Winter coats when it’s bitter cold when leaving

[Dznypal]

We are leaving from Milwaukee on tues when it’s supposed to be bitterly cold

Does anyone know if they have small lockers to store our winter coats. We have a car service
Or what have others done when going to a warm place when it’s bitter cold at home.
Thanks for any tips
We started taking a car service to the airport
Usually we would have someone take us or we’d drive ourselves and our kids would pick up the car

 

[eticketplease]

We have a bag that we roll up and throw in our carry-on. We then fit all the winter gear we wore into the airport into that bag before going through security and throw the bag onto the screening belt.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We leave ours in our car and wear hoodies to the airport. Not ideal but we also don’t want to drag our winter coats on vacation purely for the 5 min drive from the park n fly location to the airport. (We’re Canadian so understand how cold it is.)

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

I wear my coat....
Take it off and put it on my lap as a blanket if its too big and heavy to actually wear during the flight.

Besides have you seen the forecast for Lake Buena Vista Florida next week???
Tuesday high of 53. Throw in the dampness and it feels much colder.
Next week most of the country will be colder than usual.

 

[Mirabell Rose]

We wear layered jackets. There have been days in January and February at Disney when the highs are low to mid 50’s and we use those layers.

 

[team bradfield]

We are in orlando area now, coats, hoodies, etc, we arrive Wdw in 2 weeks, hopefully warmer then

 

[Mikey15]

We are leaving from Milwaukee on tues when it’s supposed to be bitterly cold

Does anyone know if they have small lockers to store our winter coats. We have a car service
Or what have others done when going to a warm place when it’s bitter cold at home.
Thanks for any tips
We started taking a car service to the airport
Usually we would have someone take us or we’d drive ourselves and our kids would pick up the car

It’s luck of the draw this time of year as to how cold it will be in Florida. Last month was our first-ever December / “winter” trip, and I was honestly surprised how much use we got out of our sweaters. It dipped into the 40s at night when we were leaving Jollywood.

Based on that I’d lean towards the “leave jackets in the car (or at home, if a warm car is picking you up) & wear a sweater into the airport” suggestions. You’ll need that layer at some point in Florida anyway… definitely maybe.

 

[NotUrsula]

Simplest thing to do is bring a couple of space bags (the kind that do not need a vacuum). When you get to the airport, put the winter things in the space bag(s) and lean against a wall to compress it, then put it in your checked bag. (I don't like taking the chance of being caught coatless when we return, after the time we walked out of the airport into pounding sleet.) We keep our regular indoor winter clothes on for the flight, and if it is warm in Orlando, change into lighter clothing at the airport there. We put those same clothes at the top of the bag when packing to head home, so that we can change into them before boarding our flight.

Our usual warming backups for winter trips to Orlando are a fleece half-zip, a hooded windbreaker, a pair of very thin longjohns and a pair of stretch gloves, just in case. Separately or layered, that is usually sufficient for the coldest weather we encounter there (but don't kid yourself that it does not get cold: due to the pervasive dampness in the air, temps in the high 30s will feel much colder, and it's also likely to drizzle. IME, it is very seldom warm enough to wear shorts in the winter; our typical Florida winter gear is lightweight long pants, a tee and a long-sleeve shirt over the tee for early mornings and late evenings.) If it is cold here when we are leaving we wear lightweight down jackets, which compress very flat in a space bag.

 

[Silvermist999]

We wear lightweight packable down jackets, they fold up really small into tiny pouches. We pack up our jackets once we are inside the airport.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

We wear lightweight packable down jackets, they fold up really small into tiny pouches. We pack up our jackets once we are inside the airport.

Seconding this - I ended up purchasing one of these several years ago and if you travel enough they are well worth the investment.

