Planning trip in January?

[Poohbear88]

We are planning a trip for Jan 4 - Jan 11. What are the crowds like? When do you think we will be able to book this? Is there any promo's during this time of the year??

[Strmchsr]

Well, crowds will be moderate, maybe even a little heavy. You have people staying over from New Year's, plus the South American tour groups have gotten pretty bad in January, and then the marathon weekend will be the weekend of the 10th so people will be coming in for that. It's hard to say how many from each of those groups would impact you so it could be a little lower than you expect, or it could be a lot more. Plan for heavy and be surprised if it isn't too bad. Jan used to be the lowest crowds of the year, but not any more.

You should be able to book in June or July. It's varied from year to year as to when Disney releases the rates and packages for the next year. You can give Magical Journeys a buzz and they'll let you know the second you can book for next year and they'll get you set up straight away.

There's often some kind of promo, but it varies year to year as to what it is. This year really wasn't anything special. The room only discount, if I remember correctly, was the best deal available.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I love going in January, but as Chris said, it isn't as totally quiet crowd-wise as you'd expect.

Crowds are 100% managable though. The marathon event (which is expanding in 2014) causes a bump in crowds, and some logisitical challenges, but nothing too crazy.

[WDWCrazyKaren]

We love the weather in January, but have moved our yearly trips to February instead, simply due to the tour groups. The marathon adds a big group on the weekend of the event, but it clears out fairly quickly-Monday and Tuesday are much better. It's the tour groups that are the biggest hassle.

But, the weather is fantastic!