Yeah, like saddles peoples opinions vary *greatly* from person to person. I ride with regular mountain bike shoes, neoprene booties, and a single pair of ski socks and have never had a problem with cold feet. fyi, I live in Minnesota and last winter was pretty cold.
I would say you should buy the neoprene booties and the thickest pair of wool socks that will fit in the shoe (if only super thin would work, I've seen "Woolenator" wool bike socks). Give it a try yourself.
If it doesn't work and you need "winter" bike shoes, the neoprene booties will still come in handy when it gets really, really cold outside.