For those who have gone to WDW in the summer...

[dpic]

Was it worth it?
Too Crowded?
Too hot?

Simply, was it miseriable and never to do again? Or was it hot/humid beyond belief, but since it's Disney and it generally was a great time?

My daughter and I can't stand the heat and humidity, but we know everything is air conditioned. It simply has gotten more and more difficult to go during the off times. Also, in summer we could drive since we'd have more time. But I am seriously concerned about "crashing and burning" because of the heat.

Pete and crew have talked about the heat and rain, but then is a hot/rainy day is Disney better than a beautiful day in Michigan? Not sure...

 

[lovethecastle]

hi, we just got back yesterday & stayed a week at cbr. we went for free dining & really enjoyed that. We usually go during the christmas break.
It was hot & humid but the good part about that is we could go in the pool because it has been too cold in December to swim.
It also rains almost every day in the afternoon/evening. It's only supposed to be for a short period of time but tuesday it rained really hard for a long time. I mention this because for the first time we rented a car. Best idea ever. We could duck out whenever we needed & not stand in bus lines getting drenched.
I found the crowds to be more so in December.
Good luck in planning your trip & I hope I have been a little helpfull.

 

[dpic]

hi, we just got back yesterday & stayed a week at cbr. we went for free dining & really enjoyed that. We usually go during the christmas break.
It was hot & humid but the good part about that is we could go in the pool because it has been too cold in December to swim.
It also rains almost every day in the afternoon/evening. It's only supposed to be for a short period of time but tuesday it rained really hard for a long time. I mention this because for the first time we rented a car. Best idea ever. We could duck out whenever we needed & not stand in bus lines getting drenched.
I found the crowds to be more so in December.
Good luck in planning your trip & I hope I have been a little helpfull.

Thanks--your thoughts were very helpful. We've been first week in December. When do you go in December, and--just to be clear--you thought it was more crowded in December?

Like I said, we'd drive if we go in summer. One thing I really want to do is go the aquarium in Atlanta, and if we drive we go right through Atlanta. So, your thoughts on having a car are another good reason to drive.

So, as far was walking around--did you feel drenched or extremely uncomfortable. Or wasn't it too bad?

Thanks again.

 

[Carolinagal]

different years, though.

It's hot - and very crowded. There is lots of air conditioning but the heat is intense. And it will probably rain every day.

But, it is still wonderful. You have to adjust your plans. You have to plan to be there when the parks open and stay through an early lunch. The afternoon is too hot and crowded to be worth it. I find the evenings somewhat lighter in the summer - I guess because "those" people tried to stay in the parks all day and couldn't make it.

I think a summer trip takes a lot more planning that off-season because you have crowds and heat to plan around. Use of fast passes is a must, and I highly recommend sit down lunches in air conditioned restaurants to cool off and relax. Defintely relax in the afternoon heat - poolside or taking a nap at the hotel. The waterparks are well worth a visit. It's great that you can stay longer because you can plan a different kind of trip and slow down!

Definitely take heat precautions - lots of sun screen, water, and look out for heat stroke symptoms. We've seen people wheeled out on stretchers who didn't fare as well in the heat.

Like you mentioned, we end up going in summer more often, so we make do with what we get. We have always had a great time, and never regretted going at that time. If I had a choice between 10 days in August or 5 days in April I would definitely go for the longer trip.

All that said - I live in Houston now and we go to Orlando in August to cool off, so YMMV! Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[dpic]

I live in Houston now and we go to Orlando in August to cool off, so YMMV! Good luck with whatever you decide.

Good stuff, thanks. Interesting about preferring the longer trip in summer over a shorter one in spring (if you had to make a choice). Also, one thing about going in Dec (or October when we LOVE to go), is the parks close very early. In the summer, they stay open later. Our favorite times in the parks are at night, so this is another plus.

Thanks again.

 

[Carolinagal]

Yes, they do stay open MUCH later, which is great!. We often stay until 2:00 even 3:00 in the morning, at least one night during the stay. However, planning specifics can be a challenge because Disney has been releasing hours so late here lately.

I do love those nights when they run Spectro twice! Thanks for the reminder.

