Dealing with the August Heat

[The Candy Man]

Hi All , I am new to this board but I am a seasoned Disney veteran!
We ( Me, DW and 3 kids) always go to see Mickey & co the last 2 weeks in August due to the parks being remarkebly quiet. The only downside to this (apart from the rip off school holiday airfares!) is the heat!! Does anyone have any advice for staying cool?

Thanks in advance

TCM

 

[KayleeUK]

Hi there Welcome to the DIS

I haven't been in August myself. But how about those Mist fan's and schedule some time in air conditioned shows LOL

 

[Firefly777]

Yes, the mist fans were a lifesaver for us. If you plan to go to off-site stores, I'm sure you can find a cheaper one than the ones they sell at WDW.

Also, when you're at the Magic Kingdom, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority is a great way to relax and cool off.

 

[Dimplenose]

I've been twice in August and didn't find it too bad if we drank plenty of water and interspersed our outside activity with indoor ones. An early afternoon trip to the cinema was particularly good for keeping cool.

We found the concrete on the ground was very bad (or is that good?) at reflecting the heat. So Disney Market Place and EPCOT were more bearable very early or very late.

One day I did feel cool - almost cold - it was after an early visit to Kali River Rapids and to coin a phrase "I didn't just get wet I got soaked." Spending the day in a wet t-shirt certainly helped.

We're going for the same 2 weeks next year.

Libby

 

[slinky101]

we also used mist-fans, picked up 2 between the four of us at a £1 shop in the uk before we went. we booked meal packages for times between 3.30 and 5 to avoid prime thunderstorm time and other than that u just accept that your going to spend $2.50 a time on quite a few of the coke/sprite bottles. these were the 500ml size so i thought the prices reasonable. last two weeks of august was "bug season" but hardly noticed them in the parks compared to back at the (off-site) hotel. using the air/con shows both indoor and outdoor where they use fans about 3 feet across is also a good tip. my wife claimed that she had to go in the air/con shops......i wonder?????

 

[Miffy2003]

Slinky, I totally agree with your wife about the air con shops

We have only been in August and follow all the above advice - make sure we go into a nice air conditioned show on a regular basis - drink drink drink!! We bought an Epcot drink ball that you can dangle round your neck and continually sip as you walk around.

Another tip I read everywhere but don't follow myself is the go back to your room/villa (depenind on where it is!) for a break after lunch. Oh yes, book somewhere cool for lunch too!

Like you I'm tied to school hols but love the quietness in the parks after mid August! Agree about the airfares though

Karen

 

[vernon]

Most important is drinking PLENTY of non alcoholic fluids. With the water at the Disney parks ( most of Florida for that matter) being pretty nasty to taste I would suggest getting something to take the taste away. If you're in a villa then you can get powerade or gatorade ( salt replacement drinks) in powder form, mix them up the night before and put them in the freezer overnight. They stay cold for ages and you can add in water from the fountains as you go round. It makes the drinks go further and helps take away some of the taste of the fountain water.

I tend to find the salt replacement drinks they sell in the parks are also a little strong, so by watering these down a little you can make them go a little further (plus you don't want to be drinking dozens of the full strength stuff).

I don't often break for lunch, but I agree with trying to find somewhere that has aircon for lunch, many of the fast food outlets do have aircon, it's just a question of finding them and planning so you're in the right area of the park. Again planning so you can do indoor shows and rides during the worst of the day ( I seem to find that between 2-5 is the hottest part of the day) helps to keep you slightly more comfortable.

 

[Mpet]

Hi

This tip only works if you've got access to a freezer - so you need to be staying in a villa/apartment etc.

We buy indivdual (1 person) bottles of water from Publix/Walmart etc (they're really cheap). We then freeze them (don't foget to tip a little bit out of the bottle first as they can split). We take a couple of frozen bottles to the park. They melt fairly slowly and you alwasy have ice cold water to hand. Also they work very well in cooling faces/necks as a sort of ice pack.

Maxine

 

[EvertonCJ]

A couple of you have mentioned that the parks are very quiet during the second half of August. We arrive at Disney on August 11th for 2 weeks. How long do you normally wait for the rides at this time of year? Is it the same at Universal? Would appreciate any comments.
EvertonCJ

 

[expatscot]

We have just purchased 'Brita' water filter bottles, so hopefully we can fill them up at the fountains and the water wont taste so nasty as its filtered as you squeeze the bottle! Each filter does about 80 refills of the 500ml size bottle.

Used the frozen bottle trick before and agree it excellent idea but we wont have access to a freezer this trip

 

[Dimplenose]

We found the queues at Disney to be less than 20 minutes for most rides - if they were any longer we'd get a fast pass. There were very few rides where the fast pass tickets had all gone before mid afternoon.

US and IOA were a differnt thing. Most of the queues were 45 minutes or longer. The express tickets had all gone for the most popular rides by mid morning and the standby estimates were usually inaccurate ( I think they were upset by the FOTL guests). We should have got there earlier in the day.

Next time we're going to spend a night at a Universal Hotel.

BTW we went to Busch Gardens (on a launch day at KSC) and nearly everything was walk on.

Libby

 

[cocinelle]

expatscot- where did you get your brita bottles? please tell me there's an excuse to 'practice' using my credit card before we get to WDW..

cocinelle x

 

[expatscot]

Brita Bottles available from Robert Dyas in store or online. Unfortunately they are around £10 and I believe you can get them in Kmart and Walmart for the same in dollars!

 

[The Candy Man]

Thanks everyone for the advice-it is much appreciated and - has anyone tried those cans of Magicool whilst out there - do they really work or a they just a gimmick??

Thanks
TCM

 

[Disney owl]

Again drink lots of water though our kids hate the taste of the water from the fountains.

We have a cool bag, with a shoulder strap that holds just a large bottle of water & we take that every where with us. We bought it from Woolworths. We have stayed twice in a villa so freeze half the water too.

on our 1st visit to the supermarket in Florida we buy a cheap polystyrene (spell?) cool box. Each morning we fill it with ice & bottles of water & gatoraide. We then keep this in the boot of the car. Its worth the effort when you come out of the park after a long day to be greated by a lovely cold drink.

 

[mkmarty]

Hiya,
Got a can of the coolmist spray stuff from Tesco @ 4.50. Used it during the last 'hot' day (if you can remember one!) and it seemed to work pretty well.
Also the Brita filtered bottles are available at Makro if you are a card holder at around £6.

 

[lucy_love_]

thats a really good tip im going to get one of those bottles from makro tomorrow. you lot have probly saved me a fortune. lol.
oh and the cool mist spray what exactly is it?

love

lucy




ps sorry about all the smileys my dd likes to help out and shes only 5

 

[mkmarty]

It's an aerosol which when you spray produces a cool mist which cools you down instantly.
There are 2 types if I remember, 1 for face & cars, the other just for face. It keeps you cool for a good while.
It's located with the sun cream etc.
The Britta bottles are with the kitchen stuff. The are boxed and are dark blue with spare filters next to them.