Rain, Rain, Rain - Live Report

[WolfpackFan]

Sunday morning, back in "Sunny" Cary, NC -

Well we are back home now. I have to say this was probably the worst trip we've taken to WDW. But I guess that is why we're DVC members - you get to go more often; so if one trip isn't all that magical, the next one will be. Now I'm in full planning mode for our December trip. Looking forward to when the CP narrators come out and they start taking ressies for the dinner package.

Unfortunately we may have to cancel our HHI trip we have booked for next week. We came back to some issues that we need to deal with. I know the points will go into holding, but my use year just started (well April), so I have a long time to try to rebook.

 

[podsnel]

Thanks for the live report! I was at AKV concierge from 5/16 to 5/20 (actually the 16th was a value room), and I have to agree, the rain made it a little rough! It was very nice to have that concierge lounge to hang out in with my friends, though. By the end we were just laughing so hard at the rain because it just became so ridiculous! We went to tea at GF, and instead of wearing the dress and straw hat I had brought down, I was in a baseball cap and squishy wet flip flops! But the tea was very nice in spite of it. The BEST investment of the trip was we each spent $60 on a rain pullover at Kidani (sorry you didn't like it there- we thought it was beautiful, and like being in a museum with so much to look at, even in the hallways!). That pullover kept us soooooooooooo much drier than the ponchos!!

We ARE fortunate that we will have so many WDW trips to look forward to and not just this one in the rain. We all felt so sorry for the families who were there for their first and maybe only visit.

Good luck with whatever it is you need to work out at home-

 

[littlestar]

We just returned, too, from Disney. We were there 05-15 to 05-23 and I've never seen it rain like it did. It was way more rain than the week during Hurricane Jeanne. I'm glad to get home - something I usually don't say.

I talked to people that were doing once in a lifetime trips and I felt so sorry for them. They said they didn't think they would ever want to come back to Disney again.

 

[Budshark]

We were there last week too. We live in JAX, so we go often - but last week was our once a year 1 week trip.

NEVER have I seen it like that. Hurricanes, Tropical Storms, etc come and go. That rain DIDN'T. Again and again. A couple days you could cover yourself and trek through it... but for the most part you couldn'y do that. Too cold, too wet... flooding in the park streets... UGH!

The good news - we stayed at Kidani! Beautiful resort with underground parking!

Good news #2 - JAX got twice as much rain as Orlando - so YEAH! We were actually drier in the World than at home!

 

[starbox]

I am so, so sorry to hear about all the people with rained out trips. I feel for you guys as I don't enjoy the rain. We had one bad January trip with cold & constant rain and it turned me against both January and the resort we were in.

 

[DznyDreamz]

Friday 4PM Update -

For once in my life I'm actually ready to leave WDW and that has never happened to me before. This has been a totally miserable trip. We just need to get home, put it past us and start planning for our December trip.

I totally agree with you on this. When we first started our trip, I was a little bummed that we were only staying for 5 days. By the time we were leaving, I was never so happy to get out of Disney World!! Like you, we were glad to have another trip to look forward to. The weather certainly made leaving much easier. Especially since there were still several more days of rain in the forecast on top of the 4 days we had the pleasure of "enjoying".

The first couple of days were tolerable, I kept saying the mantra its better here then at my desk at work. It started to wear on me and I lost the will to spend the day sopping wet. We never even used our TSM FP's because we couldn't stand being wet any more.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Sunday morning, back in "Sunny" Cary, NC -

Well we are back home now. I have to say this was probably the worst trip we've taken to WDW. But I guess that is why we're DVC members - you get to go more often; so if one trip isn't all that magical, the next one will be. Now I'm in full planning mode for our December trip. Looking forward to when the CP narrators come out and they start taking ressies for the dinner package.

Unfortunately we may have to cancel our HHI trip we have booked for next week. We came back to some issues that we need to deal with. I know the points will go into holding, but my use year just started (well April), so I have a long time to try to rebook.

