Least crowded month?

[aurora, ariel, and bell]

We have always planned our trip for September, figuring that this is the least crowed time of year. We go the day after labour day.
Is this still the least crowded, i think I read somewhere that January was least crowded?
Is there deals then too?

[Melanie]

January is perfect! My favorite month to go. And yes, there are deals and packages usually available, since they are trying to fill up the resorts at the slower time of the year.

[faline]

January is certainly quite uncrowded. I think September has been getting more popular.

[wjrhw]

Just watch out for the marathon in January. In past years it did not make a difference, but this past January I saw runners everywhere throughout the entire week. I think the marathon has gotten huge.

This year we are trying the end of January into the beginning of February.

[Melanie]

Just watch out for the marathon in January. In past years it did not make a difference, but this past January I saw runners everywhere throughout the entire week. I think the marathon has gotten huge.


We went two January's ago for marathon week, and it was heaven! I can't speak for this past January, but I can't imagine that it brings in that many people to greatly affect the crowds the following week. Certainly still one of the best weeks of the year to go crowdwise.

[Spaceship Tigger]

I've been in both January and September. September was a little more crowded overall, but free dining was going on. January was mostly uncrowded, but there were quite a few people there around MLK weekend. And since that weekend is usually right in the middle of the month, it can be somewhat difficult to avoid.

[tink179]

As you can tell by my signature January is my family's month to go! It's the best. NO waits, NO crowds, and NO heat! There are deals usually going on during that time. Last year it was Park hopper and waterpark and more options upgrades for free. No paying extra for those. Also, there's usually room discounts. Some people don't like it because of the unpredictable weather, but I've never found it to be too cold. We're from Iowa, so anything above freezing is warm to us. It usually ranges from 60's to upper 80's for highs. Nightime, we usually just wear jeans and sweatshirts or jackets. We still use the pools. We tried to go once during September, but hurricane Francis came in on the day we were supposed to fly out. The flight got cancelled, and everything was rebooked for January. We knew then not to take chances anymore in September. We will always be a January family! :mickey::number1:

[wjrhw]

We went two January's ago for marathon week, and it was heaven! I can't speak for this past January, but I can't imagine that it brings in that many people to greatly affect the crowds the following week. Certainly still one of the best weeks of the year to go crowdwise.

I went three January's ago and I thought it was great. That is why this past January was such a surprise to me.

For example, on a weeknight there was often a 30 minute wait to go on HM. I've never waited in January in the past. Test Track was also over an hour wait and extra magic hours were excessively crowded. During Spectromagic, we were surrounded by runners who were also surprised at the crowd level.

It was nothing like this on our January 2005 trip.

[mttafire]

Well, IMHO...We have found early May to be as less crowded as Sept. Maybe that was just an exception but recently early May seems to be very "un"crowded. However,Sept. is a great time to go.:thumbsup:

[Disney Doll]

We like January or early February- low crowds and cool temps. I've never gone in Sept because I know I'd hate the heat. We were there during the marathon a few years back and hardly noticed any difference, but I can't say how the marathon affects crowds now. Just to be safe we try to avoid special events like the marathon and holidays like New Years, MLK Day, and President's Day.

[TammiMcMan]

I think at one time you could term it as a low level month, but now it seems that you have to look at specific weeks. If it's around a holiday weekend, expect larger crowds early, but then thinning out. Many here have said they had no problem during the January marathon, but a few years ago, we tried for a reservation and the only room available on site was a 2 bedroom suite. The resorts were completely sold out. It probably doesn't impact the crowd level at the parks, but the resorts can fill up.

We've done the 2nd and 3rd week of September many times and enjoy that time of year. Also, the week between New Years and the Marathon has been very nice. To show how things change, I have pictures and video from the week of Christmas 1996 and you would think we were the only people in the park. Okay, not quite, but no where near the sea of humanity that the Magic Kingdom becomes now during that same time.

[benny]

I went for 2 weeks from January 10 this year. It was great - not a lot of waiting for buses or rides at all. Some rides you could almost walk on. But there was still enough people around to make it interesting.

However - I strongly suggest you avoid MLK weekend if possible. We went to Animal Kingdom that day and it was really really busy with fast passes etc. closed by late morning.

Overall, January was a great time to go and we plan to go back next year.

Jenny