Really, the truth, how bad is the summer?

[jaiminee krikit]

We typically go in the summer. We've been in June, July, and August. The worst for me was the first week of August, but I still had an amazing time! Drink a lot of water, wear sunscreen and hats, wear comfy shoes, and I think you'll be fine. We also take afternoon nap breaks and make sure to take in the shows that have AC (HoP, CoP, Ariel, etc.) We also eat inside if we can and don't try to overdo it. It is hot, we are sweating by the time we make sure our hotel room is locked behind us, but DD15 won't let us take her out of school very often. We went this past October for MNSSHP and it was in the 90s, but make the best of it.

 

[Monykalyn]

It's not an ideal time to go. Sure the crowds thin-out near the end of the month, but your kids need to be at school on the 20th, which means you're probably going mid-month. Would your group be willing to get up early, hit RD, and get out the parks by Noon? Then return later in the evening to close the parks down?
My hunch with college-age boys, getting up early on vacation is not their idea of a good time. You could also consider a strictly night time schedule for the parks, but then you have a chunk of time to fill during the day. If you think everyone would enjoy hangin' at the resort, using the pool, maybe take a nap then that might work. As I said, it's not an ideal time to go. I try to avoid the peak crowd times, but dealing with your sitch I think I'd almost opt to go during a school break (when it will be crazy busy) when the weather is better. Then you can at least strategize to mitigate the huge crowds.

Good points on the teens maybe not wanting to get up early.
We usually do early June, but due to the college kid doing the college program we went in August (early) for her drop off. It is surface of the sun hot, and humid. Strategies already mentioned help with that. We also did a couple sleep in, pool days then hit park at night. Yes rope drop will get more "done" but cranky kids doesn't make for a fun time. I'm not sure I'd do August again though. October was still hot and rainy, thanksgiving was cooler but much more crowded (although we did RD at MK on Thanksgiving morning and accomplished a ton, FP late morning and could have gotten more prime ones for later that day!). Just returning home now from picking kid up, New Year's Eve eve and NYE were ok weather days but then we froze!!! Did clear parks out a bit but I discovered I'd rather melt than freeze. Next trip booked for usual early June!

 

[3kidz4dis]

I want to thank you all so much for your responses. I got the truth, the ugly truth. I had to laugh at some of them. As I sit here in PA, and the area schools were closed today from the snow and tomorrow will be closed because of low temperatures, I can still envision the misery of my college aged kids complaining about the heat. I am truly loving each response and fascinated at how everyone views the heat differently. It is subjective for sure! This is the best thread and thank you all so much!

 

[3kidz4dis]

It's not an ideal time to go. Sure the crowds thin-out near the end of the month, but your kids need to be at school on the 20th, which means you're probably going mid-month. Would your group be willing to get up early, hit RD, and get out the parks by Noon? Then return later in the evening to close the parks down?
My hunch with college-age boys, getting up early on vacation is not their idea of a good time. You could also consider a strictly night time schedule for the parks, but then you have a chunk of time to fill during the day. If you think everyone would enjoy hangin' at the resort, using the pool, maybe take a nap then that might work. As I said, it's not an ideal time to go. I try to avoid the peak crowd times, but dealing with your sitch I think I'd almost opt to go during a school break (when it will be crazy busy) when the weather is better. Then you can at least strategize to mitigate the huge crowds.

Micca, I think you hit the nail on the head and summed up in a paragraph my fear and the reason for my thread to begin with. They love Disney and but they are cranky about things like sleep and working around the weather may backfire. BeachClub is available and I was thinking that that is also a positive in our favor but lets face it...it will be stinking hot!

 

[quandrea]

I fit a short mother daughter trip in last year, during the first weekend of August. It was hot, but we dealt very well with it. We hit rope drop, ate lunch at a ts at 11:30, took a break, headed back for a five or six pm dinner and then toured again til late. We had a great time and were sincerely not bothered by the heat. Dd is a competitive swimmer and had no interest in swimming during this trip. In the heat of the afternoon, she wanted to hide, so we did. We did pick one morning when we swam for a few hours before the heat peaked.

The trip turned out so much better than we thought it would, that we are doing it again this August. Bringing her little brother and sister this time. Dad is staying home. He is anaphylactic to the heat.