 

[EACarlson]

We are leaving from Milwaukee on tues when it’s supposed to be bitterly cold

Does anyone know if they have small lockers to store our winter coats. We have a car service
Or what have others done when going to a warm place when it’s bitter cold at home.
Thanks for any tips
We started taking a car service to the airport
Usually we would have someone take us or we’d drive ourselves and our kids would pick up the car

Last year I flew out of of Milwaukee after the storm where there was 6 inches of snow then dropped to -20. MKE offers a coat check service at Summerfest Marketplace beginning at 4am, you can only drop off until 8pm but they keep someone there until the last flight of the night for pickups. Cost is $2/day up to a $10 max. That is the only way you are leaving your coat, there are no lockers or anything else.
Other than that. Normally, I would just go with a heavy sweatshirt and put it in my backpack or carry-on, but seeing how bad Tuesday is going to be, I'd be wearing my Eddie Bauer Down Packable jacket and stuffing that into my carry on instead. I'm actually flying to MCO Tuesday as well, but flying out of ATW this time and not MKE, where the coat check is free.

https://www.mitchellairport.com/airport-guide/shopping

 

[Wood Nymph]

We are leaving from Milwaukee on tues when it’s supposed to be bitterly cold

We have a bag that we roll up and throw in our carry-on.

I wear my coat....
Take it off and put it on my lap as a blanket if its too big and heavy to actually wear during the flight.

We wear layered jackets.

We wear lightweight packable down jackets, they fold up really small into tiny pouches. We pack up our jackets once we are inside the airport.

We've done all of those things. It all depends on how cold it is going to be in Florida and how long we will be outside when we are in Chicago.

We have gone to WDW many times in December, January and February and it can be cold in both places. I discovered that a lightweight rain jacket combined with a fleece jacket makes a very warm coat. I also bought one of those lightweight down jackets for our trip this past December because it was going to be cold in WDW. I have been very glad to have my winter coat with me in Florida a few times. And I've brought a bag to put the winter clothes in after we get off the plane. A winter coat makes a nice blanket for the airplane.

 

[RuntheMouse]

We brought our coats down with us earlier last week and wore them in the parks twice. We’re from Twin Cities area and were still cold. It’s been really windy too.

 

[elaine amj]

I always bring a light winter coat (our packable down jackets) to Florida in the winter. It can be cold down there!!!

 

[japanese maple]

We wore our winter coats this past December. We just hung ours over the back of the chairs (not enough room in closet) in the room and that was it. We did end up wearing them 3 of the nights.

If you don't have chairs or something to place them on, maybe put them in your suitcase if you don't need them?

 

[bdrex28]

We leave ours in our car and wear hoodies to the airport. Not ideal but we also don’t want to drag our winter coats on vacation purely for the 5 min drive from the park n fly location to the airport. (We’re Canadian so understand how cold it is.)

This is essentially what we've done in the past. If I know I'm heading to a place where it will be much warmer, we leave our coats in our car at the airport knowing it's only a short time before we're inside and we wear light jackets or hoodies, etc. This way we have them when we arrive back home but dont have to hassle with transporting them.

 

[jimmymc]

Coming from Detroit, I normally use the hoodie and layers method. I can stash the hoodie in a carry on bag once I'm inside, then shed more layers when I get to baggage claim in Orlando.

 

[sponica]

Depending on how much luggage I have, I'll either leave the coat in the car or wear it.

But I will say I totally regretted leaving my down coat at home when I went to San Antonio in December for a conference....they had some overnight lows in the 30s and I had not checked the weather before I left. So I was pretty chilly on the riverwalk on my way to my morning conference sessions.

 

[sam_gordon]

You're getting a car service right? So the car will be heated when you get in (presumably not very far from where you exit your home).
The car will drop you off probably pretty close to the doors of the airport, so you won't be in the cold for very long.

I would either just wear a hoodie/pullover (whatever I want for the cool evenings in Florida) and suck it up for the <2 minutes I'm actually outside, OR wear a light to medium weight jacket. If I have room to put it in luggage before checking it, great! If not, wear it on the plane or put it in the overhead on top of other luggage.

 

[LRdismom]

We wear our coats until we exit the plane in Orlando. We have Columbia jackets with Omi Heat and they fold up pretty small. We like keeping them on during the flight because it keeps us nice and cozy. We just keep enough room in our carry-on so that we can throw them in.