A little worried...

[mirokey]

Our trip is this Friday and it looks like rain all next week. Any tips or handling the rain?

 

[nothnbutherainsir]

Tip #1: DON'T worry! Most things are doable in the rain and hey, a little water never hurt anyone!

 

[dburg30]

first, it probably wont rain the whole time you are there, you may have periods of rain, but I wouldnt get too concerned about it. 2nd, a large part of the attractions and such are under cover / inside anyway

 

[JennyMP03]

The day it rained on our trip was nice, actually. All of those people who are apparently made of sugar and would melt in the rain ( ) hid for cover, but we put on our ponchos and kept at it. Lines were shorter and it was much cooler, which was nice since we went in blazing, humid August! It was a light, somewhat windy rain. We live in the 2nd rainiest (sometimes rainiest, even over Seattle) city in America, so it wasn't too intimidating to us!

 

[minnie79&mickey75]

The day it rained on our trip was nice, actually. All of those people who are apparently made of sugar and would melt in the rain ( ) hid for cover, but we put on our ponchos and kept at it. Lines were shorter and it was much cooler, which was nice since we went in blazing, humid August! It was a light, somewhat windy rain. We live in the 2nd rainiest (sometimes rainiest, even over Seattle) city in America, so it wasn't too intimidating to us!

Well, the problem with this time of year (as opposed to going in the blazing heat when you mentioned) is that it's a lot colder, now we have to add rain, that's a little more uncomfortable. Also, added risk of sickness being cold and wet. Leaving in about 30 hours, and going to try and make the best of the times that it does rain.

 

[mirokey]

Thanks for all the encouragement! I will add ponchos to my last minute shopping list and just have fun!

 

[plucky]

Don't forget to pack extra shoes and quarters for dryers! We experienced quite a bit of rain back in December of 2004. We were there for Christmas week (crazy, I know!). But the rain worked to our advantage. We were prepared with lots of shoes, ponchos and umbrellas; we're from the north east, so we are used to chilly and rainy; and lots of people stayed away from the parks. Most rides were walk on and we had a blast! Enjoy your trip!

The other thing to remember is that Florida weather is unpredictable! They may be saying rain now, but that all could change...

 

[realityland]

The way the front is setting up off of the Gulf coast, it could push through quickly over the next few days and you may be able to salvage a decent weekend. You never know, you may be surpised to find a better weekend than what is being forecast.

 

[MHSweb79]

We had one rainy day during our trip in September this year and IT WAS FABULOUS!! We decided to do the Studios since mostly everything is inside, and we got to ride Toy Story Mania four times before 11:30 a.m. FOUR TIMES, yes you read that right.
Seems most people don't consider rainy days as park days, so we had the place to ourselves for most of the day. And it was a Saturday, so the locals stayed away too. The only funny thing was that the free animation classes (forget what they are really called) were full up and some people had to wait for the next session. The CM says that never happens!
We packed disposable ponchos so we could just toss them out at the end of the day, but you could buy better quality ponchos if you think you're going to need them. (They are more comfortable and durable, so it may be worth it).

 

[yulilin3]

Same as everyone else, pack your ponchos and enjoy the rain...also pack extra socks to take with you into the parks, after a rainstorm you need to change socks to not become sick...

 

[TheBeckyZone]

My last trip to the World was filled with rain and things I was glad to have with me were:
- a small umbrella that fits inside my purse.
- a change of socks
- a washcloth in my purse to wipe off with periodically
- a ziplock for my electronics (phone, camera, etc.)

Like others have said, the rain shouldn't ruin the magic in your trip!

 

[msce2]

We went in May and it turned out to be one of the rainiest weeks in history!

Good news is that it really cuts down on the crowds. Many people chose to stay inside.

1. Bring shoes that you don't mind getting wet and are comfortable. I brought 1 pair of sneakers and 1 pair of flip flops. After one huge puddle the sneakers were unwearable. I ended up wearing flip flops the rest of the week. Also be careful with Crocs. My niece slipped and fell twice in hers.

2. Ponchos, ponchos and more ponchos. They will help you and your stuff stay dry. I carried a book bag and kept the poncho over both of us.

3. Long pants really didn't work. Once they got wet, they were very uncomfortable. Shorts or capris worked best.

4. Try to remember to take pics whenever possible. We ended up not having many photos from our trip bc it was always raining.

5. If you are going with kids get a stroller cover and count on an extra poncho to keep the stroller as dry as possible. There were also days we ended up having to use the hair dryer on the stroller.

6. Have activities planned in case you really don't want to be outside. We spent a few afternoons stuck inside during major thunderstorms. My Dad had brought his guitar and the kids danced and sang. We also took lots of walks around the inside of our resort.

Most of all have fun! It's still Disney!!!!

