Hello All, I'm new to the board.
I was in DisneyWorld from May 19th (Tuesday) until the 22nd (Friday). It was a quick 4-day trip and we stayed in the Shades of Green resort because my grandfather is a retired Navy vet and we kind of tagged along with them.
At the end of my trip, I heard that this was the most rain that Orlando, Florida has had since the 1920's, thus it is the most rain DisneyWorld has ever seen (if that is true)! For anyone considering going to the park, I think this report will be very helpful to you because it represents, literally, a worst-case scenario (unless maybe snow is predicted!).
We arrived on Tuesday around noon and got checked into the Shades of Green resort. One of the three parties my fiance and I were with actually had their room ready, so we loaded our stuff into their room and made a mad dash for Hollywood Studios.
As we were walking out to the bus area at Shades of Green, the bus we needed to ride was just driving away, so we had to wait an hour before we could get a bus. Oh yeah, it was pouring down rain. We waited inside and had a bite to eat at the little cafe down by the bus stop.
We finally got to Hollywood Studios. Covered in our ponchos, we headed straight for the Tower of Terror. My fiance had never been on this ride, so I was excited to ride it with her. We got to the front door of the ride when we heard "eeaarrrrrwwwww" and all the lights turned off on the ride. It was down due to the storm... and it stayed that way until the park closed that day. Not a good start at all!
We then walked over to the Aerosmith ride and got on the ride within five minutes (yeah the lines were short). It was amazing! Easily the best rollercoaster I've ever ridden. I learned at that point that as I get older, apparently I've developed a little bit of motion sickness. I didn't throw up or anything, but I was feeling a little woozy.
We saw a lot of other things at Hollywood Studios but ultimately had to call it quits after about 4 hours of being there because we were all completely soaked and at this point we were getting very cold.
So... day one wasn't great. I had a little bit of fun, but only about as much as you can have at Disney in a massive downpour.
Day two started off at Epcot. Amazingly, it stayed dry for about half the day. If I remember correctly, we had about 6 hours of dry weather before it started raining. We were in Japan at the World Showcase when it started raining so hard that in some areas it had pooled up to your ankles because it was raining so much faster than the drains could drain. We stayed mostly dry by going through the shops while it was raining, but once again we were soaked.
Day three we went to the Magic Kingdom, and I'm glad we chose this day. It was mostly sunny and beautiful all day long. We literally saw the park up and down completely and stayed dry the entire time. The only downside to that day was that we sat around and waited for the parade for about 3 hours and they ended up cancelling it right when it was supposed to start because at around 7:30 or 8:00 it started raining again.
On day four we decided to forego the Animal Kingdom and split the day between Hollywood Studios and Epcot. It was supposed to be really rainy that day so we figured it wouldn't be any fun to try and see an entire park in the rain. We figured we'd use the rainy day to see more of the two parks that were cut short a bit by the previous rainfalls. We finally got to ride the Tower of Terror and we got to see more of the World Showcase at Epcot. It rained for the whole second half of the day, but it was a productive day, nonetheless.
My overall viewpoint of this rain-soaked week? I had a blast! That really says a lot for anyone who is worried about the weather at Disney during their planned vacation. It simply does not get worse than this last week... the weather channel says it was more rain than they get during hurricanes! Even the worst weather week Disney has ever had; my family which consists of my parents (mid to late 40s), my aunt and uncle (mid 40s to early 50s), my grandparents (mid to late 60s), and my fiance and I (early 20s) had a FANTASTIC time!
Could it have been better? I'm sure, but I can't honestly say that upper 90s temperatures and sunburns would have been a whole lot better than what we went through. Make sure to bring some ponchos and remember the memories that are being made. We will never forget our rainy Disney vacation!
Overall Quick-Thoughts
-The Shades of Green shuttles aren't the best. When it was raining, some of the shuttles actually have water leaking inside, and the drivers didn't seem to be as friendly as the Disney shuttles.
-The overall service at Shades of Green isn't the best. It's not enough to ruin your trip or anything, but something you might notice.
-Overall I do recommend Shades of Green, though, if you are able to stay there. Beautiful rooms at a great price!
-Bring ponchos! Umbrellas are okay but they are annoying to carry around and hard to bring through large crowds when it's raining. And don't buy cheap ponchos if you anticipate needing to use them more than once!
-Always wear sunscreen because you just never know in Florida.
-While it's raining, it's a good time to go inside and see all the 3D shows.
-Bring plenty of different kinds of shoes if you can. You might end up preferring one pair over the other, and it may be a pair you didn't bring!
