Rain rain Rain....

[Huck Sawyer]

Just checked the extended forecast and right now our whole trip is filled with rain. What do you do in the parks or at the resorts if you are rained out?

 

[crostorfer]

Go anyway. Bring ponchos and water-friendly shoes. Nothing clears out a park like a storm, the lines for everything go down to nothing. A little rain never hurt anyone....except the Wicked Witch of the West...

 

[A Mickeyfan]

As long as it is rain and not thunder storms, go for it and have a ball in the rain. Short lines, less crowds in the streets, only downside will be is that the outdoor rides might not be running... other than that.. put on that Poncho, throw on some rubber shoes (you will get puddles) like croc's..and have fun!
If it turns to a thunder storm with lightning, take cover inside asap. Do not think you can stay out in it. FL is the lightning capital of the United States Many think it's ok.. it isn't.. I just posed about a 21 year old water park worker getting struck and killed in Tampa yesterday

 

[LaurenT]

Throw on a poncho, get a little wet and carry on...
I haven't seen anyone melt yet.
Smile at all the guests leaving the park!

 

[Kat&Dom]

Just checked the extended forecast and right now our whole trip is filled with rain. What do you do in the parks or at the resorts if you are rained out?

Our trip 2 years ago had rain forecast every day too. We ended up having a thunderstorm every day at about 5pm for about 20-30 minutes. It was great for clearing out the parks as anyone caught in it was drenched to the bone. I hope that your experience is similar to ours. Be prepared, have rain ponchos and have fun. Don't stress about the weather though!

 

[Huck Sawyer]

I just checked a few other weather sites and they all range from rain all day to, maybe small shower to thunderstorms. I have my ponchos already packed.

 

[Celidh]

We just came back and had the same issue. The weather forecast called for rain/thundershowers every day. It did rain but generally not for long. There was only one day that it poured for a long time. We were in Magic Kingdom and took refuge in Cosmic Rays.

They do close rides as well as the pools when there is lightning but they open them up as soon as there has been 30 minutes with no lightning.

My suggestion, keep your ponchos with you and have fun.

 

[Wild4Walt]

Yep, grab the poncho and head out!

MK is pretty good in the rain because the areas are pretty close together and most of the ques are under cover.

EP is also a really good park to visit in the rain as most of the attractions are inside and lengthy. You can spend a good hour in most attractions on the Future World side.

AK is really the only park I would avoid in the rain as most rides are outside.

 

[Pakey]

We were there a few years ago for Monsoon May where it rained hard all day every day. We didn't change any of our plans. It's just water (well, that was a lot of water) but we actually like the rain because it thins the crowds.

 

[AnnetteF]

We were there in August of 2008 during Tropical Storm Faye. For the first few days, it did nothing but rain all day. We did get ponchos and go out in the rain. Just make sure you have shoes that will dry quickly. On one of the worst days, we went to Magic Kingdom for a few hours. Our plan had been to go to Epcot for the evening and we had an ADR there for dinner. But after a few hours in MK, we'd had enough of the rain which was exceptionally heavy that day. We cancelled our ADR for dinner and headed back to our hotel (WL). We called and got an ADR for Artist Point instead. DD, who was four at the time, saw the kids club and wanted to go, so she went there and DH and I had a beautiful "date night" at Artist Point. This was very special for us as we didn't typically have date nights at home because of a lack of babysitters, so the evening turned out great for us. That night I was very happy that it was raining! At WDW, there are always great things to do, even in bad weather!

 

[Elisa84]

EP is also a really good park to visit in the rain as most of the attractions are inside and lengthy. You can spend a good hour in most attractions on the Future World side.

EP is scary during a lightning storm. We wanted to cross the bridge from world showcase to future world, since we were done with that area. Maybe not the brightest thing I've done. That was the longest, scariest walk ever.

 

[JimmyV]

I'm going to give you a slightly different opinion and advice. Lots of people here act as if rain at Disney is all rainbows and unicorns. Sure, it thins out the crowd. But it can also thin out the number of rides that are open. And no matter how many times people here tell you that the afternoon storms only last 20 minutes, during out last trip, the two afternoon storms (with car wash, flooding rain), were measured in hours, not minutes. Lots of outdoor rides shut down, and who can blame them. Who wants to be going 62 mph outdoors at Test Track in a driving rain?

