Orlando In Summer - Should We?

[UKPhil]

Family of 4 - 2 adults and two children (twins) aged 12. We've been to Florida many times but always avoided summer because of the crowds and the heat/humidity. Next year, for a variety of reasons, summer is pretty much the only time we could go, but on the upside if we go then we can spend 4 weeks there. We went at Easter this year and actually found the crowds quite manageable, so that aspect doesn't concern me too much.

So should we do it? What are the arguments for and against? Is it just the crowds and the heat? Is it really so hot and humid that we'll hate it? If you've been at that time of year what were your experiences? Would you do it again?

Thanks in advance !

 

[Goofyish]

We went in at the end of August and didn't find the crowds that bad - most local schools go back around the middle of August.

It was hot and humid, and quite wet. We saw rain probably 10 days out of 14. Mainly afternoon and evening.

 

[Double k]

We are going next july and like you had the same concerns but some people that we know have been going every year for 10 years and thay say it not that bad it is hot but i am told to do a park in the morning go for a siesta or shopping (air conditioned mall) in the afternoon and back to a park in the evening.

 

[loadsapixiedust]

We were there in July this year and had exactly the same concerns as you before our trip. It was the only time available to us for a holiday this year.
Although I am not a fan of excessive heat, humidity and crowds, we coped with them all and still had a fabulous time. I would not choose to go in July again if there were other choices, but I would go in July before I would say not at all.
The crowds were worse than we experienced at Easter, but you can plan around that too. And it was balanced with 4th July celebrations which we wouldn't have missed. If you have a longer holiday you can take things at an easier pace which will help.
You can read my trip report here.

 

[disneyholic family]

we've had to go during the worst part of July every year for many years.....it's true that it's unbelievably hot and humid....about 95 to 97 degrees fahrenheit every day and about 95 to 100% humidity....
that's extreme heat and humidity by anyone's measure..
however....you say that you're going for an entire month....which is why you'll be able to make it perfectly manageable...
we usually go for 3 weeks so we never ever ever ever stay in any of the parks past noon or 1 PM at the latest....
the temperature in the parks rises through the day, so that the afternoon is probably life threatening heat....but the morning, while definitely hot and humid, is bearable...

also the crowds are the worst past noon..
if you get to the parks before opening, you'll find the parks reasonably uncrowded for the first 2 hours.....

if you can go during august, including the second half of august, you'll have much lighter crowds....(as an earlier poster noted, florida schools go back in the middle of the month)...

another tip...if you stay in a villa/house and have a freezer, buy some of those 1.5 liter water bottles in the grocery store and pop them in the freezer just after you get up in the morning...by the time you're ready to leave for the park, the bottles will be ice cold (with some ice inside)....take a few with you and drink them while you're in the park...
alternatively, put a few half bottles of water in the freezer at night...in the morning, add water from another bottle to the frozen bottles to fill them up....then you will have really really cold water that will stay cold for the 3 to 4 hours you're in the park....it's very important in this sort of heat to drink drink drink drink drink....even when you're not thirsty, make sure you're all drinking....you'll lose fluids quickly in this heat...

so.....bottom line....yes....go in the summer.....a month there is a heavenly thought...
if you can include the second half of august, all the better...
enjoy....

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We are stuck to the school holidays , especially now my wife is a teacher.

Hence we are now taking yearly holidays in August but looking at going for longer, 3 weeks next year.
If you can I would avoid July, it really is just unbearably hot.

This year we went for the last 2 weeks in August (as well as 2 in March) and it was very hot most days and it did take us a couple of days to adjust.
To be honest being frequent visitors we do not feel the need to rush around too much so doing things at a leisurely pace suited us.
The parks were generally very quiet - the US schools go back mid August - so this was a big help, July and early August with the heat and heavy crowds would have been another matter though.

The main problem we have with going this time of the year is the price of the fly drives, going with Virgin is extremely expensive especially as we are going Premium Economy - hence we are going for an extra week.

A lot of people are in the same boat but like I say the last 2 weeks in August the parks are quiet, if you can handle the heat and the expensive prices it's not so bad.

 

[Miffy2003]

Hi Phil!

We have travelled most often in the last 2 - 3 weeks of August and yes it is very hot and humid. But it is tolerable.

If I had a choice I would not travel in the summer - but, given the choice between not going at all and going in the summer, well I know which I would choose

We find arriving early, doing less than full days at parks, drinking lots, making sure we visit air con attractions and shops are all good ways of coping with the heat.

So I would say yes - definitely go for it! The prices are painful, mind you

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Yes the prices are ridiculous - travel companies really take advantage of the fact a lot of us can only go in the Summer.

As Miffy says, if you adopt a relaxed approach to the parks and get there early, drink plenty, etc late August is not so bad, as the parks are fairly quiet.

And if you go for longer, we are going for 3 weeks, is is easier to plan plenty of rest days.

