Are we going to die of heat exhaustion in Sept?

[NicholeB630]

I don't think strollers have been mentioned in this thread. I think they are a must, even for your 7 yr old. And please don't put them in a double stroller which is so they will be touching each other. Physical contact in those temperatures is not welcome. Also, strollers go a long way toward avoiding fatigue and heat exhaustion in youngsters. They will still get more than their usual share of exercise, even if they spend part of the day in a stroller.

Strollers provide rolling shade, minimize the time young feet are in contact with the scorching pavement AND let you schlep along everything you need without having anything strapped to your body. Think rain ponchos, umbrellas (which offer shade as well as shelter!) cooling towels, handheld fan/mister devices which kids just love, dry shoes, socks, you name it. Cooling towels really do work, you can even get hats! We really missed strollers on our Sept trip.

The ice water which is free at every counter service is wonderful. We drank, and drank, and drank, chewed ice cubes, poured the cold water over heads and down necks. Glorious.

I do not tolerate heat well at all, nor does my DSIL, and older DGH. We all had fun, because we made a pact to never let it get the best of us. After all, we were in WDW, not stranded on a desert island. Pools, water parks, cooling stations, cold drinks and air conditioning were never more than a few minutes away. It was our vacation and we were in control, not out to torture ourselves. One morning at AK, we were wilting badly before our 10:45 Kali river FPs, so we granted our own wish to head for the exit. Next stop - Blizzard Beach. Gangplank Falls was a whole lot more fun than KR that day.

We will def be using a stroller for our kids. I know my 7 year old will get exhausted from walking but we are using a double for sure. We need two seats to avoid fighting and to get around in thick crowds especially at night. I like them to be seated and theres no way were pushing two separate strollers. They will be ok next to each other. Both my kids are on the smaller side so they should be ok!

 

[DSG]

The worst for me last year around September was Disney Springs. I was lucky enough to be in and out of attractions enough to not really feel the affects of the heat too much. As lovely as the reimagined shopping district is Disney Springs was definitely the most crowded and the hottest of week. Someone even past out in one of the shops while I was there. Stay cool and hydrated everyone.

 

[momimouse27]

Oh, yeah. It's stankin' hot, and we'll be right there with you. Survival tips:

1. Water...just like everyone says. Admittedly, I like my soda. But when I'm at Disney, I just crave water more.
2. Get a squirt fan! I wouldn't get it at Disney, because they're marked up like 500%, but Walmart I believe has them. Indispensable.
3. Night time is great. It's still humid, but its cooler and the parks are prettier with all the lights. Night is your friend.
4. Okay, everyone may not agree, but the kiddie water features at the parks have saved me on hot days. One day at MK, I got so dang hot, I just headed straight to NF and Dumbo and I stood under those water sprite thingies and just let myself get soaked. First time you go on an air conditioned dark ride or into a shop, well, you won't be hot anymore. There are several at Epcot, then the jumping fountains at Imagination and I can't remember if there are any at HS or AK. Kali is good for that.

5. In September, there are frequent bursts of rain storms. If you're okay with a little(or a lot of) rain, it can really be helpful to cool things off a bit, including you.

 

[sam_rogers]

We've been to Orlando three times, once in may and twice in September. We're over in the UK so it's a massive temperature increase for us any time of year and I'm normally the type of person that wilts in the heat when we get our short but sweet British summer Personally I found may worse than September. We found we were able to survive the day by making good use of the aircon and taking a rest when needed. When it got a bit much we'd sometimes go back to the hotel.
I'd also advise getting to animal kingdom for rd and getting back for a rest early, there's nowhere to hide from the heat there and with the park being open later now there's a good option to go back later when it's cooler.

 

[smidgy]

The best advice I received was to use an umbrella for parades and hang out by Frontierland instead of Main St for 3pm parade. (We got our "shade"umbrella at Epcot's Japan Pavillion.)

I doubt all the people behind you.didn't appreciate their view of the parade blocked by your "sun" umbrella.

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

If you're from Va I don't think that level of heat / humidity will be totally unfamiliar to you - more the experience of being outside in it all day. Haven't been to Florida in a long time but I'm DC area and there are days where we get 100 degree heat, swamp like humidity and a ton of smog, so I have my coping strategies for unbearable heat:


- I say, forget how you look (tight ponytail with a ton of hairspray and definitely no makeup that can run, like mascara), get moisture wicking clothing that isn't see-through or looks ok see-through (i.e., if you have a sports-bra-cami underneath) and stick a Coregear mister in your stroller and just hose yourself down throughout the day. Maybe get the one cute family photo in the morning before everyone is drenched and frizzy, ha ha - but you'll be drenched in sweat anyways if you don't spray off. Remember not to get sock and shoes wet though because wet socks are miserable - maybe even take a few extra pairs in the stroller.


