August - beat the heat tips

[Courtney Disney 2019]

We usually go to Disneyland in spring, but due to COVID we will be going late August this year. Any tips for staying cool in the park? 1 mom, 1 bag, 4 people.

Also I don’t see an August Check in on this site. Any other August travellers? We will be there the week of the 23rd staying at DLH.

 

[crystal1313]

We went opening day of Disneyland and it was HOT. Cooling towels helped a ton!! We also just got back from wdw and the bladeless neck fans helped my kids a lot, along with the cooling towels. Have fun on your trip!

 

[DLRExpert]

We usually go to Disneyland in spring, but due to COVID we will be going late August this year. Any tips for staying cool in the park? 1 mom, 1 bag, 4 people.

Also I don’t see an August Check in on this site. Any other August travellers? We will be there the week of the 23rd staying at DLH.

Get to the park entrances early, about 30 minutes before park opening. The first few hours of park opening are the best.
Take a break around noon when the day is hottest and crowds are heaviest. Take the monorail back to the hotel.
The beautiful thing is that you are staying at the DLH. Enjoy the hotel, like the pool, lunch, take a nap, etc. Recharge your batteries.
Then come back to the park in the early evening (4pm-5pm).
Best time to be in Disneyland are in the morning and at night.

If you must stay inside of the park. Do things that avoid the crowds and the heat.
For example Tom Sawyers Island, Enchanted Tiki Room, Disneyland Train, Animation Academy, Phillharmagic.

ME

 

[Matrixleos]

We'll be there late July and these are some of the items I'm packing in my backpack...

1) Hand Towels - Going to wet them and place them in our hotel fridge overnight. This way they'll keep our water bottles cool and will also be cool when we use them. Plus we'll keep on getting them wet when we see a fountain and place them around our necks as needed.

2) Portable fans - We got one neck fan and a couple of handheld fans. Also bringing USB portable battery packs to recharge them and our phones mid day.

3) UV Umbrellas - Picked up three Totes UV Umbrellas that are UPF 50+ and 55" that should be enough to cover 2 people. Part I like about them, is they're compact and lightweight for when I'll store them in my backpack. I recently tested them out at my son's soccer tournament and they worked great!

4) Plan for breaks - Especially around noon to avoid the heat and crowds. You can go back to your hotel to rest up but if you are staying in the parks, plan for some activities that have shaded areas.

For Disneyland, I'm planning to mobile order lunch early morning for the Hungry Bear at 11:30am and have reservation at Oga's at 12:45pm. Then planning to ride the Disneyland Train. That should keep us shaded for a couple of hours till mid afternoon.

For DCA, I'm planning to hit both Mickey's Philharmagic, Animation Academy, Monsters Inc and Soarin ride ques right after lunch at Pym's Test Kitchen. That should keep us shaded for a couple of hours till mid afternoon.

5) Memorize the Water Bottle Refill Station locations. There are 6 of them in Disneyland and 2 of them in DCA (as far as I know, there may be more). So always hydrate drink a lot of water throughout the day and fill your water bottles as you pass near those areas.

Here's a good video to help with locations in Disneyland...

In DCA, there's one in Avengers Campus and I believe on near GRR\Soarin area.

Plus you'll be able to get water from any restaurants in the parks.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

We will be there August 3-7! We have only been to Disneyland once before (We're WDW regulars), and that was in the month of June. We found it to actually be cool in the mornings and evenings. We would take a break from the parks after lunch. We'd swim, rest, and recharge and then go back for the evening. I think we'll use that strategy again. I've booked one dining reservation per day and most are lunch.

 

[Snap Crackle Pop]

I would definitely take breaks in the afternoon if possible, but if not I would try to do things that are indoors. While the water rides are great to cool off expect them to be the longest wait times around then since everyone will probably also want to go on a water ride. Stay hydrated, bring mini fans and sunscreen.

 

[dreynolds1982]

We will be there Aug. 24-27 staying at the GC! I'm not too worried about the heat since I've been to (and used to work at) WDW in the summer plenty of times. But based on my WDW experience I echo what others have said. Breaks during the hottest parts of the day are great. I like to do a lunch off site at a hotel or something as a nice air conditioned break from the heat and crowds. I find that that really helps recharge.

Also, as someone who did Universal Orlando parks last August in masks.....be glad the mask requirement has been lifted haha.

 

[StormyCA]

When we went in August we hit the parks first thing at Rope Drop (sigh, beloved EMH) and concentrated on rides. We ate lunch early and around 12pm we left the parks to hit the pools for a couple hours. Then back to the room to relax in the AC and get ready to hit the parks again. Back to the parks between 4-5pm for dinner and a fun evening shutting the parks down. Rinse and repeat for 5 days.

 

[Tasmen]

We went opening day of Disneyland and it was HOT. Cooling towels helped a ton!! We also just got back from wdw and the bladeless neck fans helped my kids a lot, along with the cooling towels. Have fun on your trip!

Both of those things are amazing. I just got some bladeless neck fans for a swamp tour in Louisiana in June and they worked amazing. I'm going to guess they'll work equally as great at DL during the summer.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I usually wear a straw hat to keep the sun off the top of my head, or I tend to get a headache. For your water you might want to freeze a little water in the water bottle and then top it off in the morning so you'll have cool water for the early part of the day. Schedule your meals during the hottest part of the day (2-4pm), and look at attractions that take longer so you can get out of the sun: train, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, Tiki Room, Mark Twain, Small World, Pirates... At DCA go on Grizzly River Run in the afternoon when it is hot, relax with a snack in the same area...

I read that changing socks is a little refreshing, too.

 

[sjmac42]

As above, cooling towels, wide brim hat, good breathable walking shoes, plenty of water preferably partly frozen, a change of socks, some deodorant, a small microfibre travel towel and maybe a clean shirt if you can fit them in.
Also find those shady spots to relax that are dotted around the park, like Critter Country. If there are no seats available, we sit on the small travel towel we bring. Disneyland Railway is also great if the heat is becoming too much. You can return to your hotel in the afternoon if you think you need to for a swim or shower (or both) but do remember it may just be adding a long walk during the worst part of the day. It may only be a 10 min walk to your hotel but that can easily double depending what part of the park you are in.

 

[Piglet99645]

I bought cooling towels on Amazon. They are selling in the park for $26 each.

We brought both the UV umbrella and a regular solid colored umbrella this week. They seemed to both work the same and were priceless for creating our own shade in line.

 

[Piglet99645]

I strongly recommend scheduling in a rest day if you are not used to the heat. We did 3 days then took day 4 to rest before 2 more days in parks.

don’t forget sunscreen.