RAIN! Give me your best tips!

[hsmamato2]

I like raincoats and mini umbrellas( bought at dollar tree)...plus some of those cheap ponchos....they are great for sitting on when the rain lets up,you're outside, but all the benches are wet...
2-3 pairs shoes pp....to switch out and dry....if it's warm, crocs,sandals made of quick dry material are great,just pretend you're at the beach
it's a pain,but the best thing about disney is it's still tons of fun in the rain! my kids swim,etc as long as it's not lightning.....bring some extra clothes,since it will be wetter....and use the resort dryers laundry rooms when needed

 

[corky441]

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain

 

[SydneyJoLynn]

Besides all of these staying dry tips...

Here is some attraction strategy. While it is dry and sunny outside, do all the outdoor attractions. You can switch it up for a little air conditioning, but the reason why you hit up all of the outdoor ones early is because if the rain brings any thunder/lightning, the outdoor attractions are required to close.

Heres a list of Outdoor and Indoor attractions that I can think of off the top of my head.

Outdoor:
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Peoplemover/TTA
- Astro Orbiter
- Dumbo
- (I really have no idea if the Carousel or Teacups are up or not during storms)
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Splash Mountain (Yep. Still considered Outdoor.)
- (I think?) Tom Sawyer Rafts
- Jungle Cruise
- Aladdins Carpets

Indoor:
- Monsters Inc Laugh Floor
- Stitchs Great Escape
- Buzz Spaceranger Spin
- Space Mountain
- Carousel of Progress
- Peter Pans Flight
- Snow White Scary Adventures
- Philharmagic
- Winnie the Pooh
- Small World
- Haunted Mansion
- Hall of Presidents
- Country Bears
- Pirates of the Carribean

 

[pezheadmeg]

Zip-locks, Zip-locks, and Zip-locks! If it starts raining, I just toss the camera, phone, and wallet into them. That way I know things stay dry.

I can't stand the hood on the poncho. Last year I got Disney's $9.99 with purchase waterproof jacket. It didn't have the hood, but that paired with a collapsible bucket hat kept me fairly dry when the rain came. Plus it folds up tiny enough that I can get it into basically any park bag I use. When the rain stops, the wet jacket goes into a zip-lock until it can be hung to dry.

For wet sneakers, newspaper works wonders. Stuff the sneaker overnight and in the am the newspaper gets rid of most of the dampness. Sometimes the $1 spent on the paper is more than worth it.

 

[Squidgyness]

The way it was told to me was that the fanny is the rear. However you don't put the fanny pack behind you as it is more likely to be pickpocketed from.

Yeah, in England we call a *ahem*woman's thing*ahem* a fanny. Don't really know why. Probably something to do with a certain woman named Fanny back in the day.

Onto the rain. Ponchos. They will be pretty much all adults need. Children, covers for strollers. Although, as a child I always liked to play in the rain. Especially if it was warm. (Rain in england is NOT warm. Ever.) It was like taking a shower!

Also, Don't worry about getting a little wet. You will dry out. If worst comes to worst and it rains all day, I had a trick, which was actually kind of a treat. Instead of getting back to my hotel and gettting pneumonia from being wet in AC'd rooms, I packed away the poncho in a waterproof bag and sat on a covered veranda for a bit. The views were spectacular, I could take pics under the enclosed space and I dried off eventually and didn't freeze!

 

[smartblnde]

OMGosh, thank you for clarifying! I was 'plugging' all the words I knew into the ****, and could not get it. Great grin to start the day. Thanks again!

 

[sunshineNJ]

How much do the Disney rain ponchos cost? Thanks

 

[Amunet]

I love all the ideas, and I think I'm going to steal lots of ziplocks from my dad :lol:

We bought really good ponchos a few years ago for some reason ... but we're bringing them this year.

As everyone else has said: It is awesome when it rains! The crowds really do file out and those brave (or foolish!) enough to stay are left with free reign of the parks. This happened to us as we were going to Typhoon Lagoon. As we got there, everyone was coming out due to a huge storm. Well, we decided to get some food inside and by the time we were done eating, the storm alert was called off. It was our favorite day of the trip! It was wonderful ^_^

 

[nkereina]

AMEN to the people bashing the $1 store ponchos... that's one of the biggest "tips" I see given out on these boards, and I just have to think the people who recommend these have never had to use them or only used them in a drizzle. We were in the Bahamas last year and it poured a good tropical rain 90% of the day and all we had was the $1 store ponchos. They are sleeveless so your arms are drenched in a minute, the hood does not stay on your head if you have hair, and there's no snaps so they just blow up and around. If legitimate rain is in your forecast, invest in good ponchos. Also bring extra shoes/sneakers. If they get soaked, they take a while to dry out so you'll want something else in the mean time

 

[HannaBelle]

We welcomed the rain to cool us off, I have taken my 88 cent disposable ponchos to WDW 3x and never used them! We were able to avoid the down pours.

I brought 2 small sham-wows and they sucked up water of tables and chairs like crazy! I loved them. We stayed in a condo, so I was able to wash them each night (just took them with us damp the next day) and they worked great.

 

[momofrrr]

I would second (or 3rd) everything said but here is my philosophy on rain at WDW. By the time you make it to the bus to get back to your room you are wet anyway, you might just as well keep going. Either way, you are wet, you might as well continue to have a good time. My kids always roll their eyes at me when I remind them to brint two pair of tennis shoes. They don't roll them, however, when they have needed to put them on.

 

[cooldadtexas]

I think radar apps are great. I like radarscope on my Iphone. When you see weather starting to build I pull up the app and it gives me an idea of how long the rain is going to last and how severe. Would not visit South Florida without it. I use it in Houston all the time as well. It's well worth the investment.

 

[carone0318]

We've used the sham-wow tip in the past and also always bring our own ponchos, not the $1 type ones. Each member of our family carries their own bag and each poncho is in a ziploc. One thing that dh, dd and I do is clip a caribiner clip to each strap of our backpacks and attach 1 flip-flip to each strap. If it starts to rain, we go somewhere dry and change into our flip-flops and continue on. I carry one of those fold up nylon bags that Disney sells and I'll put all the sneakers in there until the rain stops. Once it stops we change back into our sneakers and our feet are still dry.

My one tip for for the ponchos, I find if you put the hood up that your hair still gets wet and it seems to shift all over the place, but if you were a baseball hat or visor with the hood up, the hood stays in place, it doesn't shift and you stay dry.