Best park for a thunderstorm-filled day

[ewasilau]

Tomorrow is our last day at Disney. We are already a little sad, but a bit sadder because the weather is supposed to be awful. 70-90% chance of storms - not just rain - all day. We have to check out of our resort, but ME won't be picking us up until 6:10 pm, so we had a park day planned.

Which park would be the best bet? Or two? (we have PHs). Our original plan was MK until afternoon (we have morning FPs, changed Splash to Space and Jungle Cruise to Buzz already), then a couple of hours at EP. Should we stick to the plan? Any thoughts? We are really bummed as we really wanted more time at MK tonight and tomorrow but it's pouring out now and tomotomo looks awful...

 

[holden]

MK has lots of indoor attractions. I'd do that one.

 

[ChefLife]

I personally like EPCOT for thunderstorm days because the areas in Future World are all very close together so with ponchos it won’t be that difficult of a walk, and if it lets up enough the world showcase isn’t too bad as most of the stores are connected to each other. Also not many of the rides should be closed due to the weather so you should be fine on that front. However MK is also a good option as the park should be less crowded and you’ll be able to hit rides fairly fast. It also has a good amount of cover you can utilize if you really need it.

 

[Christine]

My son was supposed to do Epcot today and Universal tomorrow. Due to the possibility of all-day storms/thunderstorms, he swapped days figuring that a lot of what he wanted to do at Epcot would be indoors and much of what he wanted at Universal could get shut down. I guess it will work out. He did text me and say Universal was "shockingly" not crowded today.

 

[Ben E N]

My vote is for Epcot. The only real outside attraction that gets affected is Test Track, and it will be a little difficult to manage World Showcase, but like PP stated, the future world attractions are all close together and indoors.

 

[Antaniasmom]

I agree MK would be best, its easy to duck in places quick if need be. Also, it's the last day..what better reason to spend it at MK, even if it's raining.

 

[Ben E N]

I agree MK would be best, its easy to duck in places quick if need be. Also, it's the last day..what better reason to spend it at MK, even if it's raining.

Storms would shut down three top-notch attractions, though - Thunder Mountain, 7DMT, and Jungle Cruise. To each their own, though. It really depends on what someone really wants to see, ride, and eat on that last day.

 

[Antaniasmom]

Storms would shut down three top-notch attractions, though - Thunder Mountain, 7DMT, and Jungle Cruise. To each their own, though. It really depends on what someone really wants to see, ride, and eat on that last day.

That's ok though..at least for us we would still have the classics to ride and we always do that again on our last day. On our next trip, I could skip Epcot all together and be ok...spent wayyyyy too much time there last year. But that's just me.

 

[Ben E N]

That's ok though..at least for us we would still have the classics to ride and we always do that again on our last day. On our next trip, I could skip Epcot all together and be ok...spent wayyyyy too much time there last year. But that's just me.

That's the fun of Disney World. If it's Sea World, storms can basically shut it down for the day because it's all based on shows and roller coasters. Disney, on the other hand, has so much more variety. I could make a rainy day out of any of their parks, except for probably Animal Kingdom. There are rides that appeal to all different ages and interests.

 

[Bostonbeans99]

Throw on the Disney poncho and GO! To any of the parks.
Most of us are sitting here on a Sunday watching baseball or basketball or something other than a theme park

Indoor shows would even be worth it

 

[ewasilau]

Thanks for all of the input. Yes, MK or EP, or both, seem like the best choices. AK is definitely not, as we were there this afternoon and a lot closed when thunder was in the area. Some rides/attractions didn't take long to reopen, but others took hours. And the walkways flooded - impossible to walk without getting your feet soaked as they were flooded all the way across.
And we rode Thunder mtn 3x already this trip, 7DMT 2x, and did jungle cruise, so it's ok if those are unavailable. We still have Monsters Inc and Mickeys philharmagic on the list for tomorrow too - perfect rainy day rides!

 

[vicb]

Thanks for all of the input. Yes, MK or EP, or both, seem like the best choices. AK is definitely not, as we were there this afternoon and a lot closed when thunder was in the area. Some rides/attractions didn't take long to reopen, but others took hours. And the walkways flooded - impossible to walk without getting your feet soaked as they were flooded all the way across.
And we rode Thunder mtn 3x already this trip, 7DMT 2x, and did jungle cruise, so it's ok if those are unavailable. We still have Monsters Inc and Mickeys philharmagic on the list for tomorrow too - perfect rainy day rides!

We did MK in the rain last Sunday (no thunder/lightning so rides all open). You can also do indoors: HM, Tiki Room, Monsters Laugh, Small World, Pooh, Little Mermaid, PoC , People Mover (covered), Buzz, SM etc... and souvenir shopping as all those shops on Main St.are linked together indoors. We took some pictures on the porch of the Main St. Townhall so we were dry. We had ponchos and mini umbrellas, we were mostly dry except our feet. Good luck.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I actually prefer DHS in the rain. All of the shows are indoors as well as the rides. In fact, there really isn't much, if anything, that would shut down in the rain at DHS.

 

[Dennis DVC]

I actually prefer DHS in the rain. All of the shows are indoors as well as the rides. In fact, there really isn't much, if anything, that would shut down in the rain at DHS.

i was just going to write that! lol i agree... no rides will be effected by the storm there and indiana jones, frozen, little mermaid, fantasmic and DJL for the kids for shows

 

[JerseyJanice]

Epcot was our best park in the days leading up to Hurricane Matthew.

 

[KenHutch]

As I posted in another thread. The best day I have ever had at Disney was at Epcot during an all day rain. Almost no one in the park and my then 12 year old spent the day wandering the World Showcase shopping. We did miss out on Test Track but she is not in love with that ride anyways.

 

[only hope]

At HS, Indiana Jones is affected. If there’s lightening or the pavement is too wet, they can’t do the (large) portion of the show that occurs outside the covered pavillion. The stormtrooper march and SW shows are also cancelled during rain/lightening, as is Fantasmic.

Keep safety in mind. It’s dangerous to walk between covered areas when there is lightening. People are killed by lightening every year in Florida.

 

[GillianP1301]

We did a tropical storm day at EP and it was pretty good. Future World is all indoor, with the exception of Test Track, which will close in rain or storm. I also think DHS is a good option because it's mostly indoor attractions as well. MK is okay because there are a lot of places to go into if it really starts to pour (shops, rides, restaurants) and they are all pretty close together. The disadvantage is you lose several attractions in inclement weather and most of the headliners. I would choose AK last because there are fewer place to escape there, although the safari in the rain is great (assuming no lightning) because the animals are the most active then.

 

[vinotinto]

And if you are in AK when thunderstorms close EE and Safari, don't forget that AK has both Nemo and FotLK, which are both fully inside and are both great shows!

 

[mitsukoshi samurai]

Pandora