 

[ITALIANNYC]

I am going for the first time the end of July myself. I have never done summer either, but the way I look at it is like this

If you worry about weather, it can rain your entire trip anytime of year. I'll take hot over cold anyway of the week also.

From what I understand, the real term of CROWDED is major holidays. The entire summer can't be wall to wall people and won't even dare compare to the holidays.. and guess what, people still go during those insanely packed times and have a wonderful trip

Make the best out of the situation. Get the fast passes in check. Get the dinner reservations, and if your lucky, you won't wait on any lines at all if you keep checking and checking for fast passes after your third is up.

Thats what I do and never waited in line. Something always pops up.. ( Then again, I only go with my wife so two is easy )

Anyway.. Its Disney, its summer, its hot.. Powerade, water, little sitting down here and then, and you'll be fine. They are in college, not grammar school. They will endure

 

[kangamangus]

We too are from the Northeast aka Maine and went August 20-27 last summer. Crowds were definitely manageable especially with fastpasses and a good plan. The heat was a lot. It never felt like we could get real relief, even in the pools. That being said anytime at Disney is better than anywhere else and we’d do it again!! Also having the WPFAM add on was a huge blessing!

 

[Lesverts]

I have gone 4 times in the hot season and only once in 29 park days did the heat/humidity make me miserable enough to call it a day and that was in late September at Epcot. I have enjoyed going in June. But I also take my time, take breaks and enjoy meals. So I am not going commando 8am to midnight.

How you tour is going to be just as important as when you go to me. It is a lot easier to go hard in the cooler months. So have realistic expectations and don't overdo it. Also drink lots of fluids, eat regularly and do some pre-trip endurance build-up.

 

[pens4821]

We went in winter our 2 trips (2014 it was COLD but we’d take that over heat), and are doing last week of august this year. With my nephew getting older we decided against taking him out of school for a week. We figure that the last week of august a lot of kids will be back so crowds should hopefully be lower.

However we are worried about the heat. We don’t really care for it but think we’d rather deal with the heat than the crowds of thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter. Our plan is to go to the parks early (taking advantage of emh when we can) and not be in them for the afternoon until about 5. We know it’s still going to be extremely hot, but hope this makes it doable.

My biggest worry is getting sick from the heat. We really have to be aware and try to drink as much water as we can. Stop at water fountains and try to get water from qs places at least once an hour we figure.

 

[Sara_H]

We have gone in August and the crowds aren’t bad...or haven’t been bad when we were there, but it is HOT! Not just hot, HOT! Like so hot one time I looked at my arm and was able brush off salt crystals that were sweated out. Since you are all adults it is manageable. We found ourselves not wanting to go to more rides or do certain things just because it was so hot...wears you down.

 

[Klayfish]

I want to thank you all so much for your responses. I got the truth, the ugly truth. I had to laugh at some of them. As I sit here in PA, and the area schools were closed today from the snow and tomorrow will be closed because of low temperatures, I can still envision the misery of my college aged kids complaining about the heat. I am truly loving each response and fascinated at how everyone views the heat differently. It is subjective for sure! This is the best thread and thank you all so much!

Where in PA are you? We lived in PA for over 40 years (near Philly mostly, but last home was near Allentown), and have now lived in Atlanta for 3.5 years. Yes, it's very subjective, but just my opinion is that the hype about the heat and humidity is kind of laughable. Yes, it's hot and humid, no arguing that. However, central Florida isn't some magical, mystical heat zone that is so far above other places in the country. If you're around Philly, it's no different at all than heat waves that come through that area. Philly gets plenty of 92 degree days with high humidity. So does D.C., Baltimore, the Carolinas, Georgia (they call Atlanta "Hotlanta" for a reason), Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, on and on... Like I said, central Florida is hot and humid in the summer, but so is about 50% of the entire United States. Orlando isn't any different. How it makes you feel personally and how you deal with it is certainly subjective. But objectively, there's nothing unique about Disney when compared to so many other places in the summer. Not every day is 90 either. Over the past 3 summers, we've spent about 50 total days in WDW, all in June/July. We don't count, but I'd guess that roughly half were 90 or above. The hottest was maybe 93 or so. Many days were in the mid to upper 80s.

 

[maalca23]

I have gone in May, June, July and August, multiple times. Yes it is hot and humid, but it is Florida. Make a plan, dress appropriately, drink plenty of water, and you will do fine. there is AC for may of the attractions or they have a fan and mister while you are waiting in line. I think it really comes down to planning and taking breaks. We have always had a fabulous time no matter what. This is our first year we are going the end of February.

