January Theme Parks in the U.S.

[Curtis]

We live in Australia and are thinking of planning a trip for January '09 during our longest school holidays. I understand that the U.S. has some vacations in January and that it's winter. We are travelling as a family with two adults and two kids, 8yo & 6yo and are looking at visiting either the Californian parks or the Orlando ones. We are anticipating our trip being about 3-4 weeks.

 

I have a few questions.

 

From what I understand the temperature range will be cold but not freezing so with warm clothing we should be ok.

 

Is January a quiet time for the theme parks? What can we expect in regards to crowds and line waits?

 

Some of the parks list that they're open but don't list what rides, if any, are down for maintenance. If January is an off-peak time is it more likely that some of the rides will be down for maintenance?

 

Any other pieces of advice or suggestions would be welcome. If we do the Californian parks we would also be looking to see if we could get to some other sites, such as the Grand Canyon.

 

Thanks for any help,

Cheers

Curtis

[mcjaco]

I can't speak for temperatures ranges, but it's not as warm in the winter.

 

As for January, anywhere between holidays at the Disney parks it's usually pretty crowded. There's a ton of info on dates and crowds at most of the major Disney fansites.

[HHN Dylan]

Well, if you go to the Orlando parks, it won't be as hot as it is in the summer, but it sure won't be cold. Maybe cool, but not like below 60.

 

Crowds is always eh in Orlando but if you are going try a weekday.

 

No matter what stay away from the summer months.

[padresguy619]

The only places you will find a theme park that is actually open during the Winter is in Orlando, Florida or in Southern California. San Diego is home to Legoland, CA, which happens to be where I work. There's also SeaWorld San Diego and Belmont Park. If You go north to Los Angeles, SFMM, Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm are very close to each other. Except for Six Flags, most parks are usually open everyday. LLC is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the offseason. January is definetely the best time to go to any park in SoCal.

[Guest]

No matter what stay away from the summer months.

The Christmas/New Years time is more crowded for the destination parks than summer.

[SharkTums]

January will be totally fine for crowds. It won't be dead as there are lots of tourists like yourselves that come over during that time, but it is certainly better than most of the rest of the year.

 

If you're really talking about 3-4 weeks, perhaps do Florida and Southern California? 2 weeks in Florida, 2 weeks in California. You'll have plenty of time to do all of the parks, and all of the 'normal tourist' stuff.

 

It's important to note that temperatures can be a bit colder than what people are telling you in this thread. They won't last for awhile, but cold fronts do come through Florida that time of year and I GUARANTEE you will have at least a couple of 40 degre nights or mornings. (Same in Southern California)

 

No snow to deal with (unless you decide to go skiing a few hours north of SoCal).

[RCFreak]

^Hey, there's plenty of good skiiing in Southern California out in Big Bear and that's not too far from LA. But yeah, no snow to really worry about. When I was in Newcastle in June of 2005 the temperatures were pretty comparable winter-wise. So I would just bring whatever you normally wear during winter there to wear over here.

 

The first week of January is usually still busy as that's the last of Winter Holidays for most schools. The only other day to really worry about would be Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan 19, 2009. It's a three day weekend so while it will get busier, it shouldn't get too crazy.

 

A few rides will be down while you're over, but it's usually only one or two at a time and spread out, so it's not like half the parks shut down at one time.

 

The Grand Canyon from Los Angeles is about an 8 hour car ride (494 miles / 795 kilometers) to the South Rim in Arizona. Las Vegas is about 4 hours (270 miles/ 435 kilometers) from Los Angeles and 4-5 hours from the Grand Canyon (278 miles / 447 kilometers). LA to San Francisco can either be a 7-8 or 9-10 hour drive depending on which highway you take (The scenic route up The Pacific Coast Highway will take much longer then driving through the farmland on Interstate 5)

[Curtis]

Thanks for all the good info.

 

When I looked into climate info I was fairly sure it didn't snow that far south during January. I had read about the frosts but couldn't get much info, so thanks for that.

 

We were considering doing early january up at the snow fields and then going to the fun parks from about 8-10 Jan onwards.

 

One issue we're having is that the airfares from over here seem to be up around that time because it's OS skiing high season plus there could be about $500 of taxes on each airflight. We're starting to think that if we spend that amount of money to get over we need to make the trip longer and do a few of the other parks and sites.

[MixedDrink]

^ It should be fine, just avoid long weekends down there.

I'm not sure what they are in the US, but there is Martin Luther King Jr. long weekend. Stay away from that.

The first time I went to CW in 05, it was a long weekend in May, BIG mistake.

[dj snow]

Regarding the Grand Canyon: It can be very cold, snowy and/or icy there in January. If you go, check the weather beforehand and be prepared with appropriate clothing! Only the South Rim is open in winter.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[Kalepi_Konei]

It can get pretty cold down here in Florida like SharkTums said, there WILL be 40 degree nights/mornings, and its pretty windy sometimes too, so that adds to the effect.

 

Anyways I would suggest going to the Orlando parks, there pretty awesome! Some amazing rides that take quite a while to get everything done.