August touring plans

[Megan138]

Hi! I've booked a trip for 7 days for late August/early September. It's my husband and 4 kids going and usually we go in the spring (April/May) so while we are used to the weather being warm/hot I understand August will be hot/hot. We usually rope drop and spend the day in the parks until closing or have an early dinner (around 5pm) at the park or resort and spend the rest of the evening by the pool. I see a lot of recommendations to break up the day by going back to the resort mid-day to get a break from the heat and then head back out after dinner to the parks. It would be helpful to hear from others who go in August how they tour.

Another factor is that we are staying club level at Boardwalk Inn so I can get extra fast passes and am also close to two parks so I'm trying to determine how that should impact my plans. Thanks all!!

 

[123SA]

If you haven't already, you may want to join us in the August thread: https://www.disboards.com/forums/doing-the-happy-dance.108/

I do a 14 day trip in August. We do park open until close, except for the days that follow an after hours event we attend. We may sleep in a little and arrive at the parks around 11. I find that in order for a break to actually be helpful, I need about 4 hours -- 1 hour to make my way out of the park, to my car, drive to the resort, walk to my room, shower/cleanup, 2 hours rest, 40 minutes to an hour to wake up, get dressed, get back to the park. I'm never willing to give up that much time. When the kids were little, we did better with cutting the days short, as opposed to taking a break in the middle.

How old are your kids?

 

[Megan138]

If you haven't already, you may want to join us in the August thread: https://www.disboards.com/forums/doing-the-happy-dance.108/

I do a 14 day trip in August. We do park open until close, except for the days that follow an after hours event we attend. We may sleep in a little and arrive at the parks around 11. I find that in order for a break to actually be helpful, I need about 4 hours -- 1 hour to make my way out of the park, to my car, drive to the resort, walk to my room, shower/cleanup, 2 hours rest, 40 minutes to an hour to wake up, get dressed, get back to the park. I'm never willing to give up that much time. When the kids were little, we did better with cutting the days short, as opposed to taking a break in the middle.

How old are your kids?

Thanks for the response! So the heat doesn't make it unmanageable to stay in the parks through mid-day for you? My kids will be 12, 11, 9 and 5 at the time of the trip - they usually do fine with our touring plans of rope drop to park close as long as we take a break at some point for a sit down meal in the AC.

I will definitely join that thread! Thanks for pointing it out to me.

 

[sharonabe]

So the heat doesn't make it unmanageable to stay in the parks through mid-day for you?

Where are you coming from? It's not the heat as much as the humidity that zaps your energy and especially if you're not used to it.

 

[Calee]

We did afternoon breaks for the first time on our last trip, which was in July. Our other trips had been sept, oct and may and we didnt take breaks. We needed them in the summer and enjoyed the pool. At least on the days when you are at a park close to your resort it wouldnt hurt to be open to the idea.

 

[Megan138]

Where are you coming from? It's not the heat as much as the humidity that zaps your energy and especially if you're not used to it.

We are coming from NY - LI specifically so it does get humid here also. That's helpful to think about. Thanks.

We did afternoon breaks for the first time on our last trip, which was in July. Our other trips had been sept, oct and may and we didnt take breaks. We needed them in the summer and enjoyed the pool. At least on the days when you are at a park close to your resort it wouldnt hurt to be open to the idea.

Thanks for the comparison to your other trips, since we also traveled in May. We love the pool also so I'm not against the break but I'm also thinking about whether I can get everyone rallied to go back to the parks at night. Maybe I'll break up the fast passes so we have some in the evening.

 

[123SA]

Thanks for the response! So the heat doesn't make it unmanageable to stay in the parks through mid-day for you? My kids will be 12, 11, 9 and 5 at the time of the trip - they usually do fine with our touring plans of rope drop to park close as long as we take a break at some point for a sit down meal in the AC.

I will definitely join that thread! Thanks for pointing it out to me.

We're from NJ -- the heat and humidity are the same. We're used to it. We quit afternoon breaks years ago when we were done with diapers. My kids are year round competition swimmers, so the pool isn't an alternative for them - this is their break from the pool. They are also old now...youngest is 14 vs your youngest at 5. Maybe the youngest will need that break.

Last few summers my middle son has had bad luck. He had a stomach bug last trip, so one adult left with him for the day, but that's not really a break. Trip before he broke his foot right before we arrived and needed a wheel chair to get through the day - -12+ hours on crutches wasn't doable. Twice the heat was too much for him and again one adult had to leave for a break with him.