 

[anniemae]

It is hot. so very hot. We went in Aug and it is just brutal. The sun radiates off the pavement. We spent a lot of time seeking air conditioning. We also found we could not last long in the parks, had to take multiple breaks. We found the pools were not even refreshing, just too hot. Be sure to drink tons of water and seek out shade, we saw people faint due to dehydration.

It is also very rainy and it is hurricane season. We had to leave early one year due to a hurricane threat.

 

[LovesTimone]

Local here... I live in Winter Garden on the back side of the 429 and can hear and see the fireworks nightly. I am from Florida , yep Fl. Girl... so here my 2 cents worth.

If this time of year works out for you and your family then I would come. But I would plan to "to do Disney" differently. During this time of year its HOT and so HUMID that just going from the house to the car is bad, the humidity just seems to suck the life right out of you.

Plan on taking breaks heading back to the resort for pool and nap/rest time, or just cooling off, This is necessary if you want to enjoy your trip... the heat and humidity makes everyone fussy.

Go the sleep in, hit the pool day, and then into the parks at night route or Hit the parks bright and early, lunch by the pool then dinner out and maybe hit some ride. I strongly suggest not doing the park commando style.

Pace yourself, use your fast pass for the hottest times of day, hit those attractions that you can sit down and cool off, like the Tiki Birds, or a show, alternate your rides and shows

Lots and lots of water and Gatorade, plan on drinking 2 to 3 times what you normally drink... you can get dehydrated quickly. Our friends were here at the end of August and order a case of water and 2 8 packs of Gatorade...They arrived on a Saturday afternoon and on Tuesday I was picking her up for us to do some retail therapy at the outlet, and she asked if I mind stopping at Publix on the way back... so she could buy some more water and Gatorade, they had almost went through the what they had ordered... family of 5

Good sun screen, sunglass's, hat's, lite weight and light colored clothing, I would really stay away from jean shorts, black T-shirt or really dark colors.

Socks or footlet's with your athletic shoes. I can't stand to have wet or sweaty feet, so I bring a extra pair of socks into the parks. No plastic flip flops you know the cheap ones , your feet get sweaty and you can slip right out of them and sprain your ankle... my friends daughter did this last summer at AK, also shoes with a good sole, when it start the afternoon thunder storm the payment gets really slippery. With that I really don't like ponchos they make you even sweatier than you already are... I would invest in a light weight water proof jacket. DH and I have each have one, ours are Columbia and fold up to really nothing and can be clipped on your shorts, also they can be shaken off and wipe off with a paper towel to dry and thrown into a small bag. I bought a guys jacket so that it was longer and covered up my butt.

Limit the stuff you carry into the parks.

As far as eating goes I would stay away from really heavy meals... lighter fare during this time of year is the best way to go... we do a lot of snacking and sharing meals so that we don't over do it.

 

[annemce118]

I went in mid August in 2016 and found it to be much nicer than the last week of July in 2017. It was terribly hot and humid in July. I’ll never go again in July. The crowds weren’t too bad in August.

 

[tink2]

We have been in summer two times- both in June because the kids in our family are all older now and limited with scheduling.
We have found that crowds are not nearly as bad as we had envisioned- lighter than Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks for sure- they were a cake walk compared to Christmas week! lol
Weather can be iffy- we had hot and humid one trip and perfect weather last June! I was so worried about our trip last June because the forecast said 80%- 100% chance of rain daily..... well- it ended up perfect- maybe a rain shower here and there- only one day was it enough to put on ponchos when it rained a few hours- but it was cloudy the entire trip and crowds seemed lower even.
Both trips crowds were fine- yes- it was a little crowded - but again- much lower than we’ve seen other times and we were thrilled! Very doable time of year crowd wise! I’d think mid August would be great too because most southern schools start back at the beginning of August.

 

[rileyz]

Summer is tough weather wise but we like to go for more than a week and with school we have no choice. We will be there for 12 days in August, our 3rd summer trip in the past 5 years. We go out in the morning and at night. During the day we nap, dine, swim, whatever we feel like. I do find that not feeling like we are over scheduled is a huge help. I don’t think I’d go in summer if I was on a time crunch. I haven’t been the last 2 summers so I am curious as to what crowds will be like, I know August 2015 was more crowded then I had anticipated.

