Nights in the parks- is it crazy?

[Libby6]

We're going the first week in September. I've never been to FL this time of year but have heard its ungodly hot and humid. Our plan is to hit the parks for a few hours in the morning, and spend most of our time there in the evenings and nighttime. Do most people do this to avoid the hottest part of the day? Are the 4parks crazy crowded at night due to this?

 

[Klayfish]

I guess it depends on where you live and what you consider "ungodly hot and humid". Yes, it's Florida, and it's pretty hot and humid. But it's no different than typical Atlanta summer, or even in the heat waves we would get in my home town of Philadelphia. Crowds in the parks are actually the largest during the mid day and they thin out somewhat at night...the last hour the parks are really lightly populated. People do mid day breaks for sure, but I wouldn't count on it being less crowded then. Heat is just something you deal with when you're there between April and September. We spent 17 days there in late June. There are so many air conditioned rides and shops that it's easy to get a break from the heat any time you want it.

 

[Libby6]

I guess it depends on where you live and what you consider "ungodly hot and humid". Yes, it's Florida, and it's pretty hot and humid. But it's no different than typical Atlanta summer, or even in the heat waves we would get in my home town of Philadelphia. Crowds in the parks are actually the largest during the mid day and they thin out somewhat at night...the last hour the parks are really lightly populated. People do mid day breaks for sure, but I wouldn't count on it being less crowded then. Heat is just something you deal with when you're there between April and September. We spent 17 days there in late June. There are so many air conditioned rides and shops that it's easy to get a break from the heat any time you want it.

We're from the Baltimore area. It's been pretty awful here this summer to be honest. I can do hot, humid, and crowded but really prefer to not deal with all 3 at once

 

[Klayfish]

Then you'll definitely want to do mornings or evenings. No way around it, midday is hot and humid and it's crowded. "Crowded" also depends on which park you're in. MK has some spots where it's really crowded, such as the walkway near Small World and Peter Pan. It's a funnel and you're squeezed pretty tight on a crowded day. But places like Epcot have plenty of space to walk around, so it's not a big deal. Plus, when you're inside the air conditioned rides, you won't really care how hot it is outside. My own advice is that I wouldn't completely avoid midday simply because it's hot. I'd plan for it, but not avoid it. But everyone is different in how they handle heat. I don't like to be near a bunch of hot, sweaty people either...but then again I'm one of them so "When in Rome..."

 

[gumbypee]

http://www.disboards.com/threads/fun-at-mk-last-night.3536320/

here is what I encountered Friday at 8 pm

 

[CAS239]

Just be aware that it's still going to be hot and humid in the early morning and at night. Certainly not as hot as noon time, but just because the sun goes down, it really doesn't cool off too much.

 

[kwdw]

We're going the first week in September. I've never been to FL this time of year but have heard its ungodly hot and humid. Our plan is to hit the parks for a few hours in the morning, and spend most of our time there in the evenings and nighttime. Do most people do this to avoid the hottest part of the day? Are the 4parks crazy crowded at night due to this?

The first week in September is the week of Labor Day - and it's not a huge crowd time because US kids are typically at the beginning of their school year. I'm also from Maryland - and I hit Universal the last week in August one year - and it was as bad as the "95 degree heat index is 105" days we get in this area in the summer - meaning - miserable mid-day. After one day of not leaving the parks mid-afternoon - I switched to the morning park/afternoon break/park at night approach - and that made it a lot better in terms of temperature. Given the time of year you are going - I wouldn't worry about the crowd level at night - especially if you can make it to the end as the parks are always lighter in that last hour before closing.

The part I didn't like was that I don't nap well in the afternoon - so the early mornings and late nights tired me out since I wasn't getting much of an afternoon nap.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We go 9/2. We have planned out night activities based on EMH, Jungle Book and MNSSHP.

 

[NavyDad]

Nights are great in the parks! The atmosphere is great. The crowds are lower but you can still have some long lines for some of the headliner rides. My favorite time in the parks!

 

[LilyWhitehouse]

We always go the last week of August. The best strategy we've found is visiting the parks in the morning at rope drop, staying until 11 am, relaxing, then going back around 6 pm. The parks are noticibly quieter at night and many rides are walk-on, especially at MK during Wishes.

 

[annemce118]

I have been in Disney the past 5 days, and the evenings were generally pretty decent, except it was VERY humid last evening! I would start out early and come come to cool off around 2 or 3, then head out again after 6. That worked for me!

 

[Accident]

The only real difference from day to night is you don't have the sun frying you on top of being how and sweaty. some stuff only happens during the day, some things only happen at night.. you need to sort out what you want to do while there and figure out if you need to also do it during the day... going in at 3-4 is not a horrible day, especially if you plan to do the longer, in a/c shows and attractions until the sun goes down..

If it's not hot or humid, then it's currently raining and wait 20 minutes and it'll be really hot and humid after the rain.

 

[teddygurl28]

like others said just be aware that although midday is the "hottest" September mornings and nights are just as hot. YOu walk out of the nice AC hotel room and your glasses and camera fog up and you start sweating within a few minutes. it actually doesn't bother me but its still hot very early on. at night you loose the direct sunlight, but its still pretty hot

 

[DLgal]

This was what we did on our trip two weeks ago. We actually didn't even do mornings in the parks. We slept in, went to a water park or swam at the hotel in the late morning, hung out in the room until 5-6 and THEN headed into the parks until usually 10 or so. We got plenty done. We had our 3 FP+ lined up back to back and were able to do rides in between the return times. On our last night in MK (a Friday), in 2.5 hours we did NINE attractions AND we ate dinner (Speedway, Dumbo, 7DMT, Astro Orbiter, Small World, Aladdin Carpets, Teacups, WDW railroad, and TTC). We could have stayed longer and done more, but my youngest son has sensory issues and insisted we be OUT of the park before fireworks started each night.

This will be our "go to" plan from now on in the summer. It was wonderful. One night at Epcot, we rode everything in Future World and had dinner in 3 hours!

 

[mullysisters]

I have been in Disney the past 5 days, and the evenings were generally pretty decent, except it was VERY humid last evening! I would start out early and come come to cool off around 2 or 3, then head out again after 6. That worked for me!

This has been my touring strategy for the past four trips and it has been perfect for me. I love the night at any of the parks but especially MK. Most rides are, indeed, walk-ons. Peter Pan was 20 minutes even at 11pm.