Cooling neck towels - I don't get it

[StarCruzer]

I use a UV umbrella/parasol here in Texas at every festival or other outdoor event. I took it all over Europe. People always comment on how smart that is. I plan on taking it to WDW in September too. It's small...cell phone size and weighs about the same. I sunscreen up but after having spots removed by the dr., I'm not taking any chances with going through cancer again! People can stare away at me in my personal shade!

Oooh, if you happen to have a product link please share! My umbrella is a little larger and I was looking for something a little smaller for traveling in the future

 

[Sleepy425]

I bring cooling towels whenever I'm out and about in the heat. I hate t shirts (I get so hot when my arm pits are covered), so the cooling towel helps to keep my shoulders covered so they don't burn (yes I put sunscreen on too). I run long races with cooling towels also, and to keep them on I use a safety pin to close the ends together. This way they can't fall off my neck. At water stations volunteers will happily pour water on the towel and it really helps during hot races. The brown thing around my neck in my avatar pic is a cooling towel during a half marathon.

 

[Micca]

"Cooling the neck region allowed participants to tolerate higher rectal temperatures and HRs before they voluntarily terminated exercise at identical levels of perceived thermal comfort and ratings of perceived exertion in a hot environment.

Just spit-ballin' here, if I freeze a water bottle...

 

[cobright]

Personally, no needs to be that close to me in the first place!

Let's be clear, we're talking about walking around in a Disney Park. For most of us, even a small umbrella will double the floorspace we occupy. Imagine a toddler in a crowded line with his arms straight out just spinning like a top, that's an umbrella.

PSA: It may just be me but, please do not use drinking fountains to wet cooling towels. There are many places to freshen them but a place where people put their mouth to drink is not a place to rinse/wet a towel that has been used to remove sweat from your body. This grosses me out every single time I see people doing it!!

I would recommend that you never ever watch someone drink from a drinking fountain ever. By design only about 70% of the water that gets pumped into the average user's mouth stays in the user. The rest falls out of that mouth, possibly cascading down the "drinker's" chin or filtered through their facial hair before splashing back into the basin. There is every chance that the returning flow of water is making that trip from the user's mouth to the basin drain with a detour directly across the opening of the port that emitted that water in the first place.

That... that is the pristine state of the water fountain you caution us not to sully by placing an absorbent towel in the path of water. I'm not saying your observations are inaccurate, but your conclusions may be miscalibrated. If you're already okay with drinking out of a beard-broth soaked spittoon, drawing the line and a bit of neck sweat seems churlish.

e.t.a.::: your mouth should not go on any part of the drinking fountain.

e.t.a.::: gratuitous edition::: I watched someone change their baby in a drinking fountain once. EPCOT. Not just as a platform, used the plumbing.

It used to be common that the spigot part of the fountain was a brass or bronze alloy, the copper in either is an amazing antimicrobial. Oddly, concern over potential lead content in these plumbing fittings has scared people off and most are chrome plated even if brass underneath. Sad, because chrome actually pits easy and makes a nice home for ... things and except in crazy odd situations (/sigh Flint, MI) the kinds of PH water needs to get to to pull lead out of plumbing (if it's there at all) is exceedingly rare. (Sorry, getting off my soapbox now)

 

[zackiedawg]

I find cooling towels do work to some effect - as would any regular towel when wetted - the cooling towels are designed to hold moisture a little better than regular towels. For me, they're at least easy enough to bring along even if I'm walking the parks with no bags - I just use a Ziploc freezer bag, fold it up tight inside and stick it in a back pocket. Use when needed. Water bottles and umbrellas and such aren't for me because they'd require a bag or just take up extra space or occupy hands - so I don't bother with anything that's not wearable.

I do use a cooling hat - I have both a baseball style and a boonie style - both use the same materials and concepts as cooling towels and can be wetted anytime - they do work better than wetting a normal ballcap which mostly just dribbles down on your face and back - these once wrung out stay mostly drip-free yet retain moisture pretty good. The hats are also UV - so especially the boonie which has a 360 degree brim, can work really well.

I mostly wear fishing shirts around the parks - they are very light, ventilated, and dry incredibly fast, and are also UV protecting. So if a little moisture from a cooling towel or hat does drip down, it only wets the shirt for a few minutes and it dries fast.

