What's happening after Jan 1st?

[Mouse-n-Mini]

We're desperate for Disney so we decided to move up our trip from July 07 to Dec or Jan! What I would like to know is... what holiday happenings are still going on Jan 1st-7th? We were there over Christmas day last year and found it simply too crowded, so how are the crowds after New Years? I read that the Osborne lights are up until the 8th, but is there still a candllight processional, christmas parade, etc? Thanks!

 

[PCFriar80]

We're desperate for Disney so we decided to move up our trip from July 07 to Dec or Jan! What I would like to know is... what holiday happenings are still going on Jan 1st-7th? We were there over Christmas day last year and found it simply too crowded, so how are the crowds after New Years? I read that the Osborne lights are up until the 8th, but is there still a candllight processional, christmas parade, etc? Thanks!

Marathon weekend starts the 5th with many folks arriving on the 4th or 5th.
Registration begins 1/4 and the half is Saturday 1/6, the full Sunday 1/7. We ran the half last year and the biggest impact will be on resort availability during that timeframe and traffic issues around the world, especially EC where the start and finish are. Other than that, the parks are fairly empty! We'll be there 1/4 - 1/11.....running the half.....2 of us so that makes a full!!

Oops! Didn't answer your other questions..... CP ended last year on 12/30.
I assume the parade ends around there as well.

 

[HopperFan]

We were there last two years. Last year we were there 2-8th. We only did Magic Kingdom, on the 3rd and it was PACKED. DTD was so crowded one evening we just left and didn't return except for a couple hours before we left to pick up some things. Last year Disney split the races to two days (now three) and it increased the number of runners considerably. Also many schools including ours do not return until the 8th. So not only is a running trip, it will be a week long park trip as well. BUT on the upside, we found the crowds to be summer crowds without the heat, so that would be a plus for you to move it up !

 

[dixiedizfan]

The first week in January is VERY crowded; it seems like the crowds who would normally leave after New Years, don't. The weather this year was mild and sunny ... in the 70's ... but not quite warm enough to use the pools, or to dry off after going on a water ride.

 

[reefnut]

im going from the 6th to the 14th and i asked this ? a while back and most people said the parks were empty last year at that time. im still hoping they are right...

 

[PCFriar80]

The first week in January is VERY crowded; it seems like the crowds who would normally leave after New Years, don't. The weather this year was mild and sunny ... in the 70's ... but not quite warm enough to use the pools, or to dry off after going on a water ride.

Again, we were there 1/5 - 1/11 last year and the parks were NOT crowded!
I don't know if this constitutes the first week of January, but that was our experience. As I said, the marathon impact is mainly on the resorts and road closures early in the AM. I would stay away from EC the mornings of the half and full; up until 10:00 AM. Mainly for parking reasons. If you're using WDW transportation you'll be all set.

 

[dixiedizfan]

Again, we were there 1/5 - 1/11 last year and the parks were NOT crowded!
I don't know if this constitutes the first week of January, but that was our experience. As I said, the marathon impact is mainly on the resorts and road closures early in the AM. I would stay away from EC the mornings of the half and full; up until 10:00 AM. Mainly for parking reasons. If you're using WDW transportation you'll be all set.

You were there at the end of the week. You should have been in MK on the 3rd ... it was jam-packed! Even TGM is predicting major crowds until the first weekend of January, when most people (except for the marathoners) clear out.

 

[Jynohn]

We go to WDW every year in January. A few years ago we made the mistake of arriving on January 1st and the parks were still mobbed for the first several days of our trip. The crowds started thinning considerably towards the end of the week, and were very small by the last day. From that point on we decided to arrive the second week in January instead. That worked out well, except now they have a huge builder's convention in Orlando which seems to coincide with the last few days of our trip each year.

Seems like no matter how you try to plan for the "off season" there is always some activity or convention that comes up to boost crowds. Good for Disney, bad for those of us who want to go during a quiet time of year! We still consider January to be one of the best times to go however, as long as you don't mind some unpredictable weather!

 

[Jackie H.]

We've gone twice (including 2006) the first week of January and we have NOT found the parks crowded.

I'm not sure why others found it that way except maybe this: we did not visit MK until the 4th. I knew from my years of DIS reading that the MK should be avoided until that time. We arrived on the 1st and went to EPCOT on the 2nd.

I believe if you avoid MK until the 4th you should be fine!

Now, as far as Christmas stuff - many of the Christmas decroations were still up, but none of the special shows or parades were going on. I really wanted to see the huge gingerbread house at GF and it came down fairly quickly, so if you want to see that go over there first thing!

 

[marconat]

Marathon weekend starts the 5th with many folks arriving on the 4th or 5th.
Registration begins 1/4 and the half is Saturday 1/6, the full Sunday 1/7. We ran the half last year and the biggest impact will be on resort availability during that timeframe and traffic issues around the world, especially EC where the start and finish are. Other than that, the parks are fairly empty! We'll be there 1/4 - 1/11.....running the half.....2 of us so that makes a full!!

Oops! Didn't answer your other questions..... CP ended last year on 12/30.
I assume the parade ends around there as well.

thank's for the info... we are going on Dec 31 to Jan 15th and I wanted to know how the marathon affected the parks, you were very helpful... and good luck on the marathon... running the full...

 

[zookeeper]

Because Christmas fell on Sunday last year many schools didn't get out until the 23rd and didn't return until Jan.9th so I know a lot people took advantage of the travel time in the first week of Jan. Next Christmas vacation is similar with many schools not returning until Jan. 8th so I would expect that there would be slightly higher crowds than usual again. Other people may have been at WDW at the start of January on a year when school went back early so that may be why they experienced lower crowds.

 

[Lostgirlz]

We are going on our Honeymoon feb1-7 checking out on the 8th. How are the crowds during this time? I am worried it's gotten be swamped, or should it be fairly slow since it's not yet a holiday, and the marathon will be done, and if I am correct school for the most part should be back in session. Also we arrive on a thursday so the first part of our trip hits dead on a weekend friday 2, saturday 3rd, and Sunday 4th. I am trying to plan on how to handle the weekends. I have a feeling it will be pretty darn packed and I know they have EMH not sure if it's early morning, or evening their disneyworld calendar does not say if it's morn or evening it just says EMH. Can anyone give me some opinions on this please.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Because Christmas fell on Sunday last year many schools didn't get out until the 23rd and didn't return until Jan.9th so I know a lot people took advantage of the travel time in the first week of Jan. Next Christmas vacation is similar with many schools not returning until Jan. 8th so I would expect that there would be slightly higher crowds than usual again. Other people may have been at WDW at the start of January on a year when school went back early so that may be why they experienced lower crowds.

This is exactly the reason - it all depends on school vacations around New Years and Christmas. This upcoming year, New Years falls on a Monday, so many schools may have that whole week off, as well as Christmas week. So yep - the crowds will probably be big that first week of January. I been at WDW that week in the past, but on my trips New Years fell on the weekend or the end of the week, and the crowds were very quiet for the following 1st week of January. Just all depends on the school schedules!

I been at Disney three times over the marathon, and I find it affects resorts far more than the parks. The resorts can be completely full for the Friday and especially the Saturday before the marathon! But I love the weather then (unlike right now) - nice and cool!