I think the breaks are just such a PITA and time waster...but when they were needed, we did it. I think it really is a matter of what works best for your family. Are the kids going to whine and not actually rest (like mine)? Are you going to have to fight with them to get out of the pool and go back to the parks? OR, are they or you, going to be a cranky beast at 2:00 in the heat and humidity, but after you rest, all will be restored to normal?

 

[cooperams]

Because you are staying at the Boardwalk, taking the afternoon break when visiting HS or Epcot is easy. It's a relatively short walk or boat ride to each of those parks from the Boardwalk. We always stay at Beach Club and love hitting rope drop and staying at the parks until lunch. We come back to the resort for a few hours to enjoy the pool and enjoy NOT standing in line for a few hours. We then love to head to Epcot for dinner many nights and walk around.
I always find the morning weather in August most enjoyable at the parks. Expect afternoon/evening storms, though most will be brief.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We go every August as well because of the kids being on different schedules. We are from NYC and Florida is hot but it does depend - there are summers when it is really hot and some that it is unbearable. When we stay club level we have breakfast at the lounge then head to the parks. We always have a air conditioned TS lunch to beat the heat. We usually head back to the resort for late appetizers and then back to a park for the evening. It does depend where we are staying and how long it takes to go back and forth. We usually stay near MK or EPCOT so AK is usually a full day. I hope that helps.

By the way the BWI is one of our favorite CLs. We LOVE the CMs in the lounge and the food offerings. We are staying there as well this summer. Enjoy your trip.

 

[Spunky946]

We are not morning people anymore, so we love the late nights. We also don’t have to do everything, so we might go to the parks around lunch, take a break and then go back between 5-6 and spend the evening/night at which ever park is open the latest. Even when we did the earlier, we still took a break, to me, I needed it as much as the kids.

 

[Tonberry]

We have two times that we go. Once a year in late August and every other year in early-mid December. Both times of year have different strategies.
I remember the first August visit back in 2014 and we just tried to do too much. Every family is different, but my kids can't make a whole park day in the August heat. We generally have 2 strategies:
1) Rope drop and morning parks. Back to resort for rest and swimming for lunch and the afternoon and back to the parks for late afternoon & evening Fastpasses.
2) Sleep late, early swimming or relaxing, casual lunch, and 1/2 park days beginning in early afternoon (when other park people head back to resorts for a break.
Park hoppers are also a good idea. We buy them for our August trips, but never for our December trips. You can use Fastpasses in the morning, and while you're relaxing in the afternoon, see if you can find an additional Fastpasses in another park (or in your case, use your purchased 3 for later in the day at another park).

 

[Megan138]

We're from NJ -- the heat and humidity are the same. We're used to it. We quit afternoon breaks years ago when we were done with diapers. My kids are year round competition swimmers, so the pool isn't an alternative for them - this is their break from the pool. They are also old now...youngest is 14 vs your youngest at 5. Maybe the youngest will need that break.

Last few summers my middle son has had bad luck. He had a stomach bug last trip, so one adult left with him for the day, but that's not really a break. Trip before he broke his foot right before we arrived and needed a wheel chair to get through the day - -12+ hours on crutches wasn't doable. Twice the heat was too much for him and again one adult had to leave for a break with him.

I think the breaks are just such a PITA and time waster...but when they were needed, we did it. I think it really is a matter of what works best for your family. Are the kids going to whine and not actually rest (like mine)? Are you going to have to fight with them to get out of the pool and go back to the parks? OR, are they or you, going to be a cranky beast at 2:00 in the heat and humidity, but after you rest, all will be restored to normal?

Thanks for all the great information. All really good points. I‘m going to try to plan the days a few ways to see what we can potentially get done. I know my kids wouldn’t rest in the room knowing the pool was available right outside but it would at least be a break from the lines and crowds.

 

[Megan138]

Because you are staying at the Boardwalk, taking the afternoon break when visiting HS or Epcot is easy. It's a relatively short walk or boat ride to each of those parks from the Boardwalk. We always stay at Beach Club and love hitting rope drop and staying at the parks until lunch. We come back to the resort for a few hours to enjoy the pool and enjoy NOT standing in line for a few hours. We then love to head to Epcot for dinner many nights and walk around.
I always find the morning weather in August most enjoyable at the parks. Expect afternoon/evening storms, though most will be brief.

