Poncho - Do they really help???

[Boncho]

This year my sister thought maybe we should get poncho's to wear on Kali River Rapids. We've never worn them before because it always seemed that half the fun was seeing how wet we would get. I was wondering, if you're the one sitting backwards when you go down the last drop and the water rushes all up around your waist (you know what I mean), does the poncho really help? I picked up some poncho's at the dollar store but with that much water, do they really keep you drier - I would think that the only thing that would keep you dry would be a pair of those pants that go with the yellow raincoats???

 

[Pixiedusttravel]

Okay, I always wear a poncho when I go on that ride!! It really does help a lot but of course, you won't be completely dry!

I also like to tuck my feet in undered my poncho and lift them up onto that round bar thingy in the middle of the raft. I HATE to have wet sneakers & socks!! It makes for very unhappy feet!

 

[Joy]

We went on Kali this January 4 times. We all wore dollar ponchos. We stayed dry even the one time I was facing backwards. My feet did get soaked, but I had on Tivas so it wasn't too bad. There were a lot of cold wet people who wished they had ponchos that day.

Have fun!

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

I always wear my poncho on that ride. I don't mind getting a little wet but for some reason I attract the water and get soaked. I don't like walking around in wet shoes and wet underwear.

So yes, ponchos do help. Do they keep you bone dry? No, but they do help to protect you from getting drenched. I also recommend wearing sandles on that ride since you must wear footwear and the foot bar isn't much help.

 

[kidd_freeper]

We never wear ponchos.

We expect it to rain in Florida. And we expect ot get wet. Generally summer clothes dry pretty quick after the rain stops.

We found that ponchos were a nuisance. They're hot. They don't keep your feet dry. And after the rain stops you've got a wet poncho to lug around.

I would never wear a poncho on a wet ride. After all, that's part of the experience.

 

[princess aurora]

Wet is part of the experience yes and we love that but drenched is not part of the experience and not as much fun afterthe fact. Last Oct it was so humid that we were not drying at a comfortable pace. Well I was , wore my poncho but hubby and kids decided to go sans ponchos. We had to buy an entirely new outfit for hubby (shirt and shorts) and he went "comando" because he WAS drenched. The girls were really wet too so we bought them a t-shirt and skirts. We probably could have gotten away with letting them air dry longer but a little too uncomforatable IMHO.

My take: wear the poncho! It even helps us participate and walk around the parks in those spring/summer/fall showers

 

[Pixiedusttravel]

What's really funny is that if you'll notice the first little kiosks that you come upon when you get off that ride sell socks, towels & t-shirts!!!

Disney is very savy!!

 

[mdoc]

Ponchos help most of you. They don't help your feet, of course. I've worn a poncho on Kali and sat in the "soaking" position and while I got a little wet, it was nothing like it would have been without the poncho. Since we tend to go at cooler times of the year, I usually just avoid Kali.

 

[familyfirsttimer]

Couldn't you just bring cheapy water shoes and then wear them for that ride? I had my DD's put the sneakers in ziplocs and put their water shoes on, then change back after the ride. Just a suggestion. Of course because we had little ones, we had a backpack with us at all times.

 

[weirdpaintballr]

we do Kali absolutely LAST and don't wear ponchos....we buy those cheap dollar flip-flops to wear on the ride and either leave our sneakers with someone who isn't riding or bring a bag (food-lion for example) to stuff them in, inside of the bookbag, that we put in the middle....helps a lot...


We take the ponchos to wear in case of a shower...very helpful, but the feet get pretty wet, though...they need to come up with foot ponchos


Also, the Disney ponchos are a much better value...they don't rip easily and if they do rip for some reason, Disney will replace it for free!!

 

[LaDonna]

We never wear them either, brought them the last 2 times we went and never got them out. We didn't mind getting wet at all, and I don't think I'll even bother taking them next time

 

[phantom728]

We did the ponchos (except for DH who was soaked and uncomfortable in the Sept humidity) and stayed pretty dry. We changed out of our socks/sneakers to flip flops and then changed back once we rode the ride. We also carry a back pack and placed this in the center where everything else stayed dry.

Once we were done we tossed the cheapo ponchos and enjoyed the rest of our day...except DH

 

[BonnieA]

I found that for the poncho to work well, you have to grip it under the hood to keep it up. If you don't, the wind will just flop it down and it is useless. If your hood is down, you might as well not wear one cause all the water is gonna go right down your neck. Sometimes it is not easy to hold it in place and try to hold on to the ride itself. But the rewards (staying somewhat dry) are worth it. Nothing will prevent the feet from getting wet but it helps if you can remove your socks before the ride and put them in a dry place like your pocket.

 

[Hobbes]

If nothing else,make sure your poncho is between your rear and the seat! Even if you do manage to avoid getting the worst of it on the ride, you can bet the previous incumbent of your seat didn't fair so well! They do help though for some reason last time I rode it (The 3rd time on the trot) all the water came over the side and ran UP the inside of my poncho and soaked my legs-still trying to work that one out!

 

[CaseyJr]

We've never worn a poncho except to keep dry from rain. Lots of people do, but it seems like extra trouble to me. If you ride Kali, do it early enough in the day that you have time to dry off, and do it on a warm day. Wear sandals (or at least stash socks in a pack), 'cause wet, soggy feet are uncomfortable. Getting wet is 1/2 the fun of the ride!

 

[David R]

I hate getting wet but most of my friends like those rides. So I always have some of those "3 for $1" ponchos from the dollar store and carry one in one of my pockets whenever we go to a place where I could get wet.

I put it on towards the front of the line and like someone else said, I make sure it's between my butt at the seat. It's always worked great.