I have an elderly neighbor who breaks out her fur coat--knee length--when temps here in Tampa drop below 70. She complains bitterly of the cold.

This does not mean that it is actually cold.

As for this,
<Average high temps in Sarasota in December range from 75 to 71.

Please look up the definition of average. And high. And cold, while you're at it.

NewbE... time for your math lesson...

Average High temps for December in Sarasota 74.0... that's all the highs averaged for the month


Look up Average Lows for December in Sarasota 52.0... that's all the LOW temps averaged for the month...

You add those together, divide by 2 and the AVERAGE temperature in December for Sarasota is .... drumroll...... 63 Degrees!!! that's cold...

Interesting comments. Having lived in Florida for quite a few years now, I almost agreed. But then I remembered -- when we lived in Virginia, we used to spend our Christmases visiting Disney and then MIL, who lived in North Port (north of Ft. Myers).

Almost always, we wore shorts at WDW. We laid on the beach and swam down in North Port area. Of course, 60-70 degrees was quite balmy. And December being one of our driest months, rain was relatively rare. I do recall a cold snap at WDW once, being 40 degrees during the day (but sunny). Didn't seem all that cold, wore a sweatshirt.

Now that I am acclimated, I no longer wear shorts here in the winter. Heck, I sometimes wear jeans in the summer. But I am betting our OP may find Christmas in Florida fine and balmy by comparison.

sludick,
I agree.
And about the temps.....Those of us who live "up north" certainly do NOT think 63 degrees is cold!

Definitely head for southern FL if you expect to go into the water. How "cold" you find it is a function of what type of water you are used to. (I find the water in FL in the summer to be too hot - I feel like a lobster.)

Coming from LI and used to the north atlantic in summer (when we WANT the water to be cold) I don't find the water there cold in winter - but I would stick to the gulf with little kids. And you do need to understand that at Christmas you can sometimes get temps that are too chilly for playing on the beach. If you want a guarantee of beach weather I would head for the Carib.

>>This does not mean that it is actually cold.>Please look up the definition of average. And high. And cold, while you're at it.

If you are coming from Canada, Maine or Vermont then go play in the water and have a great old time. We have froze and sweated in Key West over the holidays. It is a total crap shoot but never have I gone swimming in the Ocean in December unless in a wetsuit. It might very well be in the 80's or 70's but could be in the 30's. I remember one Christmas all my plants froze and we had rolling brown out due to everyone trying to keep warm. This year it was very nice. Welcome to Fl.

OK, I may be sitting IN a Paris, France, hotel at the moment and reading all these "Let me tell you what Florida is really like" posts as well as the pro and con Disney ones so I guess I'd better add mine as well.

I live on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, In the dead of Winter there are always a few people in the ocean whenever I look out the front windows but as some above have said, the water certainly isn't as warm as it was when we left home a few days ago.

What I would advise the OP to remember as much as anything else and which may have been overlooked by some is the need to plan ahead. There will be plenty of people down during the Winter and that very much includes BOTH sides of the state in my experience. Couple years ago we spent some holiday time on Sanibel and there were PLENTY of other visitors over on the supposed "best side" of the state.

Personally, if you have children that want to go to the beach and actually swim you might want to consider heading a bit further south of Florida. OTOH if you are OK with heated pools and a lot of diversions there would be plenty of that in various parts of the state.

Whatever you do, make a decision soon.

Thanks Dukey, newbe loves the gulf coast and think that might be our problem, the war of the coast. Poor girl has not come back. We probably scared her away.
I am off to the pristine beach of Playalinda today where the water temp will be refreshing in the 95 degree water. I have my boogie board to ride the waves and plenty of sunscreen.

Not the war of the coast at all! The Gulf Coast will be warmer and have calmer water, that's all. The OP--who I agree we'll likely never hear from again--has small kids.

As for the temperature debate:
<63 Degrees!!! that's cold...>
I rest my case.

Sorry, meant to type "war of the coastS", andalso to add that I love the Atlantic Coast, for the record. We really enjoy Amelia Island in particular, but I wouldn't recommend it in December to someone who wants to spend days on the beach.

I'm resting MY case, too, Newbe. In terms of the water temps, perhaps we need to hear from the OP in terms of whether or not those temps seem too cold. After all, they don't LIVE in Florida as some of us do.

I've lived in Florida and Maine.
I've visited both beaches.

In the heat of Summer in Maine you can walk along the ocean's edge to collect shells BUT, you must walk periodically out of the water because you can't feel your ankles. They're numb.

In the dead of Winter in Florida I have not had that issue in the least.

Of course some might need a wetsuit to swim for lengthy periods BUT, I don't think the poster was planning on submerging her tots for long timeframes. They'll splash in the water until their lips turn blue, then mom will reign them in just like our parents did.

Thanks for the responses everyone! We are from Nebraska so we are used to below freezing and snow during Christmas. I'd be happy with jeans and a t-shirt weather or even jeans and a hoodie. We don't plan on submerging ourselves in the water. The kids will just splash around in it and play int he sand. As for Disney World, we don't want to deal with the crowds. We are just looking for a relaxing vacation.

We are also looking into the caribbean, but unless we get a deal on plane tickets that won't be happening. Buying plane tickets for a family our size can be pretty expensive.

As I recommended upthread: make a decision and look NOW for accommodations wherever you decide to end up.

Nebraska?? Then come on down, the water's fine!

Southwestern is offering some great deals to the Caribbean.

http://www.southwestvacations.com/de...ation-packages


Sorry, Southwest and yes I am drinking.

We have spent a few NYE in the Orlando area due to a function for my husband's work. One year is was about 75 degrees and lovely - the next a little chilly. We headed south to Palm Beach area and it was a little warmer - in the high 70's and even a low 80's day. My family lives in the Lauderdale area and it is usually fairly nice in the winter - but you could hit a cold snap of course.
I think if you are coming from Nebraska you would be good.
We did like the resort we stayed at in Singer Island - lots of family stuff, pools, on the beach - 2 bedrooms with 2 baths -
Marriott Singer Island.