 

[wicket2005]

We had only been in February before and faced a trip in July with some trepidation. I was expecting really long lines, rain every day and unbearable heat.

However, we had a fantastic holiday. We went to the parks on their quieter days and got there before opening, we got all the rides we wanted to do in the first couple of hours with minimal or no lines. Crowds built up at about lunch time.

We only experienced rain on a handful of occasions and only for a short durations. However, I believe we were lucky with the weather and it wasn't the norm.

The heat was hot and humid but it didn't bother any of us so we were able to be on the go from 7 am to 11 pm each day. We had never experienced the type of humidity you get in Orlando before.

I think if you plan carefully and go to the parks on their quieter days and early you won't have any problems. If you intend to get to the parks later in the morning then you will encounter larger crowds and lines, which means you will get less done and spend more time standing in lines.

We have booked to go back next July and know we will have another fantastic time. However, we are forced to go in the summer holidays due to the kids' college/school work, if I had the choice I would avoid holiday times.

As you are going for 4 weeks you will be able to manage your time much more efficiently. 2 weeks is barely enough time to fit everything in, unless you have been before and are being selective. The only trouble in going for 4 weeks is you will find it even harder to come home.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I think ideally a lot of us would avoid the summer holidays if we were able to - however, there are times when the parks are quieter.
It is just the heat and high flight prices that are hard to get round, over £800 for a fly drive is hard to take.

Having said that our March trip this year the weather was horrible, cold and rainy and we had a much better holiday in August all-round.

Would much rather be in Florida in the summer than anywhere else, and you can get a good tan too!!

 

[disneyholic family]

I think ideally a lot of us would avoid the summer holidays if we were able to - however, there are times when the parks are quieter.
It is just the heat and high flight prices that are hard to get round, over £800 for a fly drive is hard to take.

Having said that our March trip this year the weather was horrible, cold and rainy and we had a much better holiday in August all-round.

Would much rather be in Florida in the summer than anywhere else, and you can get a good tan too!!

i'd be careful about that tanning bit..
most of the Brits I see at WDW look like they're impersonating lobsters...it's painful just to look at them..
do what my son does (he also has only two skintones - red and white), slather on 45 spf sunscreen first thing in the morning and wear a big hat that covers your ears and your neck (he wears an australian hat - has worn it for years when he goes hiking/backpacking)...
and stay out of the sun from high noon to about 4:00 or so.....anyone (like him) who doesn't tan has to be very very careful in the Florida sun.....
even my daughter (one of those deep golden tanning blonde types) has to be careful in florida.....

 

[UKPhil]

Thanks everyone for all this useful info.

We generally go to the parks early and leave in the afternoon anyway, so following that strategy won't be a problem. It sounds like August will be better than July, and that will fit in well anyway, so it all sounds quite encouraging.

When we went at Easter this year we found that we got lots done by going back to the parks in the evenings. Magic Kingdom especially was better then because most people left after Wishes and there were no lines for the rides, so I would like to know what the evenings are like. Is the rain normally over by then? Does it stay really hot and humid or does it cool down a bit? Am I right in thinking that the parks normally open very late in summer?

Also, what is the afternoon rain like? Is it light, or that special Florida rain that comes down in lumps? Is it normally accompanied by lightning? Just wondering if we could expect to use the pool or whether we should plan shopping trips in the afternoons.

Thanks once again !

 

[disneyholic family]

Thanks everyone for all this useful info.

We generally go to the parks early and leave in the afternoon anyway, so following that strategy won't be a problem. It sounds like August will be better than July, and that will fit in well anyway, so it all sounds quite encouraging.

When we went at Easter this year we found that we got lots done by going back to the parks in the evenings. Magic Kingdom especially was better then because most people left after Wishes and there were no lines for the rides, so I would like to know what the evenings are like. Is the rain normally over by then? Does it stay really hot and humid or does it cool down a bit? Am I right in thinking that the parks normally open very late in summer?

Also, what is the afternoon rain like? Is it light, or that special Florida rain that comes down in lumps? Is it normally accompanied by lightning? Just wondering if we could expect to use the pool or whether we should plan shopping trips in the afternoons.

Thanks once again !

it's just as humid at night....as for heat....let me think....it might be slightly cooler than during the day....but the big difference is there's no sun, which lightens the heat intensity considerably....
so yes, it's certainly better at night than during the afternoon..

as for rain - well....'normally' it rains every day for about an hour or two, accompanied by very impressive lightening....and it is that wall of water, sky opening up type rain...
however...this past summer, we had entire weeks with not a drop of rain....so it seems that 'normal' orlando rain isn't so normal....i think that people are saying that it's getting harder and harder to predict...
but regardless of whether it rains or not, it never gets in our way...
actually, to give you an idea of how little it rained this summer....we didn't even buy ponchos this year!!!.....that's unbelievable really....actually i did buy one, to go on kali river rapids, but not for the rain...of which there was strangely very little...
but again, it can rain....and 'normally' it does rain....but it's not a problem....

what else did you ask...hours...
let's see....
the Magic Kingdom has longer hours....MGM also has longer hours, as does the AK (since sunset is later, the AK can stay open later)....only Epcot doesn't have longer hours as far as i can remember....or maybe it does....but i seem to remember that it closes at the same 9 PM....

