Should we pack the winter coat?

[Dan Murphy]

We're from right outside Chicago. When it gets into the 40's we are in winter jackets and sweaters or sweat shirts, serious one's. We will be traveling in our winter jackets and we will be packing our cold weather clothes. Being outside for more than thirty minutes at a time in 40 degree and below weather with no sun is not my idea of comfy.

Gloves and hats will be a part of the mix as well.

 

[goofie4goofy]

Keeping your feet warm is just as important. I wear UGG boots for the entire time. They are light and keep your feet at body temp, no matter how hot or cold it gets...they are great shoes. In the warmer months I usually wear sneakers, but I find them too cold in Dec/Jan.

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

I live in Minnesota...half of us around here don't even wear a coat when it's 40 degrees outside.

It was 40 near me today. I had to go to the post office, so I threw on a pair of cargo shorts, slipped on my crocs, and put a very light sweatshirt on. I hate winter coats - I only wear one if I'm hiking or shoveling snow.

I'm coming in Dec., and I'm bringing a few pairs of jeans, a few pairs of shorts, and a few sweatshirts.

I guess it just depends on where ya come from!

NED

 

[SaraMc]

I would bring it. We live outside Toronto where the winter windchill happens all the time. We went last year in Early Feb when the big Noreaster hit New York. IT WAS COLD and rainy and windy. Horrible really. Low 30's at night. We were so glad we still had our jackets from running from the parking lot of the airport to the airport. We ended up because of the cold rain taking rain poncho's and putting them over everything, doing up the sides as extra insulation. Its better to have it then not have it and wish that you did.

 

[Caltha]

Can someone please tell me, if the mornings and evenings are cold and you wear a jacket of some description, or even a polar fleece. When it warms up through the day, are you then left carry your jackets around with you all day?? So that when it get cool again in the evenings, you need it again. But, I don't want to be carrying 5 (kids included here) jackets all day long. What do you do with them??
I have been wondering this question for months.

 

[STEAMBOAT209]

For our Dec trip we will be taking light jackets and sweet outfits for evening. We have been in Dec many times and have never taken a winter coat, but have never been in Jan.

 

[Kay1]

I'm concerned about TODAY. The highs are in the 50s and the lows in the upper 30s. Just remember the weather is very unpredictable and you need to be prepared for anything in the fall, winter, and spring. Just last night our weatherman said something about the nice warm weather in CO compared to ours.

Caltha, what we do is try to use the layer trick and make the top layer a lined wind breaker. They can be tied around the waist like a sweatshirt. If it's really cold in the morning it may not warm up throughout the day and you could just keep your heavy coat on. I remember one Christmas my stepmother wore long underwear, woolen slacks, a sweater, a long coat she bought in London, mittens, and then had to buy Winnie the Pooh ear muffs. She looked adorable but still felt coat and she's from Wisconsin!

You could also rent a locker or a stroller for those coats, but I can't think of anything else.

 

[WillCAD]

Can someone please tell me, if the mornings and evenings are cold and you wear a jacket of some description, or even a polar fleece. When it warms up through the day, are you then left carry your jackets around with you all day?? So that when it get cool again in the evenings, you need it again. But, I don't want to be carrying 5 (kids included here) jackets all day long. What do you do with them??
I have been wondering this question for months.

There are rental lockers located at the entrance plazas of all 4 parks (and at the International Gateway entrance of Epcot). Locker rental is $7 per day, $2 of which is a key deposit that you get back when you return the key. The lockers are big enough to hold several coats; you might be able to stuff all five into one locker.

 

[CheshireVal]

Can someone please tell me, if the mornings and evenings are cold and you wear a jacket of some description, or even a polar fleece. When it warms up through the day, are you then left carry your jackets around with you all day?? So that when it get cool again in the evenings, you need it again. But, I don't want to be carrying 5 (kids included here) jackets all day long. What do you do with them??
I have been wondering this question for months.

I hate that, too! If my jacket is light enough, I wad it up and stuff it in my backpack. Otherwise, I'm stuck carrying it or hassling with a locker.

