August in WDW--Planning for spirit breaking heat

[mkh531]

We are staying at Beach Club in August and need to plan well for the crushing heat/humidity, which my kids can handle decently but I can't handle it well at all. Aside from obvious things like making sure to drink lots of water and getting to parks early and taking a swim break midday, etc, what are your best tips for the heat & humidity? Is the walk from BC to International Gateway bearable? What about walking to Hollywood Studios/boardwalk? We will have two kids with us, 7 &9.

Luckily this wont be our first or last trip to WDW so we won't be rushing. I'm also going to try to intersperse rides with shows where we sit in air conditioning for 20 minutes or so. Thanks!

 

[JohnneyV]

From Beach Club to International Gateway is quite a short walk. From Beach Club to Hollywood Studios may be a bit much for the kids. The boat transportation from Beach Club to Hollywood Studios might be your best bet.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've gone the last week of August for the past 5 years and, yes, water, taking midday breaks and then going back out as the sun is going down is always our plan. We typically stay at an EP resort (usually BWI). Walking from BC to International Gateway is super doable. My advice, ask for a room near EP. There are some staircases at that end of the resort that actually lead down to a path that gets you even closer to the IG entrance. You can even try exiting from the door across from Marketplace and walking down the path toward EP from there. It's a little shorter IMHO and it's pretty shaded on that path, unlike walking in the direct sun on the bigger path from the back of the BC lobby to IG (I hope that makes sense!)

Honestly, I don't know if I would walk from BC to DHS. From BWI to DHS, yes, but BC is a bit further. From BWI, we would only do it in the morning and early/late evening. You won't want to be walking back and forth from BC and DHS mid-day. Believe it or not, we've actually taken uber from DHS back to our EP resort. If you don't want to walk or wait for the boat, call uber. They pick up at the taxi stand and it's about $3 - $5 dollars to get back to the resort. We did this at park close one evening when the line for the boat was super long and we were too tired to walk. You can take uber to AK (it gets you very close to the park entrance) and MK as well (for MK, take uber to GF and then take the monorail from there). Honestly, for a few extra bucks, it will save you from the mid-day heat.

 

[Sweettears]

We've gone the last week of August for the past 5 years and, yes, water, taking midday breaks and then going back out as the sun is going down is always our plan. We typically stay at an EP resort (usually BWI). Walking from BC to International Gateway is super doable. My advice, ask for a room near EP. There are some staircases at that end of the resort that actually lead down to a path that gets you even closer to the IG entrance. You can even try exiting from the door across from Marketplace and walking down the path toward EP from there. It's a little shorter IMHO and it's pretty shaded on that path, unlike walking in the direct sun on the bigger path from the back of the BC lobby to IG (I hope that makes sense!)

Honestly, I don't know if I would walk from BC to DHS. From BWI to DHS, yes, but BC is a bit further. From BWI, we would only do it in the morning and early/late evening. You won't want to be walking back and forth from BC and DHS mid-day. Believe it or not, we've actually taken uber from DHS back to our EP resort. If you don't want to walk or wait for the boat, call uber. They pick up at the taxi stand and it's about $3 - $5 dollars to get back to the resort. We did this at park close one evening when the line for the boat was super long and we were too tired to walk. You can take uber to AK (it gets you very close to the park entrance) and MK as well (for MK, take uber to GF and then take the monorail from there). Honestly, for a few extra bucks, it will save you from the mid-day heat.

Never been in August. However I have a few times in September. It does get hot and the humidity can be oppressive. I took it slow and made sure to take a break in the afternoon back at the resort. Bring lots of changes of clothes. At least in September you could count on a daily rain around 4:00. Again not sure about August but I would be prepared.

I usually stay at YC/BC and while the walk is short it's not out of the question to work up a sweat in the process.

 

[Jupiter&Wolfe]

I would say the walk to HS will probably be a no go if you don't think you're going to do well in the heat - take the boat.

