What week in Jan 2023 is THE best time to do WDW?

[alohamom]

Hi gang!

I am tentatively planning a 5 to 7 day WDW vacation for sometime in Jan 2023.
We looked at Hawaii but we usually do at least two weeks there and it is just not lining up for all of our schedules.
(I thought it would be easier when the kids got older but now we are dealing with Grad school commitments and my son has a full time job with limitations.)

I know that the RunDisney races are the first full weekend in Jan (5th to 8th) so that is not an option (too busy and too expensive for hotels)
I thought about coming in just after them on the Tuesday but I feel like the marathon people stay into that week. Am I wrong about that?

The next weekend is MLK day on the Monday and I have heard this is a busy week for the parks too.

So I narrowed to down to approx a week any time from Jan 19th to Jan 28th.

I dont really want to go much later than that as my daughter has all of January off school and goes back the first week of Feb.

Any advice as to my best time?
Any experience with busyness during Jan?

Any help is appreciated!

 

[youngdeb12]

Hi gang!

I am tentatively planning a 5 to 7 day WDW vacation for sometime in Jan 2023.
We looked at Hawaii but we usually do at least two weeks there and it is just not lining up for all of our schedules.
(I thought it would be easier when the kids got older but now we are dealing with Grad school commitments and my son has a full time job with limitations.)

I know that the RunDisney races are the first full weekend in Jan (5th to 8th) so that is not an option (too busy and too expensive for hotels)
I thought about coming in just after them on the Tuesday but I feel like the marathon people stay into that week. Am I wrong about that?

The next weekend is MLK day on the Monday and I have heard this is a busy week for the parks too.

So I narrowed to down to approx a week any time from Jan 19th to Jan 28th.

I dont really want to go much later than that as my daughter has all of January off school and goes back the first week of Feb.

Any advice as to my best time?
Any experience with busyness during Jan?

Any help is appreciated!

Quite often we travel last week of January in to first week of February, depending on what works best with my hubby's schedule. Last time we went was 2020 and it was super busy for that time of the year. We usually hope for lower crowd levels, but it seems others have had the same idea! We try to avoid the holidays and RunDisney. Weather is hit or miss. We had a couple of warm days, but a few cooler ones (not great for the pool but still warmer than back home) and one drizzly rainy day. My only complaint is Splash and Kali River Rapids often go down during that time period so we didn't get to ride.

 

[alohamom]

@youngdeb12 thanks so much! Weather is also an issue but kind of a secondary one.
I really want to ride the Guardians ride so that is priority number one!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Marathon doesn't really add to crowds, it just causes traffic problems. If you're staying somewhere with non-bus transportation, like monorail or Skyliner, don't be afraid of that weekend. Some of the lowest crowds we've ever seen has been Magic Kingdom on Marathon Sunday. Nobody can get to the park, so the park is empty.

MLK weekend itself is crowded, but it doesn't meaningfully affect midweek crowds before or after.

We've been that week in between Marathon and MLK three times, usually Saturday to Saturday, and always had a great time with moderate crowds.

 

[alohamom]

Marathon doesn't really add to crowds, it just causes traffic problems. If you're staying somewhere with non-bus transportation, like monorail or Skyliner, don't be afraid of that weekend. Some of the lowest crowds we've ever seen has been Magic Kingdom on Marathon Sunday. Nobody can get to the park, so the park is empty.

Excellent point-thank you

 

[Genie+]

The last 1/3 of January is better than the first 2/3s, and that continues into start of Feb.

Epcot’s Festival of the Arts is very cool addition to January. Best food booth season imho and we love the unique photo ops. Concert series usually hosts Broadway artists.

Possibly…
I suspect Genie system to get an overhaul starting around Jan ‘23. Not known for sure, but seems likely from the way they halted all advanced sales after the new year and commented they’d still tinker with it. Keep an eye out for changes.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Go with whatever dates suit your schedule. There is always something going on.....holiday weekends, marathons, cheer teams etc. etc.

 

[2Lunds]

Quite often we travel last week of January in to first week of February, depending on what works best with my hubby's schedule. Last time we went was 2020 and it was super busy for that time of the year. We usually hope for lower crowd levels, but it seems others have had the same idea! We try to avoid the holidays and RunDisney. Weather is hit or miss. We had a couple of warm days, but a few cooler ones (not great for the pool but still warmer than back home) and one drizzly rainy day. My only complaint is Splash and Kali River Rapids often go down during that time period so we didn't get to ride.

That's a prime time for the Skyliner to be down for maintenance as well. So I'd skip booking any of the Skyliner resorts around that timeframe.