I was in DisneyWorld from May 19th (Tuesday) until the 22nd (Friday). It was a quick 4-day trip and we stayed in the Shades of Green resort because my grandfather is a retired Navy vet and we kind of tagged along with them.
At the end of my trip, I heard that this was the most rain that Orlando, Florida has had since the 1920's, thus it is the most rain DisneyWorld has ever seen (if that is true)! For anyone considering going to the park, I think this report will be very helpful to you because it represents, literally, a worst-case scenario (unless maybe snow is predicted!).
We arrived on Tuesday around noon and got checked into the Shades of Green resort. One of the three parties my fiance and I were with actually had their room ready, so we loaded our stuff into their room and made a mad dash for Hollywood Studios.
As we were walking out to the bus area at Shades of Green, the bus we needed to ride was just driving away, so we had to wait an hour before we could get a bus. Oh yeah, it was pouring down rain. We waited inside and had a bite to eat at the little cafe down by the bus stop.
We finally got to Hollywood Studios. Covered in our ponchos, we headed straight for the Tower of Terror. My fiance had never been on this ride, so I was excited to ride it with her. We got to the front door of the ride when we heard "eeaarrrrrwwwww" and all the lights turned off on the ride. It was down due to the storm... and it stayed that way until the park closed that day. Not a good start at all!
We then walked over to the Aerosmith ride and got on the ride within five minutes (yeah the lines were short). It was amazing! Easily the best rollercoaster I've ever ridden. I learned at that point that as I get older, apparently I've developed a little bit of motion sickness. I didn't throw up or anything, but I was feeling a little woozy.
We saw a lot of other things at Hollywood Studios but ultimately had to call it quits after about 4 hours of being there because we were all completely soaked and at this point we were getting very cold.
So... day one wasn't great. I had a little bit of fun, but only about as much as you can have at Disney in a massive downpour.
Day two started off at Epcot. Amazingly, it stayed dry for about half the day. If I remember correctly, we had about 6 hours of dry weather before it started raining. We were in Japan at the World Showcase when it started raining so hard that in some areas it had pooled up to your ankles because it was raining so much faster than the drains could drain. We stayed mostly dry by going through the shops while it was raining, but once again we were soaked.
Day three we went to the Magic Kingdom, and I'm glad we chose this day. It was mostly sunny and beautiful all day long. We literally saw the park up and down completely and stayed dry the entire time. The only downside to that day was that we sat around and waited for the parade for about 3 hours and they ended up cancelling it right when it was supposed to start because at around 7:30 or 8:00 it started raining again.
On day four we decided to forego the Animal Kingdom and split the day between Hollywood Studios and Epcot. It was supposed to be really rainy that day so we figured it wouldn't be any fun to try and see an entire park in the rain. We figured we'd use the rainy day to see more of the two parks that were cut short a bit by the previous rainfalls. We finally got to ride the Tower of Terror and we got to see more of the World Showcase at Epcot. It rained for the whole second half of the day, but it was a productive day, nonetheless.
My overall viewpoint of this rain-soaked week? I had a blast! That really says a lot for anyone who is worried about the weather at Disney during their planned vacation. It simply does not get worse than this last week... the weather channel says it was more rain than they get during hurricanes! Even the worst weather week Disney has ever had; my family which consists of my parents (mid to late 40s), my aunt and uncle (mid 40s to early 50s), my grandparents (mid to late 60s), and my fiance and I (early 20s) had a FANTASTIC time!
Could it have been better? I'm sure, but I can't honestly say that upper 90s temperatures and sunburns would have been a whole lot better than what we went through. Make sure to bring some ponchos and remember the memories that are being made. We will never forget our rainy Disney vacation!
Overall Quick-Thoughts
-The Shades of Green shuttles aren't the best. When it was raining, some of the shuttles actually have water leaking inside, and the drivers didn't seem to be as friendly as the Disney shuttles.
-The overall service at Shades of Green isn't the best. It's not enough to ruin your trip or anything, but something you might notice.
-Overall I do recommend Shades of Green, though, if you are able to stay there. Beautiful rooms at a great price!
-Bring ponchos! Umbrellas are okay but they are annoying to carry around and hard to bring through large crowds when it's raining. And don't buy cheap ponchos if you anticipate needing to use them more than once!
-Always wear sunscreen because you just never know in Florida.
-While it's raining, it's a good time to go inside and see all the 3D shows.
-Bring plenty of different kinds of shoes if you can. You might end up preferring one pair over the other, and it may be a pair you didn't bring!
