Sometimes it’s really easy to pack for your trip to Disney World. For example, we know that April, May, October and November are going to be hot. We know that June and July are going to be miserable and that August and September are basically DEATH. Please pack accordingly – i.e. swimsuits, shorts, tank tops, hats, plus cooling towels and fans if you’re really not used to the heat.
But today, I want to talk about those ‘winter’ months … you see, down here (meaning New Orleans, Orlando, and the rest of the deep south), winter is allllll over the place. I mean, you’re sweating on December 20 because it’s 80 degrees, but by Christmas day, you’re lighting a fire in the fireplace because it’s barely 40 degrees and then you do this back-and-forth dance for weeks on end. Then all of a sudden in the third week of January, it’s 30 degrees when you’re leaving your house in the morning. But don’t worry in 2 or 3 days, it’ll be back to the mid-70s 🙄 Then, you’re finally ready for some pleasant spring weather in March, and all of a sudden, it decides to be winter again. I mean, it’s just completely unpredictable y’all.
This makes it REALLY difficult to pack for Disney between December to March. It could be hot, freezing, wonderfully pleasant or literally anywhere in between.
The key is layers and efficient packing – both in your luggage and in your bag you bring to the park. And unfortunately, if you pride yourself on being a minimalist packer (like I do), just reside yourself to the fact that this will NOT be a minimal packing trip. We can still be smart about it and keep it strategic, but it’s not going to be as light as a spring/summer/fall trip where you don’t need to be as ‘prepared for all weather ranges.’ LOL
The basics that you MUST bring at a minimum:
- Pair of jeans
- Pair of shorts
- Short sleeved shirt
- Long sleeved shirt
- Sweatshirt (or any warm layer that isn’t a jacket)
- Packable jacket
- Swimsuits
- Ponchos
You’ll need to adjust how many of each item you bring based on things like length of stay, access to washer and dryer, planned activities etc. It’ll also depend if you’re a family who goes from park open till park close – you’ll hit 2-3 different weather patterns basically – or if you like to go out in the morning, head back to the room/resort for a midday break, then go back to the park – which can make it easier to ‘dress for the day’ and then change into appropriate clothing for the night.
Now I will say that I do try to keep my eye on the weather as that 10 day forecast starts rolling in. I’ll make adjustments if it’s leaning more towards one extreme than the other. For example, if it’s looking like it’ll primarily be on the colder side, I might swap a pair of shorts for another pair of pants (but still keep at least ONE pair of shorts).
Depending on what the HIGH temp is for the day, that’s what we’ll base our bottoms off of. It’s very common for all of us to go with short sleeved shirts because you can always add a sweatshirt or long sleeved top over it, but you can’t take a long sleeved top off if that’s your base layer.
Depending on the LOW temp and if we’ll be there early in the morning or late at night dictates if we wear/bring jackets to the park that day or not.
We’ve never personally brought things like blankets for our kids, but I’ve seen people do it. I personally think it’s just one more thing to keep track of, lose, get dirty etc.
And don’t forget your basics – socks, underwear, shoes etc you’ll still need all of those!
Okay – now on to my packing SYSTEM so that you’re not having to empty every single suitcase and search for what you need because that’s super annoying!
We usually need 2 medium sized suitcases when we travel as a family. This trip can push us to 3 pieces of luggage sometimes.
I always start by grouping my warm weather items together – short sleeves, swimsuits, shorts etc. Then I pack my cold weather items together – jackets, pants, long sleeves. The third bag is typically shoes and our basics like socks, underwear etc, and is typically a small bag instead of a medium-sized bag.
Whichever of the first two bags has space, I’ll use that for toiletries, diapers, wipes and any other bulky items we’re bringing. Those bulky items are easy to take out on the other end and don’t get mixed in with the clothes. When we get there, I try to only unpack the bag we think we’ll need based on the weather temps. I try to leave the clothes we won’t use packed neatly in the other bag so that I can just simply put them away when we get home. BUT I still want to make sure I’m prepared so I’m not spending $48,745,874 on Disney gear! LOL
