Epcot in Summer (Stupid Hot + Rain)

[Frozen2014]

Will probably post a similar one for the other parks but thought I'd start with Epcot here. We've coming end of August where I know to expect heat, humidity and strong rain showers. It's hard enough coming up with a touring plan, but then add in, not wanting to stand in outside queues during the worst of the heat or rain, and it's even more complex. Plus, I imagine that rain may close some of the rides.

As a note, this is a short 3 day Disney trip (plus a few hours on arrival day) so we don't plan on taking mid afternoon breaks away from the park....unless we decide at the last minute to take Skyliner back to our resort to shower (lol....may need to with the heat).

Our FP day isn't until June, but my plan as of now is to get one for Test Track (or maybe Ratatouille if offered). My question below may dictate the tier 2 selection. We also plan on starting the day with an early morning breakfast at Boma (around 7:30am). So won't make rope drop, but should be able to arrive within the first hour of the 9am opening.

I know that Test Track, Soarin, Nemo, Turtle Talk and Figment, and Spaceship Earth are inside so those are candidates for mid afternoon (but Spaceship Earth will probably be long closed when we come in Aug).

For the following, are the rides and/or queues inside or outside? Stick to morning/evening or is afternoon ok?

• Frozen Ever After
• Gran Fiesta
• Agent P Scavenger Hunt
• Living with the Land
• Ratatouille
• Beauty and Beast Sing Along

Also, what rides close in the rain?

Thanks!

 

[Calee]

We've been in July and early September and the rain can be rough, but it also usually passes. I wouldnt stress too much.

Epcot actually has a ton of indoor attractions. Test track is the only one that closes due to weather.

Agent P is all outside bc it is a self led scavenger hunt around the world showcase, but it is actually closing and they are switching to another theme so I'm not sure of it will be available when you go.

Frozen, fiesta, lwtl all are indoor with indoor lines. Rat will be an indoor ride too. I dont know what the que will be like though.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We were at WDW the last week of August this past year and we didn't have a lot of rain, except for one evening when it was a total wash out and they closed the parks early. But typically the mornings were sunny, the clouds would start to roll in by noon, and there would be rain mid to late afternoon.

Ride the roller coasters that are outside, like Everest and Big Thunder Mtn, in the morning if you want to avoid closures.

 

[Frozen2014]

Thank you for the replies. That is good...didn't realize that FEA, Gran Fiesta and Living are all inside too....and the Ratarouille ride itself That is great to hear. And didn't know that Agent P is closing (not sure if our kids would have wanted that, but I did note it in my list just in case).

Great to hear about last year. We do plan on staying all day but will see depending on the weather. Hope the rain doesn't wash out any shows such as fireworks or evening shows.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Hope the rain doesn't wash out any shows such as fireworks or evening shows.

They usually still run the fireworks on rainy days but will usually delay them if there is lightening nearby. We have seen fireworks go off as late as an hour and a half later. They try not to cancel fireworks. The CM's will know whether the fireworks are cancelled or if they are still scheduled to run.

 

[Disneylover99]

We go every August. It can get really rainy mid day often with daily lightning. We like to get a Test Track fp. It often goes down due to bad weather, then we get an anytime fp.

 

[Frozen2014]

Good tip . Will try for Test Track in the morning. Or if the FP concerts to anytime, then that's ok too.

Good to know that fireworks or evening show is rarely cancelled.

 

[WhitneyMB]

FYI - The Frozen line is brutal. There is an inside portion, but most of the line ends up being outside except for the final 30 minutes of it. Often the line is 60-120 minutes, unless you fastpass it.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Will probably post a similar one for the other parks but thought I'd start with Epcot here. We've coming end of August where I know to expect heat, humidity and strong rain showers. It's hard enough coming up with a touring plan, but then add in, not wanting to stand in outside queues during the worst of the heat or rain, and it's even more complex. Plus, I imagine that rain may close some of the rides.

As a note, this is a short 3 day Disney trip (plus a few hours on arrival day) so we don't plan on taking mid afternoon breaks away from the park....unless we decide at the last minute to take Skyliner back to our resort to shower (lol....may need to with the heat).

Our FP day isn't until June, but my plan as of now is to get one for Test Track (or maybe Ratatouille if offered). My question below may dictate the tier 2 selection. We also plan on starting the day with an early morning breakfast at Boma (around 7:30am). So won't make rope drop, but should be able to arrive within the first hour of the 9am opening.

I know that Test Track, Soarin, Nemo, Turtle Talk and Figment, and Spaceship Earth are inside so those are candidates for mid afternoon (but Spaceship Earth will probably be long closed when we come in Aug).

For the following, are the rides and/or queues inside or outside? Stick to morning/evening or is afternoon ok?

• Frozen Ever After
• Gran Fiesta
• Agent P Scavenger Hunt
• Living with the Land
• Ratatouille
• Beauty and Beast Sing Along

Also, what rides close in the rain?

Thanks!

yes you can have rain in August but 4 years ago we were there for a week mid August and counted the drops during our week trip. yes it is hot but the one thing I would add to your plan some inside things between outside things

 

[Mango7100]

FYI - The Frozen line is brutal. There is an inside portion, but most of the line ends up being outside except for the final 30 minutes of it. Often the line is 60-120 minutes, unless you fastpass it.

I was also going to mention the Frozen line—the outdoor portion has no shade and it looks slow moving...we use that as our Tier 1 FP. The nice thing about Epcot is all the indoor attractions—Living with the Land, Soarin, Sunshine Seasons for eating, and the new Awesome Planet movie are all in the same building so you can stay there for quite a bit if storms are rolling through. Same with the anemia/Turtle Talk with Crush/some aquarium exhibits

 

[Frozen2014]

Thanks for the warning about the Frozen line. If timing works, then will try for 4th FP. Otherwise, will check out the line but will skip it if it's bad. My DD will love it (and me too) but we all love Test Track (DS favorite from our trip in 2014) so want to make that our FP priority. He may even do single rider line for a second ride if DD and I end up trying Frozen.