I don't mind hot weather, I like to think I'm pretty durable.... but when I went in August, I was not prepared for how hot and humid it was at park opening, 8am. I would recommend, if it's possible, use the first day to really acclimate yourself. Take short walks, see what is comfortable for you. Duck into AC whenever you can. And dress as LIGHT as possible, the thinnest possible material. Your clothes will stick to your body. It got a lot easier as the week went on, but I remember melting that first day. Just wasn't used to it at all.

Personally, I found nighttime to be MUCH more comfortable than early morning. Early morning some days didn't feel much different from midday. But the heat always tampered off a bit once the sun went down. I don't usually do evening EMH and we ended up doing it at least half the nights that trip. I strongly recommend nighttime touring.

You picked a great resort! Spend lots of time at Stormalong Bay! We also REALLY enjoyed the water parks at this time of year. We definitely made rope drop for those because it would get busy by midday, but the lines weren't bad at all in the morning and it was PLENTY hot to swim in the morning.

Our trip was still completely magical once we got used to it! Yours will be too! Don't push yourself to do it all this trip and just relax! Best wishes.

 

[Sweettears]

I would say the walk to HS will probably be a no go if you don't think you're going to do well in the heat - take the boat.

I don't mind hot weather, I like to think I'm pretty durable.... but when I went in August, I was not prepared for how hot and humid it was at park opening, 8am. I would recommend, if it's possible, use the first day to really acclimate yourself. Take short walks, see what is comfortable for you. Duck into AC whenever you can. And dress as LIGHT as possible, the thinnest possible material. Your clothes will stick to your body. It got a lot easier as the week went on, but I remember melting that first day. Just wasn't used to it at all.

Personally, I found nighttime to be MUCH more comfortable than early morning. Early morning some days didn't feel much different from midday. But the heat always tampered off a bit once the sun went down. I don't usually do evening EMH and we ended up doing it at least half the nights that trip. I strongly recommend nighttime touring.

Our trip was still completely magical once we got used to it! Yours will be too! Don't push yourself to do it all this trip and just relax! Best wishes.

All good advice.

 

[Disneylover99]

We've stayed at the BC in August. I don't recommend walking to HS or the Boardwalk area during the day.

 

[quandrea]

We went once in June and daytime park activity was a no go for us. We are extreme though; my dh is actually allergic to the heat and I suspect dd is too. He goes into anaphylactic shock.

We head back in June 2018 for dd's grad trip. I plan to relax, swim, get going slowly in the morning. We will only head to the parks after dark. We are basically turning our usual plan on its head. Like someone upthread said, even the mornings are brutally hot. I figure if we are at the parks sundown to close and then sleep in, we are having just as many park hours as we usually do. Just in reverse order.

We go frequently and have no need to pack it in I realise this may not be everyone's situation.

 

[tinkerbella16]

We stayed at the Beach Club in September last year and it was really HOT most of the trip. The walk to Epcot was great and definitely bearable, only about a 5 minute walk. We always took the boat to DHS and that was nice and convenient. We walked over to the BW and that was bearable and quick, but we did that in the evening. We are going again this September. We usually do the parks at rope drop, head back around noon to swim and relax and head back to the parks at night - this is what we did each day of the trip and it worked out great with the heat.

 

[Eastern]

Wear light clothes and do not wear jeans. I can't tell you how many people I see wearing long pants and black clothing in the blistering Florida heat. I would die.

I can't take the heat either. It helps to ask for a cup of ice at the CS food stands and carry it with you to cool down. This is not a problem: when we were there during a heat spell, they were making announcements to ask for ice water at any of the CS locations if needed. Try to pack lightly as carrying a heavy bag around makes it feel hotter.

 

[TeresaWen]

Wear a hat!

 

[jsbowl16]

We always go in the summer due to my wife being a teacher and we stay at the Boardwalk and walk to both DHS and Epcot. The one thing we do that saves a lot of money and also works really well is to freeze a bottle of water for each person in our party for the morning and evening and take them to the parks. As they melt, you always have a very cold drink with you for the entire morning and evening and you can also use it to cool off parts of your body if needed. The reason we do one per person is that we do not share drinks on vacation because we have already had one person get sick and sharing drinks is a very easy way to pass it around. On a 8 day vacation, we use 48 bottles of water for the three of us but at $3 per bottle in the park, it saves you a lot of money (about $130) and a frozen bottle is always much colder than a bottle you buy in the park.