I'm so sorry... The rain is horrible in Florida at least to us Californians. Our very first trip to WDW it rained and rained and rained. I think, most Floridians forget to tell people it does rain there and it can rain for hours. It is not those T-storms that only last 20 minutes. I've never seen one of those by the way. So, far we've been very lucky as it hasn't rained again on any of our vacations since. However, we haven't been during the rainy season. We'll be going again in June so, I'm a little nervous about the weather.

 

[ShuisFan584]

Wow. I knew the rain was bad, but I didn't realize it was THAT bad. I'm sorry it ruined so many of your trips.

I'm really upset about all this rain and hope it stops before we leave (in four days). We haven't taken a family trip in years and decided we should take one more family trip before I get married. I'm really looking forward to this trip, but not if it's going to be constantly raining.

 

[athenna]

I just got back late Friday night and it was some of the worst rain I have ever seen It didnt ''ruin'' my vacation, it just changed some plans around...I usually just grin and bear it and head to a bar, unless of course youre at MK
You just have to have the right attitude about it, cant change it...Being DVC, I know I'll be back, and will probably have better weather next time.

 

[kent285]

Wednesday was really difficult for me because of the sun in the morning-it made it that much harder when it started up again. When we came out of lunch it was pouring. Headed over to Little Mermaid (had never been there) and during the show water drizzles down on everyone! The whole audience just groaned! Too funny.

 

[oakmanner]

We were at WDW 5/14-5/21. Lucky for us we planned the first few days of our stay as resort days. The sun was out it was hot and we used the quiet pool every day.

The last few days of our trip I have to agree with most of you the rain was a bit much to take.

 

[Dreamfinder2]

Count me in, too!

We were at Kidani from 5/17 through 5/22. And at the risk of making broad, sweeping statements, I can tell you witout reservation that in 30+ years of WDW visits, and having lived in both New Smyrna Beach and Vero Beach, I have never seen that much rain. EVAH. So we cherished those few and far between breaks in the weather ... we had a good half day in the Studios before the bottom absolutely fell out. We were watching Lights! Motors! Action when they stopped the show and ran us out of the stadium, and then the deluge.

We did have a good Epcot day Thursday. But the rest of the week. Man.

We loved Kidani Village, though. We were in a 2BR, and I liked the layout better than any other DVC property. Having three full bathrooms was great! We had a great savanna view, but I expected to see an old guy with a robe and beard on the savanna at any time paring up animals.

And, there were leaks at Kidani - some around the windows in the lobby, and one in the ceiling I noted right above the DVC kiosk. I taked to a couple of maintenance men, who said that invariably new buildings leak, but you don't find those leaks until they get a good rain.

Well, pilgrim, they had their good rain. It didn't ruin our trip by any stretch - a bad day at Disney is better than a good day in the rest of the world - but it did get tiresome. We had one guest with us who'd never been to WDW before, and I did hate it for him. But he had a blast nonetheless.

It just makes me want to go back more.

As an aside - we ate well and were served well. As I've said in another thread, I think the demise of Disney dining has been greatly exaggerated.

 

[DMKEDM]

We were also among the soggy DVCers last week...were at AKV/Jambo in a studio from 5/16-5/23...

Yes, the non-stop rain was very noticeable! My DS said it didn't bother him at all...I didn't achieve that nirvana-like state, but it didn't annoy me as much as I would have predicted had I known ahead of time it would happen...

Got lots of use out of my Mickey poncho from a previous trip! And as other posters have noted, spent a LOT of time wet! Note to AKV room decorators: an additional hook or two from which to hang dripping ponchos would be welcome!)

There were some significant breaks in the deluge, tho...only one day (Tuesday?) was a complete wash-out...other days we had hours-long stretches of either no rain or just a misty drizzle...but when it came down hard, man it came down hard...there was one one-hour torrential downpour (a fellow guest said they were at Epcot and it was raining sideways there!) when we were "at home" (in the resort) when the tv news said the airport had gotten almost 3 inches in just that one hour...

We were still sad to leave Sat...but perhaps not as sad as we would have been had it been sunny and breezy! And truth be told, as PITA-y (pain-in-the-a...'y) as the rain was, I prefer it to the steamy humidity that it sounds like was the case the week before we went...

