January or March?

[Shellyb84]

We are looking at either January 1 through 6, January 14 through 19, or March 8 through 13. How is the weather, how are crowds, rates, etc? Any chance it would be warm enough to swim? Thanks in advance for the input!

 

[jenrose66]

I have been in both January and March. March is more expensive but you can swim. January is a bit cooler but swimming is still possible though getting out of the pool you feel cold. I really like going in January. Being in the northeast I enjoy the winter escape.

 

[Alesia]

In 2016? I would do March. Crowds will be roughly the same for all of those weeks. The weather is better in March. You may be able to swim in March.

 

[kwdw]

January 1st is a HUGE crowd day, and the marathon is the 6th. I'd skip that week.

Your second week in January - low crowds, cool weather. Might be warm enough to swim, might not. Now MLK B-Day is a holiday in some states - so it may be a busy weekend, but probably not much different than March.

March - lovely time to go to Disney in terms of weather - though there might be an occasional cool night that is too cold for some for swimming (or maybe not!). Crowds not bad, though a few places around the country might have Spring Break around then.

If SWIMMING is important - March. Otherwise - I don't think it matters much.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I've been in both January and March. January the attractions are pretty much a walk on. The weather can be warm days and cool to cold nights. It can also be cold enough to need coats all day long. In March it's a lot busier as spring breaks have started and the local break is the second week. The weather is beautiful. Last March I was there from the 11-18th and it was 80-84 every day. I've been other years in March when the weather was around 68.

 

[klmall]

Despite March being more $$$ I would also choose it over the first week of January UNLESS you have never seen the Christmas decorations or other holiday attractions some of which will still be up and running. If you haven't seen these and don't plan on coming back near Christmas for a long time then I would be very tempted to go that busy week.

My trip in late January one year was very comfortable weather with light jackets and swimming didn't matter; we rarely go swimming at WDW anymore. And a downside of January is that park hours might be shortened at least for some parks and nights. Our trip in early March a different year was surprisingly hot and was one of the few trips we did swim.

 

[kayteekt]

We are looking at either January 1 through 6, January 14 through 19, or March 8 through 13. How is the weather, how are crowds, rates, etc? Any chance it would be warm enough to swim? Thanks in advance for the input!

Whatever you do, I would avoid the first few days of January. We were there for New Year once, aweful! If it had been our first trip we would have never gone back. We do like to go in January though, but we plan around new years, MLK Day and the Marathon...so I'd check those days. For 2016 we settled on last week of January. We've gone once the end of Feb/beginning of March...that was fine too

 

[tabrizia]

MLK weekend is January 15th - 18th this year. Looking at crowd calculators it does look like it will be semi busy those days, especially the 16th-19th, but the days around it should be empty. We are going January 12th - 23rd. Honestly if you could push your dates either a few days earlier in the middle January week or a few days later, the crowds should be extremely low. I haven't actually looked at the March dates, but you will probably have a better chance of warm weather for swimming then if that is important to you.

 

[JennyDrake]

My BFF tried the week around MLK day and said it was packed.

_I_ like January, but as PPers have noted the 1 and 2 will be very crowded.

March will be better weather, but you can not be guaranteed warm enough to swim. I was there in March (first full week) 2014 and last full week 2015; both were surprisingly crowded. Not August level, but heavier than the first week in May.

 

[Lucius Best]

We are looking at either January 1 through 6, January 14 through 19, or March 8 through 13. How is the weather, how are crowds, rates, etc? Any chance it would be warm enough to swim? Thanks in advance for the input!

We've been many times in January. New Years and MLK weekend are by far the two busiest parts of January (marathon weekend isn't that bad). If you could slightly alter your dates, you could theoretically get much lighter crowds. Even so, with the January dates you have, there will be some days where it's crowded and other days it won't be bad at all. I think in March the crowds will be consistently moderately busy.

Like others have said, January typically has lower crowds and is cheaper, but you're getting shorter park hours, sometimes more rides closed for rehabs, and much wider temperature swings. We've had week long trips in January that included some days with temps in the 30s and some in the 80s. We would pack clothes for every type of weather. March is more crowded and more expensive, but consistently warmer.

 

[Accident]

We're doing our first march trip next year to see the Flower and Garden Festival. We've been warned to avoid easter week (pre and post) and easter is in march next year.

If your thinking jan and splash mountain is important, I believe they close it every jan. not sure about any other water rides and if they close too.