I usually go to Disney World in June and early September, so am there during the hottest and most humid times. For me, it's easy to justify since I live in S Florida - avoiding the parks because of the heat and humidity doesn't do me any good since I've got the same temperature and humidity at home...I can't really avoid it, so might as well be in the most fun place I can be while dealing with the heat and humidity! I'm also a wildlife photographer, so all through the Florida summer, I'm marching around on fire roads in the Everglades, visiting wetlands parks where you're walking around a swamp, etc. Typically on weekends I'll spend 4-6 hours in direct sun in a swampy area walking 5-8 miles. The cooling hats definitely come in handy - in a pinch, I can even dip them in the swampwater to wet them - just have to clear away the duckweed and algae and make sure a gator isn't lurking at the bank just under the water!

 

[Victoria3]

Since you asked...
Everyone using an umbrella in a crowded theme park is a sociopath. On a very finite sidewalk, you decide that you deserve 2-3x your normal footprint? That water falling out of the sky belongs on the people around you? An extra 3 or 4 seconds waiting for you to close the thing when you come to an abrupt halt at every door is NBD for the people backing up in the rain behind you?

If you'll only use it when there is no one closer than arms reach anyway... sure, go for it. In the end, your legs and shoes will still get soaked and walking with it will probably slow you down to the point where they get even wetter.

Choose fast dry clothes, get rained on, 15 minutes later you're dry again.

I use an umbrella all the time in the parks and I’ve never hit anyone.

Umbrellas are allowed in the parks. No need to make people feel bad for wanting to protect themselves from the elements. Skin cancer ain’t cute.

I use a UV umbrella/parasol here in Texas at every festival or other outdoor event. I took it all over Europe. People always comment on how smart that is. I plan on taking it to WDW in September too. It's small...cell phone size and weighs about the same. I sunscreen up but after having spots removed by the dr., I'm not taking any chances with going through cancer again! People can stare away at me in my personal shade!

This. I get compliments from other guests all the time about how smart I am to use a UV umbrella in the parks.

 

[katyjeka]

I use a UV umbrella/parasol here in Texas at every festival or other outdoor event. I took it all over Europe. People always comment on how smart that is. I plan on taking it to WDW in September too. It's small...cell phone size and weighs about the same. I sunscreen up but after having spots removed by the dr., I'm not taking any chances with going through cancer again! People can stare away at me in my personal shade!

We go in September and I promise not to stare!!! Everyone needs to do what works best for them. Besides If everyone is staring at you they will ignore our big group singing our way through the parks...we've been known to get our share of looks....

 

[parasail_of_congress]

Since you asked...
Everyone using an umbrella in a crowded theme park is a sociopath. On a very finite sidewalk, you decide that you deserve 2-3x your normal footprint? That water falling out of the sky belongs on the people around you? An extra 3 or 4 seconds waiting for you to close the thing when you come to an abrupt halt at every door is NBD for the people backing up in the rain behind you?

If you'll only use it when there is no one closer than arms reach anyway... sure, go for it. In the end, your legs and shoes will still get soaked and walking with it will probably slow you down to the point where they get even wetter.

Choose fast dry clothes, get rained on, 15 minutes later you're dry again.

This is such a bizarre comment that I have to wonder, do you also think people shouldn't wear coats in the cold or push strollers or hold hands because they take up too much space and/or spend an extra second getting through a door?

 

[elvispursley]

This is such a bizarre comment that I have to wonder, do you also think people shouldn't wear coats in the cold or push strollers or hold hands because they take up too much space and/or spend an extra second getting through a door?

So glad I’m not the only one who thought this post was weird.
After reading how so many people find the UV umbrella helpful, I ordered on for our trip next week. Will keep a running tally of how many people I “bump” into or possibly maim from using it

 

[Tillert]

I actually bought one of those neck fans for the first time for a recent DW trip during memorial day (it was really hot!) and I do think it definitely helped. It was one of those with a small metal plate that also get cold which I think was also nice. Would love to try one of the bigger more expensive ones but don’t really want to invest in something that might not work well nor I would use often. I let my wife try it but she was put off by the weight so that is in a consideration.