 

[monorailsilver]

I’m from CT so we get those oppressive heat waves, the kind you can only go outside if you are in a pool but...

I love Disney in August! I prefer later but I have kids and one plays HS sports so late August is out!

We are going this August 1-11. Yes it will be hot, some days oppressive but honestly it doesn’t feel all that hot. Call me crazy!

We do the early entry park, leave at lunch time and we had been napping-last trip was 2013 and our kids were 12, 9 and 7 and the 12 yo was the first to fall asleep! And then we shower and return to the park at about 5 til closing and repeat the next day. We don’t do more then 2 park days in a row and then we do a pool day, this way my kids can sleep in and not have to wake up at 6:30, get dressed, eat and be out the door by 7.

We drink water, no soda is allowed in the parks. They can have all the soda they want on pool days! We have the insulated thermos containers so the water stays cold. I buy bottles since FL, well Disney tap water is .

Pretty much all the rides have a/c so it’s not like you are standing in the heat/sun for 10 hrs straight.

My kids enjoy getting wet, any mister they are under it. The last time they were drenched from storybook land or whatever that is called. Dripping wet. I expect that again...can’t do that in winter.

I also love summer because I love town eim. Yes you can swim at other times...well not including this week when things got closed due to the frigid temp. I like to be in the pool at night and not feel chilly. Pool=hot tub but it still feels heavenly to swim around.

And another reason I love summer is I don’t need a coat! We go to FL in April and freeze when we leave CT, we still wear shorts and a light coat but that walk in to the airport from the parking garage . As soon as we are set at the gate, the coat goes in our suitcase not to be seen again until we arrive back home.

I will say summer is easily doable!

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm from Central Mass....I've been to WDW in every month. The last time I did 'summer' was for my end of July birthday, about 3 years ago. There is usually daily rain. The heat is bearable....the humidity? Not so much. I've started going in early Sept. Last year I got stuck at WDW due to Irma cancelling our cruise and the airlines cancelling our flights out!!! The weather was hot and incredibly steamy.
Here's the thing....heat is one thing. And yes, we get heat waves with humidity up here in NE. But, when you walk out of your resort, in the morning, and you are starting to sweat by the time you get to the bus stop? Yeah, not so much fun. If you decide to go during the summer, here are my tips...
1. Get moving early. But, this could be an issue with your kids. My 24 y/o dd hated getting up really early, even at WDW!
2. Leave the parks by noon, probably earlier. Swim, relax at your resort until late afternoon.
3. Eat dinner in a park, if possible. Be in the park early evening until it closes!!
4. Wear a hat (wide brimmed!!), and short sleeved shirts. Get underwear that wicks moisture...I kid you not!!!!!
5. Drink more water than you think you need. If you aren't stopping in the restroom every 90-120 mins, you aren't drinking enough!!!
6. Wipe down your face, neck, arms while in the restroom!!! It helps.
7. Eat at least one big meal during the day.....dinner allows you to get out of the heat and relax for an hour or so.

 

[tinkerhon]

Where in PA are you? We lived in PA for over 40 years (near Philly mostly, but last home was near Allentown), and have now lived in Atlanta for 3.5 years. Yes, it's very subjective, but just my opinion is that the hype about the heat and humidity is kind of laughable. Yes, it's hot and humid, no arguing that. However, central Florida isn't some magical, mystical heat zone that is so far above other places in the country. If you're around Philly, it's no different at all than heat waves that come through that area. Philly gets plenty of 92 degree days with high humidity. So does D.C., Baltimore, the Carolinas, Georgia (they call Atlanta "Hotlanta" for a reason), Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, on and on... Like I said, central Florida is hot and humid in the summer, but so is about 50% of the entire United States. Orlando isn't any different. How it makes you feel personally and how you deal with it is certainly subjective. But objectively, there's nothing unique about Disney when compared to so many other places in the summer. Not every day is 90 either. Over the past 3 summers, we've spent about 50 total days in WDW, all in June/July. We don't count, but I'd guess that roughly half were 90 or above. The hottest was maybe 93 or so. Many days were in the mid to upper 80s.

This !!! We live in NYC and always feared going in the summer - we went last July 4th week and had an amazing trip -- when we got home, found out that the heat and humidity were actually worse in NYC that week !!