 

[Lisash]

We have been in Summer for the last two years and didn't find the crowds that bad. The heat is very intense but with plenty of water and with most of the attraction queues being shaded with fans you can avoid the worst of the direct heat. We just head for a nice air conditioned area when we feel a bit too hot. You learn to anticipate the regular afternoon downpour we tended to plan mealtimes around the storms and usually by the time we had finished the worst would be over. And of course we never go anywhere without our yellow 'Mickey' rain macs. As I am sure you are aware there is always the possibility you will run into a hurricane. We were there for Charley last August and while it didn't spoil our holiday (it's an experience we will never forget) we did effectively 'lose' a couple of days with everything closing down before and the clean-up that followed afterwards. It's perhaps worth bearing in mind when you choose where to stay. We found that the authorities worked hard to get the major tourist areas back to 'near' normal really quickly but TV reports suggested that many areas just that bit further out where some of the villas are perhaps located took much longer. We would still go in Summer without hesitation. It is very pricey though. We have been trying to get flights fo next Summer as we can use a friends villa and have found with Virgin we can book a whole holiday cheaper than we can get flights for!

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

We have travelled most often in the last 2 - 3 weeks of August and yes it is very hot and humid. But it is tolerable.

If I had a choice I would not travel in the summer - but, given the choice between not going at all and going in the summer, well I know which I would choose

We find arriving early, doing less than full days at parks, drinking lots, making sure we visit air con attractions and shops are all good ways of coping with the heat.

So I would say yes - definitely go for it! The prices are painful, mind you

I agree with Karen and Johnny - we did it for the first time in August this year since I'm an Admin Officer at a junior school and this is the only time we could get three weeks over there.

We had our 12 year old with us and she didn't have too much of a problem with the heat. Yes, it was VERY humid, but we'd hit humid in Florida in June and October before, and especially so in the Philippines, so it wasn't something new to us. It made it perhaps slightly more tiring than normal, but we took our time. We only ever have a week in Orlando since we like to see other parts of Florida as well, there's so much more than just theme parks. The only thing we did "wrong" this year was to do our relaxing two weeks down the beach first - but I planned this for a reason and that was so that the vast crowds would have gone by the time we hit Orlando (17th August) and apart from one night in MK which I never ever want to repeat, all parks were manageable (with the other exception of not going on Soarin' in Epcot since the line was 2 hours long ).

I'd go again in August, especially if it was the only time you could get your 4 weeks in. You really can take your time then

 

[emmaness]

I went with my family in August 2003 and although it was EXTREMELY hot and humid - pretty unpleasant at times to be honest - I don't think it spoiled my enjoyment of the holiday. Going on the water rides at the parks is a great way to cool down, and you really appreciate the air-conditioned buildings.

It was a particularly bad summer apparentely when we went - there was a storm on every single day of our three-week holiday! We talked to some locals at a supermarket and they were saying that you can almost tell the time by the storm, hehe - it was between 4.30 and 5pm every single time!!

Just make sure you're not wearing denim when you go on the water rides. I went on the rapids at Busch Gardens wearing a denim skirt and got absolutely SOAKED, and my skirt was quite decidedly stuck to me for the rest of the day!!

 

[TracyK]

The crowds will be much less than Easter, so if you managed then you'll find the parks quite manageable. Humidity can be very draining so I would recommend time at the hotel in the afternoon. There can be some spectacular storms in the afternoon but we were usually back at the hotel when these occurred. If you take your time and plenty of breaks from the heat you'll be fine.

Tracy

 

[mkmarty]

I know it's abit of an issue with some folk, but if you are going in the real hot times why not go on a sun bed for four weeks before. This will build you up, so when you are there you still get a tan and don't burn up. I used to burm really easily, but I was told to do this last year - I thought pish posh - but it really worked and I came back with a tan that lasted around 2 months into the bargain!

 

[Hilary]

Like others, we've avoided Florida in the summer for all the concerns you mention. This year, however, it was a July trip or no trip at all, so we went.

Verdict - we had a great holiday but it was HOT!

It hasn't put me off going in the summer again, but I wouldn't actively choose the summer if we could go another time of year. Having said that, we've also been at New Year and wouldn't choose to do that again, even though we had a brilliant time!

As has been said before, if it's a choice between visiting in the summer or not visiting at all, well, no contest!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

As has been said before, if it's a choice between visiting in the summer or not visiting at all, well, no contest!

I agree Hilary, we are stuck with August with my son at school and my wife a teacher, but we loved it. It was hot but crowds were light- plus it was pretty wet and cold in March when we were there also.

Give me summer anytime