 

[G66]

Dan,

We have gone the 1st week of August 2008 and 2009. I would have no problem recommending this time of year as long as you understand what you are getting into. As the others have said, you have to prepare and know your limits. The crowds were not bad. Certainly not like winter or spring school break levels. Check the UG crowd calendar. I found it accurate. Both trips we didn't have much rain at all. The direct sun is very intense. If you can get out early and/or stay out late it's tolerable. Although, this last trip was 8 days. The constant heat can take it's toll. We ended up leaving HS on the night of day 7 and passing on Fantasmic because the park was jammed and the retained heat in the park was unbearable. I think we hit our limit. We went back to the pool and enjoyed the night pool side. We actually did most of our swimming in the morning and evening because of the intensity of the sun. Mid afternoon the pools are jammed and there is no hiding from the searing sun. The pool water is little relief as it has to be 90 degrees. Hope this helps.

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

We are folks that normally visit WDW in the cooler months (November for Thanksgiving and the first week of December). Due to the recent promo "What will you celebrate?", we decided to visit WDW in June for DH's birthday. This was our first time being in Orlando during the summer. Note, this is my personal opinion ...

We will NEVER visit WDW in the summertime again!!!!

As expected, it was hot, humid and crowded. Also, it rained at least once a day. You would think the rain would cool things off, but it made it more humid. We felt disgusting being in the humidity. Our clothing was sticking to us. I felt so gross!!! We did get to the parks early, leave mid-day and return at night. That helped a bit. Some days, we didn't even attempt to arrive to a park until sundown. The humidity zapped all our energy. The pools were crazy crowded and if you arrived in late afternoon, it felt like bath water. Gross!!!!!

I know this may sound like a rant. But, when we left WDW, I was actually happy to be heading home. That is truly sad. Because, we love WDW and visit at least three to four times a year. I have never felt like that before. I am always wanting to stay one more day or do one more ride. By the end of this trip, we were all exhausted from the heat and just ready to get into the A/C of our car and head home. We have a trip coming up for the week of Thanksgiving and the first week of December (our usual annual trip). I am soooooooo looking forward to that trip. It should make-up for this summer trip for sure.

I guess I am in the minority. I would rather one enjoyable week at WDW during a cooler month than two weeks of heated misery. JMHO

Jennifer

 

[daneenm]

Our visit was late July - early August 2007. We knew it would be hot and sticky - we are from CA so we also knew we would not be used to it. Having said that, we did a lot of planning (thanks TourGuide Mike!), and had a GREAT time! Only 1 day was deadly hot and still. Our general approach...

• 2 or 3 days in a row at parks (rest days or water park days in between)
• arrived at rope drop every park day we went to parks
• Made good use of FastPass so we didn't wait in long lines
• left right after lunch and swam/rested until dinner
• Ate dinner at table service (air conditioned)
• Went back to the parks, often but not always, after dinner

Got caught in a few rain showers, but only one day had rain all day (different from this year, I know). Really, we were there 10 days and left wanting more.

 

[mejkjj97]

We just got back from Disney on Wed. We have gone the past 2 years at the end of Aug and love it. We get to the parks early and are back at the hotel everyday around 1-2 and swim for a couple of hours or just rest. We head back into the parks for a few more hours.
We actually founds the nights to be very pleasant last week. The temps we in the low 80's and very comfortable. We only had rain 1 afternoon/early evening (until our last trip) and we still were in the Magic Kingdom for 4 hours that night.
The biggest thing is just to plan wisely. Take full advantage of the Fast Passes, bring plenty to drink, tons of sunscreen, if possible go towards the end of August (the crowds are not as bad). Our longest wait for any ride this past week was 15 minutes and this was all due to planning.

 

[kathrna]

Last year we went in July, August. We had FL seasonal passes, which black out during the summer. We went just to go relax and play at the pool and waterparks. The heat and humidity are stifling. When you live in FL, you just don't go out in the summer unless you HAVE to. Plus the afternoon rain was a bummer. Our FL waterpark passes opened our "go in" window at 2 pm, which was almost perfect b/c the thunder showers would usually pass by then. They happened daily w/o fail!
We did go for 10 days in August of '07. That trip cured me of EVER wanting to do parks again in August. We went at rope drop and were home by lunch or shortly after. We did A LOT of laundry that trip. We changed clothes everytime we came back to the room. We took lots of quickie, freshen up showers. I agree w/ OP, it was gross and zaps your energy! Did I have a good time, yes of course. Would I go again during that time, NO!