- Cooling towels - personally I like the mesh ones. I think the Frog Togg style ones may be a bit cooler, but they dry hard and so the mesh are so much easier to travel with.


- Slather - slather - yourself with SPF 2,000 sunscreen. In part to avoid burns and in part to avoid the panicky feeling one gets when you feel that kind of heat and you're like "I'm getting burned, I'm getting burned, I just know it".


- Visors and sun hats


- Necklace fans


- Water, but you might also consider buying a pack of electrolyte tablets or portable powder packs (you can get brands like Gatorade or Nuun on Amazon). This seems to be specific to certain people - usually I'm fine with just water but I know people who have to get the electrolytes as well or they get as sick as if they hadn't had any liquid at all.


- Plan on going to bed really early due to being 'zapped' from sun and heat


- Don't panic! Ha ha, I feel like that sounds silly, but when I travel with relatives who are like "Oh my gosh it's hot it's so hot I can't believe how how it is I'm dying it's so hot" (maybe this applies more to DC than FL because the smog makes people with asthma panicky) then you can't stop thinking about how hot it is and that's all you focus on. Sometimes it helps to just take a deep breath, say, "Wow, feel all this sunshine", and then think about whatever you were doing.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Perhaps you should consider January. Much milder then. We are from Wisconsin and the September Disney heat doesn't bother us. We drink lots of beer too and that dehydrates a bit.

We are pool and waterparks people.

 

[SweetJulia23]

I didn't find it too hot in September the last two years. It was so cloudy the whole time that the sun was never a problem. It rained every day too. I hardly had to reapply my sunblock and I was actually chilly for a few hours at AK which is usually the hottest park.

 

[OThopeful35]

No you are not going to die but you should rope drop and go back to your resort in the afternoon. Come back to the parks later in the evening. That is what we do. We go late July early August. We are from the San Francisco Bay area and we are not used to the heat or the rain at all but we do just fine.

 

[beckysko]

It will be hot, but try and make the best of it. We'll also be there in Sept, from the 3-10 and we'll have an 18 month old with us. We were worried but honestly, there is so much to do that is in the AC. Plus we are planning to do rope drop mornings, afternoon breaks at the resort to swim/nap and then head back to the parks at night. We plan on doing that each day, so we aren't wiped out. Having that break in between will let us unwind, relax and get refreshed for the evenings.

this is exactly what we do, and we typically go at end of August (teacher problems). It is great to have a break mid-day to enjoy a swim and relax - going full all day is sometimes just too much. We find ways to get through without being too hot...lots of things to do indoors, plus we bring Frogg Toggs cooling towels, which seem to help a bit.

 

[EagleG17]

We have 2 children (5 &2). We make them go hardcore non-stop all day long. We don't even bring/rent a stroller. We make them walk all through the parks and only stop for 1 meal a day. 6am wake up - 11 am bed time. This is the way Disney is supposed to be done. My parents did the same to me.

 

[lady_hlh]

We have 2 children (5 &2). We make them go hardcore non-stop all day long. We don't even bring/rent a stroller. We make them walk all through the parks and only stop for 1 meal a day. 6am wake up - 11 am bed time. This is the way Disney is supposed to be done. My parents did the same to me.

Too funny

 

[anniemae]

We have 2 children (5 &2). We make them go hardcore non-stop all day long. We don't even bring/rent a stroller. We make them walk all through the parks and only stop for 1 meal a day. 6am wake up - 11 am bed time. This is the way Disney is supposed to be done. My parents did the same to me.

Do they sleep the other 19 hours? LOL!!

 

[EagleG17]

Do they sleep the other 19 hours? LOL!!

LoL - you caught that

 

[minnie mum]

NM. I fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

 

[kandb]

All these reports of the heat in Sept actually has me excited. We're going in early Sept next year and I was worried it'd be cool. We went at the end of Sept a few years back and never once got to wear shorts - it was pants and coats every day (and we're from Alaska). Maybe that was a total fluke though. I'd love to do the Halloween and Christmas parties again, but I hate cool weather and not being able to go to the water parks.

Pants and coats in September in WDW?????

 

[kandb]

I have been to WDW in mid-late August the past two years in a row, and we are going again this year. Personally, if I had a choice, I would never go during this time of year, but I'm a teacher. We prefer the lower crowds and heat to very high holiday crowds (my only breaks would be Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Memorial Day) and cooler weather.

