January Disney World crowds

Happy New Year

January starts out with a bang! January Disney World crowds are very heavy from January first until the first Sunday of the month. It seems like there are people coming out of the woodwork. We waited for 2 hours to ride Soarin' on January 1 at 7 in the evening. Very busy!

January is one of the cheapest, best months to visit Walt Disney World. Most of the month crowds are almost non-existant. Have fun.

Quite a show

The fireworks at

Photo by Don Sullivan

How to avoid January crowds

Avoiding Disney World crowds is the goal of almost every Disney World guest. Unfortunately most of the time it really takes work. January crowds are smaller than most months but there are still some tips and secrets that you need to know even during the slow times. (You never know when Disney will run a special that fills the parks.)

Dad's Disney World crowds page

New Years Day

New Years day is the second busiest day of the year at Walt Disney World. Lines will be long, parks will be full and it gets worse as it gets dark. (Normally people go home in the evenings, not New Years Day.)

If you want to see one of the fireworks shows, be sure to get your spot early. (Every 500,000 people will be around the Magic Kingdom to see the show.)

Dad and Mrs. Mom and the kids took a Disney World vacation in January 2008. The first was chaos, but after that the crowds just disappeared. Dad's experience with New Years Crowds crowds.

January Disney World Crowds - Disney World Marathon

Photo by Howie Muzika

The Marathon

For the rest of the month of January, Disney World crowds are usually very light except for the weekend of the Disney World marathon when a bunch of insane people show up and run for miles and miles. Crazy people. Crowds on Marathon Weekend will be moderate and occasionally heavy. (Marathoners are morning people, and so are their supporters.)

Dad's Disney World Events page

Dad's Crowd Calendar Disclaimer

This calendar is based on historical facts, as I know them today. The Walt Disney World Resort is an ever-changing environment and you might find things significantly different from below.

(There, Mr. Dad's lawyer, are you happy?)

January Disney World Crowd Calendar 2012

Here's the guide to the colors used in the January Disney World crowds calendar.

Light - the green color - no waiting in most lines.
Moderate - the blue color - short wait in all lines, 30 minutes on the big rides.
Heavy - the yellow color - 30 minute wait on all rides, 1-2 hours on the big rides, must arrive at least 30 minutes prior to shows.
Wall-to-Wall - red - 1 hour + waits on rides not unusual. 2-3 hours for the big rides. Even 30 + minute waits for "fast" food.
Don't Blame me, I warned you. - the black color - worse than out of control. So many people you can't hear yourself think.

The Best Time to Visit Disney World?

Is January the best time to visit Walt Disney World? Maybe, maybe not. January is certainly one of the least expensive times to visit. The weather is a little iffy. It's the greenest month for crowds. So does that make it the best month? See the answer ...

Dad's Best Time to Visit Disney page

Everything you always wanted to know

Below you'll find an overall view of what the crowds at Disney World will be like during the month of January. Dad writes the calendar based on whatever information he can scrounge up. For a complete, park by park day by day, look at what the crowds are in each park, check out Touringplans.com.

The folks over at Touringplans.com wrote the book on Disney World crowds (The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World). You'll find historical crowd levels where can see what the crowds have been on the days of your trip through the years. They project crowd levels in each park for every day of the year.For every day you'll find a recommendation for the which park to visit and which one to avoid. They even have an iPhone/Smart Phone app that shows how long the lines are at every ride in real time.

I use Touringplans.com for my trips and highly recommend it. Trust me.

Dad's Touringplans.com page

Ask Dad

Do you have a question about January Disney World Crowds? Why not ask an expert? Yes, Dad is an expert and will be happy to answer just about any question you can ask. Here are a couple of examples of Dad's brilliance ...

Come on over. It's fun.

Dad's Ask Dad page

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Dad's Bottom Line

Most of January is a sleepy time to visit Disney World (sleepy is good), that is unless your a runner and are running in the Marathon. Crowds are light after the first week and temperatures are comfortable (usually). It's also a time when Disney does a lot of maintenance so some rides may be closed.