Encourage me that it's going to be OK-1st week of Aug.

[WilsonFlyer]

We leave tomorrow for a week at AKV/Jambo. The first week of August is not one of our normal weeks (sigh) but with DD5 starting kindergarten in 2 weeks, it's now necessary that we take vacations; a-hem, more sensitive to her school schedule (sigh, LOL).

I've heard horror stories about the first week of August all my life. We may have even been once but if we did (just DW and I), it was a LONG time ago. I've been reading about low crowd levels for the time of year for the past few weeks (granted, mixed reviews to a large extent) but am seeing projections of 8's and 9's on TP for the upcoming weeks.

Isn't free dining off until the 15th or is it still on right now? Shouldn't that help keep crowd levels down if it's true?

I guess everybody's just like us; trying to get that last trip in before schoold starts back.

Please assure me it's going to be OK. I don't mind hot and I don't mind crowds. What I mind is both at the same time! LOL

 

[Brian Noble]

Just got back from a week at VWL yesterday. Hot. Hot hot hot. Busy. But, with a sensible touring approach, you'll have a super time. We sure did. Stay out of the parks during the hottest (and most crowded) parts of the day and enjoy the pool or the cool comfort of your unit. My wife wrote a few tips for some family who are going down next week as well---all common sense, but worth remembering:

1: Drink your water. Lots of it. Constantly.

2: Enter the parks before 9 AM or after 4:30 PM. If you enter early get out *no later* than 2 PM. Hide in your room/hotel/shop of choice or at the pool between 1:30-4:30 PM.

3: Drink water, or frozen things (shakes, smoothies, slushies, etc), while in the park. A lot. If possible, pre-freeze bottles of water and then carry those into the park (we have straps for holding water bottles). They will melt ridiculously fast, but at least the water will be cold a bit longer. If you and your party aren't stopping at the restroom at least every 45-60 minutes, then you're not drinking enough (we also have a family rule that when one person has to go, we *all* go. Synchronizing stops allows us to get some fun in between restrooms ;-) ) Avoid caffeine and sugared sodas when possible, as that just adds to the dehydration.

4: Plan ahead to do as many inside/air conditioned attractions as possible. Even if they don't seem that compelling at the time you are planning. The hall of presidents was *awesome* when the heat index was 102 degrees.

5: Get wet. Splash Mountain, Kali River Rapids, the playscapes in Epcot, etc. It's all good. This is not the time for ponchos, people. Those misting fans were great for the kids. (we used the smaller/cheaper ones from Target/Walmart, but in a pinch Disney will of course be happy to sell you one).

6: More than ever before, FastPass is your friend. Use it. It's free, and saves you from waiting in long queues in the heat. The only caveat I might add is that the air-conditioned queues do offer a nice respite from the sun, but it still fundamentally sucks energy to wait.

7: Don't forget the sunscreen. This seems so obvious I almost didn't include it, but I was shocked by how many "lobster people" we saw in the parks. Carry a small tube with you into the parks, so you can re-apply when you've sweated off your first application. Ladies, don't forget to lotion your neck (even on the back!) and shoulders--you may decide to pull your hair up when the heat becomes intolerable. Given how fair-skinned we are, we used nothing with SPF less than 50, and used 70-85 SPF on our faces with great results--nary a twinge of sunburn on any of us.

8: Schedule "sit down" lunches for every day you're in the park early, and make them for no later than Noon (11:30-11:45 worked best for us). We'd not done that for WDW touring in cooler months, but found the sit down table service, with the air-conditioning, to fundamentally improve our park experience in the heat.

9: Be flexible. As soon as the first person gets glassy-eyed, shift your plan and start to make your way out, getting them some water/air-conditioning on the way. Trust me, you'll regret it if you try to push through it...if your child is crying inconsolably, you are already at least an hour *too late*. (Brian's note: we saw a family with a two or three year old who was APOPLECTIC in the queue for Philharmagic. But, Mom and Dad paid a lot of money for their tickets that day for the five of them, and so By God they were staying. Dumb dumb dumb. Truth be told, we've also seen this in cooler times, but still.)

10) Drink your water. Yes, it bears repeating. I was staggered by the amount of water we consumed this week. But it worked--no one got heat headaches (DS is especially prone to them) or any other heat-related malady.

 

[Jaaron2]

We went for 10 days last year (from the end of July through the 8th of August). It was our first "August" trip as well. We heard horror stories as well about the heat, crowds etc. We also saw the 8's and 9's listed for the crowd levels. What we did was hit the parks when they opened and spent the morning there (hitting our favorite rides), around lunch time we headed back to the resort for an afternoon at the pool. We would then venture back out for our dinner ressies at night and hit the parks with the extra magic hours. Our boys are 14,12 and 10 so they enjoyed the afternoon at the Beach Club. That worked out very well for us, the lines were never too long and the heat really had not cranked up yet. We had a great trip at that time! A little planning can go a long way.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

This is our standard time every year -- teacher in the house. The thing I like about this time of year is that the parks stay open very late. So even though it's the hottest, and mid-day is best spent relaxing at the pool or back in the room, you still have plenty of hours left to do the parks after dinner.

 

[Anal Annie]

Hey now!!! Don't be ragging on summer!!

We ALWAYS vacation in the summer - used to bounce between late July & August & now it's pretty much August for us bcuz DS swims & summer team runs thru end of July. It's not THAT bad. It is likely just as hot at home so no biggie there. As someone else said, parks are open LATE which is nice. Crowds thin out later. Sun goes down so it cools off a tad bit. Did our first spring break trip this past March...talk about CROWDED!? OMG! We managed nicely thou bcuz we had GAD vouchers that we used for extra fast passes. I felt bad for all the first timers tho. Count yourself lucky that you probably know your way around the parks & you probably know which rides are MUST DO's and which ones are "skips". Summer is no where NEAR as crowded as spring break! You will be fine and then will wonder what you were so worried about.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Thanks guys.

We're not big park planners. We just kinda do our own thing. Good news is... hey... we're going BACK again.

Wishing everyone cool nights and light crowds. We're hittin' the road in an hour.

Signing off the laptop to pack it up. See ya'll tomorrow from AK.

 

[Sammie]

Thanks guys.

We're not big park planners. We just kinda do our own thing. Good news is... hey... we're going BACK again.

Wishing everyone cool nights and light crowds. We're hittin' the road in an hour.

Signing off the laptop to pack it up. See ya'll tomorrow from AK.

Have a safe trip and drink plenty of water and pace yourself.