January 2019 - Opinions needed on which weekend is best

[brewhome]

Hi there, Friends!

My hubby just shocked the you-know-what out of me by telling me that he wants to take our sons to Disney next January! We haven't been there together since 2013, and our sons are going to be 18/freshman in college and 16/junior in high school then. We need to be home by my 18 year old's second semester start date on 1/22.

We previously went later in January/early February and had very manageable crowds. Now that we need to go earlier in the month, I'd like your advice on when to go for the lowest crowds. I know they are never really "low" anymore, and I'm pretty good with scheduling FastPasses and meals to avoid waiting in line the busiest times of the day... but the marathon being the second weekend in January instead of the first is throwing me off this year.

What are your thoughts on these time frames? We're planning four nights right now... I am ok pulling the 16 year old out for three days of school, but probably not four.

Thu-1/3 through Mon-1/7: how bad will the post-Christmas crowds be? Our schools are back in session on 1/2, but I don't know if that's the case for everyone.

Thu-1/10 through Mon 1/14: I know this is Marathon weekend. This is the weekend I would have chosen if the marathon was the first weekend like last year. How much do the marathon crowds impact the parks?

Wed-1/16 through Mon-1/21: If we go with this one, I'd add an extra night since Monday is a school holiday. How are the crowds over MLK weekend?

Thanks for the advice! I'm so excited I get to add an extra trip next year... I'm already planning a girls only adult trip the first week in May for my sis-in-laws 50th birthday!

 

[Mumph39]

I can only speak to Marathon weekend... We were there in January 2017 during the marathon. The marathon was rained out on one of the days. The only park it affected for us was Hollywood Studios. We had to adjust our timing for that park. The busses were a little slow on one of the days too, but nothing horrible. Otherwise, I found the parks much emptier than when we would go in August or February. We were able to get onto many rides that we couldn't without a fast pass (Soarin', Toy Story Mania). We just booked for January 6 -12, 2019 - hoping we have the same luck.

 

[brewhome]

I can only speak to Marathon weekend... We were there in January 2017 during the marathon. The marathon was rained out on one of the days. The only park it affected for us was Hollywood Studios. We had to adjust our timing for that park. The busses were a little slow on one of the days too, but nothing horrible. Otherwise, I found the parks much emptier than when we would go in August or February. We were able to get onto many rides that we couldn't without a fast pass (Soarin', Toy Story Mania). We just booked for January 6 -12, 2019 - hoping we have the same luck.

Thanks, @Mumph39 - that helps. I have read elsewhere that the Marathon doesn't really impact crowd levels, but it may slow down transportation the day of the race.

My hubby thinks we should add another night regardless of when we go in January, and if that means the 16 year old misses 4 days of school, then so be it. I didn't fight him on that one! The more time I can be there, the better! ;-)

My hubby also decided that he wants to go deluxe this time, which also surprised me - but again, I didn't fight it! He really fell in love with the Wilderness Lodge when we went to dinner and wandered around there on our last trip, so I am looking into renting DVC points. AKL will be our second choice if that's not available. We're going to stay flexible with our dates based on how that goes.

Whatever dates we work out, I think January in general is a good time to go. Fingers crossed that we all get great weather and manageable crowds!