What are WDW and DL in January?

[5ofus]

Trying to work out when the best time would be to go with our boys and school and everything. Airfares look pretty nasty at that time of year, but then again, they're pretty bad at the Sept/Oct holidays now too. Anyway been during January? How'd you find the weather? Ride closures? Crowds?

Finally, when did you buy your airfares and were they ridiculously overpriced? This trip's still years away, but I like a good long-term plan

 

[Tashinwdw]

I am sorry I wont be much help, I have only travelled in March/april or September.

I am one of these terrible parents who take their kids out of school for our family holidays.

I am sure others will be able to give you heaps of advice on those travel dates.

 

[WAMUMOF4]

let's face it you will be in your happy place any times a good time to go what about trying to leave early dec before the airfares have their crazy price rises.

We have friends who live not to far from WDW and they were still posting pictures of swimming at the beach in Jan so they are either crazy or it's not to cold

 

[gogo65]

We did WDW in January, arrived on the first day of value season,(jan 5th the year we went) crowds were low, weather was cool but comfortable. We saw the Osborne lights and the end of the Christmas decorations as well. We flew on points but the accommodation was really cheap, we stayed at the contemporary at WDW and the hard rock at universal.
We also did DL in December another year arrived dec 26th, for three nights. Crowds were big but we still managed everything using fast pass. We flew out Christmas Day so we could get a price. We stayed at carousel inn wasn't outrageous considering the time.
We've also done both in April and September weather was of course warmer, but I would happily do dec/Jan again.

 

[SnowWhite112]

I absolutely love going in January! I went this past Jan. Very low crowds, beautiful weather. I've been to WDW a thousand times and this past time was by far my favorite trip, probably due to the low crowds. I was able to enjoy every moment and do so much more than I normally get to do.

The weather was a little bit too cold for my liking on some nights, but that could just be me. (I live in Miami, anything lower than 60º F is too cold. It was in the high 20s overnight.)

 

[PrincessInOz]

I've hit DLR in mid Jan. You'll need to check the ride closures carefully for this period. It was after the holiday season; so quite a number of rides were down because they needed to do general maintenance or to take down the holiday overlays.

The year we went, I think Splash, BTMRR, GRR, IaSW and HM were down in the same day (mid-week). It was a little cool; but no more so than a Melbourne winter's day.


That said, the crowd levels were almost non-existent.


Happy planning!

 

[heidispidi]

I loved being at DL in Jan. we got there I think on 7th Jan and the crowds were low - so low that I'll be in for a shock when we go at Easter next month! The holiday decorations were still up, which was great, and the weather was good, no rain and mild temperatures. The nights were quite cool though. The room prices were very reasonable compared with peak times too.

 

[ssour]

We have been to both a few times in January and weather is a bit hit and miss. We have been at times where we could wear jeans and tshirts and others (like this jan in WDW) where is has been really cold. I think we only had one day that was over 19 degrees Celsius (although that same week was high 20s in DL go figure). We still had a ball and in my opinion that beats summer heat and humidity any day (and I hate the cold normally). Disneyland seemed to have more attractions down for refurb that WDW this past Jan. I don't think we've ever been in Jan when Splash is open. Airfares drop a little bit in late January but it's hard to fit a long trip in that way before school goes back. Crowds peaked for us during MLK weekend but weren't terrible and otherwise we're quite manageable. I wouldn't say they were non-existent but we saw everything we wanted to with virtually no wait.

 

[5ofus]

Thanks everybody! I just realised I left a word out in the Title... oops!

Hmm, now I'm thinking we might go to DL BEFORE Christmas, then WDW and the cruise after. I'm sure it will change a million times before I actually go. Thanks for all the feedback

 

[LisaAJ]

We are going in Jan next year (we are restricted to school holidays). From my research I am looking forward to the milder weather and the lower crowds

The airfares were a bit painful but I was expecting it given the time of year. I can give you lots more info after we've been! We are doing an early Jan DCL cruise.

 

[aussietravellers]

We've been in late Jan before. It was cool, quite cool at times. Looking out of the windows over the lake (we were at YC) it looked wintery if that makes sense, You know, winter has a dull look. We didn't want to use the pool so that didn't affect us.

Anyway, crowd wise it was good. I can't remember the ride closures, but we still had a great time. But it's not my favourite time to go.

 

[annz53]

Trying to work out when the best time would be to go with our boys and school and everything. Airfares look pretty nasty at that time of year, but then again, they're pretty bad at the Sept/Oct holidays now too. Anyway been during January? How'd you find the weather? Ride closures? Crowds?

Finally, when did you buy your airfares and were they ridiculously overpriced? This trip's still years away, but I like a good long-term plan

If the airfares are the same in December as in January I would highly recommend December simply because it will be Christmas

I can only talk about WDW (Christmas 1995 & 1996). The Parks are transformed with the colours of Christmas and Christmas songs and carols. The Christmas trees come in all different sizes with magnificent decorations. Red poinsettia flowers are to be found all over in a variety of different arrangements as in large and small garden beds, etc. For me it was very, very special and something I feel all Disney fans should experience at least once.

We loved the weather, it was shorts and t shirts every day with a hoodie in the backpack and maybe a pair on trackie pants for staying up late in the parks.

If I remember correctly their school does not have holidays over that period they may only break for a few days or a week so crowds were doable.

All the best with your plans

 

[ky71]

May and September/Oct are best for lower crowds and great weather plus in May you can see the Flower and Garden Festival plus Star Wars weekends!!!
In Sept/Oct you can do the MNSSHP and if you took the boys out of school, you could swing a visit in late October that allows a visit to the MNSSHP AND the MVMCP-Wow! Sept/Oct also traditionally has free dining...
It sounds sad but in May and Oct the children's clothing stores that I love to shop at all have change of season specials and I buy up big!
Ohh and I've never been in January so I can't offer anything there...

 

[miss.potatohead]

I visited both WDW and DLR in January this year at different ends of the month.

I was at WDW for 10 days at the start of their 'value season' which coincided with the marathon weekend. Crowds weren't too bad in all honesty although we did skip the parks on the actual marathon weekend (Fri-Sat-Sun) and there weren't too many refurbs. The longest we waited was 2 hours for Toy Story Midway Mania but that was at night after it had been down all day. Most of the headliners were at 30mins. In saying that, airfares for early January out of Australia are $$$ as it's still the holiday time here.

I was at DLR towards the end of January and the crowds were minimal. There will always be crowds, but wait times were never over 30minutes for the big name rides (ie Toy Story Midway Mania) and there were a number of attractions listed at '5 minutes' which is basically a walk on/5 minutes to walk through an empty queue. This was the second time I've been at DLR during late January in the past few years and there were a number of attractions closed for refurb (Splash, Big Thunder, Small World, no Fantasmic, fireworks only on weekends). In saying that, airfares are pretty cheap from Australia to LA from about the 16/17 of January well into February ($1299ish). Just have to be careful of the MLK holiday weekend that falls around the 3rd weekend of the month.

That's just my experience of January crowds!!! I think for DLR late January is a good time to go but as a few others have said, September/October seems to be a good time for WDW.

 

[zanzibar138]

I haven't been in January, but did go to DLR at the end of Feb, which is kind of still winter. We just went prepared for the cold and possible rain (which never happened, and would even be less of a possibility at WDW), focused on the things that we could do rather than the long list of closures in both parks, and had a great time! We also went to DLP in winter, which was REALLY REALLY cold and snowing, and the weather didn't bother us there either.

Personally I would take cooler weather and ride closures over stifling heat and crowds any day! And if you go early enough in January, you still get to see some Christmas decorations