January - Weather, Crowds, Attractions, Etc

[rodserling27]

So I did what any other financially irresponsible 23-year-old teacher would do, and booked myself my second Walt Disney World trip in 8 months...I'm SO freaking excited!!!

I'm doing something I've never ever done before and going in the Winter (January 13 through 17, to be specific.) I'm looking forward to a relatively new experience as opposed to all my summer vacations there. I'm curious to find out how the weather normally behaves in central Florida. Does it normally rain every day in WDW as it does in the summer? How are the crowd levels. . .I have to figure that this would be considered "off-peak," although there is nothing really "off-peak" anymore these days.

The other thing I noticed is that MSEP and Fantasmic, the two greatest evening entertainment spectacles of all time IMO, aren't showing nearly as much as during the summer. That makes a lot of sense. Does Fantasmic! get cancelled a lot in the winter? I sure hope not, I love LOVE the show, and we would be heart-broken if we missed it. Also, I know in the past they have added extra SpectroMagic performances during EMH in the summer. . .I'm hoping the same is true for MSEP? Anyone who read my passionate account of the parade (see http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=611345 ) knows how much it means to me. I'm looknig to see it as much as possible.

I really can't believe I booked yet another trip in such short time (in the middle of a recession, no less!) it was such an impulse booking, but I really can't wait to go see my pal Mickey and the gang again!!:sohappy: Thanks in advance for the info, folks.

 

[dreamfinder]

I've gone early January. I don't think we had any rain this last trip and we left on the 11th or so. However we did have freezing rain/sleet so it was a trade off. But nothing compared to the summer daily storms. The crowds should be a bit lower, but as you already noticed, parks close earlier and they have less show times to compensate. Towards the end of our trip the hours were shifting so DHS and MK were closing at 8, AK at 5, and Epcot at 9. They always MAY add more showings, but nothing like during the summer. It's a nice time to visit, very comfortable temps (at least for us from New England).

 

[Bravo 229]

So I did what any other financially irresponsible 23-year-old teacher would do, and booked myself my second Walt Disney World trip in 8 months...I'm SO freaking excited!!!

I'm doing something I've never ever done before and going in the Winter (January 13 through 17, to be specific.) I'm looking forward to a relatively new experience as opposed to all my summer vacations there. I'm curious to find out how the weather normally behaves in central Florida. Does it normally rain every day in WDW as it does in the summer? How are the crowd levels. . .I have to figure that this would be considered "off-peak," although there is nothing really "off-peak" anymore these days.

The other thing I noticed is that MSEP and Fantasmic, the two greatest evening entertainment spectacles of all time IMO, aren't showing nearly as much as during the summer. That makes a lot of sense. Does Fantasmic! get cancelled a lot in the winter? I sure hope not, I love LOVE the show, and we would be heart-broken if we missed it. Also, I know in the past they have added extra SpectroMagic performances during EMH in the summer. . .I'm hoping the same is true for MSEP? Anyone who read my passionate account of the parade (see http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=611345 ) knows how much it means to me. I'm looknig to see it as much as possible.

I really can't believe I booked yet another trip in such short time (in the middle of a recession, no less!) it was such an impulse booking, but I really can't wait to go see my pal Mickey and the gang again!!:sohappy: Thanks in advance for the info, folks.

I live about 30 minutes away from WDW, and the weather can be variable at that time of the year. Some days it can be very cold with the possibility of frost, and some days the weather could be in the low 70s. I would definately monitor the weather channel about a week ahead to see if you're going to need to pack winter clothes, and also what to expect rain wise. The rain is a different story. While it certainly can rain at any time in Florida, the summer rains are a product of the heat and breeze coming off of the ocean. With the absence of heat, you won't have to worry about the 4pm daily summer rainshower. Crowd levels can vary, but it has not been overly busy the last few years during that time. As for Fantasmic! and MSEP, I can't really give a solid answer other than its most likely not shown as much to cut down on costs when there aren't as many visitors. Hope that information helps, and have fun!

 

[rodserling27]

Thanks for the info, guys!

 

[Master Gracey 5]

We'll be going down Dec 30 through Jan 6. Remind me in two months and I'll let you know how the weather was!

 

[rodserling27]

Will do, Master Gracey!

 

[dixiegirl]

We'll be down there too!!!! We got insanely cheap flights..and we just had to use up our Southwest credit!!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Yeah. I hope it doesn't snow/sleet on you like it did during our January trip this year...TWICE. I've never been so cold before in my life. But I know that's not the norm at all. You'll have a great time. Mild weather, mild crowds, shorter park hours are a bummer but it's not the worst thing ever. Have fun!
:wave:

 

[HisDisneyMagoo]

Im going Jan 8th- 15th... so at some point I will surely post about the weather, and the crowds and etc. One night we have dinner at the castle then is fireworks then a parade. So hopefully it wont be too chilly!:lookaroun

 

[Susan Savia]

We'll be there January 6 thru 15th. We always go during the winter. Went in February last trip. Had some very chilly mornings. (I remember our first ride one morning was on Test Track and it was only low 30's and boy that was cold!) We have also been surprised by comfortable afternoon temps in the 70's. Only had rain one time that I can remember and it only lasted a short time. Pack for all kinds of weather.

