Weather during third week of December?

[anneofgreengables]

What's the weather like during the third week of December? What clothes should we pack? Will we be able to use the pool/go to the waterparks? Thanks.

 

[MickeyNicki]

It does get cool at night in late November, I would suggest bringing pants, sweatshirts and jackets. I live close by so when we go we usually wear shorts and tees but I bring warmer clothes to change into later. For example we went the second week in Dec this year and it was in the low 50's at night and mid 60's in the day

 

[anneofgreengables]

Thanks. So I shouldn't do the water park add-on to our tickets then.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Depends, when we went Dec 05 the bus stopped at TL and there was no one getting on or off at the stop, the weather was in the mid 60s and sunny but it was too cold to do water rides...but people were using the pool at our Resort so go figure!

 

[Paul in TX]

We always go at that time--plan to layer--it can get cold then but the pools are heated---also Florida cold is a damp humid cold ---bring windbreaker and sweatshirts
for nights--the good news is that its usually very pleasant during the days and generally nice at night

 

[jbird327]

I was there this past December 16 - 23 and found the weather to be fairly miserable most of the trip. We had rain at least two days. We took the Train tour one morning at 7AM and it was 42 degrees. Most evenings it was too cold to enjoy the parks. It made it up to the low 70s one day but most of the time it was just chilly. I usually travel to WDW in January and this was about the worst weather I had encountered. Cold does not bother me - I live in PA - but I don't enjoy wearing a winter coat, hat, gloves or layers while trying to enjoy the parks.

 

[anneofgreengables]

Oh, my. That doesn't sound fun. How were the crowds from the 16th to 23rd?

 

[Robo]

We're from the midwest and have learned to EXPECT ANYTHING as the weather goes in off-season Orlando.
We always pack winter and summer-wear.
In Dec/Jan/Feb we have even worn LONG THERMAL UNDERWEAR (after sundown)... we now pack it for any off-season trip.

Typical day:

Cool outside at 7am.
Wear shorts and Tee's.
Over that add a thin nylon wind-breaker
We put our "chilly-wear" and RAIN ponchos in a back-pack.
(Rain ponchos are REALLY cheap in hunting section of discount retailers.
You can buy BIG THICK ones to allow covering large jackets... more later.)

"Chilly-wear" is a nylon cotton-lined warm-up suit with zipper legs and a cotton-lined windbreaker.
We buy OVER-sized in these so they can easily be put on OVER other clothing.
After standing in the sometimes chilly "early-entry" lines we can usually take off the wind-breakers.
We always rent a locker at the park(s) and leave our "chilly-wear" in the locker 'til sun-down.
If it looks like rain (in Florida? Who'da thunk?) we take the Ponchos.

Much later, if its a warm night, we're just fine in the shorts.
If it turns windy/cool... we can visit the locker and choose which level of "chilly" OVER-WEAR to add to our clothing.

If it turns really COLD (windy 30's-40's not unheard-of at certain times of the year) we can make a restroom trip and slide-on the long underwear... OR... we can even add the final outer-layer of the RAIN ponchos (with their HOODS)... OVER everything else.
That trick (along with ear-muffs and gloves) has allowed us to "comfortably" stay and enjoy Fantasmic! or IllumiNations when others (less-prepared) have been "frozen-out."

 

[MICKEEP]

We were at WDW 12/17 thru 12/26 last year and went completely unprepared for the weather. We brought a lot of t-shirts and shorts but wound up wearing the same sweat shirts and long pants most of the time. The evenings were quite cold some times. As I understand it you can not predict what the temperatures will be like during that time of year so be prepared.

BTW the temperatures right now are quite cold down there.

 

[minniedisney1]

We were there the 15-22 last Dec. A few days the weather was really nice & sunny. High 70's/low 80's. A few days of scattered showers and cool temps High50's/60's. We normally started out in the morning in shorts & t-shirt with sweatshirts. When we went back in the evenings, we did t-shirts, pants & sweatshirt. Florida has a humid cold that just kinda goes right thru you. We had a great time. Oh and don't foget your rain poncho!!! The weather did not put a damper on our trip at all!!! We are going back this year the same time.
Crowds were nonexistent when we arrived on Thurs. 12/15. We pretty much walked on to everyting Thurs.-Sun. From Mon 12/19-Thurs 12/22 the crowds started building a little more each day. Not packed or anything just more people if that makes sense. Wed. night is when it started to get crowded. Good luck on your trip!!!!

 

[asa'smom]

We were there Dec. 16 -23 of 2005. In the morning we wore t-shirts with a jackets. By mid morning the jackets came off and into a locker. Never attempted to wear the shorts that I had packed. Just to chilly for them. At night we had to put the jackets back on. Plan to layer is the best. Be sure it carry a rain jacket or poncho your comfortable in. It rain (drizzle) constantly for the first day and a half we were there. As far as the pool. There were always someone in the pool at the Pop. I probly would have attempted it a couple of day (if I would have remember my bathing suit) Just alittle more input hope it helps. But I will say after going two times on July 4 and one time at Christmas. Our next trip will be another Christmas trip in 2007 because of the cooler weather. The crowd during our trip were very workable. The line time were about 30 min. Except for Soarin and we fast passed that.

 

[jbird327]

Oh, my. That doesn't sound fun. How were the crowds from the 16th to 23rd?

To elaborate on my previous reply....I was there Jan 9-14, 2005 and also Dec 16-23, 2005. In January it was mostly low 80s and then 50's at night. When I walk through the parks, I hate carrying anything with me - even a camera. The thought of a backpack loaded with stuff would just keep me home. Add a child or two into the mix and then carrying their extra clothers/coats would not contribute to my enjoyment! So in January it was walk out of the room in a t-shirt and return the same way. I did need a lighter jacket at night but we usually return to the room before the evening. This Dec trip I had my Mom (mid 70s)along with one child (14) and my Mom was freezing most of the time. My daughter never wore any of the shorts we brought down and it was too chilly for her to go swimming. We started a few mornings wearing the clothes and jackets, hats and gloves we used when we left Philadelphia (we took the autotrain and had all that stuff in the car).

As far as crowds, it was fairly crowded but not the most crowded I have experienced - that was the Nov 2000 trip. In January it seemed empty by comparison. I wanted to experience a Dec Disney trip and I got that - but I think I will go back to some other time of year for the next one. We were seated on time at all of our dining reservations and really had no major waits at any ride but we did avoid some things, like Peter Pan, when the line got to 45min.

So, I did have fun and really enjoyed the trip. I just felt that the weather diminshed a number of things that we wanted to do.