Visiting WDW in January

[DisneyPrincess21]

We will be visiting WDW at the end of January 2012 for a couple days. This will be our first trip in January and I was wondering what the weather is like there. We have been going in December for the past several years, and have no idea what to expect in late January.

I hear it is one of the best times to visit because the crowds are really low. Is this true?

What have you found the typical weather & crowd levels to be like?

Thanks :wave:

[eel]

We've been several times during end of January - first of February. We have worn shorts some days and heavy coats the next. We try to be prepared for any weather. Kinda hard to do when you're flying and have only so much room. Layering is key.

While this time of year USED to be THE best time to go, everyone now is of the same mindset. The crowds are nothing like known "busy" times of the year.

I would never hesitate to go during this time. Besides maybe your football team makes it to the super bowl......espn is a great place to watch. :beer:

[lovinmesomedisney]

We went last week of Jan - first week of Feb, this year for the first time. As far as the weather goes, it was pretty chilly most of the time. It did warm up on our second week, but the first week, by parade and fireworks time, we were in layers with gloves on! Even during the day, it was cool enough for a sweat shirt. (Not a problem, because I LOVE buying Disney hoodies!) As far as the crowd levels go, we were there for the tail end of the Brazilian tour groups. They have made it very crowded in January. Like I said, we were at the tail end, so a lot of them had already left, but it was still more crowded than we anticipated. The second week was AWESOME!

[Strmchsr]

I would agree with the above. Between the marathon and the Brazilian groups, January has become much more crowded. It seems the tour groups were especially large and obnoxious this year. But, as long as you aren't around one of those groups crowds aren't too bad. Weather is completely variable. Sometimes comfortable, sometimes cold. In 2010 it was 33 with snow flurries at noon in the Magic Kingdom one day. So, you never know what you're going to get. Just watch our forecast thread leading up to your trip and you'll know how to plan then, but no way to tell you now.

[ILoveLegos]

I love January, but the weather can be a mixed bag. I just pack things that can be layered. Some years it looks like I wore the same two sweatshirts all week - but I had a different shirt on under them every day, LOL! I have also gotten some nifty Mickey coats and blankets in Florida too when things really got frosty. These were great Souveniers for a person from the NE though, so I didn't mind al all! :mickey:

[MushuGrl]

Keeping fingers and toes crossed that we'll be at Disney the last week of January 2012...on THAT note...last year we were there the last week of January to celebrate my sister's birthday.

As everyone has stated, it was more crowded than I thought it would be, but still the wait times, if you navigated around the tour groups, weren't that bad. If you see the "flag people" as we called them, go in the other direction, or get a fast pass, and you should be fine as far as wait times.

(However, if you go to Fantasmic...GET THERE EARLY...we almost didn't find a seat due to the tour groups.)

Weather was a mixed bag - mornings we started out with hoodies and gloves, but there were some days we had t-shirts on. I personally found it much better to roam around the parks a little chilly rather than burning up. We just did the layer thing - long sleeve or short-sleeve t-shirts and hoodies we could tie around our waists.

It only rained one day we were there, which ruled.

Also it's been noted that Splash Mountain is always down that week, so if you're a SM fan, you'll be out of luck.

Hope to see you next year!

[DisneyDoug2]

We have been going in late January for the last 6 years and typically have pretty good weather. The days are typically in the mid 60's low 70's and the evenings get pretty cool so you will definitely need a jacket and long pants. The Brazilian tour groups do become and issue if you are in the same park as them. After they enter the park, they send one person to get a few hundred FPs of the group, so if you are in the normal line when its time for them to go in be ready for the wait. Other then that we always enjoy ourselves because it’s not too crowded and you actually get to casually walk by the pre-ride sights in the queue lines.

[DisneyDINK]

If you see the "flag people" as we called them, go in the other direction, or get a fast pass, and you should be fine as far as wait times.


The Disney Marketing Machine has been busy in South America, especially in Brazil as other posters have noted. My Spanish is pretty good and a man from Chile explained to me that January and February is prime Summer vacation time down there. I really don't speak Portugese, so that's where my insight ends. So, the once dead time from the Marathon weekend until the end of January is no longer dead, it is busy. If you're there for a week you'll have some busy days and lighter days. The big groups tend to come and got in a period of about 3-4 days. I don't think they just do Disney like a lot of us do. They also want to hit Universal, the beaches, etc.


I went the last week of January 2011. I had a pretty good experience, weather-wise. I was pretty much always comfortable in shorts and a fleece jacket or wind-breaker. In that week there were only 2 legitimate pool/water park days, which I stretched to 3. You really can't schedule your water park days in advance. You might think about that when making lunch ADRs.

