Neck fans and UV Umbrellas a "Must Have"?

[abonomo]

Later this month my family will be visiting WDW for the first time during the summer months. I have already purchased cooling towels. I was wondering about neck fans and uv umbrellas. Are these a "must have" for you or a "nice to have"? I'm super worried about the heat but my family thinks this is overkill. Kids are 14 & 16.

 

[jbish]

I bought a few UV umbrellas for our upcoming trip (11 days to go!). We've been in the summers before, and we're from DC so we understand humidity. But the thing I'm concerned about this year is the amount of time we might be in lines outdoors in extended queues. We were big fans of FP+, so I feel like we avoided a lot of the long outdoor queues in the past. So I think it's good insurance vs. just baking in the sun. FWIW, my family also thinks it's overkill but we'll see who's asking to huddle under my old lady sunbrella!! At a minimum, who can't use another umbrella?

 

[kylenne]

I brought a whole packing cube full of cooling things and for me at least I found the UV umbrella + fan combo to work best. The umbrella was probably the single most valuable thing I brought into the parks tbh, between rain protection and sun...it got a massive workout last week at every park but MK, but especially AK and Epcot. I found that with the umbrella I really didn't need my Frogg Togg towel, and my neck fan was sufficient. Without the sun beating down on you, the air the fan blows around is cooler and more refreshing.

 

[bdiddy]

We normally have only used a fan mister in the past but this year I bought the UV umbrellas, cooling towels and neck fans. I got it all when I thought we’d still be wearing masks outside and waiting so much in the outdoors. But now that some of that has changed, I’m curious to see how much we use it all. We leave on Friday so I’ll post an update in a few days!

 

[JenBush]

I think the umbrella is a good idea, good for shade and rain protection during the almost daily summer showers/storms. I’ve used fans in the past, but I never really found them that beneficial. I usually just use park maps to fan myself when I’m really hot and pop in and out of stores for AC.

 

[loves to dive]

I've tried the frog togs but they made me hotter. I've never tried the neck fans but I imagine that would bother me hanging from my neck and touching me. I do take an umbrella just about every day because of pop up showers and have been known to pop it open when it was just too hot for words in a line. I do tend to use park maps to fan myself and last trip, in April, I took one of my fold out fans, which helped but my hand and wrist got tired of fanning myself.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I brought a whole packing cube full of cooling things and for me at least I found the UV umbrella + fan combo to work best. The umbrella was probably the single most valuable thing I brought into the parks tbh, between rain protection and sun...it got a massive workout last week at every park but MK, but especially AK and Epcot. I found that with the umbrella I really didn't need my Frogg Togg towel, and my neck fan was sufficient. Without the sun beating down on you, the air the fan blows around is cooler and more refreshing.

What UV umbrella did you buy?

 

[kylenne]

What UV umbrella did you buy?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082TT73LZ/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_789T4XE0M8B1SKHZP8VY?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082TT73LZ/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_789T4XE0M8B1SKHZP8VY?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks!
*Clicks Add to Cart*

 

[VandVsmama]

The kids & I shared one of these -->
https://www.amazon.com/Handheld-Eas...pd_rd_i=B08695BR88&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_rp_1_t
For our next trip, I'm buying each of us one so we don't have to share.

DH used this neck fan and he really liked it --> https://www.amazon.com/【New】OPOLAR-...pd_rd_i=B0894YQ8BW&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_rp_2_t

For a UV umbrella, we shared 2 of these --> https://www.amazon.com/G4Free-Prote...pd_rd_i=B087GD1XK6&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_rp_8_t

 

[Princess Katelet]

I used a hand held fan that I could blow on me wherever I wanted. I brought UV umbrellas for both myself and my adult daughter which I rarely used (and I kept hitting her in the head with it in line) and she didn’t use at all. She didn’t use the fan either. And the umbrella was a pain to carry around. Yes, some lines are long and in the sun and I used it then, but it was still a pain and I was super anxious about hitting people with it.
We were there May 13-20 and were lucky enough to have zero rain so the umbrellas got very little use.

