Any Park in a Storm?

[LittleDreamer]

This past week in Orlando has been a stormy one, with thunderstorms rolling through Central Florida. Luckily in Florida the storms are usually over quickly, lasting between a few minutes to an hour. While we do get all day showers every now and then; longer storms trend towards the evening hours. So when you see an forecast of scatter storms or an ominous cloud blowing in what is your favorite park to be caught in?

Mine are:

1. Magic Kingdom - This park was designed for Florida weather. Most of the lines are indoors and there are so many stores and covered areas that you can quickly dart between when it's storming. If a really bad cloud burst is heading your way then it's time for the Hall of Presidents.
2. Universal Studios Orlando - While it doesn't have the connected areas of the Magic Kingdom there are plenty of stores to dart between and pass some time in. Also most of the queues are indoors so when a storm rolls in that 40 min wait doesn't look so bad.
3. Hollywood Studios - The best thing about HS is the shows. They are a good way to past the time and sit down. Rain has driven me into Mermaid or Frozen more then once. Places like the Writer's Stop was also a good place to chill (I'll miss it). The Launch Bay is also proving a good place to wait out a storm.
4. Epcot - While Future World is a pretty good place to be in a storm, the World Showcase is not. The circular open design means that if you don't want to get wet you are stuck in whatever Pavilion you are currently in.
5. Islands of Adventure - Like World Showcase the circular design means exposure between areas. Luckily the areas each have a nice amount of stores and restaurants to hide in. Since this park has many water attractions you might not notice or mind a rain, but once the lightning rolls in a lot shuts down.
6. Animal Kingdom - While the abundance of trees makes this a nice place for light rains in a storm it's not. A lot of the queues are in exposed area. The animals won't be happy and due to the spread out nature of the park it can be a hike between cover.

 

[Accident]

Caught in? I dont' really care i'll stay and let everyone clear out for me

Go to when I'm heading and it's going to be all day? I check the apps and see what's functioning and where the crowds aren't. the rain is no big deal usually.

I will say universal I was surprised to see in your list.. I was in islands of adventure my first time there, everything shut down and basically the staff said waiting it out (park was closing soon) was probably pointless unless I was going to do some shopping. I actually got a refund as we weren't there that long. I was also miserably wet, my daughter lost her iphone to water and never again will I do universal in the rain.

 

[samsteele]

I agree World Showcase in Epcot is a bad spot to be caught in. I was there one early afternoon last Fall during F&W with heavy blowing rain & thunderstorms. A few of us tried to take shelter under one of the Canada kiosks but the CMs closed up shop abruptly and we were left to scatter. One CM advised their staff rules mandate that they must close up and seek shelter themselves. I hoofed it over to the France Pavilion and watched the movie during the worst of it. Then did some shopping in Morimoto. If I knew it was 100% chance of t-storms, I'd def avoid WS again.

 

[Lesverts]

I would rate DHS as #1 because all their rides are not impacted by weather. And one is greatly enhanced with adverse weather.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Any. The rain comes the wimps leave. Perfect.

 

[DWillowBay]

That's why God made Dollar Store rain parkas!!!

 

[beccasmom]

We're fine with rain; just keep going unless it's a true monsoon and then I duck for cover (but not necessarily the rest of my gang!). Thunderstorms do make me nervous. I really do hate to be caught in them.

 

[DisneyOma]

Having been at MK when a severe thunderstorm was overhead (lightning-thunder right on top of each other, and that electric crackling sound/smell that you know means it hit really close by) I'd say the drainage there sucks. It was hard to find a dry spot to stand in - no way was I going to be standing there in an inch of water while lightning was striking that close by. We had just exited Pirates, and even the gift shop was full of water. My daughter and I backed way up into the shop, almost at the exit to the attraction before we found dry flooring. Some idiots just waded on through.

 

[LittleDreamer]

I will say universal I was surprised to see in your list.. I was in islands of adventure my first time there, everything shut down

Universal Studios isn't bad, I've only seen the roller coaster and the open air shows close in a thunder storm. IOA on the other hand if there is thunder around that park just shuts down. All the water rides and coasters are required too so it's not surprising.

I would rate DHS as #1 because all their rides are not impacted by weather. And one is greatly enhanced with adverse weather.

I take it you mean ToT, which I do love it when it's surrounded by a gloomy sky. Sadly the front half of it's queue is outdoors.

 

[RayO]

The Rains = Mother Nature's Fastpass. That is what I always say. I have turned many friends into believers of this too.

 

[cornflkgrl]

We actually thought it was fun running through the parks in the pouring rain. I did notice the drains couldn't always keep up with the heavy rain so some sort of sandal or something is better than tennis shoes like I always wear.

 

[LittleDreamer]

We had just exited Pirates, and even the gift shop was full of water.

I did notice the drains couldn't always keep up with the heavy rain

I agree there are areas that can be pretty bad in heavy rains, but drainage systems are only design to handle so much. Disneyland has benefited from large renovations like Toon Town, New Space Mountain and Star Wars because it gives Disney the chance to really get underground and create a better infrastructure. New Fantasyland is the only good chance I remember for the Magic Kingdom to do something like that. Maybe with the utilidors they could come at it from below, but I doubt that drainage passes through them.