Another thing I found out: there is a Florida tornado season! In addition to the better known hurricane season Florida does have some tornadoes in January and February. The tornado warnings were accompanied by one SERIOUS rain storm while we were there, but it was kind of fun. We knew it was coming and we headed back to the room (park view @ the Poly) and checked it all out. It was coming down for 2-3 hours at a rate from 2-10 inches per hour. There was lots of lightning and thunder and a few little tornadoes touched down here and there according to the local news, but none close to the parks and very little damage was reported. But like your typical thunder storm it was gone in a couple of hours.

One thing I have learned in my quest to go to WDW at the least crowded time possible is there is no super-dead time of the year. Between promotions, parties and foriegn guests threr just aren't any obvious gaps.

[WDWCrazyKaren]

Most of our last large number of trips have been in January. Well, this past January will be the last year of that! We will now be going the first week of February. The weather was perfect, so no complaints about that, but the tour groups made all of the touring just about as bad as a spring break trip! (yeah, stupidly did that once. Once.) I will wait until the first week in February if it gets us away from those darn tour groups. Ugly stuff. Heard quite a few horror stories from other travellers about them as well. We learned to steer clear of them and leave the parks when we saw them, however it stunk changing our plans and ADR's last minute because of it.

That's just my 2 cents.

[Dyanna]

We just went to WDW for the 1st time ever in Jan.(8-15) The crowds were higher than normal due to the Brazilian tour groups. Have to say they are not the nicest people in the world & like to block ALL ride entrances while waiting for their fastpass time to start. VERY ANNOYING! They would not even listen to the cast members who were telling them to back away & let the other guests thru. Wait times for the more popular rides were up to a 120 minute wait. As for the weather; it varied for us from most days in the 40's & 1 day hitting 75. The evening were cool in the high 30's so I suggest packing for multiple weather types & dress layered in the parks.

[Disney Doll]

Weather in a word is unpredictable. I've been in January's past where we wore coats and gloves in the parks each day, but my last January trip we were searching for shorts to buy because it was very warm. I think the best plan is to watch the weather forecast just before you leave and even then throw in a few extra clothing items so you are prepared for anything.

I agree with others who have suggested that there are no uncrowded times anymore, but January is very managable. The tour groups didn't bother us. There are easy to spot and therefore easy to avoid. We would just go on to a different attraction and wait for them to move along.

[White Rose]

Just went for my fourth trip this past January and my first time going at that time! Let me say, that after spending my last two trips in June, I will NEVER again go in the summer or any other time, except for maybe early February.

We were there Jan 11-18. As others have stated, the weather truly is unpredictable. However, I brought a few quarter sleeve/short sleeve shirts and jeans and a jacket and I was comfortable. I do much better in colder weather, though. :blush: Also, after leaving a state where the temperature was 20 F and arriving in a state where the high was 50 F, I was quite happy for the 'warmer' weather. The crowds were great! We did see the tour groups everyone talks about but never really had any problems with them. Everyone was always very nice. The only place I DID encounter large groups of them was in IOA but I think this would due to WWoHP. Some rides did have a long wait time (Soarin' was always at 60 min or more) but that was quickly remedied with a fast pass. My friend and I did as DisneyDoll did and if we did see the tour groups headed towards a particular attraction, we would just move along to another ride. Honestly, I think the longest I waited for a ride was 20 min! And after going in the summer for the last two trips, 20 min wait was nothing!

Have a great January trip! :mickey:

[epceddie]

We've been in January the last two years and the weather was very cold, which took away from our enjoyment of the trip. All they kept referring to on the weather reports was the "Arctic Blast" that was coming down from Canada. It was cold and windy and I only got to go swimming one time (we were there for a combined 12 days on the two trips). We did the Pirates and Pals Wishes Fireworks cruise at the Contemporary one night and it was 37 degrees. They gave everybody on the boat a blanket. You could see your breath.
We're going to stick to May, September, and October, and early December in the future.

[GoOfY'sGiRl]

We went in January a couple years ago and it was great, the crowds were easy to deal with, you can usually do what you have planned to do. However, last year we were literally bombarded by the Brazilian groups. We waited through 4 busses for their group, then our group of 6 adults and 3 babies were separated on following busses. But, if you can avoid them, GREAT!
We are from Michigan, and the weather was perfect for us. We usually wore shorts and t shirts and a wind breaker or sweatshirt we could throw in the backpack. We also went swimming almost nightly. Not the warmest, but it was good to relax a few minutes before bed.
All in all, it's :mickey: DISNEY :mickey: ENJOY! :cloud9:

[mudpuppysmom]

I can't really add much about the weather that everyone else has already said.....you leave your room in the morining with a tshirt and sweatshirt and possibly shorts (capris for girls and zip off leg pants for the boys is what we do). Mid day you can unlayer and then later in the afternoon relayer again.

As for crowds -- we very much enjoyed the lack of crowds!! There were very few things we waited more than 10 mintues for, most things were walk on or we were next in line.

We went 2nd/3rd week of January.