What's January like?

[KiwiMouseGirl]

Hi Disers

I've decided to plan what for me feels like a "last minute trip" to the land in Jan 2016. I know, I know, it's like 11 months away...but I've planned my other trips YEARS in advance, so am not used to having "so little time" I am going to surprise my Mum with a belated Christmas/ early birthday present all expenses paid trip to Disneyland accompanied by yours truly for Jan 2016! I was thinking of going in late April as I have always gone around then and LOVE how quiet it is and have never had trouble with mass closures or anything, but I JUST CANT WAIT that long!!!! I've been thinking about all of the trip reports that I've read from people going in Jan and loving it, so I thought i'd ask for some inside opinions. I'm someone who likes to see and do ALOT on my trips and am a fast paced tour-er so enjoy the parks being pretty quiet, but I always allow time for a nice sit down lunch/dinner to stop and smell the roses and rest my feet. What are crowd levels like late Jan? Touring plans predicts light crowds during the weekdays (highest a 4) and 5's and 6's on the weekends. I know it is a long way out and that this is likely to change. My Mum has never been to Disneyland before (the furthest she's been is Australia and coming from New Zealand that's not very far) so i'd like to avoid going at a time that there are usually lot's of ride closures so that she can experience as much as possible. I know that there are holiday overlays that need to come down but don't know when this usually happens. Because a lot of the rides are being refurbished this year due to the anniversary, will that mean that it's less likely there'll be lots of refurbs next year?

Let me know what your views are on visiting the parks in Jan! I'm so excited to start planning!!!!



-KiwiMouse

 

[figment_jii]

Generally, January is a fairly quiet time of the year in terms of crowds. (I'm assuming you considering going after the holiday season official ends.) I do think there has been more closures than normal this winter/spring, but there will still be closures next winter. At a minimum, HM usually goes down as soon as the Holiday season ends and then IaSW usually goes down towards the end of the month (to have their holiday overlays removed). I would expect that one or both of the water rides (Splash and GRR) will go down for their annual refurbishment in winter. There will probably be other spot refurbs during January because it is a slow time of the year.

The parks will be operating on short hours (e.g., 10:00 am to 8:00 pm), with reduced entertainment on weekdays. Most likely, fireworks and F! will only happen on Fri, Sat, and Sun nights. WoC is usually nightly. I don't know if Paint the Night (parade) will be night, but my guess is that it will or that at least some parade will run daily (e.g., Soundsational).

 

[DLfan4]

we go in January. The crowds are low, the weather is nice. ( not too hot)
we go mid January. There will probably be a few rides down for re-furb. when we went in 2012 GRR was closed in DCA. and HM and matterhorn were closed in DL.

but since the crowds are low, you can probably see a lot more than if you go during a busy time with no re-furbs.

 

[figment_jii]

HydroGuy has a thread with handy links to the historic calendars for DLR as maintained by wdwinfo. You can look through the historic January calendars to get a sense of what is typically closed, what the hours were, etc.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/historical-dlr-park-hours-entertainment-and-refurbs.2291124/

 

[Mysteryincorp]

If I had to pick the best week with the lowest crowds out of the whole year for 2016 I would choose
January 11-15 or January 25-29, 2016.

 

[ludari]

As an AP holder I go all the time and January is a good month to visit, however runDisney has the Star Wars Marathon Weekend from January 14-16 so unless you are planning on registering for the race I would avoid that weekend since the park is a bit more crowded than normal.

 

[Angrose]

We went the last few days in January once and the parks were so quiet, it was WONDERFUL! The only problem was that a few of my favorites were down, IASW and HM for removing the holiday overlays, and Splash I think due to regular off-season maintenance. Other than that it was fantastic!