Question About Business Early in January

[smooch]

Hello there, I know usually around the holidays aren't the best times to go but my girlfriend and I might have an opportunity to visit DLR early in January. We would love to go before the 9th cause she has never seen Christmas decorations at Disneyland and it looks like we might be able to go January 4-6 (2 or 3 days not sure yet) which would be the middle of the week. Does anyone have a guess how busy it would be? I tried looking at crowd forecasts and they said those days shouldn't be too bad but I know it will still probably be very busy. Was wondering if anyone had some input. Thanks in advance!

 

[Sailor310]

Well, Touring Plans says all three days are 8/10 for crowds, DL is charging Tier 5 , 159 dollars-so they think it'll be fairly crowded.
Isitpacked has 4-6th Jan "Hey it's alright" for all three days with 5th and 6th "Best Bet" for the week. Go figure. Touring Plans is often off by several points.
You know you can always go with low expectations for rides and just enjoy the ambiance.

 

[mickEblu]

Those days will be busy. That week is historically pretty busy. Not as busy as the week between Christmas and New Years but expect crowds. For me, the Holiday decorations after the Holidays are anticlimactic. Also keep in mind IASW Holiday may not even be running this year.

If this is going to be your one trip to DLR for the new few years I’d wait for the holidays next year or go during a less busy time in January/ February. We ve had some beautiful weather in So Cal the last few years during this time.

If this is some spur of the moment trip, then just go and enjoy it. Especially if you ll be back anytime soon. Just adjust your expectations.

 

[smooch]

Those days will be busy. That week is historically pretty busy. Not as busy as the week between Christmas and New Years but expect crowds. For me, the Holiday decorations after the Holidays are anticlimactic. Also keep in mind IASW Holiday may not even be running this year.

If this is going to be your one trip to DLR for the new few years I’d wait for the holidays next year or go during a less busy time in January/ February. We ve had some beautiful weather in So Cal the last few years during this time.

If this is some spur of the moment trip, then just go and enjoy it. Especially if you ll be back anytime soon. Just adjust your expectations.

I don't care much about IASW Holiday because my girlfriend and I are not huge fans of IASW, I personally would ride it to see the overlay but it's not something I would care if I missed, honestly. It is a pretty spur of the moment trip, a 2 month advance is spur of the moment for me for a trip like this I guess. We weren't planning on going during the holidays but the way my work and school schedules worked out along with my girlfriend's we would be able to go around the beginning of January. We could go during a less busy time in January if that would be a week or possibly 2 weeks after the dates I listed, but then we wouldn't see the holiday decorations. I know it wouldn't be the end of the world if we missed them but I know my girlfriend has always talked about how she hasn't ever been during Halloween or Christmas and she really likes how it looks with the Christmas decorations from all the pictures and videos she's seen. It wouldn't be the end of the world if we missed them but I think she and I both expect it to be relatively busy at that time as a trade off for her finally getting to see the decorations. And honestly I would really like to see them too, it will be a bit weird being after Christmas and all but still I haven't seen them since I was a small child so it would be very cool to see them again. I wouldn't be back again any time soon, the most frequent I've done DLR trips is once every year or two but I haven't been in almost 3-4 years at this point aside from my free work trip to WDW in 2018. I could wait until the holidays next year but that's a long time away and we'd have to see how schedules would work out that year for any time we could both make it.

Thanks for the input, I will put in some more thought and talk to her about priority of crowd levels vs. seeing holiday decorations or waiting til next year!

 

[pdude81]

I don't care much about IASW Holiday because my girlfriend and I are not huge fans of IASW, I personally would ride it to see the overlay but it's not something I would care if I missed, honestly. It is a pretty spur of the moment trip, a 2 month advance is spur of the moment for me for a trip like this I guess. We weren't planning on going during the holidays but the way my work and school schedules worked out along with my girlfriend's we would be able to go around the beginning of January. We could go during a less busy time in January if that would be a week or possibly 2 weeks after the dates I listed, but then we wouldn't see the holiday decorations. I know it wouldn't be the end of the world if we missed them but I know my girlfriend has always talked about how she hasn't ever been during Halloween or Christmas and she really likes how it looks with the Christmas decorations from all the pictures and videos she's seen. It wouldn't be the end of the world if we missed them but I think she and I both expect it to be relatively busy at that time as a trade off for her finally getting to see the decorations. And honestly I would really like to see them too, it will be a bit weird being after Christmas and all but still I haven't seen them since I was a small child so it would be very cool to see them again. I wouldn't be back again any time soon, the most frequent I've done DLR trips is once every year or two but I haven't been in almost 3-4 years at this point aside from my free work trip to WDW in 2018. I could wait until the holidays next year but that's a long time away and we'd have to see how schedules would work out that year for any time we could both make it.

Thanks for the input, I will put in some more thought and talk to her about priority of crowd levels vs. seeing holiday decorations or waiting til next year!

If you want to see the holiday decorations, then go for it. I assume genie will be operational by then so you can pay your way to some shorter lines should it turn out to be on the busy side.

 

[truecoat]

IASW may not be running for months.

 

[CaptinEO]

Hello there, I know usually around the holidays aren't the best times to go but my girlfriend and I might have an opportunity to visit DLR early in January. We would love to go before the 9th cause she has never seen Christmas decorations at Disneyland and it looks like we might be able to go January 4-6 (2 or 3 days not sure yet) which would be the middle of the week. Does anyone have a guess how busy it would be? I tried looking at crowd forecasts and they said those days shouldn't be too bad but I know it will still probably be very busy. Was wondering if anyone had some input. Thanks in advance!

I once visited Disneyland on Jan 3rd 2017, and it was the busiest I had ever seen the parks. Even It's a Small World Holiday had a 75 minute wait (and it didnt have Fastpass at this point).

The entire area of Fantasyland, Adventureland, Small World Mall, and New Orleans Square were so packed you could barely move.

That being said, if that's your only opportunity to go, then do it, I also love Christmas time at Disneyland.

Just play it smart. Get to the parking lots when they open (an hour before it opens). Then you can rope drop the park. Do all the big rides before 11am and spend the rest of the day doing less popular rides and shows.

When it gets to 1-3pm the park will be at its worst, do things like Lincoln, Pooh, and Tiki Room, or a sit down restaraunt at this time. Usually once its about 4 the crowds will simmer down somewhat before rebounding an hour before fireworks.

The early bird does get the worm.