolphin. That's a good non-disney owned, deluxish resort that's walk/boat ride from DHS/Epcot. You get all the Disney benefits (outside of magic bands to charge/open rooms) at a mod price including deluxe resort extended evening hours. However, there's no 3rd sleeping surface unless if you asked for a rollaway but not so sure that's a great option.

POR and CBR both have a lot of bus stops, CBR has more so be prepared for that. When we stay at POR, we like the Alligator Bayou building 26. It's not a preferred location but it's close to the first bus stop and not too far from the lobby/pool or lobby bus stop.

If you do CBR, the Jamaica section is nice since it's close to the bus stop, the skyliner station and a relatively short walking bridge over a lake to the pool/ food court/lobby. However, I do think CBR is larger so even if you have a preferred room, I do feel like you'll walk more. I always feel like we do. Especially if we decide to walk to Riviera.

 

[sheilafri]

I would recommend the first week of January over the time between Christmas and New Year as I hate crowds. There isn’t any difference in the weather possibilities and it will be cheaper and less crowded. It could be cold, probably too cold for the pool, but it is great for spending all day in the parks. Just take layers for mornings and evenings, including hats and gloves, and you should be fine.