January 2013

[Leannea]

Being from the Northeast, my family and I are planning a trip to DW in January. Any helpful info about the weather, crowds, etc would be appreciated. Past trips to DW have been in October. Thanks!

 

[minnie mum]

What part of January? For how long? Crowd levels, park hours, and weather varies during the month.

 

[Leannea]

Thanks for the inquiry, we are planning to visit DW for 1/19 thru 1/26.

 

[DeborahA]

we are going the same week, and have for several years. We live very far south in Florida, so the weather is a lot cooler for us. I think you will find a variety of weather. It will most likely be warm--high 70's--during the day. At night it could get into the 60's. We usually wear shorts during the day and jeans and a sweater or hoodie at night.
The crowds are low to moderate. It is our favorite time of year to go.

 

[204charity]

we are going the same week, and have for several years. We live very far south in Florida, so the weather is a lot cooler for us. I think you will find a variety of weather. It will most likely be warm--high 70's--during the day. At night it could get into the 60's. We usually wear shorts during the day and jeans and a sweater or hoodie at night.
The crowds are low to moderate. It is our favorite time of year to go.

Thanks for starting this thread - we are considering either November 2013 or January 2014 for our next trip (will be my DH's and DS's first trip) and I am stuck on when to go....we live in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada so I was hoping the weather wouldn't feel too chilly in comparison to our -35 temps, but I don't know!!

 

[minnie mum]

We've been a few times in the latter part of January. We've found the weather to be a crap shoot. Some days (and weeks) have been sunny and mild, cooling down in the evenings so even us Canadians needed a jacket and long pants. Other times it has been cold (frost warnings) and wet and miserable- needing jackets, gloves AND ponchos. Moral of the story- pack layers and don't leave those jackets in the car at the airport!!

At least one of the water parks will be closed. You may or may not get a lot of swimming in at your resort. I'd advise not buying the water parks and more tickets ahead of time - wait until you get there and see what the temps are like.

Crowd levels will be great, but park hours are shorter and you may find more rides down for refurbs than you would find at other times of the year.

 

[momof2minnies]

Lets see marathon weekend January 2009- 85 degrees and sweltering, same weekend 2010 19 degrees and sleeting!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Being from
the North we were ok but the people next to us from Fort Myers were beside themselves!!!!!!


So you never know.


Linda

 

[Dizzytime]

We like January. Much prefer whatever the 'crap-shoot' is that month to almost any other time of year. We plan for mild days and cool nights with an occasional (sometimes heavy) rain storm, and usually aren't too far off. But remember, you're in Florida so never be surprised.

We like Jan weather, and I hope you will, too!

 

[wuzzy6]

We're going 1/27-2/2 - whatever the weather happens to do that week, it will be much better than the weather will be in Maine.

 

[Leannea]

Thanks for the feedback I really appreciate because of your feedback I booked for January. Fingers crossed!! I don't expect to go swimming I am just hoping I won't need a parker.

 

[pixarmom]

OP, can we swap tips? We've been going in January, February, March, April, May, July, August and December. We have no experience in October (but we will in a few weeks!) and lots of experience in January.

As for the weather, it could be anywhere from 80s to 70s to 50s. At night, it has been as low as high 30s. Sometimes it rains, and sometimes not. Our three boys often swim in January, but we do not. And those temps can vary significantly from day to night, so we either bring a backpack with extra layers or schedule a resort break to make sure we can add layers for the evening. Crowds have been relatively low for us throughout January (although we hear they are higher if a trip covers MLK weekend, and ours have not.) In any event, the weather is very unpredictable, so I highly recommend checking the forecast as you get close to your trip and packing just about everything.

In 2013, we'll be there from January 26 - February 1 and the best advice I can share is to anticipate a fun vacation, but not count on warmth. We've noticed that when people count on WDW in January as a warm weather vacation, they can be disappointed. If they count on fun and know that the weather can be unpredictable, the results are far better!

Have a great trip!!

 

[KangaFan]

We always go the last week in Jan & have been lucky enough to swim every time (knock on wood). We check the forecast the week before to see if there is a chance we'll need the heavy jackets & just pack a little big of everything. To keep packing down, we just come prepared to do laundry. I love those detergent sheets, especially when we fly!

 

[Butterflygirl35]

We love this time of year.. Crowds are low and weather is great

We are FL residents and prefer this time of year (even though we multiple times a year)

 

[Leannea]

These posts are extremely helpful! Thanks to all. We are looking forward to less crowds and not counting on swimming so hopefully all will be good in DW. It is just to hot for this Northeast family in the summer months to travel to DW. The last trip we took to DW was in 2008 in October and we had to swim or shower twice a day because we were all so hot.

 

[Butterflygirl35]

These posts are extremely helpful! Thanks to all. We are looking forward to less crowds and not counting on swimming so hopefully all will be good in DW. It is just to hot for this Northeast family in the summer months to travel to DW. The last trip we took to DW was in 2008 in October and we had to swim or shower twice a day because we were all so hot.

Last January we were lucky and even able to swim... At night we wore long sleeves but during the day it was beautiful.. That being said the year before that was freezing!!! Brrr.. Hopefully we will get weather like last year

 

[cmesq61]

Thanks for the inquiry, we are planning to visit DW for 1/19 thru 1/26.

We'll just miss you...we arrive 1/27/13. Our first january trip. predicted crowd levels look good, and the historical weather data looks nice for the daytime--maybe even a few pool days, and cool in the evenings--but not like home!

 

[KonaKaiTom]

We were at POR from January 13-17, 2012 and it was a cold spell. One of the days it was only in the low 50s, the warmest it got was low 60s. However, I was in shorts and short sleeves as it was 20 degrees back in Connecticut. We did see lots of people, including CM, wearing winter coats, hats and gloves. We also saw our AB neighbors with their blankets wrapped around them when they went to the food court because "it was so cold!" Crowds were minimal -- most rides were less than 15 minutes, except for Peter Pan. We had ADR so we had no waits for that.

So, I guess it varies -- I'm looking forward to mid 80s next month while we are there!

Tom