If you are genuinely concerned about the rain and it is indeed in the forecast, make sure that you do the outdoor rides early in the day. The line at Test Track from early evening until closing was gigantic and the FP return line remained over an hour long once the ride opened up after the storm. Anyone who didn't ride before 3:00 was screwed. The bright side was, when we were at AK in a torential storm, we didn't feel the burning need to cool off at Kali Rapids!

 

[bdoyledimou]

Who wants to be going 62 mph outdoors at Test Track in a driving rain?

4 years ago, we were at Epcot with my niece, my two kids, my mother and DW. When we entered TT it was sunny and hot. We got on the ride almost 60 minutes later. When we burst through the door to the power curve... it was POURING RAIN! When we got through -- my mom turned to me and said "Wow those environmental effects are realistic!"

 

[Dreamflight]

I'll try to avoid the things people said already and just add my own experiences:


Biggest negative of the rain:

- Restaurants. Every place will be more crowded then usual cause you have people who just want to find a place to sit down and seek shelter. If you had planned to eat and it starts raining, you're not gonna have a good experience trying to find a table and wait on line. (even though people come into sit, they inevitably want to get some food to pass the time.)

I try to eat at 'off hours' anyway but counter service restaurants get like double capacity during thunderstorms. Priority seating restaurants won't feel it too much but some people may try to check in a little early OR linger on their meals to avoid having to go outside.

On the plus side, outdoor vendors will have shorter lines IF they stay open at all.


Biggest positive of the rain:

-Finding places in the parks whose themes are enhanced by the rain. A lot of the "village" areas of World Showcase in Epcot and Fantasyland in MK are actually really cool when it's raining. You get that memorable "huddled together" feeling while being in a "quaint village" during a rain storm.

Granted stores and restaurants will be more crowded but if you aren't planning on eating or shopping then you can enjoy the atmosphere.

I was in England (WS) at night during a particularly bad thunderstorm. It lasted two hours and there was frequent lightning. But I was able to walk through the connecting stores and stay dry while also going 'outside' (under a covered area) to watch the storm. Even worked up the courage to cross the street, get some food, and come back under the covered area to eat it. A very memorable night cause it had such a cool vibe to it.

The Norway store (that you go into after Maelstrom) is also a cool place to be in if its not to crowded. As is the Liberty Tree Tavern and oh...

The Columbia Harbor House. The best thing about the CHH is that it faces the Haunted Mansion. Go upstairs to the top level (if they let you) during the rain at night (especially EMH) and leer at the Haunted Mansion. See if it leers back

 

[OB1]

I start a 3 day solo this coming weekend, and the forecast is for Scattered showers everyday, 30-60%. That means a chance of rain at some point during the day, and probably an hour or two. That means dry most of the time. You either have a poncho, or have a rain plan to go inside to a long ride.

EPCOT American Adventure or Ellens Energy or Innoventions
MK - Hall of Presidents - Monsters Inc - Space Mtn (better to wait inside)
DHS - Movie Ride - and Toy Story or RnR
AK - Lion King, Nemo, or Dinosaur (not a long wait though)

Of course, you can always shop and spend more money

 

[seashoreCM]

If this is your last day then be aware it could be thunder and lightning at the time you need to head back to your resort for Magical Express.

Not to say you should or should not take any particular course of action, but plan accordingly.

 

[budafam]

I wouldn't worry too much. I was also freaking out about our trip when the extended forecast showed rain everyday all day. When we arrived at Pop, we shut the van off and unbuckled, the rain came pouring down. We ran to check in and when we came back outside, it was all over with. It never rained again for 6 days straight... it was beautiful! If it does rain, just deal with it. What else are you gonna do? lol...

 

[Glencora]

Make sure you check the percentage chance of rain. The picture on the forecast page will show rain, but then you look down and it says 20 - 30% chance. With a percentage that low, even if it does rain, it's likely to be a short shower. And remember, for every day out, the forecast is 10% less accurate (thank you Weather Channel!).

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Go anyway. Bring ponchos and water-friendly shoes. Nothing clears out a park like a storm, the lines for everything go down to nothing. A little rain never hurt anyone....except the Wicked Witch of the West...

Uh Oh. Maybe I'll be in trouble then. My sisters used to call me the Wicked Witch of the West when we were teens.

I just bring a poncho or raincoat, make sure I've packed an extra pair of shoes and off I go.

 

[JoshuaShaw]

Unless it's a torrential downpour that would miraculously shutdown the park, I like it when it rains because it shortens ride wait times considerably.