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Tell me about Dec1-11th please
- Thread starter mom_rules
- Start date
maelstrom
Well-Known Member
We went December 4-11 2003 and it was COLD!! We were wearing gloves and thick sweatshirts. We could see our breath in the air. It made the whole Christmas thing much more believable. However, the winter months in Florida are unpredictable. It could be 40 one week and 70 the next. Your best bet is to watch The Weather Channel close to your travel dates and get an idea where the temperatures are going to be.
TTATraveler
Active Member
I was there 12/4/04-12/11/04 and found the weather to be great. I guess it depends where you are comming from. It was in the 30s and 40s in NJ, so naturally Floriday was warm. I think it was in the 80s 3 or 4 of the days, in the 60s one day, and in the 70s the rest.
Disney_Belle
Well-Known Member
Ive been several times in the past during the first and second weeks of december and the weather is so unpredictable. you really have to pay close attention and bring a sweatshirt just in case. i remember when i went in dec '02 one day it was 80 the next it was about 50 and the next morning there was a tornado watch. it was so messed up lol. but even if it does get a bit chilly being there during the holidays is wonderful. its gorgeous. i went last april and it was in the high 70's all the way up to about 88 one day and throughout most of my stay except on one day it got to about 55 and it was freezing. i guess thats just florida weather though famous for their 15 minute rain showers. 
DisneyBound
New Member
We were there this past Dec 2, 3, 4 & 5th and we never got our shorts or swimsuits out. In fact, we were so cold that we purchased coats to wear over our sweatshirts, and I wore gloves!! The highs were in the 60's I believe but it sure felt cold to me. We are from Ohio and use to cold winters too. Our last day it was warm enough for shorts and the day after was in the 80's so I think its pretty much hit or miss. I would pack for both types of weather and hope for the best.
dvcnut39
Well-Known Member
We are planning on going from 2DEC05-11DEC05. We were in WDW in DEC01 for Walt's 100th birthday. We spent the day in MK and EPCOT. The weather was great the entire week. We had no problems swimming. The next year (2002), we went the 2nd week of DEC. We only had one nice day. Although Orlando averages only 2.2" of rain for the month, we got that amount in just one day. This year we used our DVC points and sent my parents to SSR in the 2nd week of DEC. They loved all the decorations and MVMCP, but at night it went down to 39. So, as far as weather, it's a crap shoot. Crowds are great and all the Christmas decorations are wonderful. Prices are lower. The only two negatives are the possibilities of cold weather and shorter park hours.
I hope this helps.
I hope this helps.
We were at WDW from the 7th till the 22nd of December this Christmas gone and the one before.
Weather wise is unpredictable, depends on where you're from, we saw Floridians shivering and carrying blankets,
I'm from the UK, so it was stil warm for me.
The first year (03) we got here and it was mid 50's, which shot up to the low 80's for most of our stay
This year is was around 70 for the first week, but then it hit freezing from about the 16th.
I would propose packing no shorts, maybe light pants and T shirts, Always carry a sweater or jacket (lockers are so useful!)
and if possible use the weather to judge your park days (if it's unpleasantly cold, maybe go to MK or MGM, avoid Epcot as the temperature drops more with all the water around (Reflections of earth at freezing..looking into the wind was SO COLD..yet as always still a great show!)
Always be prepared, but don't go out in thick jumpers, as every other day was gloriously warm, it was either the wind chill, or later in the day that got cold.
As for crowds, if you want to go for the Christmas Celebrations...head there from the 1st till anywhere around the 18th just before the kids break from school.
I'd recommenr Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party, as early as possible as it books up fast, we were there this year on the last night it was on and it was SO busy
we went to MK on th 19th and the crowds tripled, we could hardly move where as earlier in our stay we hadn't had to queue more that 10 minutes for anything!
sorry...waffling on, all you asked about was the weather!
any other questions just ask
and have a great stay, Christmas & Disney..makes it twice as great :xmas:
Weather wise is unpredictable, depends on where you're from, we saw Floridians shivering and carrying blankets,
I'm from the UK, so it was stil warm for me.
