Does everyone have the same idea for Summer?

[beep10]

We always go in October or November so I have never dealt with Summer heat before. This year we are going in June and it looks like everyone's strategy is to hit parks early, go back to resort for swim and head back to the parks in the evenings when it is cooler. This is what we were planning but after reading that lots of other people are doing the same thing I'm second guessing our plan.

Are the resort pools in the Summer afternoons extremely crowded?

How hot is hot? We are from Louisiana and we are outside all Summer so we are used to the heat.

I'm wondering if we should start our days later and stay in the park in the afternoon if the park crowds are less during that time.

 

[mindeola]

Lots of people on here tour that way, but I do not think that is indicative of most Disney tourists. I think it is a solid plan and one that we definitely follow. I've only been in June a few times, but it worked well. Pools are sometimes crowded, but I think they are more crowded in the late afternoon in my experience.

I live in New Orleans and I am from Texas. The heat is the same. It does take a lot out of you going all day though. That is why we love the afternoon rest/swim. Just seems to recharge you! You definitely should take advantage of the early morning and late evening cooler hours. Not that it is much cooler, but it does make a difference.

have fun!

 

[erinch]

Well -- -
where are you staying? what age is your party?

We are summer veterans. When we are on a trip when we want to accomplish a lot, we tend to blend going mid morning, doing a long cool lunch and indoor attractions during the heat of the day and enjoying after sun goes down, with a few days of early rope drop, and a swift retreat when it gets hot. We stay offsite at the Vistana, which is great in the heat of the day.

More particulars?

 

[pitpat]

I'm wondering if we should start our days later and stay in the park in the afternoon if the park crowds are less during that time.

not a great idea.

The people really into planning on these sites are not the typical park goer. Arriving for rope drop with a plan will give you an advantage over those who wake up late and stroll in at 11.

 

[hakepb]

Most people arrive at a park between 10a-1p so early afternoon is still generally the busiest time.
It's fine if you are using FP+ and go to shows in the afternoon... but don't freak out because Dumbo is 40+ minutes til 7pm

 

[Accident]

i've never found the pool bad in the afternoons but the heat and crowd in the parks is always worse in the afternoon. if you are morning people, don't change the plan.

 

[Mickeymouseisking]

The parks are by no means less crowded during the afternoon. They're PACKED! The least crowded time of day is at rope drop, which is why so many on these boards make sure to get to the parks early. Early morning and evening is also when the weather is most comfortable.

I'm from Israel, near Tel Aviv. Our weather is basically the same as Orlando in the summer - hot and humid (the difference being we don't have rain during the summer...). As the previous poster said, walking around the crowded parks feels different from home. You're walking in huge crowds of people with not much shade and the sun is beating down on the concrete and radiating back at you. So it's hot!! And you do a lot of walking in the parks. I think it's definitely wise to make the most of the opening hours of the parks, and not start your day when the heat is already at full blast and the lines are long.

The break during the day really depends on your family. When I was a kid, my brother and I really needed that break from the heat and the sun, so we'd go back to the hotel. Now that we're both grown up and married we have a long leisurely table service meal in the park at around noon and cool off, and that's enough to keep DH and me going until the park closes. My brother and sister in law, however, still need that mid day break to cool off and rest.

So do what works for your family

 

[beep10]

@erinch We are staying at Jambo House and we are 2 adults and one 7 year old.

Good info about the pools and afternoon crowds. I guess I just felt after reading all of the post that most people had the same plan I was questioning mine.

 

[CalSea12]

This is our plan no matter what time of the year we go: tends to work out ok

early 730 to 8 am breakfast
parks until about 12-1 when we have lunch
after lunch we go back to hotel to swim/nap
go back to parks until 7 or 8 when we have dinner
sometimes we go back to parks

 

[chipndales]

We sleep in usually and hit the parks later in the day. Sometimes we will do a rope drop, then head right back to the hotel or go have lunch at a resort, but mostly we do the parks after 4pm.

 

[MissKIA]

@erinch We are staying at Jambo House and we are 2 adults and one 7 year old.

Good info about the pools and afternoon crowds. I guess I just felt after reading all of the post that most people had the same plan I was questioning mine.

We stayed at Jambo House last June. The pool was pretty busy in the afternoon but not crazy by any means. Definitely not as crowded as the parks will be at that time!