 

[SweetMimi]

We have always gone in summer. Last spring break was our first trip in April and we thought that was a cake walk! The lines are definitely longer, more people and it is hotter. I do like that the parks are open longer in summer. I was pretty bummed about that when we went for Spring Break. We tend to go late May/early June and the heat is not quite as bad and none of the rain. When we went once late July it was pretty hateful with the rain showers and heat - particularly in Animal Kingdom. However it wasn't unbearable. In that situation we just made sure to hit the parks early because the rains were "generally" in the afternoon then head back later in the evening.
Another tip, we bought one of those camelback backpacks that you can put water in and had that with us the whole time. We froze the water packs so the water would be cold throughout the day. We also froze some juice packs ( Capri Sun, etc) and put them in the cold area of the camelback to keep them cool as well. That helped a lot. All the water gizmos are within the back pack so you can carry it around without feeling the ice or it dripping all over you. A lot of the rides are air conditioned rides so once in line you are able to cool off.
If you are used to "off peak" times then summer will definitely be a different experience but it can still be enjoyable. We always have a great time. We are planning to go this year during Thanksgiving week and I'm a little nervous about how THAT will pan out. I'm not used to wearing jackets to Disney or not being able to swim at night when we go to Orlando

 

[lovethecastle]

Thanks--your thoughts were very helpful. We've been first week in December. When do you go in December, and--just to be clear--you thought it was more crowded in December?

Like I said, we'd drive if we go in summer. One thing I really want to do is go the aquarium in Atlanta, and if we drive we go right through Atlanta. So, your thoughts on having a car are another good reason to drive.

So, as far was walking around--did you feel drenched or extremely uncomfortable. Or wasn't it too bad?

Thanks again.

We have always gone during Christmas break(we have kids in school). The next time we are going is December 2010.
Sorry I was confusing about the crowds-Yes the crowds during Christmas break are a nightmare. They weren't are bad last week in my opinion.

We would go to the parks early & leave after lunch sometime. We knew going in we'd have to back off on our touring because of the heat. We never got caught in the rain though because we planned around it. It is easy to find shelter(store, restaurant, ect) during the rain & it usually doesn't last too long. One of my kids in handicapped so we couldn't tour in the rain really but we would see people waiting at the bus stop to go to the parks during the rain all the time(as we drove back to our room to hang out or do laundry).
We watched alot of disney channel In our room.
But we didn't feel uncomfortable really-we like the heat-but we all had a limit. Going to pool was fun but not refreshing.
Indeed it was like bath water. Drinking frozen drinks were refreshing like frozen lemonaide or dole whips.
Good luck whenever you go-one day I'd like to go in October as well.

 

[ParrotBill]

Here's a thread I have going "Live from Boardwalk Villas" for 2 weeks - in the middle of it now. May give you a taste for summer here.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2263120

 

[AnneR]

We have gone during the summer for at least the last five years, usually in June. Last year we did July/August for two weeks. We also go regularly Halloween weekend.

As everyone has advised you need to know your tolerance because it is hot and there are a lot of people in the parks.

We have found that our rhythm is almost always rope drop at the park of choice until lunch time. We spend the afternoon at the resort in the pool or resting, key is to be out of the heat. We tend to go back to the parks for dinner and evening, again as the sun goes down it is cooler.

The other key is not to feel like you have to do it all. Go with the flow.

You will be hot and sweaty, we just plan for a change of clothes each day.

 

[Cyrano]

We have come back from a 3 week trip June/July, which included Independence Day.
I had major concerns about going at this time of year but we all managed fine.
Drinking lots of water and jumping indoors for the a/c helped us

 

[cocowum]

We just returned from a 3 week trip (8/6 - 8/26) and it was H-O-T!
But we had a great time anyway! I think the key to enjoying WDW in the summer is to drink plenty of water and take midday breaks. We also find that avoiding the EMH parks really helps with avoiding the crowds.