The first year (03) we got here and it was mid 50's, which shot up to the low 80's for most of our stay
This year is was around 70 for the first week, but then it hit freezing from about the 16th.
I would propose packing no shorts, maybe light pants and T shirts, Always carry a sweater or jacket (lockers are so useful!)
and if possible use the weather to judge your park days (if it's unpleasantly cold, maybe go to MK or MGM, avoid Epcot as the temperature drops more with all the water around (Reflections of earth at freezing..looking into the wind was SO COLD..yet as always still a great show!)
Always be prepared, but don't go out in thick jumpers, as every other day was gloriously warm, it was either the wind chill, or later in the day that got cold.
As for crowds, if you want to go for the Christmas Celebrations...head there from the 1st till anywhere around the 18th just before the kids break from school.
I'd recommenr Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party, as early as possible as it books up fast, we were there this year on the last night it was on and it was SO busy
we went to MK on th 19th and the crowds tripled, we could hardly move where as earlier in our stay we hadn't had to queue more that 10 minutes for anything!
sorry...waffling on, all you asked about was the weather!
any other questions just ask
and have a great stay, Christmas & Disney..makes it twice as great :xmas:
mom_rules said:
The party is amazing, we've been everytime we go to WDW at Christmas, it's just the atmosphere, it's so....Magic, but more than usual, you feel that extra bit special, with your armband and the free coacoa and cookies
the show's are really good, I have this massive love for Pluto with a red nose and antlers (and yet still no plush or beanie of him available!!!)
I'm male, and 21, and it may be the ex cast member in me, or the big kid, but I would recommend it to ANYONE
the christmas parade is fab, and the snow on mainstreet makes everything so...magical
How was the halloween party?
I've seen lots of pics, I love the baddies and would love to be in a park over halloween, but the way my work holidays run, it's just not possible
I can't gush enough about how I love MVMCP!
..so i'll stop there hehe
But yes..go to the party have LOADS of fun
Don't see the first Christmas parade...use that time for rides..no wait times and the second parade is SO much quieter and the same parade!
you know what's odd? that talking about this doesn't feel odd? but it's January!
we came back December 03, and by the 10th of Jan 2004 had book to go back Dec 04, it is the BEST time to be at the Magic Kingdom!
P.S. even if you're not a big pin collector..at MVMCP as you may know limited edition pins are sold, pick some up, you're only allowed 2 per person
we bought them both years (you have to ask at the desk in the emporium)
as they are so..individual (as individual as it gets) and they are worth SO much
the two of us bought one each the first year as memento's
This year we bought 2 each, one each as a memento and one each to ebay..that paid for all the pins and our tickets into the party!
LOL! I know what you mean about extra magic! We felt the same about
MNSSHP. Villains, trick or treating in MK, no wait for rides, special photo ops. They had "special" pins there as well-wish I would have bought more at the time.
Even though we are all "adults" we did dress up-it was a blast seeing my normally conservative DH decked out as Jack Sparrow-acted the part and everything. We would definitely do it again.
Sounds like we would just love the xmas party too! We are big kids too! (that's why we keep going back to WDW).
MNSSHP. Villains, trick or treating in MK, no wait for rides, special photo ops. They had "special" pins there as well-wish I would have bought more at the time.
Even though we are all "adults" we did dress up-it was a blast seeing my normally conservative DH decked out as Jack Sparrow-acted the part and everything. We would definitely do it again.
