Swimming in January, worth the upgrade to Yacht Club

[hakunamoscato91]

Apologies if this is in the wrong place, but from those who have gone in January before, is it usually warm enough to swim? Considering adding a night at Yacht Club to be able to use Stormalong Bay, but I’d rather not if it’s going to be too cold to swim.

It’s been a few years since I went in January and the last time I did, it was just me and my husband and it was a quick weekend trip so we didn’t have any resort time but I remember it being about mid 70s the entire trip (except for mornings and evenings). This time I’m planning a birthday trip for my 2 year old niece who loves to swim.

 

[J'aime Paris]

January can have great temperature fluctuations. It can be fine for swimming, or it can dip down into the 40s easily.
If you are only adding one night, the chances are kinda low that you'll hit a great swimming day.

Also, it can depend on where you are from. I'm from WI, so I can generally tolerate colder temps with ease that my friend from AL would be chattering her teeth!

 

[hakunamoscato91]

January can have great temperature fluctuations. It can be fine for swimming, or it can dip down into the 40s easily.
If you are only adding one night, the chances are kinda low that you'll hit a great swimming day.

Also, it can depend on where you are from. I'm from WI, so I can generally tolerate colder temps with ease that my friend from AL would be chattering her teeth!

That’s a good point with the temperature fluctuations and the odds of hitting a good swimming day. But coming from WV, temps in FL are definitely going to feel warmer regardless. I just don’t know if they’ll feel swimming weather warm lol.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

So variable - could be swimming weather or it might not be. The pools are heated which makes them more tolerable when the temps dip, but Jan is still hard to peg.

Small point to note is that occasionally you see parts of Stormalong Bay (the main BC/YC pool) have refurbs during cooler weather months like Jan - although this can happen at any resort pool so isn’t necessarily unique to BC/YC. I don’t think I’ve seen any announcements as such and I wouldn’t let it influence your decisions - just something to keep in the back of your mind. Effectively the same risk as some of the park rides, that will occasionally have a refurb or two going on in the “low” season.

 

[Ladyandthepuppies]

As the PP said, the odds are low. The avg temp in January is 72 which I think is too cool for shorts let alone a bathing suit. We were there in early December last year and only 1 day of our week was hot enough for swimming. The pool water is heated though, and if you did decide to do it I bet SAB won’t be crowded!

 

[MickeyWaffles]

We have gone in early and mid January a number of times. It’s very unreliable and unpredictable. We once experienced weather in the 40s and 80s in the same trip. One day we were in short sleeves and shorts and one day we were wearing hats and mittens.

I think we have only swam once in all of our January visits. It’s usually too mild for us, but we only like taking time to swim at WDW when it’s really, really hot (usually trips that fall between late spring to early fall). When the weather is cooler, we enjoy spending all our time in the parks.

 

[hakunamoscato91]

Thank you everyone for the replies! I think I’ve decided not to book an extra night at Yacht Club yet, but if after hours or some other event gets announced that would give me a reason other than the pools to add a night then I will since it sounds like it would be a gamble that we will want/be able to swim anyway.

We’ll hope for the best swimming weather wise, but won’t expect anything.

 

[unrequited23]

I would save the money and not upgrade. There is no way to know if the weather will cooperate with you. We only had two pool days out of 9 last January/February. It needed to be over 70 and sunny for us to go to the pool and my teeth were still chattering. Plus a 2 yr old who loves to swim will love to be in any pool.

 

[focusondisney]

Yep, hard to predict. We were at Disney Jan 28- Feb 1 2018. Daytime highs were high 60’s, low 70’s with lows in the 40’s & 50’s. We did see a few hardy souls in the pools. But certainly too cold for most people to swim. This year we were there Feb 3- 9th. Temps were much higher with highs ranging high 70’s to mid 80’s & the lows were in the high 60’s if I remember right. Great weather for enjoying Storm Along Bay! Just no way to know what temps you’ll get this far out.

 

[Nancyg56]

I would not upgrade simply for the pool. I have been twice in January and once year was lovely for swimming, the next was freezing. It is not just the air temperature ti think about, but the breeze. WE are from CT and used to cooler temps, but it was too cold for us.

I always am prepared to use the pool, but never count on it.

 

[DSLRuser]

The pool is heated. We swam in Storm Along Bay in January when it was actually sleeting? Life guards hated us. But we wanted our pool time.

 

[SharonZ]

I wouldn't add a day, just to swim at Yacht Club - too many variables.

 

[OKW Lover]

Apologies if this is in the wrong place, but from those who have gone in January before, is it usually warm enough to swim?

There is no way to know. We are local (5 years now) and the temperatures in January can be swimming weather or they can be winter coat weather.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Apologies if this is in the wrong place, but from those who have gone in January before, is it usually warm enough to swim? Considering adding a night at Yacht Club to be able to use Stormalong Bay, but I’d rather not if it’s going to be too cold to swim.

It’s been a few years since I went in January and the last time I did, it was just me and my husband and it was a quick weekend trip so we didn’t have any resort time but I remember it being about mid 70s the entire trip (except for mornings and evenings). This time I’m planning a birthday trip for my 2 year old niece who loves to swim.

We are from the Charlotte NC/Fort Mill, SC area and we've been to disney in November, January, February & March and have never swam during those times of year. Yes, the air temp is warmer compared to the carolinas but the thought of swimming when it's not over 75 degrees does not agree with us, even our kids don't usually swim. Maybe we're babies but for us to swim, we prefer warmer temps. And the lack of humidity during that time of year definitely makes 75 feel chillier than it really is.

The pools are heated so the water isn't the issue, it's really just the air temp and if you'll be comfy when you get out. January and February can have some beautiful weather days in Orlando so it's really just a gamble. It could be a day where the high is only 50 or it could 75 degrees. You just don't know.