 

[tobikaye]

I have used regular umbrellas in the past to shade from sun and decided I should switch to the UV. Granted, I keep forgetting to buy them, so thanks for the reminder.

As for the fans, those have been hit or miss for me. I did purchase a rechargeable one that I can attach to my sister’s EVC for her. I tend to either use the little $4-5 battery operated fans. We had some that we had for about 5 years that only just died.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Later this month my family will be visiting WDW for the first time during the summer months. I have already purchased cooling towels. I was wondering about neck fans and uv umbrellas. Are these a "must have" for you or a "nice to have"? I'm super worried about the heat but my family thinks this is overkill. Kids are 14 & 16.

We always bring our fans, towels and umbrellas for our summer time visits. We primarily use our umbrella for the rain since wearing a poncho in the rain during summer is like walking around in a humid greenhouse and it feels gross. But we do use it if we get stuck in a line with no fan/shade but it can get steamy under the umbrella too. It definitely works in a pinch.

We have the small handheld fans that also mist. The neck fans aren't bad but they are smaller and don't kick out as much as our handheld fans. My kids are 12 & 14 and I'm pretty sure everything no matter what I do, they always disagree and/or poke fun at me, I can't win. Just wait till someone complains about being hot and you can then withhold the fan and say "sorry it's overkill" LOL. But in all seriousness, my girls use all my "lame" gear all the time, the fans, towels and umbrella. Also, something you may bring but didn't mention, hats help to keep me cool too, just don't do any dark colors. Make sure you either budget to buy a lot of bottled water for the family, pack some, bring refillable, or stop for hydration breaks and don't forget you can get free ice water at QS restaurants.

 

[Meriweather]

I've gone all times of year.....and hate the humidity being from a hot but very dry state and have never used a fan or an umbrella. DH wears a hat but that is it for us.

 

[jimmymc]

Neck fans are uncomfortable for me and not worth the benefit. Having an umbrella is nice for the rain, but I don't use it for the sun. Drinking more water than you think you need is the key to tolerating the heat.

 

[_19disnA]

The problem with having a sun umbrella in a place as crowded as Disney is that you have to constantly be careful to not poke other people. Many of the walk-ways are narrow and there will be many other people all around you. One of those plastic ponchos or a mini-umbrellas would work best for those brief rain showers that frequently occur.

 

[BarbLynnM]

I haven't been able to use my sun umbrella In theory, people shouldn't be that close but that's not what's happening.

I found those cooling towels to be effective so far.

 

[kj2mom]

We were there last week, I brought neck fans and umbrellas...we only used the umbrella one day for the rain. I am glad I had them if we needed them!

 

[wilbret]

Later this month my family will be visiting WDW for the first time during the summer months. I have already purchased cooling towels. I was wondering about neck fans and uv umbrellas. Are these a "must have" for you or a "nice to have"? I'm super worried about the heat but my family thinks this is overkill. Kids are 14 & 16.

Just curious, where are you traveling from? I am from the deep south, and have been living here again for the past 20 years... I can't say I ever use umbrellas for shade or fans or cooling towels, honestly. We bought a cooling towel, but it was more hassle than it was worth. We had fans for the stroller when we had babies, but not to wear around. We spend a great deal of time outdoors... hiking, boating, at theme parks, camping, etc... my trick is to wear clothing that helps. My shorts, shirts, underwear, and socks are things I know that are cool and quick-drying. I always wear a hat - and be careful to avoid "mesh" hats. Sunglasses are a must. Be sure to sunscreen those ears, back of neck, and nose!

I do have micro-umbrellas for the rain, and carry one if we take a backpack. If we don't take a backpack, I just throw a 99 cent poncho in a pocket. If there's no rain in the forecast, I risk it. It's actually very liberating to visit a park with just what's in your pockets.

PS - I make sure my shorts are what I call ROLLER COASTER shorts, i.e.... a zip up pocket is a must have to secure wallet and phone!

 

[boop0524]

Here now and a UV umbrella and a small fan that runs on a single battery have both been a big lifesaver. Highly recommend!