Sounds like we would just love the xmas party too! We are big kids too! (that's why we keep going back to WDW).
shoppingnut
Active Member
I have been going down to disney in the beginning of December for about 10 years and as has been stated the weather it totally unpredictable. I've been there wearing shorts for the whole week as it was in the high 80's and also with a down coat, gloves and hat. Check the weather channel website and do a 10 day forecast, it will help with packing. If the weather is going to be iffy, the best thing to do is to plan to dress in layers. I always bring a silk scarf (very light to carry), silk lined gloves and carry them in my tote bag just in case I need them at night. When it is in the 70's during the day, a lot of times it dips into the 50's at night and when you are out all day and night you tend to be colder than going from a car to a restaurant. The xmas party is so worth going to, it's similar to the halloween party without the candy, but they have cookies and hot chocolate. Even though they say the xmas party starts at 7p, they will let you in the park starting around 4p and issue you an arm band, they will tell you which part of the park will stay open when the park closes at 6p. It's generally tomorrowland and you can go on the rides there until they clear the park out of regular guests.
We stayed at Pop Century this past december and I really didn't see any of the Pop Warner kids, I know they were there then, but they really weren't a problem in our hotel or in the parks.
All the hotels are decorated so beautifully and the GF and the American Adventure have these huge gingerbread houses that people are inside and selling cookies and stuff from, very neat to see. We also always do the Candlelight Processional dinner package in EPCOT every year. It's the telling of the xmas story (which is narrated by a named celeb, we've seen James Avery, Robbie Benson and Jim Caviesel) and in between the story telling the choir sings xmas carols to coordinate with the story. The dinner package allows priority seating into the american garden theatre and if you are going to eat dinner anyway, it is a good value. They have several price level packages and each level includes different restaurants in EPCOT. The dinner includes appetizer, entree, dessert, coffee, non-alcoholic drink, tax & gratuity.
Also, over at IOA they have Grinchmas where you can meet the grinch and yes, he is mean, it's not disney. They have a Whoolabration in the park and it's all decked out like whooville for xmas, very cool. Over at Universal, sometime closer to the 10th of the month they start the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in the park. I live in the NY and have been to the parade, but this was really cool to see. They actually bring down the balloons from NY for this parade and have an area called balloonopolis where some of the really large ones are displayed that they can't use because they don't fit down the streets at universal. You can actually go up to the balloons and touch them, take photos, totally awesome.
It's my favorite time of year to go to disney, I highly recommend it.
We stayed at Pop Century this past december and I really didn't see any of the Pop Warner kids, I know they were there then, but they really weren't a problem in our hotel or in the parks.
All the hotels are decorated so beautifully and the GF and the American Adventure have these huge gingerbread houses that people are inside and selling cookies and stuff from, very neat to see. We also always do the Candlelight Processional dinner package in EPCOT every year. It's the telling of the xmas story (which is narrated by a named celeb, we've seen James Avery, Robbie Benson and Jim Caviesel) and in between the story telling the choir sings xmas carols to coordinate with the story. The dinner package allows priority seating into the american garden theatre and if you are going to eat dinner anyway, it is a good value. They have several price level packages and each level includes different restaurants in EPCOT. The dinner includes appetizer, entree, dessert, coffee, non-alcoholic drink, tax & gratuity.
Also, over at IOA they have Grinchmas where you can meet the grinch and yes, he is mean, it's not disney. They have a Whoolabration in the park and it's all decked out like whooville for xmas, very cool. Over at Universal, sometime closer to the 10th of the month they start the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in the park. I live in the NY and have been to the parade, but this was really cool to see. They actually bring down the balloons from NY for this parade and have an area called balloonopolis where some of the really large ones are displayed that they can't use because they don't fit down the streets at universal. You can actually go up to the balloons and touch them, take photos, totally awesome.
It's my favorite time of year to go to disney, I highly recommend it.
shoppingnut
Active Member
The MVMCP sometimes has a date at the very end of November and definitely the beginning December. The dates are usually announced around June/July and you can book them by calling disney's reservation phone number. Check out www.allearsnet.com it will give you more details on the party and some of the special things they do, storytelling, shows, free photo included.