 

[Fable McCloud]

I'm going at the end of Feb through 1st week of March, so I'm hoping for good weather, and comfortable temps. I'm really looking forward to wearing jeans and t-shirts as opposed to my last trip when I wore shorts, and tank tops and was still suffering from heat.

 

[ctosh]

That is our time to go every year. Last year we were there form 12-31-09 thru 1-9-10 and boy was it cold. We had sleet and snow one day. The year before was the 3rd week in Jan and still cold on some days... some were fine. I have pictures of our trip in Jan '05 for my daughters birthday and we all were in shorts but a couple of days later we had snow...lol. This year we are headed down on Jan 14th and hoping for warmer weather, but I will pack for the hats and gloves for the cold.
It is a great time to miss the long lines and get around without all the crowds. Dining reservations are no problem either. maybe we will see ya there:wave:

 

[Pioneer Hall]

The weather can be anything that time of year. I have gone in January for the last 3 years and I have seen it all. Sometimes it was great, comfortable in the 60's. I went once and it was hot and in the 80's. I went last year and it was terrible...30's-40's with some sleet and snow (can't make that up). Pay attention to the forecast when you are there and be prepared for whatever it is offering. I learned that 40 in Disney is no better than 40 here in NJ and I was foolishly not prepared thinking that it had to be ok.

 

[the1nonlysinger]

We went 2 years ago- last few days of January and the the beginning of February. I don't know HOW- but in my planning, didn't account for the fact that it woudl be colder than I anticipated. DH & I each packed only a single pair of jeans and a single sweatshirt (the rest were shorts/capris and tshirts!). No coats. I happened to have a pair of gloves left over in my pocket from when I boarded the plane in Western NY and needed to stay warm on the way into the airport.

Needless to say, this coming trip we're going to be prepared (even though we're going in December...)!!

We had a HUGE rainstorm and got rained out of Fantasmic on the one night it played while we were at WDW. After we sat in the stands in the downpour for an hour and a half, THEN they cancelled it. I was so sad. I've never seen it before! =(

We did plan ahead and brought a blanket with us to EPCOT for Illuminations- that worked out well. Sitting on Main Street for Spectromagic was SO cold- obviously worth it though. During the day, it was nice when the sun was shining but it definitely chilled off once the sun went away. The heated pools at our resort had steam coming off of them! We still managed to have an awesome trip- but I guess I was disillusioned to think that Florida was *always* warm! :veryconfu Silly me! lol

Definitely dress is layers- and be prepared for the potential worst- bring hats, gloves, scarves, etc. And yay- you're going back to Disney!:sohappy:

Oh and I meant to add: The crowds weren't too bad. We never had really long waits on any of the rides- 15/20 minutes on some of the Etickets but we just fast-passed them anyway. If you don't mind the weather, I thought it was a great time to go!

 

[countrygrl4]

So I did what any other financially irresponsible 23-year-old teacher would do, and booked myself my second Walt Disney World trip in 8 months...I'm SO freaking excited!!!

I'm doing something I've never ever done before and going in the Winter (January 13 through 17, to be specific.) I'm looking forward to a relatively new experience as opposed to all my summer vacations there. I'm curious to find out how the weather normally behaves in central Florida. Does it normally rain every day in WDW as it does in the summer? How are the crowd levels. . .I have to figure that this would be considered "off-peak," although there is nothing really "off-peak" anymore these days.

The other thing I noticed is that MSEP and Fantasmic, the two greatest evening entertainment spectacles of all time IMO, aren't showing nearly as much as during the summer. That makes a lot of sense. Does Fantasmic! get cancelled a lot in the winter? I sure hope not, I love LOVE the show, and we would be heart-broken if we missed it. Also, I know in the past they have added extra SpectroMagic performances during EMH in the summer. . .I'm hoping the same is true for MSEP? Anyone who read my passionate account of the parade (see http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=611345 ) knows how much it means to me. I'm looknig to see it as much as possible.

I really can't believe I booked yet another trip in such short time (in the middle of a recession, no less!) it was such an impulse booking, but I really can't wait to go see my pal Mickey and the gang again!!:sohappy: Thanks in advance for the info, folks.

I was going those exact days but decided to go Jan 3-7/8..I havent booked it yet bc Im trying to figure out who in my crew is actually coming. I also am financially irresponsible since I'm 22...the joys of being young and bein able to do whatever with your money! There is a link that people have used and said it actually works where it predicts the weather months in advance. IDK how one could do that but supposedly Disney is supposed to be in the 60's. IDK where the link was posted..It could have been my other disney boards I use lol