Orlando, January, 8 nights. Madness?

[Sewbean]

That's it really. Our kids have a really long holiday after Christmas, we were thinking of a week in Tenerife. Then we thought of Orlando.

Is January a rubbish time to go? Is 8 days too short a time? We could maybe stretch to 10 but that would mean coming home and having school the very next day. Is that crazy? Would it be rubbish being there over 1st January, would everything shut down?

We're not bothered about seeing every single attraction, we just want to have a nice time, enjoy some sunshine and not be plagued by jetlag the whole time. And spend a day at Magic Kingdom, a day at SeaWorld and maybe the beach.

What do you think experienced Orlando people?

Kids are 7, 12 and 13. I know it will be ages on a plane, if that's not a long enough time to be there or the weather will be really terrible then it's not worth it really.

I've done orlando for a week before. Weather in January was ok. Not sunbathing weather but warm enough with a jumper/hoodie in the evenings.

It IS a long flight though and it is pricey for a week.

It will be really quiet so you’ll be able to get lots done.

The Disney parks are mad at Xmas, but could you go earlier and maybe do seaworld, water parks, Kennedy, shopping etc so you have 10 clear days for Disney and universal?

I'm sure it would be great, I doubt you'll be doing water parks at that time of year so that knocks a few days off a standard 14 day itinerary anyway. It'll probably be pricey for tickets as it's better value for longer stays, but I think you'll have great fun and could find a bargain!

(I've flown to the west coast for a 4 night stay before so long flights don't bother me, make them part of the holiday! Nice airlines will be cheap that time of year).

Not sure if I’d do it with kids but before I immigrated here I used to come to visit DH here on the west coast whenever I could. Even just for a weekend.

Things don’t close down here over Christmas and new year, certainly not the things you are going to be doing anyway.

We were at Universal for 5days last January, over New Years. Queues were short and the weather was pleasantly warm. Warm enough to enjoy the water park. There are fireworks for new year at universal and Disney, but we were too jet lagged to bother. We went to the Kennedy Space Center as well and could easily have filled a few more days. It seemed a perfect time to go.