I think all above posters have very good advice. Personally, my DH and I find our Frog Toggs cooling towels to be a godsend (they don't look pretty but they WORK), and a misting water bottle would be great, too. Get ice to put in the water bottle at every possible opportunity. Don't bother putting on makeup or dressing up - you're going to be sweating within 5 minutes of walking outside. We just wear athletic clothes every day. Make your ADRs during times when the heat is the worst (noon to 5). I personally don't go in the shops (we don't do souvenirs) to cool down. Instead, we plan to go to rides that have air-conditioned queues and shows when the heat is the worst.

Here's a list of attractions where you can find relief. I tend to over-plan every single trip, so this is what I have learned! I did not include water rides.


Magic Kingdom
Space Mountain (I don't mind waiting for long periods of time there)
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Philharmagic
Carousel of Progress
Pirates of the Caribbean (should cool you down once you're on the ride!)
PeopleMover (great breeze!)
Country Bear Jamboree
Hall of Presidents
Enchanted Tiki Room


Hollywood Studios
Great Movie Ride
Star Tours
Rock N Roller Coaster (partially)
Tower of Terror (partially)
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Star Wars Launch Bay
One Man's Dream


Epcot
Soarin'
Livin' with the Land
Mission Space
Test Track (partially)
Ellen's Energy Adventure (great for a snooze)
Impressions de France
The American Adventure show
Voices of Liberty (inside the American pavilion)
Mitsukoshi store at Japan (I know this is not exactly a ride or show but my DH and I spend at least a half hour there every trip because it's huge and engaging)
Mexico ride
The show at China and Canada are air-conditioned, but you have to stand. I don't find them relaxing because of this.
The Seas with Nemo


Animal Kingdom
Dinosaur
It's Tough to Be a Bug (partially)
Festival of the Lion King
Finding Nemo show


One thing no one has posted is that you can relax in the lounge of any nearby hotel during those hot times if you don't want to go back to your hotel. We found a lounge at the Swan that was incredibly cool and comfortable. At MK, you could relax at any of the monorail resorts (who doesn't love riding the monorails, anyway?). At Epcot (walking) or HS (take the boat), you could go to the Yacht & Beach Club, the Swan & Dolphin, or the Boardwalk.

I do want to mention something that no one brings up. Everyone says it's a great idea to go back to your hotel mid-day, but it can take a while to travel back and forth. For my DH and I, we oftentimes found ourselves so heat-exhausted that all we wanted to do when we came back was just to say in our hotel room in the AC. We would get back and relax and feel so lazy that it was hard to get ourselves moving again and motivated to go back out into the heat. I've never seen anyone else say that, so I don't know, maybe that's just us.

I don't want to scare you off for that time of the year, so I hope that this post didn't do that! Any day at Disney is better than no day at Disney. These are just some things I've learned over the past couple of years and wanted to pass on. Like I said, though... if you can really go anytime during the year, this is really not the best time to go, weather-wise.

I don't think you are allowed to relax at the pool areas at the WDW resort hotels if you are not a guest. You could hang out in the lobbies, I guess or the restaurants.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Pants and coats in September in WDW?????

It was warm enough to wear jeans and t shirts during the day, but around dusk we had to put thick fleece jackets on. DH wore shorts all winter long through college in Boston, and even he wore jeans that Sept. It was COLD. I sincerely hope it was a fluke, and it's hot when we go to WDW next September.

 

[FortForever]

The bad news: It's hot.

The GREAT news: You will enjoy the lowest crowds of the year and it will be so worth it!

Because the crowds are so low, you can take it slow and experience so much more than the earlier summer crowd. Even though I live in FL, and know how hot it is, I am considering a quick trip during the same period just to enjoy the leisurely pace.

Mornings are the best. It's cooler and much less humid than evenings of the same temperatures. Do rope drop every morning, even though the crowds won't warrant that. If you can, do any extra magic morning hours. By the time it gets too hot, you can head back to your resort to enjoy the pool.

Remember that ice water (not bottled) is free for the asking in the parks and many attractions are air conditioned. It's going to be great! Don't stress, you will get your money's worth for sure.

 

[whiporee]

I haven't seen anyone warn about this, so I'll go ahead and do it. Be wary of the moments following a short rainfall. The water leaves the asphalt like steam, and it'd as miserable as it gets. If the rain fall for 30 minutes or so, it cools the concrete off too much for this to happen, but be wary of hiding from a short one, and then going back out because that's real awful.

As my wife and I found out Friday afternoon.