 

[GillianP1301]

End of August is our usual time to be at WDW. We love the heat, so this is not a huge issue for us, but some of the things we do to ensure it doesn't become an issue is: take your time, drink plenty of water, wear a hat (I'm always shocked at how few people wear hats in the heat of summer in Florida), plan breaks. For us, we do 2 - 3 TS meals a day and those are our built in breaks/cool down periods. If you're feeling the heat, head to an indoor attraction or into a shop. There are really so many places to get a cool down break at Disney, that the heat should not be a huge issue for most people.

 

[lroger01]

I went in August once. If I were going back here's what I would do:

• Sleep in! Enjoy the resort until about 5pm.
  The heat is stifling during the day. You'll have more fun being near water

• At 5 head somewhere for an early dinner and then park time until closing. Hop to the EMH park if you're up to it.
  It's still hot, but the sun isn't bearing down on you and by 5ish, shadows are long enough to cover the walkways.
  It's important to make the early part of the day relaxing enough that you WANT to go all night.
  Take a nap just before heading out (don't call it naptime, call it watch TV time)
  Knowing you can sleep in the next day makes going all night easy.

If nights-only isn't your style, plan lots of indoor fun. You won't have the same kind of "fun" when you're outside sweating through your clothes. Your best memories of the trip will likely be the things you do indoors. And by indoors, I mean you're in there long enough to totally cool down.
This type of fun includes:

• Hoop-de-doo
• Cirque du Soleil
• Fun restaurants
• Eat at Sunshine Seasons in Epcot and do all the attractions there - Including the Behind the Seeds tour
• Check out all the activities at the end of rides in Epcot - the things you usually rush past on your way to the next thing.
• Visit World Showcase AFTER DARK! That place is hotter'en hell during the day.

Epcot is the best place to visit if you must go when the sun is shining. Save the other parks - especially AK - for nighttime if possible.

Lastly, if it gets 100 degree hot, know that the only really cool place may be your hotel room. The AC in the busses, shops and attractions will have a hard time keeping up with that much heat.

You'll enjoy your trip, it just might be a little different than the ones you've had in the past.

 

[addiln]

We have gone done the last week in August for the past couple year and the heat was never a real problem for us. We stayed at both BWV and BLT so the walk from the parks to the resorts were bearable. It was only about a 5-10 min walk from Epcot to BWV. We had 3 kids with us ages 5, 9, and 12 and they never needed to stop because the heat. We always had water with us that we would put in the freezer the night before so it would stay cold as long as possible for us. We got up in the morning and went right to the parks and lasted till the fireworks with no issues. This last trip I had a frog togg with me and that helped with the heat but it was not unbearable any time for us. I know everyone is different and your heat tolerance may not be the same as ours so play it by ear and see how you guys do. If you need a break take one. It is a short walk from Epcot to your resort so you can enjoy the pool if need be. Also I would recommend making sure you have a poncho or something with you in case of rain. We have been caught in some pretty nice thunder storms at the parks in August. Everyone runs for cover and it can get cramped. We would just put on a poncho and go.

 

[Anal Annie]

We always have a summer trip and have gone in every summer month, mostly in August tho. And it doesn't really matter which month - June thru Sept. is all going to be hot & 100% humidity. We always walk from BC to EP but would never try to walk to HS. Take the water taxi to save some energy. BC has the BEST pool with SAB. Definitely plan some time to have some resort time to enjoy that.

As others have mentioned wear a hat & if you're in a DVC villa with a fridge you can freeze water bottles to bring. But they'll melt FAST. We keep Brita filtered water bottles in our Owners Locker and often bring those (frozen). But you can also stop in at ANY counter service restaurant that has a fountain machine to ask for FREE cups of water. You do NOT have to buy $3+ bottles of water. If they're giving out the smaller cups I ask for more than we need and we refill our bottles with fresh cold water. If they happen to be giving the larger cups I just get 1 for each of us.

