weather and hours for a January trip

[Mousefan mom]

My husband and I have the rare opportunity (its been 10 years!) to take a trip the first week in January without our kids. We are debating between WDW, DL, and Vegas. We'd have about 5 days. We've been to Vegas and WDW, but never to southern CA. I've heard DL is amazing, BUT the more I read is cautioning me that there is a lot of rain (plus cold rain does not sound like much fun), very short hours, and a lot of closures during this time.

For those of you who know the area better...can you give me a realistic picture of what its like? We've experienced the August rains at WDW (sometimes quite heavy, but usually doesn't last long)...but is DL rain an all day, cold miserable type of thing? . Would we be better off to go to Florida during that time? I'd so love to see DL/DCA...just very concerned the weather would knock us out of it. Thanks!!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We love first week of January in Florida, WDW. My son lives in LA and even October was very cool at night. I would second Vegas for the weather but since you've been I would stick with WDW. I like to visit DL in May or September. Better weather then.

 

[felice]

The last visit my wife and I made to Disneyland was in January 2015. The weather was usually fairly warm, but there were some days when a decent fleece or jacket was required. However, the weather overall remained dry and clear, if any rain fell this was only slight and also tended to fall mainly at night, rather than in the daytime.

The parks benefit from being a little less crowded than at other times of the year, although they are still busy even so things are quite a bit easier to get around to and queues are also shorter.

As long as you dress appropriately you should be fine visiting DL in January. The only rainy day we had experienced was when we were at San Diego Zoo - though this was still fun despite the weather.

 

[ChloroformSdxn]

The first week of January... it depends. You still have a bit of a hangover from the Christmas crowds, so the rides don't shut down right away.I would take a look at the dates you're going.

As far as weather, we go in January for my son's birthday. It's usually nice, cools down a bit at night. We usually wear hoodies or very light jackets.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Is it possible that it will slow rain day in, day out in a cold drizzly sort of way for a few days back to back in Jan at DL? Most definitely. Could it be a week of sun? Yes. If you are not ok with this I wouldn't go to DL. (I know nothing of Florida or Vegas weather.)

 

[DLgal]

Rain in general is very rare here. Last January we were dealing with El Nino. That will not be the case this year. On any given day in January, I would estimate the chance of rain to be about 10%. It's definitely not enough to avoid planning a trip here. Temps in January average mid 60s during the day, 50s to upper 40s at night. Plan to wear pants and tees with sweatshirts or hoodies for mornings and nights.

Park hours vary but you can expect 10am-7-8pm at Disneyland and DCA Mon-Thurs and then 9am-9pm at DCA and 9am-11pm-12am on Fri-Sun.

 

[SMD]

This is So Cal, weather can vary by 20-30 degrees within a day or 30-40 within the same week. It rains here. It might rain all day, it might not rain all day. We're in a drought. It probably wouldn't rain for 5 days in a row. If we're lucky, it will actually rain several days. If cold and/or rainy weather is a deterrent, maybe January isn't the best month to travel. A combo Vegas/So Cal trip would mean you could spend time indoors in Vegas, but of course, no one can predict which days might rain in So Cal or Vegas or what the temperatures will be.

 

[alvernon90]

Last year we went the week before Christmas, so just a couple weeks earlier than OP. We had rain in the evenings on two days and rain in the morning on our last day. When the rain was away, the weather was delightful. We dressed in layers because it was cold in the mornings and warm in the afternoons. But the rain really did make it significantly less fun (and rain plus crowds was really bad).

Of course, that was just bad luck. You are likely to have dry weather, dealing only with the large temperature swings if you are out before sunrise or after sunset -- and the days are so short that you will almost certainly be out for one or the other, or both. If it does rain, every store in the parks sells ponchos and umbrellas. I now have several Mickey Mouse umbrellas. It's not the worst thing in the world, and definitely worth the risk.