Disney in the winter!

[thanxfornoticin]

When it's 50 degrees out in FL, you'll find cast members in winter coats and gloves. I'll be the one in shorts.

Agreed! We've seen that many times - we're catching some sun and the lifeguards at the pool will be in a winter coat - hoping beyond hope they don't have to jump in the pool to save one of us stupid northerners in the pool swimming!

 

[1GoldenSun]

I'm fairly local, have an AP, and 90% of my annual visits take place in January/February. I love the parks in the winter.

The resort pools will close if it gets too chilly, though. I don't know how "too chilly" is defined; I'm not sure there is an exact temp at which they close since it's always seemed a little arbitrary to me. But you'll see "cold-state" visitors outside the closed pool area in their swimsuits lamenting how they could possibly close the pool when it's "so warm out." I wish they'd at least keep the hot tubs open.

 

[DaniellePoppins]

I think what I noticed the time I was there in January vs summer months is I wasn't as worn out during the day. I might still take a break and grab a snack on a bench, but I wasn't in need of a break at the hotel to lie down and cool off for a while. You won't dehydrate so much either. Last time I was there it did get cold a couple of days/nights, but the other days was comfortable enough in just a sweatshirt. I had no rain at all. It wasn't super crowded and I got on everything I wanted to as well which was nice. I'd recommend if you're going to do sit down dinners to plan to rope drop though to make up for some of that time.

 

[jennyq87]

Disney in a sweatshirt is pure heaven! We've been in December or January for week long trips 6 times. And we've had rain only 1 or 2 days. We had that bitter cold in 2010. And the hot early January in 2020. But mostly it's gorgeous sweatshirt weather.

Agree with this! January is one of our favorite times to go. Crowds are usually lower, I'm not sweating.. it's the best!

 

[lynnfitz]

You are doing exactly what we're doing!! Always go in summer, this year the last day of Jan, for 6 days. We're just doing MK, staying at Saratoga, so probably be spending quite a bit of time at Disney Springs. It makes it almost hard to pack, since the weather can go either way, in the summer, you know exactly what's needed. I'll check a few days before, but I think the layering sounds the way to go-

 

[KrazeeK120]

I’ve gone in January twice, 2013 and 2014. I live in Illinois and my birthday is in January. We only did a short weekend trip in 2013 but did 6 days in 2014. The weather was nice, with highs ranging from mid 50s to about 70 both times we were there. We had a few mornings that were pretty cold first thing, with wind chills in the 30s. You could totally tell who was local and who was vacationing from somewhere that the temperature was below 0. I didn’t have kids yet but I think school was cancelled twice at home during our week long visit.

Anyway, layers are key. It’s nice not to be so hot walking around. One thing I’ll note is that at AK on the walking trails, not all of the animals will be out if it’s too cold. I can’t remember which ones are kept inside, but just know you won’t see them all if it’s chilly.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We really need to stop telling people how nice Disney World can be in the winter - we want most of them going in the summer and leaving us alone in the winter!!

 

[kwdw]

December thru February is my favorite time to visit. You just need to be prepared for a 40 degree temperature range - sometimes in one day. Plan everything from a swimsuit with flip flops to wearing multiple warm layers including hat, scarf, and gloves. I've been there with day one high of 50, day three high of 85, day four high of 70. I bring items to layer for the temperature range. Mornings and evening can be quite cool, but mid-day warm enough for shorts and a T-shirt. I frequently find myself carrying clothes during the day, or planning to change and renting a locker. LOTS of folks underestimate how cool it can be and things like warm hats and gloves can be hard to find to buy in the shops.

I've also learned that because I'm outside so much, I need more clothes than I think some days because I'm not getting warmed up inside. I find Disney table service restaurants frequently TOO cold that time of year - I always need a long sleeve layer for those. It's often too cold for water rides - so I don't ride Splash that time of year. And Kali is often down for refurbishment "in the winter." Because Disney does heat their pools - I have had some nice pool afternoons on warmer sunny days - but its often too cold for that.

 

[WEDWDW]

Another awesome plus for your dates is the Epcot International Festival of the Arts.

Lots of great Food and Fun!

Also January/February are HUGE months for South American Guests(both The 15s and Families) because of School breaks.

They haven't been able to come to WDW since January 2020-possibly they will be back in 2022 and possibly in larger than normal numbers-maybe not who knows,but in normal times,there is A LOT of Spanish and Portuguese floating around.

I hope they can come back this year-I LOVE the International flavor usually found at WDW!

And as mentioned there is always the chance you could run into one of these signs.

 

[LuvMyEAR]

Reading this with much interest as DD & I hope to book our first-ever “winter visit” in early Feb. She loves the sun and spending time by the pool, but I am Elsa’s soul sister - the cold never bothers me, anyway! I do, however, wilt, in the heat. I can almost tolerate mid April to mid-May, but thought I would die during a September trip. The only saving thing was that we seldom had the sun beating on us, it poured almost all day, every day, for 10 days.

