Last two weeks of January?

[epceddie]

What are the parks like the last two weeks of January. It sounds like a great time to go. Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions about going at this time of year?

[FenwayGirl]

I usually travel to WDW exclusively in January. Our latest trip was the 3rd week in Jan. And it was the most crowded I have ever seen it. Not nearly as bad as Holiday weeks, but pretty crowded. WDW is not filling hotels with Cheerleading teams, tour groups etc during the slow periods. Like I said, not as bad as holiday season, but more crowded now. On the other hand, the weather is beautiful. Not very hot (70' s are normally the highs), no humidity (huge bonus) and very little rain as a rule. These are the reasons that we go in january

[peemagg]

I agree with the PP, this past January seemed busier than in past years. If you stay away from Martin Luther King weekend, it should be better. Most of the time though it hasn't been that busy. I think part of the reason that it was so busy was also because of the Pirate and Princess Party.

[Disnamic Duo]

We've been the past 2 years on the last week in January, and both times the crowds have been GREAT (as in small). Wait times for most rides are 5 minutes or so (or walk on) with 15 minute waits for some of the most popular rides (EE, Soarin', etc). GREAT time of year to go!

[MousePotato]

We were down this January for a quick 3 day stopover (27th to 29th) and crowds were spotty. We went to MK on an xmh day and at one point pirates had a 70 minute wait. The park was packed. The next day we went to AK (no xmh) and the safari was 20 minutes, dinosaur and everest were walkons. I've heard other places that you should try to skip xmh parks to avoid the biggest crowd and based on our experience I'd tend to agree with that.

Edited to add: pirates was 70 minutes with both queues active

[Kenny1113]

I agree, I have been in Jan several years ago excellent ! This last Jan/Feb much more crowded than usual. But then any time I have been within this past year (May 07, Oct 07, Jan/feb 08 and April 08) have been much more crowded than usual.

But Jan weather IMHO is the best time to go. Nice and cool pant and light jacket.

[FenwayGirl]

The 2 weekends that we were there were functions
1st weekend - National College Dance/Cheer competitions
2nd weekedn - High school music festival

We were actually there for Magic Music Days (our 11 year old danced in the MK with her dance team). The day we performed ( a Sunday) there were a total of 25 different groups performing all over WDW.

[mouseketeer mom]

We went the last week in January, 2 Januarys ago. It was more crowded then I expected it to be and the weather was all over the place. We had 2 very warm days that we could swim. We had 2 very chilly days that left us shivering and wearing coats and the rest were a mix. I thought that was the trickiest part, packing for the trip, and packing up the backpack for the parks for the day. The weather was sooooo changeable!

[pox24]

Most all are correct. We make an annual visit there to the VWL for the cool and sometimes colder weather. The past couple of years has been unusually crowded. But it is still a good time of year to visit.