January vs April

coltow

coltow

Well-Known Member
A friend of mine is in the early stages of planning a 4 night trip with her 2 kids (5girl, 3boy). She is only planing on going to MK on this trip, but plans to be there for 3 full days.

She wants to either go MLK week in January or the week before Easter (she'd actually fly home Easter morning). I have not been at either time so couldn't be of much help in her decision process. How 'bout anyone here?
 
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Ted_Kord

Ted_Kord

New Member
My wife and I are actually in the process of rescheduling our WDW vacation. We had been scheduled for the first week in October to stay at OKW and to hit Epcot's 25th Anniversary, but a family emergency forced us to postpone. So now we are looking at going early 2008, sometime from January through March. I figured rather than start a new thread, I'd join this discussion with my questions.

The one concern I have with a winter trip to Florida is the temperature. I've checked the historic temperatures on this site, but that's only of limited helpfulness to me. I see the low in january is in the 40s, but is that usually only a night or two or can I expect it to hit that each night I'm there? Generally how comfortable is the weather in January and February? I'm assuming it will be too cold to go nghtswimming but will it generally be sweater weather/ short sleeves weather in the day time?

Thank you for any insights you may have.
 
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Shere_Khan

Shere_Khan

Well-Known Member
I went last Feb at the very beginning of the month.
It was high 60's, low 70's all day long. I was comfortable in jeans and a tee-shirt. I was also comfortable in shorts a few of the days. I never brought any jackets or anything with, but I think when I was leaving the parks around 8 or 9 each night it was in the low 60's, mid 50's. I did not find that cold though, because I had just come from weather in the teens in Michigan so the 50's were A-Ok with me.
But really in the daytime I was very comfortable and never cold.

Also remember, parks close much earlier in the cooler months. So it's not like you will be at the parks freezing until midnight or anything.
I believe the latest you could stay at MGM and Epcot was around 7 or 8, and MK was 8 or 9, AK was at 5 so no problems there.

And one more huge January-February plus. I pretty much walked onto to every ride in less then 5 minutes everyday of the week. The only time I experienced waits was Friday in the afternoon at the MK.
 
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lilclerk

lilclerk

Well-Known Member
Ted_Kord said:
The one concern I have with a winter trip to Florida is the temperature. I've checked the historic temperatures on this site, but that's only of limited helpfulness to me. I see the low in january is in the 40s, but is that usually only a night or two or can I expect it to hit that each night I'm there? Generally how comfortable is the weather in January and February? I'm assuming it will be too cold to go nghtswimming but will it generally be sweater weather/ short sleeves weather in the day time?

Thank you for any insights you may have.
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I was there Feb 1-8 this year. When we landed our first night, it was horribly hot and muggy (and this was about 7:30pm.) So the next day, we got up and wore shorts and t-shirts... and it was freezing. If we'd been smart enough to turn the TV on, we'd have seen that there had been several tornadoes in the Orlando area during the night and that had gotten rid of all the humidity.
It wasn't too bad during the day, but we froze our butts off that night.
We wore sweatshirts for the next few days since it was chilly and overcast the whole time. Our last day was absolutely perfect. The sun was shining and it was warm enough for a t-shirt and jeans, but still a slight chill in the air so you didn't overheat.
And you could still go night swimming since the pools are heated. Just run back to your room =)
 
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Shere_Khan

Shere_Khan

Well-Known Member
lilclerk said:
I was there Feb 1-8 this year. When we landed our first night, it was horribly hot and muggy (and this was about 7:30pm.) So the next day, we got up and wore shorts and t-shirts... and it was freezing. If we'd been smart enough to turn the TV on, we'd have seen that there had been several tornadoes in the Orlando area during the night and that had gotten rid of all the humidity.
It wasn't too bad during the day, but we froze our butts off that night.
We wore sweatshirts for the next few days since it was chilly and overcast the whole time. Our last day was absolutely perfect. The sun was shining and it was warm enough for a t-shirt and jeans, but still a slight chill in the air so you didn't overheat.
And you could still go night swimming since the pools are heated. Just run back to your room =)
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Lilclerk! I arrived there on the 8th, so I must have gotten that nice wonderful weather you are talking about on your last day. I guess my rave review of the weather is not accurate to how it normally is. Weather is so tough to plans trips by.
 
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KingStefan

KingStefan

Well-Known Member
Ted_Kord said:
...The one concern I have with a winter trip to Florida is the temperature. I've checked the historic temperatures on this site, but that's only of limited helpfulness to me. I see the low in january is in the 40s, but is that usually only a night or two or can I expect it to hit that each night I'm there? Generally how comfortable is the weather in January and February? I'm assuming it will be too cold to go nghtswimming but will it generally be sweater weather/ short sleeves weather in the day time?
...
Click to expand...

There has been discussion on these boards about this before, and it seems to be what it comes down to is this: where are you from? If you are from Canada, Michigan, New Jersey, etc., then you will find the weather very pleasant in Jan.

For example, we were there two years ago in April when they had a very unusual cold snap and it was 58 and we were in the heated pool and having a great time. The hot tub was FULL! :lol:

If you are from S. Cal., S. Texax, etc., it will be sweater weather for you, and you probably are not going to want to swim, but it will still be pleasant. I heard someone local from Orlando once say she was "freezing", even with her lined waterproof coat on. It was 60 degrees and cloudy. I had on a polo shirt and was carrying a jacket.

So it's all a matter of perception. Being from NJ, I find the weather in FL in Jan warm, and will swim every trip as long as the pool is heated! And I love walking around the parks and not sweating until I'm soaked.
 
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Shere_Khan

Shere_Khan

Well-Known Member
KingStefan said:
There has been discussion on these boards about this before, and it seems to be what it comes down to is this: where are you from? If you are from Canada, Michigan, New Jersey, etc., then you will find the weather very pleasant in Jan.
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Exactly! Excellent point!
When you live in some of these places you gotta figure, anything's better then where you are.
 
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Beauty_Belle

Beauty_Belle

New Member
Since Easter is early this year, will the crowds be as bad in April? From what I heard, once Easter is past, the crowds start to thin out. Is there any truth to that for I am planning to go mid April? Thanks so much!
 
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happymom52003

happymom52003

Active Member
Beauty_Belle said:
Since Easter is early this year, will the crowds be as bad in April? From what I heard, once Easter is past, the crowds start to thin out. Is there any truth to that for I am planning to go mid April? Thanks so much!
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It will not be too bad. Average crowds. Not the lightest crowds, but better than summer and much better than Easter.
 
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kirst_al UK

kirst_al UK

Member
Beauty_Belle said:
Since Easter is early this year, will the crowds be as bad in April? From what I heard, once Easter is past, the crowds start to thin out. Is there any truth to that for I am planning to go mid April? Thanks so much!
Click to expand...

In 2005 we hit spring break/easter but only for our first week - by the second it had calmed down ALOT !!!
 
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