When to go: December or January?

[Abra Cat]

I'm hoping y'all can help me decide when my family and I should visit WDW. Currently we have reservations for POFQ the first week of December, but we're thinking of changing that to the 3rd or 4th week of January. We went the first week of this past December, and were pretty frustrated by the crowds. We would of course miss the Christmas displays by going in January, but it seems that not only is it less crowded then, but a couple parks are open an hour or more longer (according to last year's hours). Any thoughts?

 

[followme2disney]

Hi! We are going the second week of December this year. This is our first time for that week. I have been before at the mid-to end of January and it is great...but we enjoy all the extra decorations in December. Maybe crowds were bad last year because of Thanksgiving falling so late in the month of November. Also don't forget MLK day which brings in extra crowds in January. I don't know if you can tell...but I my vote is for December.

 

[suemac]

We are heading down the third week of January. We picked that time frame on the recommendation of my sister. They loveed it down there mid January. Low crowds. great weather.
Hope that helps.

 

[mickeysaver]

It looks like we are going to be there around January 29th. We are going to branch out a little this time. Before we actually make it to WDW, we will be going to the Titanic exhibit, Hard Rock Vault, and Sea World. We decided that we overdosed on pixie dust with nothing but Disney for a full week during our last trip. I still hope to work in a good 4-5 days at WDW. It's all still really fluid at this point. A lot of this depends on how much cash I can save. Maggie

 

[kbkids]

We were there the first week of December this past year too, and I was pretty surprised myself by the crowds. If the Christmas decorations aren't a big deal to you, then I'd go in January.

 

[Abra Cat]

Thanks for the replies. We're still trying to decide, but I appreciate the fresh perspectives.

 

[AimeeM]

We went into the first few days of December 2 years ago during out Thanksgiving trip. It started to really clear out by Monday after turkey day. Maybe you could try going the 2nd week in December when the Thanksgiving crowds are gone, and the Christmas crowds arent there yet. We go in January every year and we really love that time of year. Even when we hit cold weather, its warmer than back home. If you decide to pick January instead DO NOT GO NEAR OR OVER MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY!!!!!!! We did that this year and crowds were HORRIBLE!!! I thought it would be a crowded weekend and it would start thinning out by late Monday and I was WRONG! It stayed crowded until Thursday. We picked then for the kids not to miss as many days of school,. but never again.. it was way too crowded and we arent used to crowds in January. This year we are going over Thanksgiving and then going back the last week of January into the first week of February. We had some colder days this January, and last year it was in the 30's a few days as we unlucked out and hit the big cold front that came thru that entire half of the united states.. lol.. it was cold in Fla, but it was -15 in Pennsylvania, so we were still happy to be there!! haha

If I had to pick either Jan. or Dec. I would probably pick December due to the fact that there are special holiday things going on, we loved the MVMCP, the osbourne lights, the tree lighting ceremonies, Holidays around the world in Epcot, and all of the decorations. Id shoot for between December 4th & 18th to avoid holiday crowds. Weekends are going to more crowded in Dec with locals coming in for the christmas party, but you can just avoid MK those days. Also know that if you pick early February, that the crowds AND prices go up on Presidents day and thats one of the peak times to go!

 

[Kapp]

of December are great. Low crowds, great weather and the Christmas decorations are up. The only bad thing is during that period the Pop Warner football players and the dreaded cheerleaders invade but they usually stay at the All-Star.

 

[dmonroe]

We love the first 2 weeks of December. We'll be there Dec. 4-11 this year! The Christmas decorations are a big deal to us, though. We've always found the crowds to be pretty light and manageable too! (except for the Saturday that they film the Christmas parade at MK!)