What to wear in December?

[Katie & Glen]

If you're planning what to wear now, you'll need to pack 2 suit cases per person. The hi temps. in December can range from 40's to 80's. You're going to need 2 wardrobes ready to go. I'd watch the weather closely and not pack until the last minute. Winter travel in Florida is always an ify thing and you will always have to take more clothes than you would if travelling during the summer.

You can't trust the forecast even the morning you leave. We stayed for 8 days. They were predicting 60's to low 70's, well Sunday Dec 12 came with rain and a colder cold front then was predicted and we ended up with highs in the 20's.

Do not trust the weather forecast, even the day before you go. It changes quickly. In 2008, the night before we went the forcast said the highs were low 70s the entire week. We believed it. The day after our arrival there was a heat wave and the highs were actually between 82 and 86 degrees the entire week. We had brought jeans instead of shorts and we were sweating the whole week. Last December we started out the week in shorts morning, day and night the first couple of days as the weather was warm, but we wound up in coats and sweaters by the end of the week. You just never know! Be prepared for anything!

Exactly -

Even after reading about how dramatically different the temps can be from one day to the next, I wasn't mentally prepared. But at least I packed for every possibility, unlike some people we encountered who had made makeshift robes from fleece blankets, hotel bedspreads, etc.

I think until you experience what we did in December there is no way to comprehend it.

 

[MagicMe]

I was there in December 2005 and it was what I expected - nice (high 60's low 70's) in the day and cooler at night. We went to the MVMCP and needed sweatshirts for the second parade and enjoyed the hot chocolate. Fast forward two years and I was there for temperatures in the high 90's!! We only went for four days and attended the MVMCP again. Wore shorts, short sleeves and didn't touch the hot chocolate at all!! Of course, the day we flew home we were in MK for the morning and the weather was back to the high 60's.

So as others have stated - you never know what you're going to get!!

 

[AmberHeartsDisney]

it can vary some days it was tshirts and shorts others is was pants and jackets.

 

[Bearybear]

We were also there for the record cold last December. The week before we went, the forecast was for highs in the mid 50s. I packed gloves and hats for all, plus lots of layers. There were days when we wore a long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt and jacket with gloves & hat with 2 pairs of socks. I also packed some shorts and t-shirts just in case, as well as bathing suits.

I'd pack a little of everything. I just did laundry mid-way through our trip. You can't know what the weather will be before you leave. The forecast might be right for the next 2-3 days, but by the end of your trip, it could have changed dramatically.

But December in WDW is magical. The decorations are amazing.

 

[eecteacher82]

Here is a pic of a car at the Beach Club from our December trip in 2010...

 

[CAROLINE4]

mom2rtk i love all the outfits u make for ur daughter, u r so talented!! i have spent a while reading through ur last years xmas report as we are going this xmas and i love it!! u r so organised!! i am taking lots of tips so thankyou! my fav part was the surprise meet with the three princess couples!!

 

[Missytara]

You also have to realize that you are asking a very subjective question.

What feels cold to you, might feel comfortable to me, depending on what part of the country you live in, what temperatures you are used to, and how your body tolerates the cold.

I work in Facilities Management, and I cannot tell you how many times we get a call from someone who says they are cold and we get there and the temperature is perfectly normal. "Hot" and "cold" are perceptions.

In addition, what seems cold to you is more comfortable to me; I work in construction, so in the 50's, I can wear shorts as long as I wear a s/s shirt and a long sleeve hoodie.

Every year, I try to hunt down some construction project that is going on at the World. A few years ago, I was watching the refurb at the exterior for the BW. It was a beautiful cool morning in December. I was wearing shorts, sneakers, socks, a s/s shirt and a long sleeve hoodie.

The guys were wearing winter hats, gloves, and carhardt overalls; and they were warming themselves over a fire in a barrel.

We looked at each other and laughed - they live in FL, so it was freezing to them; I was just fine!

 

[mdelliott76]

Well I had better put my 2 cents in from this past December. We are fairly accustomed to the cold so we packed for mild, cool weather. We got there the first day and it was comfortable... shorts and t-shirts. Down hill from there. It was so cold we ended up buying mittens and head gear for our daughter; wife needed gloves. The jackets we had were borderline - we ended up layering for several days. I finally was able to break out my shorts the last two days. Seems like it was upper 30's with 10mph winds (easy) at night the day time temps were not that bad, it was just the wind made it more cool than we expected. The Christmas Party in the cold sort of set the Holiday mood for us as well. I would suggest packing for just about anything... we still had a great time. Some of our pictures everyone has red noses - fitting for Christmas time I guess.

