January 2026 at Disneyland Crowd Calendar

Our guide to January 2026 at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure offers a free crowd calendar, days to visit & avoid, SoCal weather, seasonal events, new attraction openings, refurbishments, and more.

Conventional wisdom says that January and February are the slowest months of the year at Disneyland. It’s a chilly time in Southern California and the state’s “rainy season” (which means like 2 rainy days per month), and also a time when Disneyland focuses on refurbishments.

Historically, this has resulted in lower attendance and an off-season vibe at Disneyland once winter break has ended. At least, most years. As you might’ve gathered by the terms “conventional wisdom” and “historically,” this hasn’t been nearly as true in recent years–at least, not consistently so–as it was in the past. The good news is that there are still pockets of the winter off-season when crowds are low. Before we get to that, let’s quickly recap what happened the last time that January was bonkers, as history could always repeat itself…

First came the announcement of Main Street Electrical Parade making its homecoming at Disneyland in a limited time engagement before it’d be retired. Then came the nostalgia-drenched parade ad plus billboards plastered all over–it was quite the marketing blitz in the Los Angeles and Orange County markets.

To no one’s surprise, Main Street Electrical Parade debuted to monster crowds, and those remained steady pretty much until the summer months when the Annual Passholder blockout began. Disneyland locals love anything new, returning, limited time, and nostalgic–this made for a perfect storm. This was exacerbated by cheaper tickets for Southern California residents, coupled with a surplus of attraction refurbishments that reduced park capacity.

With that backdrop set, here’s what you can expect in January 2026 at Disneyland & Disney California Adventure in terms of the crowd calendar, weather, refurbishment, special events, closures and new attractions…

January Weather at Disneyland

January is a great time to visit Southern California from a weather perspective. Temperatures are usually in the 50s and 60s, with the average high being 67°F and the average low being 47°F.

If you’re from a cold weather state, this might seem like t-shirt and shorts weather, but most locals bundle up. This is especially true in the evening, when California’s crisp air makes it feel even colder. We’d recommend packing (at least) jeans and hooded sweatshirts, plus a light jacket.

January is also Southern California’s rainy season–to the extent that it has one. On the rare occasions when it does rain, it’s typically not just a brief or isolated shower. Nevertheless, SoCal normally sees less than 3 inches of rain in January, so days of downpours are unlikely.

It’s more likely you’ll experience near-constant sunshine, with the marine layer being less of a problem during the winter months, and most days seeing plenty of sunlight. All in all, January is a good time to visit California (and by extension, Disneyland), so long as you don’t plan on sunbathing on the beach or swimming in the ocean!

Special Events & What’s New or Closed

The big event to start the new year is the Lunar New Year Celebration to return to Disney California Adventure from January 23 to February 22, 2026. This shifts back by a week, starting after MLK Day but also ending after Presidents’ Day and the busy Ski Week. This celebration of Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese traditions that usually runs through early February. It’s always a great, under-the-radar event.

The other celebration occurring in January 2026 will be the Disneyland 70th Anniversary. This event will be roughly 8 months old by the time Winter 2026 rolls around, so it would normally be losing steam. However, the wildcard here is that some of the 70th entertainment is pausing for Halloween and Christmas, meaning it won’t run from late August through early January 2026. Once it returns, there could be some pent-up demand and crowds as a result.

In terms of January 2026 closures, there’s a fairly long list in addition to the normal ones like Haunted Mansion and it’s a small world. Consult our Disneyland Refurbishment Calendar for opening and closing dates.

January 2026 Disneyland Crowd Calendar

We’ll preface this by noting that Disneyland crowd calendars for specific dates are no longer highly reliable due to changes in attendance trends, the new Magic Key passholders, ticket promotions, and other factors. General trends are a bit easier, but it’s difficult to say a particular day will have low, moderate, or heavy crowds–which is why we’ve eliminated our color-coded Disneyland crowd calendars.

As such, our crowd calendar exists of some best & worst date ranges that should be used as an approximation for patterns—not something you rely upon exclusively when booking a trip to Disneyland. While other sites offer numerical crowd calendars for specific dates months (or a year!) in advance, we’d be weary of putting too much weight on those. There are simply too many inconsistent variables for Disneyland crowd calendars to be reliable so far in advance.

With that said, our methodology is based upon historic wait time information, anecdotal observations, special events, school schedules, dynamic ticket prices, and more. Second, expect Disney California Adventure crowds to almost always track Disneyland crowds—with a few exceptions—albeit with a proportionately lower number of guests.

While there’s the perception that holiday crowds die down after New Year’s Eve, this is only true to a degree. Post-holiday crowds will remain heavy through January 5, 2026 when local school districts go back into session following winter break.

After that, tourists are briefly supplanted by local Magic Key passholders who are no longer blocked out but are still on holiday break from work or school. Annual Passholder blockouts for January 2026 do not perfectly coincide with Los Angeles and Orange County School District winter breaks, and are much more staggered than in previous years.

In any case, expect there to be a slight surge on Sunday, January 4, 2026, after most AP blockouts end but before schools go back into session. Likewise, there could continue to be a slight bit of pent-up demand through mid-week. The following few days starting January 8, 2026 should be blissfully uncrowded. The very good news is that these low crowds should last for at least a couple of weeks.