If you have small kids, strollers are good storage areas too.

 

[momoftwodisneykids]

We arrived at WDW on Saturday. The temps have dropped steadily. High today is 56, with 25 mph winds. Tonight the temps are dropping into the 30's with the same high winds. I am so glad we brought our winter coats. I even went to Walmart last PM and bought a skiband and gloves. Make sure you bring clothes to dress in layers. The last thing you want to have to do on vacation is go buy heavy clothing if the weather gets nasty.

Joanne

 

[KimWDW]

Ugh. We're going the last week of January. I thought it would be like 70 every day.

This sucks. I had no idea it got that cold.

 

[TinaLala]

I was there last year and it got so cold I have pictures of my kids with not only their winter coats on but with hat and gloves on as well -- and we're from New England -- while we were at Disney there was a blizzard back home - 3 feet of snow fell. It was cold at Disney at night. During the day it was short sleeve shirt and pants, but by the night we needed a fleece pullover and the kids needed jackets.

This year we're going in December and I'm bringing everything from our bathing suit to our thermals.

don't forget they have places you can do laundry, so if you bring some t-shirts and shorts and some sweaters and pants you can always do some wash.

 

[welovedis]

The weather is extremely changeable so I am of the consensus that you should take it and then you'll have it. If you don't need it, no biggie, but if you do then you aren't running around spending mucho bucks on a WDW coat (unless you really want one!).

We are from Western NY, grew up in Buffalo (can you say blizzard?) and we still bring our winter coats and will do so when we leave in 18 days.

During our Jan trip (2004) it was chilly and cold for most of the trip, the morning I ran the 1/2 marathon the temp was in the low 30's and I was freezing. Hats & gloves are a must to keep warm, they don't need to be fleece lined hunting caps, just a knit hat was enough to keep warm. I also brought the cheap WalMart gloves (not the magic gloves, but the other thin ones they sell) and those were enough to keep up warm & toasty.

Jan 2006 was a bit warmer during the day but still cold at night. DH & DS wore hats at night (they have short hair) and were used our heavier coats most every night except for maybe one. Still wore sweatshirts over our LS tees that night too. DH wore shorts 1 day and really froze so we might pack 1 pair each of those if we get a warm day or 2.

For the poster who asked about the jackets, we do lightweight jackets or sweatshirts in the AM (like thin polarfleece) and do take them off when it gets warmer. I usually fold them up quickly, roll them as tight as I can & put them in the bottom of our backpack & we do fine that way. With 5 in your family you might think about the locker or tying them around your waist.

 

[CheshireVal]

When the wind blows, it can be really uncomfortable. To illustrate, here is my husband last year waiting on MGM to open (this was in December).

Though, he is from Australia, so he still hasn't quite gotten used to the different climate here!!

 

[Hanover]

On our January 2006 WDW trip, we had one very cold and windy day where the water was so choppy they shut down the MK ferry/boat services. We had on pants, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts and jackets. Our boys had gloves and used their hoods but we still bought them knit caps at Mickey's philharmagic because their ears were numb. The rest of the week we were fine in pants and t-shirts under windbreakers. We had the boys wear zipoff pants all week so if they got too hot they could convert them to shorts. During the midafternoon, we kept the windbreakers in ds4's stroller and put them back on once the sun began to set and it cooled down.

Me, DH, ds9 and ds5 have jackets with 2 layers so if we go to WDW during the winter months, we bring them along and take out the inner layer most days.

 

[robinb]

We're from Wisconsin and we leave our winter coats at home. Instead we bring our fall jackets (Patagonia shelled fleeces and Columbia fleece/waterproof shell system), sweatshirts, hats and stretchy gloves.

 

[welovedis]

We're from Wisconsin and we leave our winter coats at home. Instead we bring our fall jackets (Patagonia shelled fleeces and Columbia fleece/waterproof shell system), sweatshirts, hats and stretchy gloves.

Good point, my winter coat (the one I wear when it is 0-15 degrees out) doesn't come with me to WDW just my Columbia layered coat!