January and February

Winter Time

The winter months of January and February are a great time to visit the parks if you can swing it. Between the great weather, generally lower crowds, and fun offerings like Epcot’s Festival of the Arts, this is one of our favorite seasons to plan for.

January and February are both excellent months to visit Walt Disney World if you can swing it. The beginning of January sees relatively high crowd levels, as New Year's travelers wrap up their vacations, but as the month progresses and schools get back in session, the crowd levels drop off. The exception to this would be Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend (January 18-20, 2025) and RunDinsey (January 8-12, 2025).  With the way attendance has been trending, it likely will not feel like that parks are all that empty, but getting hotel rooms, dining reservations, and scheduling Lightning Lane Multi Pass will all be easier.

As you enter February there is a crowd spike during President’s Day weekend (February 15-17), requiring some extra planning to navigate, and there are cheer and dance competitions a number of the weekends, so you will likely see lots of large groups of teenage girls wandering the parks on either end of those. Mardi Gras week is a holiday in Louisiana, and can also bring extra crowds, but in 2025 it is the beginning of March. Outside of that, the parks are very manageable, and it is easy to get a lot done.

This time of year is one of our favorite times to visit the parks. The weather is generally beautiful, with lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s, making staying outside all day incredibly pleasant. 

January also sees the end of the holiday decorations (you can catch them if you go in the first week) and Epcot’s Festival of the Arts starts up toward the end of the month and runs to toward the end of February. This is a fan favorite, offering fun art, activities, food, and shows throughout the park. Additionally, the cost of the hotel room, park tickets, and Lighting Lane Multi Pass (which all operate on a date based pricing) will be on average lower during these months. 

Pros:

• Epcot’s Festival of the Arts begins at the end of January and runs through most of February.

• Crowd levels tend to be more manageable: Mid to late January sees lower crowd levels, and weekdays during February tend to be less crowded.

• Cost of the hotel rooms, tickets and LLMP is generally lower during this time.

• The lower crowd levels also often lead to discounts being offered by Disney, though are not guaranteed.

• The weather is some of the best you will get in Orlando. Lows are in the 50s with highs in the 70s, and the chance of rain is relatively low.

Cons:

• With lower crowd levels comes decreased park operating hours.

• More likely that popular rides will be closed for refurbishment during this month due to the lower crowd levels.

• The beginning of January and Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend often have high crowd levels along with President’s Day weekend in February.

• runDisney’s main event takes place during the first weekend in the month, leading to an influx of people during that weekend.

• runDisney Princess ½ Marathon is the last weekend in February, leading to an influx of people for that event.

• Cheer and dance competitions run multiple weekends during February, leading to increased crowd levels.

• Sometime Mardi Gras lands in February, this is a school holiday for Louisiana and leads to larger crowds. (March 4, 2025, so March’s problem week in 2025)

• Water parks are sometimes closed during the winter months, check for availability prior to your trip.

• Because of lower crowds, popular rides are sometimes down for maintenance in February, so be sure to check the refurbishment schedule.

Planning a Walt Disney World Vacation?  Click here for our planning guide. Need tips for planning a Walt Disney World Vacation with someone with a disability?  Check out the disability section of our blog here.  Need help navigating the parks using DAS?  Click here. No longer qualify for DAS and need help figuring out now to approach a day at the parks? Click here for our ideas on how to flip your thinking and still have a good experience at Disney.