This is in part because the Disneyland Half Marathon is once again being held later: January 29 through February 1, 2026.

Since we’re already on the subject, it is worth noting that runDisney events have not had nearly as big of an impact on crowd calendars as they used to. Our theories for this trend are fewer out-of-state runDisney participants who are still Annual Passholders due to rising costs, runners cutting trips short due to rising travel costs, and fewer purchasing multi-day tickets…also due to rising costs. So basically, everything costing more money leading runners to reduce visits to the parks.

That could change for the 2026 Disneyland Half Marathon if the annual ticket deal is opened up to the general public instead of just Southern California residents. This did not occur in 2025 despite other deals, both before and after, being available to the general public. It remains to be seen what happens in 2026, but cheaper tickets will likely result in more runners buying them…meaning higher crowds due to the race. We’ll update this accordingly once discount details are released.

Before the runDisney race, January 16-20, 2026 will likely be busy due to the MLK Day holiday weekend. Non holiday weekdays typically will not be as bad during the month as later in the year. Beyond that, we don’t currently have any red flags.

If you’re looking at the crowd calendar for the best dates in January 2026 to visit Disneyland, we’d recommend January 6-11, 2026; January 13-15, 2026; January 20-25, 2026 or January 27-29, 2026. These weeks gets you far enough outside the holiday season, with the post-blockout crowd wave having subsided, and local schools being back in session.

The second to last set of dates is our favorite. It’s during Lunar New Year festivities at DCA, but shouldn’t be the very beginning. It’s before the runDisney racers start arriving–even though they don’t have a huge impact on crowds, it’s non-zero. This is truly a sweet spot in the month of January (if you need fewer dates, cut Tuesday.)

In 2025, this was the best set of dates to visit Disneyland at the beginning of the year. Not just in January, but in the entirety of winter. Barring a major change–which we do not anticipate, the same will be true again in 2026. This is precisely why these dates make our list of the Best & Worst Weeks to Visit Disneyland in 2026.

It’s important to underscore that these crowd calendar predictions are our best guesses, and lean heavily on the above assumptions. One of the greatest difficulties with forecasting Disneyland crowds is that so much of the audience lives in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, meaning they are not planning their trips to Disneyland months in advance. Many people are visiting on a whim, and can make last-minute trips if enticed by marketing, deals, or special entertainment.

With all of that said, there are a few sure things for January at Disneyland. Already mentioned are the chilly (but pleasant) weather and refurbishments. The other is that it’s still Southern California’s off-season in terms of tourism. Even if Disneyland and Disney California Adventure end up being busy, they’ll be busy with locals.

While Californians over-contribute to congestion or “feels like” crowds, they under-contribute to wait times. So there’s this odd dynamic where the walkways look busier, but attractions are not. Since they’re repeat visitors, locals are less likely to ride attractions than tourists. Many treat Disneyland like the local mall–a place to hang out, eat dinner, relax with friends, watch entertainment, etc.

January Pricing & Discounts

Because its primarily a local audience, January is one of the cheapest months of the year in terms of off-site hotel prices. We rank our favorite (and least favorite) hotels in the area in our Disneyland Area Hotel Rankings & Reviews post. Check out discounted hotel + ticket vacation packages on Get Away Today to save money on off-site hotels.

Expecting a slowdown in 2026, Disneyland is likely to release aggressive discounts for the first half of next year. The biggest of these is likely to be the Southern California Resident Disneyland Ticket Deal (details from last year). These tickets typically go on sale during the holiday season, and are valid for visits starting in early January and continuing through late May or early June. If you reside in SoCal, this is the best deal of the year–but proof of residency is required. At least, usually. It’s possible this will be opened up to the general public.

It’s also possible that Disney brings back the Kids’ Ticket Discount at Disneyland (details from last year), which is restricted by age but not residency. That deal is excellent for families visiting during this timeframe, offering admission to children ages 3 to 9 for only $50 per day during visit dates from early January through March. This is a shockingly good deal, amounting to a discount of around $150 to $200 on multi-day tickets!

Even if our moderate crowd predictions for January turn out to be accurate, we still recommend an efficient itinerary for touring Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Another great option is the Park Hopper ticket, which allows you to weave between the parks. Failing that, arrive at rope drop and try to get as much done as possible before 4 p.m.

Overall, January and February have fallen from their high-ranking slots that they previously occupied on our Best and Worst Months to Visit Disneyland, but they probably deserve to see their standing elevated once again.

If you’re an out-of-state visitor considering a Disneyland vacation at some point, and are looking for a low-crowd time of year that will also have cool weather, we would recommend taking a hard look at January 2026, especially the sweet spot between MLK Day and the Disneyland Half Marathon. While we only presented a limited number of good dates, those should be really good–with true off-season crowd levels.

If you’re a local or can wait longer to book a trip, we’d advise taking a wait-and-see approach. Once Disneyland releases its SoCal ticket offer, we should have a much better idea of what crowds will look like. At that point, we’ll return to this post with a fresh look at the crowd calendar.

Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!

Your Thoughts

Have you visited Disneyland in January? Any predictions of your own to offer in terms of crowds in winter/spring 2026 at Disneyland? Any questions? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts or questions below in the comments!