Heat - how do you all cope?

[Ms Poppins]

As huge fans of disneyland paris - we are thinking of booking to go to WDW in the next year or so.

With kids of school age, i'm not keen to take them away from school - DS1 is 15 and at exam time - but other than the summer I'm stuck for when to go.

I really don't think we could cope with the extreme heat, especially when there is so much we'd want to do. We could hardly cope with DLP last July so I don't think we'd have much chance in Orlando

I'm just wondering though - you all seem to book again and again for the summer so it can't be that bad - can it?

When's the best for weather?

Can you tell i'm trying to talk myself into this........

 

[Jordanblackpool]

The good thing is at WDW alot of the attractions are either indoor or have ques that are in the shade. Of course you are walking around the parks all day, but you would really be suprised at how many fans/mist sprays there are around the parks and all the ques that are indoor have aircon.

It is relatively easy to avoid the direct sunshine aswell at the parks, because there are alot of built up areas that do give you some shade as your walking round.

I would really recomend abit of sun over Feb, when it is absolutley freezing!!!

 

[torsie24]

Can you take them out for one week and then combine that with October half term?

Really amazing weather and low crowds.

And MNSSHP!

 

[PJB71]

Hi

You could also think about December time and go for Christmas.

Weather is usually lovely and not too hot

Go on book - you know you want to

 

[Ms Poppins]

I had thought of October - but my nephew is at uni and doesn't get a holiday then.....and ds1 will start his prelim exams in November - so not a great time to take him out of school.

To be honest if the kids were primary school age or early in secondary school, I wouldn't bother as much - but with exams and the complication of my nephew's uni not sharing the same holidays - it seems we're doomed to the main summer hols.

Bloomin' schools having their main holidays in the summer.......how dare they

 

[torsie24]

You would cope in the heat fine, there's plenty of A/C and every queue is covered. The benefit is the water rides are a welcome relief, and the evenings are lovely.

Plus the water parks are very refreshing!

 

[Cyrano]

We coped fine with the heat since we were up so early.
Around 3.00pm we started to flag and would leave the parks to have an ice-cream, enjoy the air con of the car and a dip in the swimming pool.

Going back again end of June/July for 3 weeks

 

[janiebubble]

Easter is lovely ... says she who is going in one weeks time! Personally I've done July/August 4 times, and I wouldn't by choice go back ... I really struggle with the humidity and the rain. I'm a teacher so have absolutely no choice about out of school time ... so Easter or February half time is the best for me

 

[2Tiggies]

Get up very early and head to the parks first thing. Do as much as you can in the morning then head back to your resort for a swim and a sleep.

In the evening you can head back to the parks when it is cooler. It will still be hot but at least without the sun beating down on you it will be more manageable.

the good thing about the Summer is the extended park hours which give you the option of splitting your day. It is also a great strategy for managing the crowded times.

 

[wayneg]

August is not for everyone but its perfect for us. Goto parks for opening, come out mid afternoon back to the hotel for a couple of hours for a swim, internet time, sleep etc then back out for evening.
We have been all school holidays numerous times.

Xmas superb theming, we can spend hours just looking around the resorts and less time in the parks that are packed to capacity but weather can be anything from horts & Tshirts to hats, gloves and scarves.

Easter, this time will be our 3rd, other twice have been 1 good week one cold and windy. Just can't guarantee good weather.

August almost guarantee hot every day with afternoon showers but once we went and had 2 weeks of non stop rain every evening from 5-11pm. Never seen storms like them. Later in the month is better for lower crowds.

Oct our fave time of year still great weather, lower crowds & prices. Halloween events but chance of tropical storms/hurricaines, we got hit one year.

I guess no school holiday is prefect, Florida weather is unpredictable, Would always prefer October but its only a short holiday, we can go for 25 nights every August.

 

[rpbert1]

We go July every year, and like others say you will cope ok. It is hot ,but taking a break and spending time at the pool is great refreshing way to spend an afternoon

 

[Ms Poppins]

Lots to think about - thanks for the advice.

December is definately out - i'd never get 2 weeks off work at that time of year, and exam prelims still going on.

Easter would be my choice, but just found out nephews uni only gives 1 week off.

We've done dlp in July 3 times now and each time we have done the early morning parks, afternoon swim and evening out again. It was lovely, but we have always said that we'd love to enjoy more time in the parks and not go in the heat again.....we were exhausted after just 4 days - and DH can become very grumpy in the heat

Dlp is being discussed at the moment for October school hols, and i'm delighted with that - I love dlp - but I would like to experience everything that WDW has to offer and DH sister is desperate for us to go with her.

I don't think i'll convice DH to go in summer months - but I will keep trying

 

[disneyholic family]

the A/C in florida is sooooooooooo cold, we usually carry sweatshirts in our backpacks for when we're indoors....
so even though it is hotter than hades out....and i mean that....really really really really hot...and worse than the heat is the humidity....more humid than you ever thought possible without it actually raining (and it does a lot of that too)..
but despite that, YOU ARE IN DISNEY WORLD....so who cares what the weather is.....life is grand!!!!!!!!

go for it....july/august....whatever works in terms of your schedule...
just DO IT.....

we went every year, year in and year out, in july....for years and years and years, because that was when the kids could go for 3 full weeks....
so july it was.....hot enough to fry an egg on your forehead july....
humid enough to provide water to the sahara july...
rainy enough to flood the grand canyon july...
yes, all of the above...
but no matter...we were in disney world....the happiest place on earth for us...
so it didn't matter that we were living on the surface of the sun for 3 weeks....we were in heaven...

go for it....but please, don't forget your sunscreen

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I don't think you can really judge your tolerance levels in the heat unless you have experienced them.
Julie and Joshua struggle a bit whereas I generally am ok, so it depends on the individual.

July and August are popular times to go mainly down to the school holidays and the 6 weeks or so off, making planning a holiday easier than other holiday times such as Easter or half term dates, you can struggle to fit a 2 week holiday in sometimes.
However for many summer is certainly not the ideal time to visit, partly because the high temperatures and humidity.

Easter weather is perfect, but for a few days crowd levels are very high.

Ideally late April missing Easter or October are my preffered times to go, however we are limited to school holidays also so this year it's the August heat for us.

 

[wideeyes]

I went in September which is still very hot and we did morning till 1pm and then went back to the hotel till about 5pm. We couldn't of managed a full day out in the park in the heat, however with early starts could get a lot done in the morning so didn't feel like we missed anything out.

 

[disneyholic family]

yes, i should have added that....we are NEVER in the parks in the afternoon in the summer...
way way way too hot...

we come before opening and stay until 1 PM at the very latest (usually the last hour in the park is spent eating lunch in nice cool A/C)..

then it's back to the room for a rest/swim/veg-out in front of the tube...

at about 4 we head over to TL or DQ or AMC....then dinner....then either back to a park or back to the room and early bedtime....the heat tires us out...so we tend to get to sleep very early....then get up early to head to the park before opening...

 

[darthtatty]

we plan to go next August and im worried about the heat.
Its great to hear of what people do to stay cool or cope during the heat. I forgot how tired you get in the heat. At least it will prepare us for Australia