How are December temperature—Holiday trip

It can be anything from mid 80’s and sunny during the day to below freezing at night. The key to packing is to pack light layers and bring a jacket you can wear over the layers.

I go in December and January every year. I pack a hoodie and a fleece jacket I can layer, short sleeve shirts, one long sleeve shirt I can layer, and capris and jeans in equal amounts. I also bring a pair of gloves and a scarf. Most of the time I can get by with a short sleeve shirt and the hoodie in the evening, but I remember one particularly cold December trip in 2010 when it was cold and blustery during the day and below freezing at night for a few consecutive days. I wore both jackets those days.
 
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Pack a pair of light gloves just in case. Gloves are not easy to find in Florida, we learned that the hard way one early December trip that was unusually cold.
 
It can be anything fro mid 80’s and sunny during the day to below freezing at night. The key to packing is to pack light layers and bring a jacket you can wear over the layers.

Yes, this. We did Xmas week twice, in 2015 and 2017. In 2015 it was in the low 80's on Xmas Day, and late at night it was in the 60s. Wore shorts/t-shirt during the day and a long sleeve t-shirt at night. In 2017 it was in the 50s during the daytime with fog/mist. Then it got a bit windy. Personally, I found a cool/cold Disney miserable, but that's because I'm used to hot weather there.
 


We went twice on 2 short pre holiday trips in December, First was something like Dec 5th through Dec 10th, second was Dec 16th through Dec 20th. First trip was fabulous during day, first day sunny and 80, test of days, sunny 70’s. Nights were COOL, wore very heavy sweatshirt brought a scarf and wore light gloves, no rain, fabulous trip! Second trip was mild during day and not as cool in evening, but we had clouds and some rain, not much sunny weather at all. So enjoy a trip before Holidays, resorts look so pretty!!! Enjoy!
 
Personally, I found a cool/cold Disney miserable, but that's because I'm used to hot weather there.

One thing people don’t think about is it is a damp cold. You may be used to snow and cold weather (I used to live in Ohio myself) but that was a dry cold. The cold here just goes through you if it’s in the 40’s or below. Waiting for something like Illuminations was torture in the cold if you weren’t prepared (and not much better if you were). Fortunately it doesn’t get that cold often.
 
One thing people don’t think about is it is a damp cold. You may be used to snow and cold weather (I used to live in Ohio myself) but that was a dry cold. The cold here just goes through you if it’s in the 40’s or below. Waiting for something like Illuminations was torture in the cold if you weren’t prepared (and not much better if you were). Fortunately it doesn’t get that cold often.

That's why (aside from being cheap) I would be afraid to buy party tickets 6 months in advance.

While waiting for fantasmic, DH was freezing. I had brought along a few of those hand warmers and he was happy.
 


Our last December trip (first week), we wore down vests to MVMCP—kids even had hats and gloves. Two days later we were in short sleeves and jeans, wishing we’d packed shorts!! Unfortunately, as others have said, pack a little of everything, layer up, and remember you can always rent a locker if you don’t want to carry it all around all day. Because jacket at your hotel does you no good in the park! (Same as taking hoodies all the way to Hawaii just to wear on Haleakala and leaving them in the room! D’oh!!)
 
We've been going in early December for many years. The temperature are, as a general rule, mostly comfortable, although, as noted, there certainly are times when there are exceptions, and we have experienced those. It's impossible to know now what kind of luck you'll have. My best advice is to check the Orlando weather forecast a couple days before you leave. It will at least give you an idea of the temperature trends for the next several days and whether they're trending toward the warmer or cooler side. If it looks generally seasonably warm, you can do less of the warm clothing. If it looks really chilly, you'll know to load up on the fleece.
 
Yep, December temps at Disney can be all over the place - same as most of the south. Like @fla4fun , we too, were there first part of Dec.'10 and we nearly froze even though we did have jackets and gloves. Remember so many of the beautiful flowers were frozen and they kept putting up these little signs about Jack Frost visitin'. Froze a lot of their poinsettia 'trees' also, and have never seen them put out as many flowers again as they had that year.
We were so miserable that we left a few days early.
 
Our last December trip (first week), we wore down vests to MVMCP—kids even had hats and gloves. Two days later we were in short sleeves and jeans, wishing we’d packed shorts!! Unfortunately, as others have said, pack a little of everything, layer up, and remember you can always rent a locker if you don’t want to carry it all around all day. Because jacket at your hotel does you no good in the park! (Same as taking hoodies all the way to Hawaii just to wear on Haleakala and leaving them in the room! D’oh!!)

My last December trip, the first half was near 80, the second half was windy and cool, in the 50s during the day. Bi-polar trip!
 
It is not necessarily the difference between day and night but the range of possible December temperatures. The average high/low is 72F/51F. However the record high temp is 86F and the record low is a chilly 25F.

We made many mid December visits to WDW before becoming snowbirds and have experienced most of these extremes. Pack one outfit for each extreme with layers for the cooler temperatures. We find light gloves and ski cap with a hoodie helpful on those breezy, cool mornings or evenings.
 
One year we went in the December 15th to 21st range. Sunny Blue Skies with HIghs in the lower 70's and Low's in the upper 40's. Jeans and a long sleeve shirt were ok for us after withstanding a little chill first thing. Wecaught the normal weather without any extremes.
 
As a Florida, I can tell you there is no way to predict. "Normal" December would be highs in the upper 70's during the day. But if you are there during a cold front, you can get super cold temps especially at night. And December rain isn't out of the question. You just don't know. Just take a hoodie and a pair of long pants or things you can layer. If you can fit a scarf and gloves , it never hurts. Best advice is wait until a few days before and check the weather.
 
It's Florida! Temperatures can range from very warm (hot) to cold. One year my daughter spent Christmas Day with her friends at the beach. The following year, she couldn't get warm. Pack a variety of clothes, especially layering pieces. Mornings obviously will be chilly than day and chilly again evenings. Be prepared. Just a heads up, once she was going to take the monorail back to TTC and it wasn't running only the ferry. Boat ride on a chilly night - FREEZING!!
 
As others have said, it can be a mixed bag. Our first year going during the holidays we went the week before Christmas and it was cold most days. Well, cold for us we are from Georgia. It was pretty windy that year so that made it feel colder. I wore long pants every day and most days long sleeves and a scarf. At night I had to wear a jacket. The next year we went the same week and spent afternoons at the pool it was so hot. I took shorts, capris, long pants, tshirts, long sleeves and a fleece jacket. I did wear the capris a couple of nights and a long sleeve shirt at night once.
 
Our last trip we had a few super hot days, a few super cold days and a few in between days. In other words, prepare for jeans and coats as well as shorts.
 
I really notice once the sun goes down how quickly the temp drops. We've been in Dec with 80 degree weather, but this past Dec we had 70 on our arrival and departure day only. We were there for 2 weeks and average was 50 or lower. Layers are your best friend in Dec.
 

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