And you gotta feel bad for the poor folks up in Daytona Beach (I think that's about an hour north of WDW?)...they had gotten 20 inches by the time we left Sat morning...w/more in the forecast!

OK, enough about rain...we had a wonderful trip. DS adored AKV (our first stay at that resort)...I liked it, but noticed two "missing" things that weren't deal-breakers, but do drop AKV down on my "adore-it" list--one is no quiet pool in which to exercise-swim in the mornings...I could and did use the main pool, but I missed the more secluded quiet pools that exist at the other DVC resorts we've tried (SSR, OKW, BCV, BWV). And, you can't "walk out" of AKV (I tried one morning, but the traffic--even at 6:30 a.m.--on the single lane in-and-out roads, w/vegetation grown enough to prevent stepping off the road--made it impossible...so I jogged/hiked/walked (for exercise) in the same (it got be boring) "circle" between Kidani & Jambo (and thru parking lots) each morning...I missed the multiple choice walking routes available at the other resorts...

But the resort itself is wonderful...nice CMs, great amenities...we had a savannah view studio and I was surprised at how much I (and my DS) liked sitting on the balcony watching the animals)...all four restaurants (we went to all four) were really good (for what they are...obviously, Mara's counter service doesn't compare w/Jiko's fine dining! And we both absolutely loved Sanaa--best dining experience--by far--of the trip!)...and the gift shop is one of the best at Disney...and the bus service was phenomenal...we never waited more than 5 minutes, anywhere, for a bus!

Now, back to drying out...

 

[Kuzco]

We were at SSR 5/17 - 5/22 and Jambo House 5/22 - 5/23 on our first DVC trip. I must say that having a villa during such relentless rain was a God-send. I have been to WDW numerous times and have never in my life seen rain like I did last week. On Friday we were in line for Haunted Mansion and the rain was actually coming into the line sideways. We still had fun, but the trip was a little disappointing. At least there's always next time.

 

[HayGan]

Sorry that the rain dampened so many of your trips! After being at WDW through Tropical Storm Fay last year - I know what you all have been through and you have my sympathy!!!

 

[Eventer98]

I expected to see an old guy with a robe and beard on the savanna at any time paring up animals.

Sorry that the rain dampened so many of your trips! After being at WDW through Tropical Storm Fay last year - I know what you all have been through and you have my sympathy!!!

We were also there during Faye last year...first trip for my dad and step-mom and our son was 5 mon old at the time. It was a tiring trip...I was more let down that THEY didn't experience the true Disney magic b/c of the rain. We had rain most of the 6 days we were there. I also feel your pain and agree..start planning your Dec trip. That's what I did and Dec was awesome..best trip yet!!

 

[Coach81]

Crossing our fingers that it won't be that bad next week when we're there!

 

[florep1]

Wow. We're going in 26 days and I'm hoping the rain won't be there by then. I'm not too worried about the rain, but I am concerned about flooding. We are driving and I would hate for our vehicle to get flooded!

 

[backyardponder]

Last year at this time we drove from VB to SSR through the smoke of wild fires. We saw a lot of burnt out areas during the drive. What a different year this is!

 

[MinnieLee]

We were at BWV from 5/17 - 5/24 and in all our trips never saw rain come down like that for so long. Deluge of rain. Tornado warning at Universal/Sea World. We were at MK on Friday and guests were running through water that was up to their ankles because it could not drain as fast as it was falling. Had some sun Saturday, 5/23, morning/afternoon but poured again Saturday night. Heard that guests who were taking the boat from DHS were stuck on the boat for almost an hour as the boats would not run with the lightening. Sun was out on Sunday but our 7:25 p.m. flight was delayed as the storm came in again around 5:30 - thunder, lightening, deluge of rain again. When we landed in ISP, it was RAINING!!! We felt really bad for all the little ones that wanted to see the characters, the parades and do outside rides and could not do them. We still had a great time - you do what you can do. Heard on the weather channel last night that the WDW area was still covered in the storm but there was nickel size hail that might fall! Never want to see another poncho again!