Have fun!

 

[bumbershoot]

You also have to realize that you are asking a very subjective question.

What feels cold to you, might feel comfortable to me, depending on what part of the country you live in, what temperatures you are used to, and how your body tolerates the cold.

Which is why the OP needs to pay attention to where the people responding are from.

We were there Nov 30 through Dec 17. We got there when it was basically nice, and left just as it got nice again. in between though... Now I am having a hard time agreeing with the assertions that 24 was a high at any point...it got below that at night, but during the day I don't think that was ever a *high* unless you were taking the temperature right near the water with the wind blowing.

BUT it was miserable and awful, and even my husband, who wears shorts unless it's actually below freezing, was so cold he wanted to leave Illuminations...

Dont' let my quibble with the 24 degree thing (I will tell you that on the 13th, which was our last morning at Universal, it was 35 degrees and I made the mistake of going on Flight of the Hippogrif with my son 14 times in a row...lost my voice after that and it's STILL not back to normal (I think I damaged my vocal cords by continuing to talk after I lost it ) and that's when I broke down and bought $130 worth of Harry Potter scarves for the 3 of us...) change things!

The last two early Decembers have been nasty-cold. But then there's also warmth. So layers and OPTIONS are the best way to go. Budget now for either more suitcases to be checked, or for more WARM souvenirs to be purchased. And don't forget (as we did) that Super Target is just a quick car/cab ride away, and they have warm stuff (and oh do I wish we'd bought the hand-warmers) there.

 

[tlbwriter]

All three of my trips were in December. The first one, we had some really cold temps, especially at night. The second was cool to cold but not as cold. The third was balmy enough to swim. My best advice is to prepare for either and wear layers. I like to start the day with a t-shirt and hoodie, and as it gets warmer I can take the hoodie off and tie it around my waist.

 

[mom2rtk]

mom2rtk i love all the outfits u make for ur daughter, u r so talented!! i have spent a while reading through ur last years xmas report as we are going this xmas and i love it!! u r so organised!! i am taking lots of tips so thankyou! my fav part was the surprise meet with the three princess couples!!

Many thanks! We're also considering a December trip again this year. Surely we can't hit record breaking weather 3 years in a row, right????

And yes, our magical moment in Toontown during the party was one of our favorite Disney moments ever.

If you have any questions on the party, let me know! I guess you already know to be prepared for any sort of weather!

 

[SRUAlmn]

Last December was abnormally cold in the entire southeast. I live in SC and we actually had snow flurries the day after Christmas I am glad you asked this, OP, since our past 4 trips have been in July and our trip this year will be in December. I like to buy cute new clothes for our trip, but I don't know what to buy this year
I went twice in December as a teenager, and I remember the first year was beautiful (pants, short sleeves, jacket at night.) The second trip was FREEZING (winter coats, hats, gloves, etc...) I wish we could have a better answer, but it really is a year by year thing.

 

[dchronister]

We were there the 2nd week of Dec, I think In '08, maybe '09, anyway, the first half we froze, the second half we wore shorts. We only packed one suit case apiece, don't know how we managed that, but we did. I guess we all took the largest suitcases the airlines would allow and I knew my kids couldn't deal with more that one suitcase apiece. We shipped all hotel essentials, toothbrushes and such and some snacks to the hotel and was waiting for us when we arrived, so that wasn't taking up room in the suitcase. We packed for all senarios, but we had a washer and dryer so that made it easier. Wear underarmor, that doesn't take up much room at all. And I knew I would have to have a WDW sweatshirt, so I picked that up when I arrived. We even swam a couple of days. We loved December, the crowds were low and there were characters out that we hadn't seen before, we went to the MVMCP and my kids loved it, if you do this, go see the show with Mickey and Minnie, my kids still talk about it. But back to question, take a little of everything. Make sure you take some gloves and earmuffs, my earmuffs saved me. And then, just like that, it was warm. Still cool in the morning, but warm afternoons.

 

[JZCubed]

We went last year during first week in December and if you're going to be at Disney in the cold - at least let it be record cold.....it was....

I live in the mountains and could not believe how cold it was at Disney in early December.

I packed layers, but this year I'll include a winter coat.