Silly question....but do people bring umbrellas in the summer to block off the sun? Or is that too dangerous for the risk of poking someone?

 

[kiford]

We were there last year from Aug 31 to Sep 6. It was hot - far hotter than I could have ever thought and the humidity made it almost impossible to wick away sweat. That was the worst part; sweat would actually roll down arms, legs, back and would never dry unless you went inside. It rained 1-2 times every day for about 15 minutes at at time but when it did rain, it was torrential (except during the evening that Dorian hit - it rained for several hours that night but they had closed the parks earlier in any event as a precaution). And it went back to being just as humid as before it rained. There was often very little warning before it just dumped on you. We carried small portable umbrellas that were able to fit into our pockets that had a hard shell carrying case which was useful to prevent the water on them from soaking through the pockets. Most of the time we were able to go into a store or somewhere to wait out the rain since they were short but other times we did get wet or had to wander around with the umbrellas.

I can't remember if they closed Test Track at all during the weather - the storms were so short, they would have barely cleared the people out before it would end. I probably won't ever go at that time of year again. It's just way too hot and humid for me but you can still do quite a bit, it doesn't rain 24/7, having a small umbrella was great, the parks weren't that crowded (partially due to Dorian but it I think it's also just generally a lower season), and you can work it so that you are going inside frequently.

 

[cgattis]

Umbrellas are allowed. I’ve used one once or twice in a downpour, but usually just stick to ponchos. Obviously weather is different every day, but we did a long weekend in August for DDs bday one year and it didn’t rain a drop. So you’re smart to think about it, but maybe you’ll get lucky!

On such a short trip, unless I really had a special meal for a special occasion, I personally would waste the time going back to shower. You’ll be disgusting again in an hour. I took a little “freshen up” kit—wipes, deodorant, powder, etc—and cleaned up a few times throughout the day (plus restrooms at Disney still have paper towels, thankfully!) and just rocked on. Baseball caps were our friend LOL.

ETA: we also found our Hydroflasks and Mission cooling towels worth their weight in gold!

Make sure to give your footwear some thought. We wore Chacos so we could just douse our feet with ice water. But I could literally feel the heat of the asphalt by the end of the day. So any super thin-soled shoe is going to be a BAD idea. It’s hot but you’ll survive!! Have fun!!

 

[Fangorn]

If it's just rain, and not accompanied by lightning somewhere in close proximity, outdoor rides will generally remain open. The exception is Test Track. The outdoor portion of TT, while relatively short, is the part where you're going 65mph in an open vehicle. Rain hurts at that speed! TT is the only ride in Epcot that is outdoors.

Steve

 

[Frozen2014]

May sound strange, but I was thinking of an umbrella more for shade than for water. Will definitely being ponchos for rain.

 

[Renarr]

If you end up doing Ratatouille (or would like to do Frozen if you can't do Ratatouille), might be worth considering not using a FP on Test Track and doing the Single Rider on that. I've sometimes been able to single rider that 3 times in an hour in August.

 

[Frozen2014]

Umbrellas are allowed. I’ve used one once or twice in a downpour, but usually just stick to ponchos. Obviously weather is different every day, but we did a long weekend in August for DDs bday one year and it didn’t rain a drop. So you’re smart to think about it, but maybe you’ll get lucky!

On such a short trip, unless I really had a special meal for a special occasion, I personally would waste the time going back to shower. You’ll be disgusting again in an hour. I took a little “freshen up” kit—wipes, deodorant, powder, etc—and cleaned up a few times throughout the day (plus restrooms at Disney still have paper towels, thankfully!) and just rocked on. Baseball caps were our friend LOL.

ETA: we also found our Hydroflasks and Mission cooling towels worth their weight in gold!

Make sure to give your footwear some thought. We wore Chacos so we could just douse our feet with ice water. But I could literally feel the heat of the asphalt by the end of the day. So any super thin-soled shoe is going to be a BAD idea. It’s hot but you’ll survive!! Have fun!!

Thanks for the shower tip. Also trying to figure out logistics if we are up early and staying late...lol.

Oh and we bought cooling towels when we went to Disneyland a few years ago. Will definitely be bringing them.

Yes...I already warned my kids that I want to get them good waterproof sandals for the summer (i.e. Disney trip). I tried Chacos last summer at the shoe store , but couldn't get my foot in with that strap. I have a pair of Teva Vera, but not sure if they would be good with the velcro strap? They are quite comfy though.

 

[Mome Rath]

The only other tip I'd say for rain at EPCOT, is if you time it right that the Land is a good spot to hang out in while it rains; you have both Soarin and Living with the Land to ride, Awesome Planet to watch, and Sunshine seasons to eat/snack at and a lot of seating. And, it's all air conditioned.

 

[Frozen2014]

If you end up doing Ratatouille (or would like to do Frozen if you can't do Ratatouille), might be worth considering not using a FP on Test Track and doing the Single Rider on that. I've sometimes been able to single rider that 3 times in an hour in August.

Thanks for the suggestion. Would just have to see if my younger one would be ok riding alone. You are still together for the building of the cars right?

 

[Frozen2014]

The only other tip I'd say for rain at EPCOT, is if you time it right that the Land is a good spot to hang out in while it rains; you have both Soarin and Living with the Land to ride, Awesome Planet to watch, and Sunshine seasons to eat/snack at and a lot of seating. And, it's all air conditioned.

Thanks so much. Great tip for when the showers come out or to escape the heat.