Is buying direct VDH to mostly use in Florida a terrible plan?

[Brian Noble]

man do I miss Maverick, Top Thrill and SteVe

Siren's Curse is a worthy addition to the portfolio. A defininte upgrade over Wildcat!

 

[Chili327]

Yeah, I'll go to DLR pretty much any month of the year. But I will only go to WDW in winter.

Agreed!!

 

[airjay75]

So much of weather preferences are relative and depend greatly on prior experience and/or expectations.

Personally, if there was a place I could choose to live based on weather alone, it would be coastal Southern California. More sunny, 70 degree, low humidity days than you will find anywhere else in the country. You just get so many days of gorgeous, sunny, open-the-window sort of days. It is glorious.

But, there are some things people from outside that area don't always realize. In the entire eastern half of the country, summer is associated with warm to hot weather that is fairly humid. Pool and Beach season begins on Memorial Day and ends on Labor Day. When they travel to coastal California in June and find that June Gloom keeps much of the day cloudy and cool with ocean temperatures downright chilly, they are often shocked. I've always loved the Mark Twain quote: "The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco." SoCal isn't quite as bad as SF, but what is traditional summer in much of the country is different on the coast of California.

And I'll say this for Florida - way better beach/pool/water park weather. There is a reason there aren't many water parks in California. And, although I don't exactly love the bathtub ocean temperatures Florida can get during the summertime, you can get decent beach weather where you can actually go in the ocean year-round. Especially when you're coming from a northern climate, heading to Florida during winter or early spring often feels like you're getting a taste of summer before summer actually begins, and that is quite a nice feeling too.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Yeah...I hate summer weather and melt when it's over 70 degrees. I sweat my butt off in Anaheim in June. Though not nearly as bad as Anaheim in September and even October.

 

[PolyRob]

I run warm, but WDW cold is a unique kind of cold! The humidity is bone chilling when it sets in. I've had it happen a few times in December. It's also very unpleasant when you dress in layers and need to start stripping the layers in a ride queue when it's stifling. At least the AC is a reprieve from the heat in the warmer months.

I'll take any temperature over a rainy park day though.

 

[Brian Noble]

There is a reason there aren't many water parks in California.

That's the same reason that my son's first two purchases after starting grad school at UCLA were: a surfboard ... and a 3/2 wetsuit.

It will be interesting to see if The Blob has him wearing the suit less often this year.

 

[atthebeachclub]

That's the same reason that my son's first two purchases after starting grad school at UCLA were: a surfboard ... and a 3/2 wetsuit.

It will be interesting to see if The Blob has him wearing the suit less often this year.

3/2 is mandatory down there in non summer season. Better than WA…you need a 5/6 there!

 

[Brian Noble]

He's a bit of a hothouse flower; any day below about 65 is too cold for him. He was complaining about winter LA weather his first winter there. I'm like: Dude, you grew up in Michigan. His sister, on the other hand, went to grad school at Wisconsin. If the day is above 60, she is not happy. It's like having the Heat Miser and Cold Miser for kids, without the benefit of being Mother (or Father) Nature.

 

[airjay75]

He's a bit of a hothouse flower; any day below about 65 is too cold for him. He was complaining about winter LA weather his first winter there. I'm like: Dude, you grew up in Michigan. His sister, on the other hand, went to grad school at Wisconsin. If the day is above 60, she is not happy. It's like having the Heat Miser and Cold Miser for kids, without the benefit of being Mother (or Father) Nature.

View attachment 1009333

That is hilarious.

 

[Brian Noble]

Interestingly, each of them only had one viable PhD offer when they graduated---it just so happened that each one was at a reputable program in a part of the country that was a perfect fit, weather-wise! Someone was looking out for them.

 

[zavandor]

I've always loved the Mark Twain quote: "The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco."

ah ah
That's why every person I know (me included) who visited San Francisco in the summer own a San Frascisco branded sweater, bought because they didn't bring the right clothes.

