In the heat of August

[Lakegirl]

We will be traveling the end of August this year. We have never gone during the summer and we are from the Northeast. I have a DD who is 11 and an DS who is 13. My plan is to go first thing in the am, then after lunch head back to the hotel for some downtime in the afternoon and then head back out for dinner and a night at the parks.
Has anyone else done this? Does it work? What time did you find was a good time to head back to the parks? I have always just gone full bore till the kids wear out, but with the heat I am hoping to rest in the middle of the day when it's the hottest out. My DD in December when we went would get very tired by 9. We tried once to come back and rest but of course she wanted to swim so that just wore her out more. Thank in advance for your advice.

 

[spiceycat]

many times - I generally leave around 10 am - you don't want to go during the bus drivers lunch break - so be sure to check on that before you go to the bus stop and then have to wait an hour for the bus.

bring water with you - now love the fact that Disney has water fountains just about all over - but when you need to drink something - so do a ton of other people.

be sure to check the schedule - Disney is pretty good about opening the parks early in the summer so it might open at 8 am or even 7am instead of the normal 9 am.

now part of my problem is the sun - allergic to it - so I don't back until the sun is setting - be in 5pm to 8pm

 

[TeeterTots]

My children are younger DD-4 and DS-1, but we head out at rope drop then back to nap/pool around 1-2. Back to the park after bedtime! Thankfully my mom comes with us!

 

[holden]

Sunset is around 8pm in August. I think it is a little cooler after dinner (around 7pm).

We take midday breaks in August too. The pool doesn't offer much relief (it's bathwater), but it's nice to relax a little.

 

[nalajms]

We're in CT. The hottest, muggiest day in summer here is equivalent to 9am ish in summer months down there It's hot at 7am, hot at 7pm. On normal days, it's still 80s around 1am

Be prepared. Hats, fans, water, etc. Pool water can be "warm" in the afternoon. I pump my 5 & 2yo with soda, they don't drink water willingly. Lots of ice cream, but I have to help because they can't finish it fast enough.

 

[n2mm]

Also don't forget there are generally thunderstorms almost daily. Also don't forget the motto..."I'll never go in August again". We say this every time we go. Then we forget after a few years, then we do it again. We are taking our 3 granddaughters the first week of August. First time taking them without their parents!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

Just a hunch, but I bet with the heat your daughter will be dying to swim. Could you do a swim/movie combo? So go back and swim for a bit, then rent a movie and relax and watch the movie for a bit in the room? That way she will at least get some rest in?

 

[seelyt2]

We generally go in mid-to-late August and we have two kids, too - - and we're also from the Northeast! Our plan (for the last 7 years) has been to do rope drop and leave around lunchtime. Sometimes we eat in the park and sometimes we eat in the villa; depends on the park, our mood and our plans. Either way, we're generally back to the resort by 12:30/1 p.m. wherein we do one or all of the following: swim in the pool (it's like bath-water, but we don't own a pool at home so it's still a treat), nap, cool-off in the villa and watch tv/play on iPad, or explore the resort. We usually head back out to the parks either for dinner or after dinner (if we eat at the villa) somewhere around 6 p.m., again depending on our mood. It's still hot then, but the break gives a chance to recharge and rest.

Enjoy!

 

[DisMomme]

We are from New England and we go often in August (I work in a school) As others have said, be prepared. We would each bring a water and at least 1 frozen water in the backpack. Misting fans are helpful and handheld games for waiting in lines. We also play games together like 5 in 10 - name 5 Princesses in 10 seconds, etc. That one is fun and sometimes others around us will participate too. We bought some cooling towels - they get cool when they are wet and feel so good wrapped around a neck.

When we went back to the resort we made relaxing mandatory. At least 40 minutes with the lights out and no electronics. Everyone usually ended up napping. We would hang out around the resort after until dinner time.

Take advantage of early entry and late nights, relax, enjoy and have fun. You can't go full out like you would during the cooler months but you can still do everything.

 

[Lakegirl]

Thank you so much everybody for all your great insights and ideas. It helps me get a perspective on what I'm in for!!!

 

[Song of the South]

We tried that strategy for a September trip and failed spectacularly. We cannot do late nights AND rope drop. Even with an afternoon nap no one was rested. So, if you plan late night maybe plan to sleep in in the morning.

SotS

 

[Lakegirl]

We tried that strategy for a September trip and failed spectacularly. We cannot do late nights AND rope drop. Even with an afternoon nap no one was rested. So, if you plan late night maybe plan to sleep in in the morning.

SotS

Thanks for your perspective I am thinking some days that may have to be.

 

[Pigletpal40]

We often go second and third weeks of Aug., also from the Northeast. Get to the parks for RD, rarely stay past 11:30-12, go back for lunch
and a swim. Rest, or let the boys go to the pool party that's at every resort in the afternoon while I find a chair in the shade to relax. Have
dinner somewhere and head back to the parks which are usually open late. Our youngest, now 9, would fall asleep in his stroller at the MSEP up until
he was 5. We would bring the umbrella stroller just for those occasions in the evenings. I learned that one after carrying him(40lbs.) from Japan, WS, to the bus stop after the fireworks in Epcot. Sunscreen, Water and go to areas with A/C (shows). Slow down and enjoy the parks and resorts.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Also from the NE,
Rope drop would never happen in our world - that's what FPs are for...

