August touring plans

[Where'sPiglet?]

I've been going in late July the last couple of years.

You really have to be mindful of staying hydrated. It can sneak up on you if you're not intentionally staying on top of it. I bring a Hydroflask and fill it with ice from the food court at my resort in the morning and it will stay cold all day. I also like to bring Nuun tablets to add to water. They are effervescent electrolyte tablets that come in a small tube, so the're really easy to pack.

I find that I do need a midday break in summer, either in air conditioning or a pool, especially if it's an Animal Kingdom day. I love that park, but in the summer it's brutal. There are far fewer indoor attractions and restaurants at that park, and the thick foliage seems to prevent air flow. I actually had a park map melt onto my arm at rope drop - I had it in my elbow to stop and take a picture, and the colors transferred to my arm!

 

[Megan138]

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.

Thanks. I like your idea of alternating long days and rest days. Usually we go all out at the beginning days and then slow down towards the end but it makes sense with the heat to break it up more.

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.

This is helpful. We usually bring plastic water bottles to the parks so I’ll switch it up this time with the stainless steel. I also like the waterproof sandals suggestion. That was a concern if our sneakers get wet. Thanks

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.

Thanks. I do want to have some flexibility if we are feeling up to staying for the fireworks

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.

Yes. I do want to take advantage of the club level which is making this harder. I’m planning right now to do breakfast there a lot and the appetizers/dinner in the evening. Thanks

 

[Sarahslay]

I have gone several years in a row in August, and have stayed at BWI so I'll try to let you know my strategy if it were me with my family. First off, mid day is the HOTTEST (and I do mean HOT) so I take a break, usually around lunch time, and BWI has the awesome food so I would go back, get something to eat, and then hit the pool. After that I would clean up, hit up the lounge for dinner right at 5, then head to another park. It starts to get dramatically cooler after the sun starts going down and you can usually miss most of the rain. I have been every month from April-September many times and I can say August is the hardest to do an all day in the parks plan for me. So humid, so hot, it's just rough. Even though I drink a ton of water I still end up having issues on at least one day with the heat. I had the extra FP when I stayed at BWI this past month and I was still able to go back to the lounge and have both lunch and dinner there and get tons of rest and park time.

 

[Megan138]

I've been going in late July the last couple of years.

You really have to be mindful of staying hydrated. It can sneak up on you if you're not intentionally staying on top of it. I bring a Hydroflask and fill it with ice from the food court at my resort in the morning and it will stay cold all day. I also like to bring Nuun tablets to add to water. They are effervescent electrolyte tablets that come in a small tube, so the're really easy to pack.

I find that I do need a midday break in summer, either in air conditioning or a pool, especially if it's an Animal Kingdom day. I love that park, but in the summer it's brutal. There are far fewer indoor attractions and restaurants at that park, and the thick foliage seems to prevent air flow. I actually had a park map melt onto my arm at rope drop - I had it in my elbow to stop and take a picture, and the colors transferred to my arm!

Thanks for the tip about the tablets. I’ll look into those. Yeah I can definitely see how AK would get super hot. These are all good ideas.

 

[Megan138]

I have gone several years in a row in August, and have stayed at BWI so I'll try to let you know my strategy if it were me with my family. First off, mid day is the HOTTEST (and I do mean HOT) so I take a break, usually around lunch time, and BWI has the awesome food so I would go back, get something to eat, and then hit the pool. After that I would clean up, hit up the lounge for dinner right at 5, then head to another park. It starts to get dramatically cooler after the sun starts going down and you can usually miss most of the rain. I have been every month from April-September many times and I can say August is the hardest to do an all day in the parks plan for me. So humid, so hot, it's just rough. Even though I drink a ton of water I still end up having issues on at least one day with the heat. I had the extra FP when I stayed at BWI this past month and I was still able to go back to the lounge and have both lunch and dinner there and get tons of rest and park time.

Thanks for sharing your experience with BWI. I really want to take advantage of the lounge and extra fast passes while we are there.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I thought of something else. Consider what clothing you wear. I try to limit cotton on my summer trips and wear primarily moisture-wicking athletic wear. This comes in really handy for the humidity, the afternoon rains, and water rides.

I have found the running skirts with the built-in shorts to be great park attire. The brand I like used to be called SparkleSkirts, but now it's Bolder Athletic. They have a zipper pocket at the waistline as well as pockets on the shorts that are large enough for my phone.

