Rain and crowded parks

[Teddy_Bear]

I am disappointed with the August situation. I read about how the parks were less crowded in August, yet the top rides are usually 60-95 minute waits. It rains from 11-5 (not 15 mins as I already read). Just a warning if you plan to come in August…re think it! July is better weather and the park crowds are the same.

 

[HopperFan]

I am disappointed with the August situation. I read about how the parks were less crowded in August, yet the top rides are usually 60-95 minute waits. It rains from 11-5 (not 15 mins as I already read). Just a warning if you plan to come in August…re think it! July is better weather and the park crowds are the same.

I was there last week. Saturday through Friday morning.

We put our ponchos on for about 30 minutes on Wednesday, and hustled through showers that lasted about an hour on Thursday. We did not experience 11-5 rain. There were probably the nighttime showers but that is fine, we are sleeping. Rain happens all summer long into the fall, and when there is a hurricane you might get heavier than normal. Due to hurricane season you just are not guaranteed any week the entire summer will have less rain.

We expected lower crowds but also found that is not the case BUT we did find that walkways were not nearly as bad as other times of year. Our theory is because the HEAT & HUMIDIY & SCORCHING SUN people were getting in lines, making them long, that were out of the sun. We usually walk on to Nemo no matter the time of year, we were trapped in a 40 minute line - but in A/C. AND people sitting for long periods of time in A/C. Our biggest problem was getting a table to eat our meals because sometimes half the tables were just folks on phones sipping water bottles, not eating at all.

At this point ~ there is no perfect time to go because everyone is looking to go when it is supposedly great. AND it could be raining at one park and not another. Florida weather is WHACKY!

 

[OhDannyBoy]

It's Florida. It's hot and it rains. And when it does is unpredictable. Some times it pours in February. That's how it goes.

Welcome!!

 

[lovethattink]

Yesterday and today have been unusually rainy. Usually it’s just a quick thunderstorm and dries within minutes.

 

[Dave006]

Not everyone can chose to visit in July vs August. The crowds at the parks in August have changed greatly over the last 4 years. It used to be very slow but Disney has started the MNSSHP parties earlier, and earlier. Also Epcot Food & Wine now starts on an August date (8/28) this year.

Just like October, the first week of Dec, and late January Disney has offered move to get guests to spread out.

Dave

 

[Disneylover99]

I read about how the parks were less crowded in August, yet the top rides are usually 60-95 minute waits.

We typically go for two to three weeks in August. Usually the last week of August is the least crowded week. We find the top rides always have long waits no matter what time of the year it is.

It rains from 11-5 (not 15 mins as I already read).

Yep. Some days it does. August rain is often unpredictable.

I also find people who go on the exact same dates can have totally different experiences with August weather. We stayed at the same resort with friends/family one year but went to different parks each day. It rained profusely each day that week for them, but it was almost a bone dry week for us.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Have been here since Tuesday. Has rained little bits each day but nothing crazy. Possibly you visited earlier in August?

Yes, the Aug crowds have increased a bit over the past few years but to us are still quite manageable compared to the rest of the year.

Weather would likely be better for you late Apr/early May but crowds will reflect that too.

There really is not a quiet time to visit Disney any longer.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

OP my advice is to make the decision to focus on the good vs seeking out the bad.

Its August. Its going to rain.
There will never be a time that there is little to no wait for the headliners.
Crowds are much lower than other times of the year.

 

[lovethattink]

It was raining tonight when we were driving to Disney Springs. It stopped by the time we arrived. Disney Springs wasn’t full tonight. Lots of empty tables at Earl of Sandwich. But the Poor Porker had a long line. Sometimes it just depends.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Headliners will always have lengthy lines. Where you will see a difference is the shorter waits for non-headliners.

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

We are heading home after 8 days here. We had our rain ponchos on twice during our stay for some heavier rain and two other times we didn’t wear them because we found that the light “spitting” rain actually helped to cool us down as we made through the parks. The one real exception was our Typhoon Lagoon day on Saturday where we found ourselves in a real storm for about an hour or so, the lifeguards were pulled from their locations and everything was shut down- it seems that this always happens to us when we go there. We were glad that we got LLMPs for our full day visits to each of the parks as the standby lines were definitely long for the more popular rides. We combined LLMPs with touring plans made on the Touring Plans website and rope dropping to get us on the SDMT, Remy, FOP, Tron and Rise of the Resistance with waits of 30-45 minutes. Checking wait times on the Touring Plans Lines app (thanks @lentesta) also allowed us to get on rides like Tiana and Tower of Terror with less than 30 minutes waits. Our longest wait was for Guardians of the Galaxy which topped out at about 1 hour.