We would go back to OKW around 3:00ish and then to dinner around 6:00- likely near the park chosen for that night. We always had a car so that made it much easier to get to and from OKW, dinner and the parks.

Almost always close the parks.

Everyone walks in with a water and everyone has one frozen stashed in backpacks or in the stroller - SIGH - miss the stroller - It was necessary and excellent as a cargo carrier - would it be wrong to take a stroller without the kids? LOL

The unrelenting sun made the kids tired in the afternoon but the late sunset and warm weather energized them at night.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

You might consider a water park day. We hit Typhoon Lagoon at 10-10:30, leave at 3pm, generally just before the storms come, then relax in the villa and eat there or go back out for dinner and ice cream at Girardeli's in DTD. Do AK when it opens early, especially MK as well. As a Floridian I will tell you that the most brutal time is from noon to 3:30, the sun just burns, hats are essential, lots of water! It's nice to hit the Carousel of Progress, 25 minutes of A/C and cooling darkness, it refreshes you to keep going. Depending on your length of stay, you can also break up the day with lunch & a movie at the AMC Dinner theater, head back out to the parks after 4pm. All that said, we still go every August, before school starts and have a wonderful time! Good luck!

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

We will be traveling the end of August this year. We have never gone during the summer and we are from the Northeast. I have a DD who is 11 and an DS who is 13. My plan is to go first thing in the am, then after lunch head back to the hotel for some downtime in the afternoon and then head back out for dinner and a night at the parks.
Has anyone else done this? Does it work? What time did you find was a good time to head back to the parks? I have always just gone full bore till the kids wear out, but with the heat I am hoping to rest in the middle of the day when it's the hottest out. My DD in December when we went would get very tired by 9. We tried once to come back and rest but of course she wanted to swim so that just wore her out more. Thank in advance for your advice.

Yes we do this a lot. Parks in morning, pool break/hotel room/shower, head back to parks around 4-5p for dinner then rides or vice versa depending on dining reservations.

 

[HarvardAce]

We are from CT and went two Augusts ago, with ages ranging from my then 2-year-old son to grandparents in their 60s. It was hot...but it wasn't necessarily unbearable. Waiting in lines (when we had to, between FP, our FP+ trial, and the lower crowds the last week in August we rarely had to wait in line) or on rides was fine because they were either air conditioned or in the shade -- the only brutal part was walking from attraction to attraction. We made numerous stops in shops along the way to break it up as much as possible. We carried the filtering water bottles from Brita and filled them up constantly at the water fountains, and also had the "Chilly pads" which really did make a difference.

As for our plan, we usually tried to hit up a park at rope drop, and then headed back to the hotel (we stayed at the Contemporary, so trips back from Epcot or especially MK were really easy/quick) to cool off/swim/nap after lunch (around 1 or 2). We'd then head back to a park around 4 or 5, do dinner, and then stay until the park closed.

We're going again this August. We'd rather do September or October but the group we are going with have a few people tied to school calendars...plus my DS is now 4 and in his second year of preschool. We're going a week earlier than we did last year, so the crowds will probably be a little larger, and we won't have the double-dipping of FP and FP+ like we did that trip...but I'm sure we'll still have a good time and do a decent job staying cool.

 

[MaggieMollyMom]

I second the Frogg Toggs chilly pads, or cooling towels.

 

[Anal Annie]

We've always gone in late July / August. It's hot and it's MUGGY. But it's summer - it would be hot and muggy at home too. Although we've owned DVC since 2006 we still tend to go fairly commando. We usually try to hit rope drop at most parks and stay thru lunch (1:00ish or so) then head back to the resort to hit the pool for awhile. We're often stormed out of the pools tho in the summer. The thing about this plan is that there are a LOT of other people with the SAME EXACT PLAN so the resort pools are usually bath temp and crowded. If you'd like a little less crowd at the pool then you should leave the parks before lunch and eat at your resort. (Note that lunch lines in the parks start right after 11:30 and are in full swing from 12-1:00) so if you want to stay in the parks to eat and want to avoid lines AND find a table to sit at then plan to eat by 11:30). We buy APs (but not PAPs) and usually have 1 water park day on summer trips and try to get there at opening too just so we can find a spot we're happy with. We'll stay there until we're stormed out since we've paid out-of-pocket for the day. If we get stormed out of the pools we go to the room & take a nap while we wait out the storms. Sometimes they pass quickly enough we can still have time at the pool & sometimes we just bag the plan, shower and head back out to our next park for the evening. Sometimes it seems like it never cools off if the humidity is at 100% - but you do get a break from the hot sun after about 7:00 or so.

 

[edk35]

Look at my signature.... we have been many times in the summer Get to the parks at rope drop thru lunch then head back to the resort or DTD for shopping. If it is cloudy out.... we will sometimes stay in a park all day. We would head back to parks for dinner or after dinner if we ate at a resort or DTD. MK stays open so late that we would go back there around 8 some nights.