I was actually considering just doing Epcot at night since it’s so close to the hotel. Thanks

We go every August as well because of the kids being on different schedules. We are from NYC and Florida is hot but it does depend - there are summers when it is really hot and some that it is unbearable. When we stay club level we have breakfast at the lounge then head to the parks. We always have a air conditioned TS lunch to beat the heat. We usually head back to the resort for late appetizers and then back to a park for the evening. It does depend where we are staying and how long it takes to go back and forth. We usually stay near MK or EPCOT so AK is usually a full day. I hope that helps.

By the way the BWI is one of our favorite CLs. We LOVE the CMs in the lounge and the food offerings. We are staying there as well this summer. Enjoy your trip.

Thanks for the insight on BWI club level. It’s our first club level stay and I’m so excited. We also really like having table service breaks in the park. I can definitely do something like that to break up the day.

We are not morning people anymore, so we love the late nights. We also don’t have to do everything, so we might go to the parks around lunch, take a break and then go back between 5-6 and spend the evening/night at which ever park is open the latest. Even when we did the earlier, we still took a break, to me, I needed it as much as the kids.

Yes - I’m sure I’ll need a break also. Thanks

We have two times that we go. Once a year in late August and every other year in early-mid December. Both times of year have different strategies.
I remember the first August visit back in 2014 and we just tried to do too much. Every family is different, but my kids can't make a whole park day in the August heat. We generally have 2 strategies:
1) Rope drop and morning parks. Back to resort for rest and swimming for lunch and the afternoon and back to the parks for late afternoon & evening Fastpasses.
2) Sleep late, early swimming or relaxing, casual lunch, and 1/2 park days beginning in early afternoon (when other park people head back to resorts for a break.
Park hoppers are also a good idea. We buy them for our August trips, but never for our December trips. You can use Fastpasses in the morning, and while you're relaxing in the afternoon, see if you can find an additional Fastpasses in another park (or in your case, use your purchased 3 for later in the day at another park).

I do plan on getting park hoppers since we will be so close to Epcot and DHS. Do your evening fast passes ever get derailed with the weather in August? That’s my main concern with scheduling them late. Thanks

 

[Rockette]

Do a day or two at Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon. Especially with the summer heat it'll be a blessing. It seems like ever since they built Volcano Bay at Universal, the Disney water parks got less crowded.

 

[Tonberry]

We had a Fastpass for 7DMT for 4:30-5:30 but it shut down around 4:15 for lightning in the area. Then it poured for over an hour. We got an "anytime" Fastpass. But the great part was that the rain had nearly emptied out the park!

 

[chaboyd]

We typically go in August or September. We don't take a break in the middle of the day, though that is a great time to do shows that might be inside. We are from GA though, so we're fairly used to the heat and humidity. You just need to stay well hydrated.

Since you are staying a fair amount of days, I would think about alternating the open to close days with days that you rest a little and enjoy the resort/pool.

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

We go in August and stay in the parks all day. It's very hot but still manageable. We mostly just get very sweaty. We bring our own tall stainless steel water bottles that we fill with water and ice in the hotel room. They still cold all day, which helps us stay hydrated. We like to have a table service lunch in the park to have a cool break. Most of the rides are indoors and have indoor queues, so you're mostly just outside when you're walking somewhere. We also spend two half days at the water parks and one half day at the resort pool. We also make sure to dress in light clothes, water proof sandals, and hair up. It also can rain a lot, so that will cool you down.

 

[IluvMGM]

We went last year early Sep and are going this year as well. We did not take breaks. For me, it's more exhausting to leave the park, walk to the bus, go back to the hotel and then do the same thing later to go back to the park. We got early starts, and some days we left around 5-6 as we were getting up early the next day. Some days we did stay to see fireworks. We played it by ear.

 

[glocon]

Went the last two August’s, took afternoon breaks from about 1-4/5. Only because my son wanted to go to gym. Otherwise, I think a table service/ longer lunch in some a/c and then a show in the a/c would have been fine. But your being club level, I definitely would want to spend time at the resort and enjoy those benefits.

 

[Megan138]

Do a day or two at Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon. Especially with the summer heat it'll be a blessing. It seems like ever since they built Volcano Bay at Universal, the Disney water parks got less crowded.

My kids love the water parks. We are planning on doing Typhoon Lagoon our arrival day. Maybe I’ll make plans for some time at Blizzard Beach. Thanks