Strategies for keeping dry on Kali River Rapids

[HarMinnie]

Have avoided this ride the last few trips (Oct and Dec) due to cold, but am going in early Sept this time. Really want to try buy want to keep dry or dry off quickly..Any strategies (2 adults and 8 and 4 year old boys)

Thanks

 

[TVEPFOX]

I would like to know this too.

Would you look like a dork if you wore a rain poncho?

 

[AKL_Megs]

Wondering the same thing! I was thinking of wearing the cheap $0.50 poncho, but I don't see how waves of water wouldn't penetrate the arm and neck holes (as well as your bottom). I think the only way to avoid "staying" wet is to bring a change of clothes.

 

[TillyMarigold]

We bought swimmers' towels to dry off afterwards if we need to, but, um ... isn't getting wet the entire point of the ride?

 

[Easyrider]

My kids always believed the wetter the better
We would also get a locker at the park and put a few dry clothes in it

 

[nooneshome]

I would never ride Kali without wearing a poncho. You can always pull your arms into the sleeves - also keep your feet up.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Lots of people wear ponchos (lots of other people mutter about how ridiculous it is to wear a poncho on a water ride, but that's their problem, y' know? ).

Or, wear fast-drying fabric. I discovered this one by accident.

 

[coccinelle]

My daughters and i were ponchos (hood on !!!)and my husband and my son like to get wet. We had a lot of fun doing Kali river many times...one time i gave my poncho to some one who vas going in Kali river on my way out and he gave it back to me as i was going in again and he was going out. It was funny. I prefere to stay dry and to look a little weird with my poncho as opposed to get wet and cold ( i know myself, if i get wet i get cold and the fun end at that moment!). One way or the other, Kali river rapids is some thing to try!!!!! And one other thing...ponchos a a lot easier to find and a lot less expensive at home !

 

[jcriket]

A strategy we have good luck with, and has worked about 80% of the time is sit on the side with the lightest passengers. As the tube goes down the river the gravity tends to pull the heavier side down first, so when you get to the bottom the water comes rushing in on that side. Of course if you can't always control the seating arrangements, and it doesn't always work, but we've stay fairly dry after about 20 tries.

 

[Cinderella94]

My mom, best friend, her mom, and I never ride without a poncho. I don't feel like a loser!

 

[CanadianPaco]

Fast dry clothing helps. I think the harder you try to stay dry, the wetter you'll get!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

dont understand why you go on if you want to stay dry but wear light clothing. and a poncho

 

[MHSweb79]

As the tube goes down the river the gravity tends to pull the heavier side down first, so when you get to the bottom the water comes rushing in on that side.

I've gotten soaked to the skin both times I've ridden Kali. (So are you saying I'm a cow, jcriket? ) Anyway, I was wearing denim shorts and a cotton T-shirt, both of which stayed wet for days. Next time I plan to wear nylon shorts and a tank, which hopefully will dry quicker.
Getting splashed is one thing, but getting as wet as if they had tipped over the raft and made you swim to the exit is another, even in the heat that is Animal Kingdom. The humidity makes it tougher to get anything dry. I totally understand why peopel wear ponchos on this ride.

 

[selina4disney]

The strategy we use to stay dry on Kali is to walk past the ride entrance queue.

 

[natebenma]

The big problem for my family is keeping our sneakers dry. We carry around flip flops in our backpack and change into them before getting onto the ride. We also carry a Zip Lock Big Bag, and put our shoes and backpack into that to keep our stuff dry. My camera, however, is waterproof, so I keep that out!

 

[ntsammy5]

Take off all your clothes and put them in a big bag - dry off at the end of the ride and get dressed again. All your clothe will be dry.

 

[SignMeUp]

My family rode this in late April (me, dh and our 2 boys 7 & 5). My 7yo wanted to get wet, but the rest of us wore ponchos. Even with the ponchos we still got wet. I had heard that half of the raft gets soaked and the other half stays dry, and that was certainly the case in our situation. It was our side of the raft that got soaked. The water came rushing into the raft so quickly that it knocked my 5yo's shoes off (he was wearing crocs). Thankfully we were able to grab them before they went out of the boat. Only our bottoms, legs & feet got wet (because we were wearing ponchos) and we dried off quickly, so it wasn't that bad. I highly recommend ponchos and try to keep as many of the openings closed as possible... or you might luck out and sit on the dry side of the boat, but there's no way to know that until during/after the ride.

 

[natnelliesmom]

We always bring LL Bean light weight rain coats and pants for our two girls. We use them in case of rain, it keeps their whole bodies dry and warm. They are so light and packable that they take up about as much room as a poncho would.
We have put these on them for Kali River Rapids and they had a blast! Got soaking wet, then took off their rain gear to find they were dry underneath.
I don't think it would be worth it to bring these just for the ride.... but to have them in case of rain (which September is FULL of) might be a good idea.
My DH and I use just light weight rain coats and our bottoms do get wet. I keep threatening to bring my rain pants too- but haven't done it yet!

I think Lands' End has similar rain sets for kids on sale right now.

-Sarah

 

[diskids2]

I like this ride because I enjoy the theming and the drop at the end. However, I don't like being wet for the rest of my AK day. I usually wear a long poncho that I can sit on and nylon shorts to help dry faster. I also wear crocs and take the socks off before the ride. I take a water proof pouch....like the one's you might use at a water park...and shove my socks....KTTWC and money in it.

 

[RobinFabulous]

We were on the lighter side of the ride (3 children, 1 barely able to ride, 2 adults, one very small teenager, and the other avg size - other side was a family of 5 full sized adults) and we got soaked. Luckily I had an enormous ziplock to throw cell phones/cameras in.