 

[lentesta]

We are heading home after 8 days here. We had our rain ponchos on twice during our stay for some heavier rain and two other times we didn’t wear them because we found that the light “spitting” rain actually helped to cool us down as we made through the parks. The one real exception was our Typhoon Lagoon day on Saturday where we found ourselves in a real storm for about an hour or so, the lifeguards were pulled from their locations and everything was shut down- it seems that this always happens to us when we go there. We were glad that we got LLMPs for our full day visits to each of the parks as the standby lines were definitely long for the more popular rides. We combined LLMPs with touring plans made on the Touring Plans website and rope dropping to get us on the SDMT, Remy, FOP, Tron and Rise of the Resistance with waits of 30-45 minutes. Checking wait times on the Touring Plans Lines app (thanks @lentesta) also allowed us to get on rides like Tiana and Tower of Terror with less than 30 minutes waits. Our longest wait was for Guardians of the Galaxy which topped out at about 1 hour.

Woo! Glad to you had fun. The humidity here has been something.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

According to Touring Plans, every single day in August (except one) to this point has had a crowd level of 2 or 3 out of 10. Kind of scary that even on extremely low crowd days, the lines are that long.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

According to Touring Plans, every single day in August (except one) to this point has had a crowd level of 2 or 3 out of 10. Kind of scary that even on extremely low crowd days, the lines are that long.

OP said TOP rides so think TRON/GOTG/ROTR...
But even right now GOTG is only a 55 minute wait.
Heck TOT is a "13" minute wait aka ZERO!
I'd call that a low crowd.

 

[CarolynFH]

According to Touring Plans, every single day in August (except one) to this point has had a crowd level of 2 or 3 out of 10. Kind of scary that even on extremely low crowd days, the lines are that long.

Don’t forget, Disney can manipulate staffing, number of ride vehicles in use, and other operational factors that affect hourly ride capacity. I know BTMRR is closed, but for instance they can run two trains or three or four at a time.

 

[Dakota731]

We’ve been to WDW twice in August and had lovely weather. We’ve also been to the parks in May when there was a heatwave and in July when every day was over 95 degrees. It’s just like summer at the beach - sometimes you luck out with the weather and sometimes you don’t!

 

[sponica]

Woo! Glad to you had fun. The humidity here has been something.

We did two days post cruise on Saturday and Sunday and the humidity was intense. The Test Track down time on Saturday made for an amusingly long lightning lane line that we passed over until later.

 

[kylenne]

The one real exception was our Typhoon Lagoon day on Saturday where we found ourselves in a real storm for about an hour or so, the lifeguards were pulled from their locations and everything was shut down- it seems that this always happens to us when we go there.

I love when it storms like that at the water parks because everyone leaves and when it’s over there’s no lines for anything anywhere.

Re: crowds. There absolutely are still slow times, contrary to popular belief. The patterns are shifting, and you get more random spikes. Wait times for the headliners are a poor indicator as others have said. Disney uses data to staff down at attractions which affects capacity.

Weather is also a mixed bag. I’ve been there when it’s been biblical deluge levels of rain at MK but not a cloud in the sky at Epcot. That’s just Florida. Some of the worst storms I’ve been in weren’t in August, but May and early June when it’s not at all near peak hurricane season.

tbh the best thing to do regardless of when you choose to go is just prepare. Have a good plan, stay flexible.

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

August rain is often unpredictable.

Absolutely! tbh, Florida weather at any time of year is unpredictable. It was temperature-wise hotter when were there in mid-May (like, the highs were 98F for the 4 days of our trip).

We were at WDW Aug 10-18 and never had to use ponchos. It might have rained somewhere, but we were either indoors in an attraction or at the hotel for our afternoon break. The week prior there were a few big storms, and then the following week torrential, multiple hours of rain on some days. We just happened to get lucky on the rain front; I will say there were many times when the pools and/or attractions were closed because of lightening in the area, however!

It was brutally hot. There is no getting around it; DH said this was his last hot weather trip and he'll only go late October through early April.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Don’t forget, Disney can manipulate staffing, number of ride vehicles in use, and other operational factors that affect hourly ride capacity. I know BTMRR is closed, but for instance they can run two trains or three or four at a time.

Wait times for the headliners are a poor indicator as others have said. Disney uses data to staff down at attractions which affects capacity.

This phenomenon, which has gotten worse as Disney’s data gets better, has always bothered me.

I certainly get that it benefits Disney to put less wear and tear on the rides by running them at lower capacity when they can get away with it.

But it still feels like Disney is making guests stand in long lines even on less crowded days primarily just to save the cost of staffing a few extra cast members for the day. That seems incredibly short sighted. God forbid guests have an especially pleasant experience and Disney has to pay a few hundred extra dollars in salary! If the lines are miserable even on low crowd days, a lot of guests will be turned off and won’t come back.