 

[DisneyShannon]

Socks. I went years ago and it rained all week. Your feet already hurt and then you add water on top of those hurt feet here comes the blisters. I always pack extra socks. I find the disposable ponchos work the best you can just throw them out at the end of the day. I buy mine from the dollar tree.

 

[pixarmom]

Yay ponchos! On one of my trips as a teenager, it rained nearly the whole time. We have a million pictures of our family in bright yellow ponchos. We said the word "ponchos" way more than necessary, and we thought it was hilarious. The lines were short, we didn't mind the rain, so many rides are inside, and we have great memories of those ponchos! It makes me smile just thinking about it!

As others have mentioned, it does help if it's warm enough to wear shorts or capris, and if you have shoes that are not uncomfortable when wet.

 

[Colleen27]

The day it rained on our trip was nice, actually. All of those people who are apparently made of sugar and would melt in the rain ( ) hid for cover, but we put on our ponchos and kept at it. Lines were shorter and it was much cooler, which was nice since we went in blazing, humid August! It was a light, somewhat windy rain. We live in the 2nd rainiest (sometimes rainiest, even over Seattle) city in America, so it wasn't too intimidating to us!

Rain in August is a nice relief, but rain in the winter can be pretty miserable. We only had one rainy day on our January trip and we did sort of hide out indoors that day because even in FL, rain in January is chilly!

I second all the advice about bringing good shoes. We always bring our boat sandals (Tevas/Columbias) and the kids' Calies, because those are comfortable wet and dry quickly.

And dress in layers, so that if your top layer gets wet you can peel it off, particularly when indoors. FL does air conditioning much better than heat, so even in shows or restaurants being wet can be cold.

 

[tzolkin]

We went in May and it turned out to be one of the rainiest weeks in history!

We were there too. It poured (record rains) every day of our 12 day trip.

All of msce's suggestions are great.

I would also suggest that you buy decent ponchos if there's really going to be quite a bit of rain. We bought ones at the nearby target for about $10. They had snaps and tied at the neck. MIL joined us just for 3 days and she was soaked in her inexpensive poncho. They're fine for a summer shower, but not constant rain.

Also, bring baseball caps. We all had them including the kids. So many guests commented that they wished they had them-- their faces were all wet and water was pouring inside their ponchos.

If using a stroller, a cover is a must. We have two Maclarens and kept the raincovers on them the entire trip. If it stopped raining we could just flip the cover up. We flipped it down whenever we went into an attraction. It was almost always raining when we came out and most of the other strollers were soaked. Most people used ponchos, but the clear covers are much better if you have one.


You can do almost all of the attractions in the rain. Our only issue with the trip was that we wanted to just walk around more and enjoy the atmosphere. Most of our time outside was just spent walking from attraction to attraction. Our last night we sat in the pouring rain for an hour and a half to watch Wishes (and got the kids ice cream when it slowed to a light rain). Even though it wound up being delayed and then cancelled, we all agreed it was the best time we had on the entire trip.

 

[BigEeyore]

Just wondering where you saw that it will "rain all next week"?
Weather.com shows rain tomorrow and Sat, then the chances go way down through next week (though Weds shows 50%).
It will hardly be a washout, I think, beyond Saturday. I have never been to Florida where it did not rain at least a little!

 

[mirokey]

Just wondering where you saw that it will "rain all next week"?
Weather.com shows rain tomorrow and Sat, then the chances go way down through next week (though Weds shows 50%).
It will hardly be a washout, I think, beyond Saturday. I have never been to Florida where it did not rain at least a little!

Weather.com has changed the forecast since I posted this a couple of days ago. They had forcasted thunderstorms from tues-fri and light rain on Sat. I was pleasantly surprised to see we are coming into light rain on Sat and only 1day of thunderstorms next week! I've been lucky enough to visit WDW in April and have never experienced any rain.

Thanks for the great tips, I am counting down the hours until we get there!

 

[Glencora]

Accuweather, WeatherUnderground and the local channel 9 forecast all show one day of possible rain - Wednesday. That's the only day all three of these show. Personally, I've always found WeatherUnderground to be the most accurate. Not that any weather forecast is completely accurate - but closest to actual events. I'll be there next week, and am completely not worried.

Edited to add: I just checked weather.com. The highest chance of rain they show is for Wednesday, and it's only 50%!. To me, a 20% chance of scattered showers means it is most likely not going to rain. Maybe it's just me.

 

[toledo13]

We don't mind the rain at all. Most of the time, it empties out the parks...

I insist on using an umbrella! I hate Poncho hoods, but use them to keep the rest of us dry! Be sure to pack some big ziplocks to keep wet gear in so you don't get the inside of your bag wet.

BRING EXTRA SOCKS AND SHOES. We ran back to the room to use a hairdryer on our shoes because we only had one pair, but luckilly brought extra pairs of socks to change into. It feels soooo goood to put on fresh socks after being all soggy!!