Rain/Thunderstorms on AK day - should I change park reservation?

[Smugpugmug]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, feel free to move this thread to where it should be.

So my trip is in exactly 2 weeks from now and I was checking the weather when I saw that it is going to rain all day on our Animal Kingdom day (May 8) along with thunderstorms. I am fine with rain as I am aware May begins the rainy season but I am unsure if I should keep AK on that day if it is going to thunder as well. My group's must dos are Flight of Passage, the Safari, Everest and Dinosaur and we would be very disappointed if we couldn't do the Safari and Everest due to thunder.

I'm thinking of swapping now since I seeing parks become sold on our certain days of our trip. I have an AP and the other two people in my group have day tickets so we have different pools to grab park reservations from so I want to make sure we can all switch if we have to. I did see that the rain is supposed to clear up in the evening so it is possible we could leave the park early, have dinner at our Sanaa reservation and then go back to the park to ride Everest (I know the Safari closes early). Do resort buses go to AK an hour or so before park close? Our reservation is at 5 pm so we would have time to head back to the park.

Does anyone have experience on doing AK on a rainy day with thunderstorms? Or should I just do the swap? Thank you for any and all help!

 

[Anna131517]

I don’t think a forecast that far out is very reliable but I’m not a meteorologist. Do you have PH? That can help alleviate concern about not being able to do something due to weather/

 

[scrappinginontario]

Forecasts that far away are unreliable. If I was 2 days away and it was calling for an entire day of rain then yes, I would probably try to switch parks.

Also note that FL gets rain many days but it’s often only a short blast of rain then it’s beautiful again. Closer to the date I would look at the entire day’s forecast then decide from there.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Forecasts that far away are unreliable. If I was 2 days away and it was calling for an entire day of rain then yes, I would probably try to switch parks.

Also note that FL gets rain many days but it’s often only a short blast of rain then it’s beautiful again. Closer to the date I would look at the entire day’s forecast then decide from there.

That's what I would do typically but with park reservations involved it makes things more complicated. Like I'm already seeing parks as "sold out" on certain days of our trip so I'm afraid that if I wait too long to swap I won't be able to. Especially since I have an AP and my group has day tickets so I'm seeing two different pools with varying availability.

Btw the people with the day tickets do not have park hoppers so we can't hop to another park if it does start thundering.

 

[holden]

A forecast of rain could mean rain in MK but not AK. Even day of FL weather is tricky to predict. Also, I would count on rain every day, especially late afternoon.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I don’t think a forecast that far out is very reliable but I’m not a meteorologist. Do you have PH? That can help alleviate concern about not being able to do something due to weather/

It's almost impossible to micro-manage the Florida forecast - it's just way to unpredictable. Be aware of it, but don't be so quick to rearrange everything so far in advance. You're likely to make changes you'll regret.

 

[_19disnA]

Weather forecasts aren't accurate more then a few days ahead, certainly not 2 weeks into the future. It might also be raining at another Disney park so trading one for the other won't necessarily resolve a weather issue. When it does rain this time of year in Florida they don't tend to be an all day rain like if there was a hurricane moving through the area.

 

[Smugpugmug]

A forecast of rain could mean rain in MK but not AK. Even day of FL weather is tricky to predict. Also, I would count on rain every day, especially late afternoon.

I fully expect it to rain in the afternoon but my issue is mainly the thunder. The Safari and Everest close when it thunders so we don't want to miss out on those if it does thunder all day.

 

[Stratman50th]

Don't pay any attention to weather forecasts further out than 3 days. I've watched the real time radar with thunderstorms heading right at us and they either fall apart or go around. That's Florida. I've seen storms heading straight for the parks and do the same thing. On the other hand, I've seen nothing in the forecast and a storm pop up right overhead.
All a part of living/visiting Florida!
PS: I'll still take it over snow any day!

 

[Smugpugmug]

Thank you to everyone that responded. I know I shouldn't worry this far out but I'm going with someone that hasn't been to WDW in years so I didn't want their AK day ruined by thunder. Makes me feel better to know I'm just overthinking it when Florida weather is as finicky as it is.

 

[Stratman50th]

Thank you to everyone that responded. I know I shouldn't worry this far out but I'm going with someone that hasn't been to WDW in years so I didn't want their AK day ruined by thunder. Makes me feel better to know I'm just overthinking it when Florida weather is as finicky as it is.

Thunder is just noise, lightening is what you're worried about. Anyway, we do have days with just overcast and rain like everyone else. Especially this time of year. You're not quite into the summer weather patterns yet where we get that regular afternoon thunderstorm at 3:00pm. Contrary to popular belief it doesn't go on 12 months a year.

 

[reddog21]

AK is the best park to be at when it’s raining or overcast. I always feel it’s by far the hottest most humid park.

 

[MainMom]

Our best safari ever (for animals) was after rain. Our best guide was in January 2021.

 

[roctavia]

I agree with others that it's too far out to rush and make changes since the forecast will change so much.... How crummy would it be if you rearrange your park days now and then your new AK day becomes the day with the thunderstorms? We will be in the parks in a couple of weeks as well and just plan to roll with it when it comes to the weather...

 

[soniam]

I fully expect it to rain in the afternoon but my issue is mainly the thunder. The Safari and Everest close when it thunders so we don't want to miss out on those if it does thunder all day.

All outdoor stuff closes at the other parks too if there is lightning. I can't think of a park that wouldn't have something fairly big missing. Maybe DHS. I think only Slinky and Alien Saucers would close.

 

[Smugpugmug]

All outdoor stuff closes at the other parks too if there is lightning. I can't think of a park that wouldn't have something fairly big missing. Maybe DHS. I think only Slinky and Alien Saucers would close.

Yeah I was initially considering swapping to Hollywood Studios because most of the rides are indoors. My group doesn't really care about Slinky (we think WDW as well as Universal has better coasters) and we're doing two HS days anyway. I might just keep my reservations as is and roll with it like others said.

 

[soniam]

Yeah I was initially considering swapping to Hollywood Studios because of that reason. My group doesn't really care about Slinky (we think WDW as well as Universal has better coasters) and we're doing two HS days anyway. I might just keep my reservations as is and roll with it like others said.

Just poncho up and go for it. Lightning doesn't happen with all rain/storms. You can always look at the animals. Plus, if it's bad enough, people will leave. Good luck

 

[kwdw]

I don’t even live in Florida and I can tell you that Florida forecasts are only anywhere close to accurate just a couple days in advance! No way I would change plans this far in advance.

On a very rainy day in FL, we headed to AK and had an awesome four hours. The rain stopped as we were walking through Discovery Island and the park was basically walk on!