Weather and When to Go to Walt Disney World

OVERVIEW: WEATHER AT DISNEY WORLD

If you can’t go to Walt Disney World the recommended weeks, or are just curious about weather patterns in Orlando, the following pages illuminate the weather in Orlando in the recent past.

HIGH TEMPERATURES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This page shows by day for the entire year at Walt Disney World 80th percentile, 50th percentile, and 20th percentile high temperatures.

You interpret it most easily like this: “On March 1, there is a 20% chance that the high temperature will be around or lower than 68, an 80% chance it will be higher than around 68, and a 20% chance it will be around 83 or higher.”

The key takeaway is that highs are not reliably (80% chance or better) above 75 between the beginning of November and the end of March…and that the summer is really hot…

Sorcerer's Hat Hollywood Studios by Beneteau SailorRAIN AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This page illuminates rain in Orlando and Walt Disney World by illustrating average total inches of rain over the 9 days of your trip by arrival date. It depicts how the rainy season gets into gear in mid-May and that substantial rain is possible through the end of September.

HURRICANES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This page illuminates the chance of a cyclonic storm affecting any part of Florida anytime during a 9 day visit, based on arrival date.

It helps illuminate the Walt Disney World hurricane season more specifically than general statements like “The hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 1.”

The takeaway is that a vacation has the biggest chance of being affected for arrival dates in late August through early October. It would be unusual for your vacation to be ruined, but it has happened.

TORNADOES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This page provides suggestions for dealing with the two tornado seasons in Orlando: winter/spring, and summer.

WINTER POOL WEATHER AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The next two pages focus on Walt Disney World pool weather during the cooler months–for those who need some pool time to go with their adventures and wonder how much of that they will get during the winter.

  • This page shows the percentage chance that a day in Orlando will have a high temperature of 75 or greater, by day, from September through May. Takeaway: The chance a day will have a high of 75 or higher drops below 50% at the end of November, and does not go up to 50% again until mid-February.
  • This page shows the percentage chances of having 3 or more, 5 or more, or 7 or more days with highs 75 and higher in a 9 day visit, by arrival date for November through February. The message is similar: the chance of having 5 or more days with highs of 75 or more drops below 50% at the end of November, and does not go up to 50% again until mid-February.

DATA SOURCES

All this site’s weather pages except for the material on cyclonic storms and on tornadoes are based on 20 years of data from the National Weather Service ending in December 2006. The cyclonic storm material is based on 30 years of data from Wikipedia. The tornado material is from NOAA/NCDC and goes from 1950 through October 2009.

DISNEY WORLD WEATHER LINKS

MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD



14 comments

1 bernarda { 06.05.08 at 8:06 pm }

Nice Site!

2 Allie T. { 11.12.09 at 11:17 pm }

Great site! Invaluable planning tool ~ everything you can think of is here, and easy to find. Thanks so much for sharing this information. I will definitely recommend it to anyone going to Disney.

3 Dave { 11.13.09 at 7:12 am }

Thanks, Allie!!

4 Karen { 04.06.10 at 3:31 pm }

This is an amazing site for information, what a good job as we want to know this information as we are planning our next trip for mid october to mid november. thanks again for all the info.

5 Dave { 04.06.10 at 3:53 pm }

Thanks Karen!

6 Best Time to Visit Disney | Destinations in Florida Travel { 08.26.10 at 9:53 am }

[...] Disney World for your family—including a Disney World crowd calendar and extensive material on weather—you may not want to dig through all this to figure out the best time for your family visit to [...]

7 Sue { 11.16.10 at 7:53 am }

Love the site and info. Would like information on bugs as I freak out over creepy crawlies and flying insects!!

8 Dave { 11.16.10 at 8:05 am }

Susie–

WDW is surprisingly bug-free for being built in and surrounded by water, with one exception–do a google search on “love bugs in Florida,” or see this on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovebug

I have no doubt that there’s a fascinating story behind Disney World’s insect–and especially mosquito–control, but I’ve found only glancing references to it…

9 Laura { 02.13.11 at 5:35 pm }

Dave,
Love, Love, Love your site!!! It answered so many of my questions about when to go to the Best Place on earth! Now, I just need a PIN code to book our trip. I’am registered on Disney’s site, I have a 2011 D.V.D, I’ve saved the days we want to go on disney.com. Any other suggestions??? Have a Magical Day!

10 Dave { 02.13.11 at 6:06 pm }

Hi Laura, thanks!!

Tell your 1,000 closest friends about the site and like it on Facebook! :)

For deals, one more suggestion–check out this page: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2009/12/27/the-tightwads-guide-to-where-to-stay-at-walt-disney-world-1-resort-deals-and-discounts/

11 laurie { 08.05.11 at 9:48 pm }

hi going to disney november 21-november 29 what are the best days to go dont like big crowds i know this is the worst time to go but i have know choice going to a wedding the day after thanksgiving please tell me there is at least one good day i can go thanks laurie

12 Dave { 08.06.11 at 7:25 am }

Hi Laurie! Crowds will start dropping on Saturday the 26th, and will be good the 27th and great the 28th and 29th.

13 Anna { 12.11.11 at 11:07 pm }

Hi! We will be arriving in Kissimmee Christmas Day (Night) and will be there through Friday. Is it just hopeless to try to go to Disney? We can do other things, and are kids are 2 1/2 and just-turned-5…so crazy busy just wouldn’t be worth it for their first trip. I just thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask if there may be a down time that week.

Thanks!

Anna

14 Dave { 12.12.11 at 8:16 am }

Hi Anna…at that age, and given how expensive it is…I’d pass. It will be mobbed, and there’s no down time…come back another time!

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