WickedWench said:
I'm thinking about planning a trip to WDW in Jan or Feb of '07. I'm want to avoid crowds as much as possible. Then it occured to me that in early January the Xmas decorations might still be up. I've never seen the holiday decorations in WDW, and would love to. Does anyone know how long the holiday crowds last into January, and how long the decorations stay up? Also, what is the weather like that time of year? Does anything close down due to small number of crowds?
I appreciate any advice you can give me.
Starting Jan. 3rd or 4th (or by the end of the first week in Jan, for SURE)... "Ghost town" crowds by comparison.
Some decorations are still up by Jan. 15th, but most major theme-park trees and such are gone sooner.
Although a few attractions might go into rehab, most operate normally.
One of the Water Parks DOES go into rehab every January (but one remains open).
We're from the midwest and have learned to EXPECT ANYTHING as the weather goes in off-season Orlando.
We always pack winter and summer-wear.
In Dec/Jan/Feb we have even worn LONG THERMAL UNDERWEAR (after sundown)... we now pack it for any off-season trip.
Typical day:
Cool outside at 7am.
Wear shorts and Tee's.
Over that add a thin nylon wind-breaker
We put our "chilly-wear" and RAIN ponchos in a back-pack.
(Rain ponchos are REALLY cheap in hunting section of discount retailers.
You can buy BIG THICK ones to allow covering large jackets... more later.)
"Chilly-wear" is a nylon cotton-lined warm-up suit with zipper legs and a cotton-lined windbreaker.
We buy OVER-sized in these so they can easily be put on OVER other clothing.
After standing in the sometimes chilly "early-entry" lines we can usually take off the wind-breakers.
We always rent a locker at the park(s) and leave our "chilly-wear" in the locker 'til sun-down.
If it looks like rain (in Florida? Who'da thunk?) we take the Ponchos.
Much later, if its a warm night, we're just fine in the shorts.
If it turns windy/cool... we can visit the locker and choose which level of "chilly" OVER-WEAR to add to our clothing.
If it turns really COLD (windy 30's-40's not unheard-of at certain times of the year) we can make a restroom trip and slide-on the long underwear... OR... we can even add the final outer-layer of the RAIN ponchos (with their HOODS)... OVER everything else.
That trick (along with ear-muffs and gloves) has allowed us to "comfortably" stay and enjoy Fantasmic! or IllumiNations when others (less-prepared) have been "frozen-out."
