first time staying inside wdw

[piglet5]

I will be staying inside WDW at SSR with DH and our 5DDs for the first time. We will be there 1/23-1/28/2005. How is the weather in January? Are the pools heated? We are very excited and yet, still a little nervous. We have always stayed off site at a family members condo. Will anyone else be ther the same week?
Thanks very much for any info!

The Froehlichs
From Ohio

 

[laceemouse]

Hi, welcome to the DIS! You have come to the right place to have all of your Disney questions answered. Weather in January will be cool, great for walking around. As far as swimming, it kind of depends on you. The pools are heated, but DH and I are from the south and really don't like swimming if it is under 80 degrees. Most northerners are fine with swimming year round at WDW. We do not take our kids out of school for trips, so our next trip down will probably not be until Christmas 05. SSR is gorgeous, you will have a great time! We used to stay offsite most of our trips too, onsite is much nicer IMO. Lacee

 

[justlikeeyore]

piglet I will also be at WDW around Jan 23-28. Have same ?s. hows the weather

 

[tjkraz]

Weather: Some days it will get into the 70s during the day, other days it won't get out of the 50s. You really need to bring a little bit of everything and watch the forecast carefully. Remember to wear layers. If it's gonna hit 70, we normally start out with a sweatshirt and t-shirt in the morning, and then strip off the sweatshirt as it warms up.

At night, it will DEFINITELY be cold. After sundown, plan on jeans, sweater / sweatshirt. If you can, bring both a light jacket and your winter coat with gloves and a hat. No, it doesn't get that cold every night, but there WILL be nights you'll be happy you had the winter gear with you. And, if you don't bring from home, you'll end up paying Disney prices for brand new hats and gloves just to stay warm.

As stated, all of the pools are heated. Our threshold is normally 70 degrees and sunny. Anything cooler than that and the air temp will really hit you once you get out of the pool. The best time to swim is when the sun is high. By the time it starts to set behind the trees (which could be as early as 4pm), you get that cool breeze and rapidly falling temps.

Don't forget to prepare yourselves for the ride rehabs in January. I believe Dumbo, Astro Orbiter, and The Land pavilion at Epcot will all be closed early in '05. It's a Small World has been closed for rehab for quite some time and does not re-open until March.

Other than that, it's a great time to visit. Very low crowds.

 

[justlikeeyore]

tx u tjkraz I will pack for cold weather. Ithink I will have a gr8 time

 

[piglet5]

Thanks for all the great info. I will definitely also pack for winter weather. Last year we visited in early Dec. My DH said to pack only shorts (last time we arrived in Dec. to 80 degree temps). Well, I think that we were the only ones in shorts and tees ! Never again! Thanks a bunch!

 

[kenziesmamaw]

Just know that once you've stayed inside the park you won't ever want to stay outside again. AND, once you've seen SSR, you're going to want to be a DVC member.

We had always scoffed at people who said they wouldn't go to WDW if they couldn't stay inside the park. We've always had good luck with affordable rooms and locations. Well.....we stayed inside Labor Day week at POFQ and we were hooked the first night. The room was incredible and it was so great to park the car for the week and let the Disney transporation system get us where we needed to go. There was a nice restaurant on site and we were able to stay within our food budget. It is convenient, it is restful, it is just the best way to do Disney. That experience is what convinced us we wanted to be DVC owners.

 

[piglet5]

We actually became DVC members this past January, without ever staying inside WDW. We go to WDW every year, so we thought this way would be more convenient (and fun) for us. Can't wait till January 2005!

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

Since you already love WDW, you will adore being on site DVCers!!!!! Have a fabulous trip

Lisa

 

[rwcmath]

It will be warmer than here in Ohio!

You'll have a wonderful time!

rwc

 

[piglet5]

Please let me know how the cruise works out. I have been trying to talk DH into it for months ( seems like years ), but he hates the ocean ( says its boring ). I think is it sounds fabulous.

 

[Bugeye]

You are doomed. Once you have stayed in the World and felt the pixie dust 24/7, it's all over. You'll never stay off-site again.

 

[goofy4dvc]

We were there in December and the pools were too cool for us, but the hot tubs were great!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

We often go to Florida over MLK jr. weekend. It's usually cooler than we think it's going to be, and locals are always telling us that it's unusual that we're having such cool, chilly weather. Still, we head to Florida over MLK jr. weekend because sometimes we do get sun, pools are generally heated, and it IS warmer than here in Ohio or New Jersey.

Bobbi

 

[rayelias]

Originally posted by Bugeye
You are doomed. Once you have stayed in the World and felt the pixie dust 24/7, it's all over. You'll never stay off-site again.

Ain't THAT the truth! For years, we've stayed off-site frugally at the nicest "cheap" place we could to save a couple bucks. Had the opportunity to stay on site in September (during one of the hurricanes). We loved it so much, that made us buy into DVC.

There IS such a thing as pixie dust! Be prepared!

 

[jade1]

January is great, steam comes off the pools at night-just bring a robe to wear back to the room.