We definitely walk thru more stores with the AC on during the summer too. And we'll do indoor attractions that take awhile too. Like Philharmagic and Soarin and even Ellen. Anything that will give your body time to cool off. (Ellen is great for a little nap too.) We also like to plan for meals inside too. And of course look for outdoor lines with lots of fans & shade. There isn't a lot of shade at EP so we don't spend a lot of mid-day time there. It's got so much concrete. We go early & leave or we go at night.

We also sometimes carry small personal fans and bring those "neck gators" that you soak in ice cold water for a few minutes then drape around your neck to cool you off. Those stay cold for hours and feel great when it's 95+ outside. Nobody in my family likes to carry the larger water bottle fans. We all like the effect when the water in them is nice & cold but they just turn into a pain to carry and nobody wants to deal with them. The small personal ones are easier to bring (for us).

There is no shame in taking an afternoon nap (grown-ups too) in your cool resort room. Great way to cool off & get off your swollen feet. We often will do that if the afternoon thunderstorms roll in and stay for longer than usual.

 

[elaine amj]

I like frog toggs but don't use them all the time. My DS has a blast with a mini spray bottle of water (we don't complain too much as it cools the rest of us off as he messes around with it). A positive attitude helps the most. One trip my newbie friends were there for a week before we got there. When we arrived, the wife had reached boiling point and we found out she had been retreating the hotel room whenever possible. She was about to do her daily retreat after we met up but I convinced her to have a nice lunch in the AC with us first. Food revived her and she spent the rest of the weekend touring with us and magically the heat wasn't unbearable after that (I did constantly check on her for water, gave her a frog togg, made sure she had plenty of AC breaks, and lay by the pool time). I know, I know - she's an adult and didn't need that much "mothering"...but the heat sapped her so much she had a hard time thinking straight. When we stayed on top of things, she was able to enjoy her time so much more. She was able to go from pretty much hating the whole trip to having a really fun time

 

[heidijanesmith]

I am totally with you on this one! I do not like the heat but my DH and family does.

This works for us:
1-RD. We hit rope drop for the early AM low crowds and lower heat
2- Take a long break, during the heat of the day and the worst of the crowds. We do pool time, but also rest/TV/nap in our room.
3- Hit the parks when the sun goes down.
4- Prepare to do laundry. I do laundry a couple times while on these summer trips. I start sweating the moment I am out of the hotel, we go through two full sets of clothes a day.
5- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

 

[TiffanyA]

This is my summer Disney itinerary:

1. Get up late. It's hot even early in the morning, so there's little point to me to making myself miserable by trying to hit RD (I'm not a morning person anyway)
2. Choose a water park for the the day and stay there until after lunch. Bring LOTS of sunscreen. RE-APPLY your sunscreen throughout your stay.
   
3. Back to hotel to shower and change into quick dry/exercise or loose clothes. Lounge in the A/C and then make your way to the parks at around 3PM. I like that there are no crowds to fight when entering at an off time.
4. RE-APPLY your sunscreen. Start your FPs now and take breaks in shops and indoor rides. My family has a lot of fun just looking at knick knacks. Eat a dole whip. Bring a mister. Bring water. RE-APPLY your sunscreen. Can't say this enough.
   
5. Do a TS dinner. This is a MUST for us. A nice relaxing break and then the sun goes down!
6. Do more rides! We usually have at least one FP left for after dinner. The outdoor ones are fun in the dark and the temps have become a lot more bearable now that the sun is waning.

We avoid Animal Kingdom during the hottest points of the day in the summer. We always go with park hoppers, so if we want to do AK, it is usually in the late afternoon or early evening.

 

[prprincess]

All of the previously mentioned advice is great, but I just wanted to point out something that we noticed when we went the last week of August 2016 Yes it was hot and humid, but not as bad as we thought. Our summers here in the Philadelphia area can get pretty hot and humid, and it honestly was no worse. So you never know--you may not react as badly to it as you're expecting. Have a great trip! I think it's a great time to go and would do it again.