 

[Disney.dad]

ah ah
That's why every person I know (me included) who visited San Francisco in the summer own a San Frascisco branded sweater, bought because they didn't bring the right clothes.

We were at Disneyland from July 12th-19th this year and it was beautiful. Only problem was the wife and kids had to buy sweatshirts on the 2nd day in the parks because they couldn’t stand the thought of another cold night with the forecast. I held out and on the 4th evening bought a zippered sweatshirt for myself as I was tired of being cold and froze on the 3rd night in the parks, lol.

 

[atthebeachclub]

lol; the west coast does cool down at night, even in summer! I wish more of the US did the same. Crisp summer mornings are so nice before the sun comes out.

 

[ClaraOswald]

lol; the west coast does cool down at night, even in summer! I wish more of the US did the same. Crisp summer mornings are so nice before the sun comes out.

People are always like "beware the June gloom" and I'm over here like "bring on the June gloom!" I like it.

 

[disneylandtour]

We were at Disneyland from July 12th-19th this year and it was beautiful. Only problem was the wife and kids had to buy sweatshirts on the 2nd day in the parks because they couldn’t stand the thought of another cold night with the forecast. I held out and on the 4th evening bought a zippered sweatshirt for myself as I was tired of being cold and froze on the 3rd night in the parks, lol.

I was there on July 17th for the 70th and stayed on property. I don't recall it being that cold. It was just a regular, kinda cool summer night. I remember being warm in the day though.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I was there on July 17th for the 70th and stayed on property. I don't recall it being that cold. It was just a regular, kinda cool summer night. I remember being warm in the day though.

You made me curious so I went to look...according to the weather channel website, the highs those dates were in the 70s and 80s and lows in the 60s. Lowest low was 63, which likely would have occurred in the middle of the night.

So I suppose it depends on what people are used to but that is definitely not what my midwestern body considers cold. 60s and 70s are ideal theme park weather. I would have been quite happy with that. (Though the 80s are too hot for me but nice for using the pool.)

 

[Brian Noble]

Part of the problem with California is that they don't really believe in insulation---or, for that matter, care all that much whether or not buildings are drafty. Most of the time that's fine. But with a cooler damp marine layer....I know we had some pretty bone-chilling days in the 50s/60s when I was an undergrad at Berkeley.

On the bright side, Anaheim is pretty far inland for the marine layer to matter.

 

[airjay75]

Part of the problem with California is that they don't really believe in insulation---or, for that matter, care all that much whether or not buildings are drafty. Most of the time that's fine. But with a cooler damp marine layer....I know we had some pretty bone-chilling days in the 50s/60s when I was an undergrad at Berkeley.

On the bright side, Anaheim is pretty far inland for the marine layer to matter.

Just wanted to say, Go Bears! Not that I pay any attention to college sports, but UC Berkeley is also my alma mater.

And, I do recall those damp, dreary days there - after finishing high school in San Diego (about 10 minutes inland from La Jolla), I quite detested Berkeley weather at the time since my main point of comparison was San Diego. Now, looking back after being on the East Coast basically ever since graduating, didn't know just how good I had it there.

 

[atthebeachclub]

Part of the problem with California is that they don't really believe in insulation---or, for that matter, care all that much whether or not buildings are drafty. Most of the time that's fine. But with a cooler damp marine layer....I know we had some pretty bone-chilling days in the 50s/60s when I was an undergrad at Berkeley.

On the bright side, Anaheim is pretty far inland for the marine layer to matter.

This makes me laugh. I moved into a rented bungalow near the coast and neglected to ask whether or not there was a heater in the building. There wasn’t one.

 

[Brian Noble]

do recall those damp, dreary days there

If you are of a certain vintage, you may recall Leona's, the upstairs bar at Larry Blake's. They did a pretty good hot toddy, which was tailor-made for those days.

I suspect that Henry's had a pretty good version too, but that wasn't on Our List.