January weather?

[2cutekids]

We are STILL trying to decide when to go to WDW next. My sister wants to go with us and January would fit her schedule. How cold does it typically get that month? Is it too cold? What about February? Does it rain much these months? Thank you!

 

[jordanyosh]

We've been a few times late Jan/early Feb. Weather is definitely unpredictable. One year it never got above 55 the whole time we were there. In 2002, it was very nice around mid 70's the whole week and not too cold at night.

However, the crowds are very light. We either go during Jan/early Feb or Sept.

 

[Gluman11]

We love to be there in January.........Light crowds, reasonable weather........but the 'crowd' thing is such the draw...........


As you can see we are from the Northeast, so January weather for us means "CCCCOOOOLLLLDDDD".................WDW in January is perfect for us...........Yeah, maybe you have to throw on a sweatshirt in the late afternoon and evening, but we have never experienced "ridiculous" cold in January.......I would go back every year in January.......

 

[jann1033]

we did experience "ridiculous cold" this past Jan for 1 day..like 38-40 by evening( remember the sun goes down earlier in winter inFL too!), had on a winter jacket and jeans and we still left before fantasmic and I live in the snow belt so we are used to cold( those metal benches were like sitting on a block of ice!) later in the week it warmed up ( to mid 70 which is perfect imo) but never got really hot. other years it has not been so bad so just be prepared.... it may be really cold...that being said, while we like early Dec since on our trips then the weather has been a little better,you can not beat the lack of crowds at that time of year and while cold weather stinks, it doesn't zap your strenght like heat ( ala summer) as you can layer on the clothes...just plan for it cause when we have gone in Dec or mid Jan it has always been sweat shirt weather or colder for a day or 2.

 

[CindyAnn]

We've visited 4 or 5 times in January, and we've seen wildly variable weather. Mostly it's been pants and a T-shirt, with a sweatshirt added in the morning and evening. Sometimes it's been nice enough that shorts have been fine and we've gone swimming on many occasions. Most people ask us if we're from either Alaska or Canada, though, and they're absolutely right!

On more than one occasion we've worn T-shirts + sweatshirts + polar fleece jackets + windbreakers. In addition to all those layers we had to wrap the children in blankets in order to stay and see Illuminations.

A word to the wise - rental cars in Florida don't come with icescrapers, so we had to remove the frost from the windows with napkins and credit cards. On that trip we'd left the airport in Toronto with the temperature at 0 C and arrived in Orlando to find out the temperature was . . . . . 0 C.

 

[kandmwedding]

I'm from the Midwest originally, and am use to COOOOOLD weather, but I was totally unprepared for our last January trip. We went the last week and were freezing. We wore sweaters and pants everyday (keep in mind I never wear shorts) and wore jackets in the morning and evening. I know that temperature wise it wasn't that cold, but because of all the water nearby and humidity in the air, it was the type of cold that chills you to your bones. But, there was no rain the entire time we were there. January is actually one of Florida's drier months. Personally, I wouldn't choose to go back again in January, but if my options were to go in January or not go at all, you'd definitely see me there!!

 

[arizonacolbys]

We went in Jan 2000 & it was one of our favorite times to visit. We are planning another short visit this upcoming Jan. The weather is definitely all over the place, but the good news is we didn't experience a single drop of rain all week!

The first 5 days of our trip we wore shorts, t-shirts & even some tank tops. It was in the low to mid 80's every day. We usually started out the morning with a sweatshirt over our t-shirt, but by late morning it was very warm (especially compared to back home in Jan .) We went swimming almost daily & even rode Kali River Rapids.

The last 2 days of our trip, however, it did get cool. It was only in the 50's during the day & even chillier at night. We didn't drag our winter coats with us, but bought an extra sweatshirt & wore our windbreakers those days. It certainly felt chilly after 80 all week.

When we went in Dec 2003 we didn't expect to hit any rain....we got the entire winter's rainfall in a matter of 2 days. It was simply monsooning. Started out very hot & was into the 30's by the time we went to MVMCP later in the week. I think FL can have very unpredictable weather during the winter months. Pack for everything & you'll have a great time!

 

[2cutekids]

Thank you all for taking the time to share some great advice!