Disney World

We are going to Disney World in January. Do to schedules we can go the 1st week or 2nd week. I am leaning toward the second week with the lower crowds but worry about ride closure. This is not a trip we will repeat anytime in the near future. Anyone gone during Jan? Did ride closures effect the experience.

 

We never went in January, but here is the Crowd Calendar - I think both weeks look similar.
 
https://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/crowd-calendar/january-2016/#calendar
 
About ride closures - when we went last time The Jungle Cruise was closed - but I can't say it affected our experience. Also, Space Mountain was closed another time. Actually I wouldn't mind if they do some repairs to "It's a Small World" next time we visit .
 
I am sure you guys will have a blast. Even if you can't do everything, try to enjoy the experience. In my opinion Peter Pan is overrated and I can't understand the HUGE lines. We didn't even bother with that one last time we went. I love the 7 Dwarfs Mine train and Ariel's Grotto,  the Pirates, and Splash Mountain! Try to use the fast pass as soon as you go in the park - you can get 3 fast passes to begin with - and as soon as you are done with those - you can get another one - one at a time each time. I hope you can stay for the fireworks - and you need to have a stroller or maybe rent one. When the kids get tired and cranky in the afternoon - you can ride the train around the park once or twice, it would allow all of you to rest and regroup - plus if your kids like trains - they will enjoy it. Or you can do the Hall of Presidents to rest and learn some history - if you think they would be interested.
 
Have fun!

 

We were there this past February and loved our little vacation in Florida! I think I would also lean towards the second week, even if the crowd sites say the crowds are about the same for both weeks. It just seems it should be slightly less crowded the second week due to school vacations being over. I don't remember any ride closures on our trip, but that doesn't mean there weren't any. There are just so many rides that even if one was closed, there are still dozens others to choose from!

If you do fast passes, just know that all members in your party have to use the fast passes you selected, or you can't select any more. We got burned on fast passes at Magic Kingdom because of that.

It rained buckets the day we were at Animal Kingdom. Instead of being awful, it turned out to be wonderful. We had packed rain jackets and were prepared (however, if you or the kids are wearing backpacks, ponchos are much better than rain jackets! Our backpacks got drenched and a few things inside got wet. Next time, whenever that is, we will all have ponchos to put over our clothing and backpacks!). While most people left the park because of the rain, we stayed. It was awesome! We had NO lines for any of the big rides and went on them over and over and over and over again. It's Florida, so even being dripping wet, we weren't cold.

Are you staying in a Disney hotel? We hadn't planned to, but decided to do so, kind of at the last minute. We bought one of the dining plans, and I totally loved having that! Would defiantly go that route again!

The other thing I think is a must is the memory maker. It's extra money, but so so so worth it!

 

You will have a blast no matter which week you choice to go.  Other than hollywood studios, it doesn't look like anything major is closed in January as of now.  But there are always rides closed.  
The last trip we took a stroller, my girls were 5.  It was more of a pain in the butt.  I loved the following trip when we didn't bother with a stroller.   I think my 10 year old girls have been to WDW at least 10 times.  

 
I'm surprised you couldn't switch the unused to fastpass to what ever it was you wanted to get.  I'm pretty sure you can do fast passes by people not everyone. I know you can since we travel with multiple parties and even though we were linked up and did most fast passes together, we didn't do all of them.

 

Thanks everyone!  I was just mainly worried about rides being closed but it sounds like we might not really notice with everything else there is to do.  We had to choose the 1st week in January.  One of my nephews college classes start back the second week.  We had assumed they would not start until after Martin Luther King day but we were wrong.  So we are going with it.  I am actually using a travel agent from wishes family travel.  She is a friend of mine and plans Disney trips as a side business.  Its a free service.  Disney pays her for her time.  She takes care of all the dining reservations and fast passes.   I guess there is an app to download to your phone that tracks each person individually.  We are staying onsite so we don't have to rent a car and doing the family meal plan.  I've heard mix reviews on the meal plan but I think it will be easier.  We aren't going to use a stroller.  But we are renting a scooter for my mom to use as needed.  They will deliver the scooter to our hotel room and pick it up at the end of the week. 

 

How big is your group?
 
You will have a blast.  Where are you staying?  

 

We will have 6.  4 adults and 2 kids.  We plan to stay at the Art of Animation.  Lion King Suite.
 
I am already counting down the days until our trip!  We've talked about going for a long time and to finally make it a reality....  I can't wait. 

 

There should only be one or 2 rides closed never a mass amount of rides closed.  I would say it would not ruin your trip just plan around that ride being closed.  You may be able to see now if there is a scheduled rehab due.

 

I would also say anytime after New years is not going to be very busy...

 

I'm sure you can do as you are saying. What I meant was, two of our kids didn't use one of their fast pass selections. Later in the day, many hours past the unused ride selection, we tried to add another ride for all five of us. We couldn't do a fast pass for the two kids that didn't use one of their selections. We asked an employee to help us and were told the was nothing we could do because they didn't use their ride. After learning that, on the next few days, if one of our kids decided they didn't want to go on their fast pass ride (after seeing it), we scanned their Magic band at the kiosk and they just didn't go through onto the ride. It was a frustrating lesson to learn, but in the whole scope of things, nothing major.

 

I've been in the first week of January and the first week of Februrary. Is go the second week of January. The first week was still fairly crowded, particularly the first few days, although the perk is that the holiday decorations are still up. They started coming down end of that week. We had no issues with ride closures either trip. There will probably be something closed for renovations (one trip it was Maelstrom at Epcot, I don't even remember what was closed the second trip if anything. One of the water parks is likely to be closed.). But, for me, the number one determiner of how much fun I have is crowds. I want the lowest crowds possible.