Touring the parks in a sweatshirt sounds divine.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

We have always visited in the summer. We are considering visiting in January! I know park hours will be shorter but am wondering positive/negatives about visiting then. We are going during a low crowd time and plan on staying at POR. We love our nice sit down dinners, so will be doing that every night in either DS or at one of the restaurants on property. We are 5 people and if the parks close at around 5-6pm and it's dark out, I am wondering what we are going to do every night? For people who have visited at that time, did you like it? Did you get bored at night? I know we can spend some time walking around DS but not every night for 7 nights. Our children are teenagers. I know we will enjoy not sweltering from the heat for a change. Lol Any advice/recommendations about a January trip? Thank you!

We love going in winter. The weather is much easier to deal with, and the crowds are much lower. Aside from AK maybe, parks don't close at like 5-6 pm - closer to 8-9 IIRC. Then go grab dinner somewhere, resort-hop, etc. OR call it an early night because it's a lot easier to go rope-drop to close when the park isn't open for 12+ hours and it's not a zillion degrees!

 

[wisblue]

We have a trip coming up next week, and the forecast for the first couple of days is for lows around 50 and highs in the mid 60’s.

I much prefer the cooler weather to the hot humid summers, but it does affect packing and dressing, especially if you’re going to be at the parks at opening. That means leaving the resort at about the time of the lowest temperatures of the day. Instead of nothing but shorts and T shirts I’ll need a sweatshirt and light jacket to peel off as needed.

I agree with others that the cooler temperatures really help me avoid the sapping of energy that I experience on those 90 degree temperature, 75 degree dew point days.

We‘ve had trips in January with days with lows near freezing and some with highs near 90. You have to check the forecast before you leave.

 

[loves to dive]

Others have given you good advice. As far as keeping teenagers busy after parks close, my son was (is) a sports freak. Disney has 3 or 4 ESPN channels on their TVs, my son was perfectly content after a day in the parks parking himself in front of the TV and watching sports, I was perfectly content tuning it out and reading.

As far a weather, I've been in Dec. and in Feb. I'm from Georgia so, for me, cold is anything below 50. Most years in Dec. I've gotten by with a lighter coat and a scarf, we have actually used the pool a few times in Dec. In Feb., I was freezing. It was cold and rainy/drizzling all day on some days. I wore gloves, wool cap, knit scarf, tights under leggings, 3 layers of shirts and a heavier jacket and was cold the entire trip. We had fun and would do it again (little did we know the parks would close down in a month), but I actually prefer the late spring to fall months. I'm a hot weather gal.

 

[irene6118]

We're going the first week of January and when checking the schedule, I noticed that there were no fireworks/light shows scheduled for any of the parks. I was hoping that at least for a couple of the nights that we were there we would be able to watch them, so this is really disappointing. Is this normal for this time of year? Any chance they may be added as the time gets a little closer?

 

[DaniellePoppins]

We're going the first week of January and when checking the schedule, I noticed that there were no fireworks/light shows scheduled for any of the parks. I was hoping that at least for a couple of the nights that we were there we would be able to watch them, so this is really disappointing. Is this normal for this time of year? Any chance they may be added as the time gets a little closer?

I think its just the schedule isn't really finalized yet. They only thing they've put out so far is park hours because that goes out 70+ days in advance or so. For the most part we're still only in the earliest part of January for the 60 day mark.

 

[mouschievous]

I don't think

I think its just the schedule isn't really finalized yet. They only thing they've put out so far is park hours because that goes out 70+ days in advance or so. For the most part we're still only in the earliest part of January for the 60 day mark.

I'm thinking the schedule isn't finished. We're coming up on 60 days, so I'm trying to plan our reservations around fireworks and park hours and noticed that at MK the park is scheduled to close at 8, but fireworks are also scheduled for 8

 

[disneyseniors]

Another family who loves February and March. We have been many times late February and early March (before spring break really starts). All times but one were warm and great, in the 70's and sunny. The one time I didn't pack a sweater or warmer clothes, it got COLD. I mean that wet cold that goes right through you with any wind. My husband gave me his only sweater and I wore it all the time. I tried to find a sweatshirt for cold weather, but disney didn't have anything but thin, papery feeling sweatshirts. I guess that is a sweatshirt to Floridians, LOL. I am from Mn. where we get heavy sweatshirts.
I still froze, but not as much as in my tshirts and capris.
One thing to think about. With less guests, they cut CM's and some rides are one side only. This never bothered us because we have ridden attractions so many times already.
We love, love that time of year. You have to schedule around races and Spring Break, MLK, but it can be done. I hope this year is as low crowd as others have been. FWIW: We have never seen any foreign groups at that time. Maybe we were just lucky?