As others have already said, it will really depend on your overall heat and humidity tolerance. We are from Brooklyn, NY and we went in the middle of July. I have also been there as a kid (ages 8 and 12) in mid-August. I was fine. The kids were fine this trip (ages 3 and 1). DH was also fine, although he did say to kick him if he ever talks about moving to Florida! But, he also said he would go back in the summer! Here are some things we did:
-I used Tour Guide Mike and followed all of his advice. It worked. We waited in very minimal lines, if any at all, got to the parks super early (45 min. before opening), and left at the latest 2PM. And we saw EVERYTHING on our list!
-As I said, we got to the parks very early, when it was still in the low 70s outside.
-Left by 2PM, the height of the afternoon heat is between 2 and 3PM. Rested in the hotel room and it was wonderful! Also took afternoon showers which helped.
-Returned to the park for dinner around 5:30, or we ate at a resort hotel restaurant at around the same time.
The parks were extremely crowded, but we still had no problem doing everything we wanted to do without having to wait long. The longest we waited was...DH went to ride Everest at AK while I took the kids on the Triceratop Spin. He texted me that the standby wait was 30 minutes so he was gonna do that instead of FastPassing it. So while he did that the kids and I enjoyed DinoLand USA! It was great. We did 2 EMH mornings out of 5 days at the parks. I listened to all the advice I got here and also on TGM regarding the best times to see the attractions, and everything worked! Occasionally (and really, only a very few times), we had to zig-zag a little bit, but it was totally worth it!
The kids never once complained about the heat, and we kept them well-hydrated. That is the key. I brought a small cooler (they allow up to a certain size) with ice packs, bottled water and bottled juice to keep everyone hydrated. This worked wonders. Any CS restaurant will also give you a cup of water if you ask them.
We never got the misting fans, and felt we did not need them. However many people in the park had them and this is of course a matter of personal preference.
Many attractions also have indoor waiting areas, especially at Epcot. This was lucky for us since our hottest day was at Epcot.
With some good planning, which I find a lot of fun to do anyway, you can have just as good a time in August as you would in, say, March. There are still many ways to avoid the crowds, as long as you get there very early. I can't even begin to tell you how many people were first entering the park when we were leaving in the afternoon! This is due to a couple of different factors, such as park-hopping (coming from a different park from earlier in the day), and some people prefer to sleep in late and go to the parks later. I would rather get up early and then rest in the afternoon before dinner. It made us enjoy our dinners more also!
Again, it depends on your tolerance for heat. When I booked out trip, I thought to myself, would I rather go in the winter or the summer? Well, we chose summer for three reasons. One, our older son is in school and I do not take him out of school for vacations. Two, we are teachers and are off the entire summer so we had more time (drove down there and had a 2-week trip total...got to visit some family in southern Florida also). And three, although I know it is rare, going in the winter (either Christmas time or February break) could be risky because sometimes it is 30 degrees in Orlando in the winter. I personally would rather tour a theme park in the heat than in 30 degrees while wearing a winter coat! This was something we considered.
I have also learned not to listen to people. While they mean well, I can't even begin to tell you how many people told me that we would all be miserable going in the summer, and the kids would have constant meltdowns. Well, they did not know that I did NOT plan to run my kids ragged to the point where they couldn't take it anymore! And kids will be kids of course, but no MAJOR meltdowns or tantrums for us! All it takes is careful planning. And those same people who told me that were shocked when we got home that we had such a great time. They also said that they would have been the first ones in the parks AND the last ones to leave, WITHOUT going back to the room! So there you go. I would never torture my kids, or myself for that matter, with a plan like that!
We will once again be braving the heat to enjoy Disney, everthing has airconditioning so you can always find a place to cool down, I am the drink pusher on our trips, you must drink so much in your water bottle to go to the next attraction, my kids think its some crazy disney rule
Drink lots of water like everyone says. If you have a fridge in the room, you may want to freeze bottles of water for the parks. I carried one of those little fans that you get at the dollar store. It doesn't have the mister on it but it works great. You can wear it around your neck and its not heavy and bulky. While you are in line, you can use it and not get anyone else wet, even though they probably wouldn't mind! Just think happy thoughts and you'll be fine.