 

[Tink0106]

Well -- -
where are you staying? what age is your party?

We are summer veterans. When we are on a trip when we want to accomplish a lot, we tend to blend going mid morning, doing a long cool lunch and indoor attractions during the heat of the day and enjoying after sun goes down, with a few days of early rope drop, and a swift retreat when it gets hot. We stay offsite at the Vistana, which is great in the heat of the day.

More particulars?

How do you like vistana? I'm debating between there or onsite. We would be taking some mid day breaks and i was concerned with traffic and travel time

 

[tinkerbella16]

We have been doing our trips that way for a few years now, since we've been so many times, the resort time is more important than it used to be. Every day we do the same thing - Rope drop a park, leave around 12:30-1pm and then back to the parks at night. We never noticed the pools being overcrowded but that could be because of the time of year we go. We went to Stormalong Bay every afternoon of our trip last September, and we never had a problem getting chairs and the pool didn't feel crowded.. and after Labor Day, the pool was really empty in the afternoon. We plan on sticking with the same plan on our next trip.

 

[Ambehnke]

The afternoon from about 1-4 is madness!!! Stick with the tour early then break plan!

 

[dsdeleon]

Jambo will keep the 7 yo very busy throughout the day. My 8 yo has earned the special Mickey Mouse surfboard from attending all the activities twice already. It's more fun to him than the parks! They do animal enrichment, drum beating, learn about Africa, track animals, etc. Plus you have the use of Kidani and there is an amazing pool over there. The activities are shaded, near the pool and indoor if it rains. Jambo never really feels packed to me. Sometime Mara can have a long line but just order around the busiest times. For the theme parks, we do rope drop and late nights in the summer but always spend the day at AKL, it's too awesome to miss out.

 

[AngiTN]

We always go in October or November so I have never dealt with Summer heat before. This year we are going in June and it looks like everyone's strategy is to hit parks early, go back to resort for swim and head back to the parks in the evenings when it is cooler. This is what we were planning but after reading that lots of other people are doing the same thing I'm second guessing our plan.

Are the resort pools in the Summer afternoons extremely crowded?

How hot is hot? We are from Louisiana and we are outside all Summer so we are used to the heat.

I'm wondering if we should start our days later and stay in the park in the afternoon if the park crowds are less during that time.

Folks here at The Dis do tend to tour this way. Luckily for all of us, we are a small, very small, percentage of guests at WDW. The rest of the masses show up at 11:00 in the parks. You'll be fine

 

[happymommy]

We sleep in usually and hit the parks later in the day. Sometimes we will do a rope drop, then head right back to the hotel or go have lunch at a resort, but mostly we do the parks after 4pm.

We're like you. We like to sleep in (well, DD does more) on vacation a lot! I'll have my coffee, maybe run and get breakfast for her some days. Maybe get to a park about lunch time, but maybe I'll do a load of laundry some mornings at the resort. If we do a late day, we'll stay out way after dark, when the crowds really are lower.

Usually we'll have one day where we head out very early, but then we're wiped out and need a rest by lunch. Then we find it's just better to get a late start.

We laugh about the fact that we are rarely out of the room before noon!

 

[AngiTN]

We sleep in usually and hit the parks later in the day. Sometimes we will do a rope drop, then head right back to the hotel or go have lunch at a resort, but mostly we do the parks after 4pm.

Interesting. Do you find you have enough time to do a park like Epcot, where things close so early? Even HS is closing about the same times as Epcot many nights

 

[Tomh]

Being a rope drop to park close kind of person, I can absolutely guarantee you that the crowds are NOT lower in the afternoon. The absolute best time to be in the parks is the first two hours.

The only resorts I have mid day break experience in are Wilderness Lodge, where I found the pool to be pretty busy mid day, and Port Orleans Riverside. At POR we didn't go to the main pool, we went to the smaller "quiet" pool near our building, which I did indeed find to be pretty quiet mid day, often with us being the only people there, or sharing it perhaps with only one other family. At worst, I think there may have been 2 or 3 other families there at the same time.

 

[revdon64]

Don't take what you read here as the majority opinion necessarily. This board is full of planners. If everyone read these boards then you might see things change, but the overwhelming majority of people who go to Disney don't plan to the level that we do. The reason that people here do rope drop and mid day breaks is because it's more crowded and hot in the parks mid day. It works exactly because most people don't know or don't care to know about this strategy.