 

[JimmyV]

I enjoy all of Epcot in the rain. I don't agree that WS is a bad place to be. If you know that it is going to rain, you have a poncho and umbrella, right? And the distance between each country is relatively short. So we are talking about a 2-3 minute walk, tops, in the rain under an umbrella. And when you get to the next country, the rain will probably "force" you to spend more time soaking in (sorry for the pun) more of the details that make WS so great. I think that too many people blow through WS without smelling all the roses, or English Tea, or Moroccan spices, or German caramel, if you get my drift. It was a rain storm that caused me to first experience the little museum sort of hidden away in Morocco. We spent way more time in there than I otherwise would have, and enjoyed it. A good rain storm can enhance one's visit to a pavilion, IMO.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

I have been caught in heavy, all day rain at AK and had to wade through water that was easily over my ankles. It was also fairly chilly rain considering it was in September. We had a FP for FotLK. After the show the CMs took mercy on those of us who just wanted to be dry for a little bit and allowed us to stay seated for the next show. We ended up staying and seeing it a total of 3 times. We were staying at CSR and the path we took to get back to our room that day was very flooded and backed up--it was just a miserable end to a not very good day at AK.

In the normal Florida rain, we poncho up and go on with our plans.

 

[Dis703]

I'd probably rate HS the best because of all the indoor show options and even the rides are indoors here. AK is my least favorite when it storms at least for long term rain. We were there the other day with maybe an hour long rain/thunderstorm and that was fine. All day rain though this would be the last park I'd pick.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

I enjoy all of Epcot in the rain. I don't agree that WS is a bad place to be. If you know that it is going to rain, you have a poncho and umbrella, right? And the distance between each country is relatively short. So we are talking about a 2-3 minute walk, tops, in the rain under an umbrella. And when you get to the next country, the rain will probably "force" you to spend more time soaking in (sorry for the pun) more of the details that make WS so great. I think that too many people blow through WS without smelling all the roses, or English Tea, or Moroccan spices, or German caramel, if you get my drift. It was a rain storm that caused me to first experience the little museum sort of hidden away in Morocco. We spent way more time in there than I otherwise would have, and enjoyed it. A good rain storm can enhance one's visit to a pavilion, IMO.

Epcot is the one place that I can remember having any kind of rain in all of our visits. For the reasons you listed I think I would welcome the rain.

 

[Jules76126]

I totally agree with everyone regarding WS. One time my friend and I were stuck in WS when an epic monsoon broke out. It wasn’t one of those storms that last for 15 to 20 minutes and then the sun comes out. This was full on storm with torrential rain and winds. You could tell it was going to rain and once it started, everyone scattered. We ended up in Germany and we hoping to wait it out. But after 25 minutes and no let up, we decided we needed to head towards the exit (I was a CP At the time, so low wait times wasn’t a big deal to me. We were just in the parks to enjoy a day off and rain wasn’t in the plan). Let me say, by the time we had gotten to the car, I have never been so wet. It was like I had jumped into a swimming pool fully clothed. Had I been on vacation, that would have been a very unpleasant situation.


I agree that HS is one of the better places for rain. You can duck into a show or ride and hopefully the sun is back out when you are done. MK is also great for all the shopping that is available and everything is really close together so even if you need to make a run for it, the distance is not too bad between shops. Futureworld is a great place to wait out rain as 90% of the queues are inside – and test track will be down so as soon as the ride stops, if you head over there you can ride with limited wait.


I was working one time when the Wand onto of Spaceship Earth was hit by lightning. Definitely a very loud sound. We thought something had happened on the ride. Trying to reassure guests that it had nothing to do with the ride was interesting.

 

[Brancaneve]

And speaking of rain......when the forecast calls for thunderstorms, does that mean all day or for a short amount of time? We are going this Sunday and the week shows chance of thunderstorms. We are coming from California where we don't experience quick bursts of rain or storms.

 

[Accident]

And speaking of rain......when the forecast calls for thunderstorms, does that mean all day or for a short amount of time? We are going this Sunday and the week shows chance of thunderstorms. We are coming from California where we don't experience quick bursts of rain or storms.

it rains really fast in florida and storms move really quick so light rain that takes a day elsewhere in the country tends to be 10-20 minutes of thunderstorms here. Watch this weeks dreams unlimited podcast, they did an excellent segment on weather..

 

[LittleDreamer]

And speaking of rain......when the forecast calls for thunderstorms, does that mean all day or for a short amount of time? We are going this Sunday and the week shows chance of thunderstorms. We are coming from California where we don't experience quick bursts of rain or storms.

This is purely anecdotal, but if they say Scattered Thunderstorms then they are usually quicker storms. From my perspective the longer storms, those that last over an hour, usually occur during cooler times. At night or during the fall and winter. During the Spring and Summer we seem to get more roaming spot showers. If you look at the weather radar you can usually get a good idea what they are going to be like.