Trying to decide on Winter or our (normal) May trip.

[Liljam]

I'm really confused about the crowds in the parks for the winter months. I know that the holidays are crowded but we were thinking of booking last week in Jan 2010 or first week in Feb. 2010. We always go in May and love the weather, love the low crowds. We really just wanted to go in the winter months because it will be right before my son's 2nd birthday and we thought the weather might be much cooler than the May weather. I've heard in the past that this is a great time to go for the crowd levels being so low in the parks.

I would love to hear form anyone who has been at both times of the year. I knopw that the lower points required in Jan. may make the DVC resorts more crowded, but my main concern is parks and weather. We can handle cold or chilly, I'd prefer not to deal with major rain though and our last two trips in May have (like a miracle) been rain free - believe that one!!! I mean we don't mind rain here and there, but I would hate to be there when the whole week could be soggy!

TIA!

 

[zackiedawg]

My family traditionally gathered on Memorial Day weekend in May for decades - of course, it's the hottest, most crowded time of year, but since it was a tradition for so long, we held onto it for quite a while.

My brother's family doesn't frequent the parks much anymore, my stepfather's knees are bad and he's too stubborn to get a motorized cart so he no longer goes, which means the family group size is down a bit. We made the decision 3 years ago to convert the annual family trip to January, which was always a favorite time for me at Disney.

We typically go the last week of January, to avoid MLK weekend. It is wonderful and we've never looked back on our decision!

The parks are not at all crowded - plenty of restaurant availability, low waits on rides, and walking around doesn't feel like sheep being herded. I wouldn't imagine that it would be more crowded than your early May crowds...if not less.

The weather is what I would call perfect. It can be anywhere from comfortable to cool, but I've never experienced any rain problems or bad weather, if warm the days might be in the very low 80s, to upper 70s, nights usually cool to mid to low 60s. If you get a cold front, it might be as chilly as 50s during the day, and 40s at night. Usually, it's crisp and clear.

If you did experience rain, it would usually just be a 1-day or less shower or storm. January isn't really our rainy season or thunderstorm season. I've been to Disney probably every month in the year, and late Januarys have always been my favorites in general.

 

[Disney_Villain]

January and early February are cold, but not very rainy. Check out Wikipedia's weather table for Orlando:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando#Climate

I like January in the parks for the crowds and lack of heat, but it really isn't pool weather and we've had overnight lows below 32F (0C) on 2 January trips - which makes waiting for evening shows/fireworks really chilly. Now we tend to go in May, October and early December instead.

 

[Ellester]

Our last trip was Jan. 13-21 in 2007. Even with MLK day the crowds were very low, I'd say much lower than previous trips in early May. The weather was great. Warm enough to swim on most days (and we're from the south). We needed light jackets a few nights but wore shorts and tees most of the days. We had one or two very brief rain showers, winter is normally Florida's dry season. You really never know what the weather will be like in central Fl. in the winter though. Not usually very much rain, but it can be anywhere from the 30's to the 80's!

 

[Liljam]

Cool! Thanks for the posts so far! The cold weather isn't a big issue (although I love Florida sun in May!)

My DH said he was there in Jan. and loved it - that was his first and only trip before we went in 2007. We considered the first or second week in Dec. 2009 too. We may still go with that time frame, but we love having tax returns for extra spending money - that's really our only reason for waiting. Actually, we're both ready to book for May 09 and just forget about waiting and banking points, but I really wanted to just take a break this time around and wait until our son is almost 2. I love love love WDW but I thought banking a year would really be a nice way for us to return wit all our family members again! And this wait until the winter months will allow my sister to take her boys too!

Again, thanks for the posts thus far and for any other advice or info.

 

[hakepb]

You do need to watch out for 2 of biggest sporting events in the nation of the year, Daytona 500 (Feb 15th) and Super Bowl (Tampa Feb 1 '09) There'll be tons of daytrips and really packed parks to WDW before those events.