 

I hate the new fast pass system!

 

 
I'm happy with it.  I just wish it wasn't 60  or 30 days out.  And I would love to be able to add an extra on the app after I have used up the 3.  I love all of walking together in the park instead of DH running to get us our fast pass.  I love being able to hit a park in the morning, and then using the fast passes at night ( seven dwarf mine train is amazing at night).  
I have used it 3 times, learned something from each time.  Check ride times, don't be afraid to change around the Fast passes if the one you have the FP for has a short line and something else has a long line.

 

Good information on fast passes!  The friend making our reservations will get up at midnight 60 day prior to get them.  She has ones she recommends like 7 Dwarf Mine Train.  I wouldn't think about going on it at night.  I'll have to ask about it.  She said we could change fast passes around once we are in the park if a line is short to go ahead and ride and switch the fast pass to something else. 
 
My other question is about rest times.  She recommends down time in the afternoon.... going back to the resort etc.  I've never done that even as a kid going to Disneyland.  We just rode the train or did something else that was calm.  Is it really more enjoyable if you go all the way back to the resort (for us it will be by bus)?  It just sounds like a lot of hassle to me.  Or if we are switching parks build in the rest time at the resort.  In January we probably won't want to swim much (I'm sure mine will get in at least once since the water is 80 degrees).  Also she said to plan to head to a resort for dinner two hours ahead of time.  Is a dinner at a resort really worth spending two hours getting there?  I'd rather spend the time in the park and get to a restaurant.  I've worked out based on crowds and hours which park we will be which day/time to get dinner reservations narrowed down.  Really with Epcot in there I don't see a need to eat at a resort. 

 

We went when the kids were 2 and 8 months, then a month before they turned 4 and then last may - they were 4 and 8 months. Each time, we spent the whole day in the park at Magic Kingdom. We had the double stroller that is really comfortable and the first visit they both took naps and we just rested at the pavilion in Tomorrowland, then the second time, only Max took a nap in the stroller during the parade - while we were in front row watching it. In May they didn't take naps - but because they were in the stroller - they didn't walk as much so they were not too tired, we were in the park from 10 AM until after the fireworks. Of course, as soon as we started walking towards the monorail after the fireworks they both fell asleep in the stroller, they didn't wake up in the monorail or in the car or when we put them in bed and changed them. Another reason why I like the stroller is because we keep everything in it - snacks, water bottles, change of clothes for the kids.
 
Your kids will be 7 at the time of the visit - so I don't see why they won't be able to make it a full day.  Since you won't have a stroller - you can always do something that lets you rest from time to time - like the Philarmagic Orchestra, the Hall of Presidents, the Country Bear Jamboree, The Enchanted Tiki Room, you can ride the train for a while or just go eat somewhere. Bring some snacks with you and make sure they drink plenty of water. When you see they are getting tired - take a break.
 
It's OK if you don't do everything, just enjoy the experience and don't get stressed if you miss a ride or a parade. But PLEASE do the Seven Dwarfs and the others I mentioned in the previous post  . Also the Haunted Mansion is pretty cool - they refurbished it a few years ago. Space Mountain is also great if you like rollercoasters.
 
Enjoy your trip!

 

2 hours is if you are going from your resort to the adr. If you are already at a park, just take the bus , boat or monorail to get there.

 

We did a meal plan and our breakfast was our "quick service" meal and we had that at our resort. We had our "table service" meal mid-afternoon in the park. Our "snack" was in the evening. If we were still hungry when we returned to the resort, we went back and had a small meal, but we only did that one of the nights we were there. The little snacks we packed and the times we chose to eat worked well for our family. My kids were a little older (9 and 10 years old), but we didn't take any breaks and they were fine. The first day was the roughest for us because we chose to do Magic Kingdom that day and it is by far the biggest of the parks (with the longest park hours). We got in late the night before, and we had a two hour time difference, and the kids were tired. One of them got a little cranky that first day, but she toughed it out (or we did!!) and we still had a good day. If I were to do it again, we'd probably do Animal Kingdom our first day (closes earlier than the other parks) and Magic Kingdom on a different day after we had a chance to get a good nights rest.
 
About the 7 Dwarves Mine Train ride . . . we actually did do that at night. It was a ride we didn't do Fast Passes for, and the line was super long all day long, so we decided we wouldn't ride it. Then, before we left that night, we decided we really wanted to ride it, despite the lines. So, it was very dark. It turned out to be awesome at night because the fireworks were also going off. We'd come out of the tunnels and up the little hills to fireworks exploding over head. It was really cool. Our three kids loved it as well, and two of them are not roller coaster fans. So, perhaps doing that ride at night wouldn't be too bad.
 
Other than our little snafu with the Fast Passes, we loved them! They saved us a bunch of time on some of the more popular rides! I was a little stressed about getting our Fast Pass selections as soon as possible, then we ended up being quite late in doing so (like, just a couple weeks before our vacation!). I had no trouble making our selection and getting the rides we wanted.

 

Thanks everyone for all the great tips!!  I kind of forgot but my kids did Washington DC at age 3 with zero naps and we walked everywhere.  I took the stroller one day and it was empty the entire time so I ended up leaving it the rest of the time at the hotel.  If we can manage that I am sure Disney at almost 7 will not be bad.