 

[k_hase]

We often go at the end of August and never do open-close park days. Typically we would rope drop and be done by 11 or 12, then lunch at our room (DVC), swim and take some time to to relax (this usually means lights off, curtains closed, but probably reading/watching videos), then head back at dinner. The later hours of the parks help with this. Sometimes, we sleep in, swim all day and visit a park just at night, and at least once go to a water park.

The break helps keep us from getting cranky!

 

[DeluxePrincess]

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!!

You are pretty much living my trip from last year. We stayed Club Level at BWI. It was totally worth it! They are so fantastic over there. I highly recommend the CL extra fast passes. This will be a life saver for you!, especially with the heat! We usually got the FP at 2 different parks so we could Park hop, but you can do it however you like. Our family rope dropped, stayed in the parks until about noon, napped/swam/relaxed until about 5 and had dinner in a park/resort. We would head back out after dinner, but on some nights, we just decided to hang out at BWI because we love it so much.

The heat never really bothers me, but that August heat was next level. You will want to be at the resort during mid-day.

 

[Kaadk]

We did the week before Labour day back in '17, and it was over 100F in the shade, and with the humidity felt like 130F (ok, maybe not really quite that much, but to us, it seemed bad). We ended up just forgoing a lot of our FPs. That trip was booked relatively last minute and most of our FPs were mid-day, when it was hottest. Instead, we'd head back to the hotel (YC) and try to head to the pool. I say 'try' because it seemed most days, they'd be closing the pool due to the afternoon storms rolling in just about the time we'd get down there.

During that trip, my wife said "never again" will she do Disney in August. Well... we're booked again this year the week before Labour day. But this year we're travelling with another family who could only go during that particular week, so, into the heat we go. At least this time around we've got some leeway, so I'm hoping I can snag mostly early morning, or if not, late night FPs, and avoid anything that will force us to be in the parks in the middle of the day.

 

[Megan138]

You are pretty much living my trip from last year. We stayed Club Level at BWI. It was totally worth it! They are so fantastic over there. I highly recommend the CL extra fast passes. This will be a life saver for you!, especially with the heat! We usually got the FP at 2 different parks so we could Park hop, but you can do it however you like. Our family rope dropped, stayed in the parks until about noon, napped/swam/relaxed until about 5 and had dinner in a park/resort. We would head back out after dinner, but on some nights, we just decided to hang out at BWI because we love it so much.

The heat never really bothers me, but that August heat was next level. You will want to be at the resort during mid-day.

I'm so glad you liked BWI club level. It's our first time at the resort also. I was definitely planning on doing the CL extra fast passes but I'm still thinking about how to space them out and utilize them.

We did the week before Labour day back in '17, and it was over 100F in the shade, and with the humidity felt like 130F (ok, maybe not really quite that much, but to us, it seemed bad). We ended up just forgoing a lot of our FPs. That trip was booked relatively last minute and most of our FPs were mid-day, when it was hottest. Instead, we'd head back to the hotel (YC) and try to head to the pool. I say 'try' because it seemed most days, they'd be closing the pool due to the afternoon storms rolling in just about the time we'd get down there.

During that trip, my wife said "never again" will she do Disney in August. Well... we're booked again this year the week before Labour day. But this year we're travelling with another family who could only go during that particular week, so, into the heat we go. At least this time around we've got some leeway, so I'm hoping I can snag mostly early morning, or if not, late night FPs, and avoid anything that will force us to be in the parks in the middle of the day.

Thanks for this - I'm definitely glad I'll have more control over the fast passes and more that I can book through CL. Do you recall what time it usually started raining and then stopped? That would help my plans.

 

[Kaadk]

..
Thanks for this - I'm definitely glad I'll have more control over the fast passes and more that I can book through CL. Do you recall what time it usually started raining and then stopped? That would help my plans.

It was '17, but generally, around 2-4 most days we were there.

 

[Ksquared]

We did park hopper plus option last August and it worked out great. We went to each water park for a half day and did the parks those evenings with fast passes. One morning we slept in and then went mini golfing early when it first opened then attacked the parks around lunchtime onward. Last August they did the H2O glow nights and that was allot of fun so if you want to try that one night it was well worth the money and a great time to be in the water park. I remember one of the days we decided to go swimming a storm came in (we were also at BWI) so we went back to our room and waited til we saw the boats running and then headed over to HS. We got an anytime FP for our slinky dog that we missed and the rain seemed to clear the park out and we had a great time that night. All in all, the heat wasn't so bad. One one day seemed unbearable and we were over at Epcot to get lunch. We were hungry, dripping with sweat and everyone wanted something different to eat. Ah, once we were all fed, it wasn't so bad. You will enjoy your trip, just be flexible with heat/rain/etc.