opinions on Jan and Feb

[Patty]

I am thinking about planning a trip for middle of January or begining of February for a couple of reasons.
#1 Value season
#2 smaller park crowds (I hope) which brings us to
#3 shorter lines for the rides, therefore you can do more in a shorter time.

I know I am not going to make a lot of friends with the teachers out there, but I am willing to take my kids out of school for a week for this trip. I have only brought them once before and that was over Thanksgiving and the crowds were pretty big, so the kids were still excited at everything they did and saw, I was disappointed at everything they missed because of wait times and crowds.

Pros and cons to going this time of the year, also is it worth it to upgrade to add the waterparks to your tickets. The kids will be 14 and 12, and love waterparks, but will the weather be nice enough in your opinion?

We can not make a trip like this very often, it has been six years since I brought them, and with there age diffrence between then and now, it will be like a totally diffrent place.

Also middle of January (MLK day gives extra day off without missing school) VS. begining of February (hopefully have tax return back, so we have a little extra money)

I truly want to make this a trip special, I am afraid by the time we can do this again, they will be off doing there own thing.

Any opinions would be very helpful!
Thanks
Patty

[Maleficent's Dad]

January and early February are great times to go as far as crowds are concerned. Other than weekends (and MLK Day), crowds should be relatively light.

As far as the weather, that's really a hit-or-miss situation. You could have an 80 degree day, followed by a 50 degree day, followed by a 70 degree day... At night, it can get downright cold!!! There's no definitive answer as far as whether or not it will be warm enough for the Water Parks. You might want to play it by ear.

[LauraF]

January and February are great times to go. This year will be my first in January, but I've gone enough times in December and February that I'm prepared for the weather. The trick is to dress in layers that are easy to carry if you have to take them off. There was one trip in Feb where it was 30 degrees out! But the next day was 60 - go figure. I'm not a waterpark person, but I would caution you to watch the weather - maybe not buy the waterpark admission until you're there to be safe.

Do watch out for MLK weekend and the marathon that happens around then. I've never heard that MLK weekend is as bad as say, the summer, but it does get noticeably busier than the rest of the month.

[rwdavis2]

We've only gone in January due to the smaller crowds. But MLK weekend this year was packed so I would avoid it. Skip the water parks, the weather is just to variable to count on going. But you can always add it on later if need be.
Bob

[sillyolbear]

January and February are great times to go. We just booked for January 25-28 this week.

As others have said, weather is a mixed bag and crowds do tend to be on the lighter side particularly during the week.

One con is that park hours tend to be reduced due to it being a lighter crowd level. Another for 2009 is that the Super Bowl is in Tampa the first weekend in February which will bring heavy crowds.

[KineGirl]

Ive too been during those months (yes yes with the DD taken out of school) and the weather can be strange (cold/kinda warm) so bring the appropriate clothes including a heavy jacket (FL DOES get cold!) but while the crowds usually are lighter bear in mind that it is the summer for the southern hemisphere and WDW is a very popular destination for those from S. America in Jan, Feb & Mar - and becoming more so each year. It still can be very very busy and at times - certain resorts can be at capacity. As someone else said MLK weekend is generally very busy due to most schools & work give that extra day off . It seemed to me with park hours shorter we didnt really get to do much more than any other time of year other than the notorious Thanksgiving, Christmas & Easter holidays which is just madness. Also check to see what special events are going on in WDW and the general mid - N FL area as those will result bigger crowds in the parks.

My best advice is plan what you really want to do and take advantage of fast passes where offered regardless what time of year you go and most importantly HAVE FUN

[irish1967]

I would avoid both the marathon weekend and the time around MLK Day. A LOT of people take advantage of that "extra day"

I was at my children's school the Thursday before MLK Day last year and the principal came through and asked the school secretary "What is the Disney tally up to?" The secretary responded "20" and I mentioned - "that doesn't sound that bad" to which the principal responded - "we are counting families, not individual students!"

As far as weather goes, I was there for 6 days in January (over marathon weekend) I wore shorts and t-shirts two days, shorts with a sweatshirt two days and jeans with sweatshirt two days. You might want to consider waiting until you are actually there and upgrade your tickets to include the water parks option if the weather is going to cooperate.

[Patty]

January and February are great times to go. We just booked for January 25-28 this week.

As others have said, weather is a mixed bag and crowds do tend to be on the lighter side particularly during the week.

One con is that park hours tend to be reduced due to it being a lighter crowd level. Another for 2009 is that the Super Bowl is in Tampa the first weekend in February which will bring heavy crowds.

UGH ! Totally forgot about the Super Bowl!! Maybe We will have to join you the week your going! Think there's room in the park for three more.

Seriously, thanks everyone for your help. I agree on waiting till I get there to update for the water parks. The extra day off (MLK) sounded like a good idea, but since I have even noticed the resort rates go up for that weekend! Basically I guess after that but before the Super Bowl would be good.

[Disney Doll]

We usually go in early Feb and love that time of year! Avoid the holidays- MLK & President's Day. Otherwise the crowds are nice and I really enjoy the cooler weather. Like others have said dress in layers. It's likely to be chilly mornings and evenings, but can still get hot in the afternoon. Be prepared by packing a little bit of everything because you never know what the weather might do that time of year. Usually one water park will be closed for refurb since it's their slow season, but the other water park will stay open. The pools are heated, but when you get out of the water you might be cold. I personally think it's not warm enough for water parks, but if your kids are like mine they'll want to swim anyway and will probably want to do the water park too.

Enjoy your trip! BTW I used to teach elementary & I think taking kids out of school for a few days is fine. Family time is important.

[PetefromRI]

When I was younger I used to think that Florida was warm all year round.I'm from New England so anything is better than here in the winter.Now that I'm older I've realized that Central Fla. just doesn't get warm enough for me during the winter months.As other posters say it can get downright cold.If we go in the winter,we usually stay at a value resort because we don't use the pools that time of year.Yeah,I'd wait and upgrade to the water parks after I got there.