Talk to Me About Severe Weather at Animal Kingdom

[aliceinvunderland]

Tomorrow is our planned AK day, and it looks like the weather is not going to cooperate. We are fine with rain, but we are seeing news reports of predicted 50-60 mph winds and thunderstorms from about 8:00-3:00. What does AK do on days like this? Would they close completely? I'm assuming Safari and Everest (and most other rides) would be closed, but do they still run the indoor shows & Dinosaur? Doing another park isn't really an option, so I'd like to be prepared to do AK if at all possible.

 

[bdcp]

They won't close and they do have plans for bad weather (tornadoes in particular). The best thing to do is just go inside. As far as I know all indoor venues operate normally. I haven't seen the weather, but the winds/storms may or may not actually hit the park. Weather like that is usually scattered and the parks may or may not get bad weather.

AK isn't the best park for bad weather as it's so spread out and so much is outside. Make sure you have a weather app on your phone and be prepared to bail if you see weather coming or prepare to wait it out inside somewhere.

 

[DizzneyDi]

I've never heard that any of the parks closed due to bad weather (hurricanes excepted) but they'll definitely shut down the outdoor rides. The safaris do run in the rain, but I assume not if there are thunderstorms in the area. My worry about AK is all the trees. 50-60 MPH winds would have limbs falling.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We were in AK during a terrible, prolonged thunderstorm in August and were lucky enough to find shelter on a covered wooden bridge near the safari. The area got crowded so CM's started kicking many guests out to keep a path clear through the middle of the bridge. We had ponchos but we were still completely soaked. Unless you are in one of the shows (except Flights of Wonder), everything was closed.

Personally, I would never go to AK if that type of weather is predicted again. EP is typically our go-to rain park as you can do so many indoor things - Innoventions, The Seas, the games after Spaceship Earth, etc.

 

[evilqueenmindy]

Thunderstorms are especially likely tomorrow afternoon, but I wouldn't worry too much about 60mph winds.
Animal kingdom is not the best in the rain, but manageable.
Get there early, do as much as you can while the weather holds.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

We were there during a thunderstorm - as PP have mentioned almost everything closed. We were in FoW at the time - they did not have the show but did serve as a shelter for guests (to wait for the rain / storm to pass). I suspect FotLK and Nemo were still going and probably Bug but I'm not sure. We've been on the safari during the rain and that's fun but not sure what they do during thunder. Good news storms with thunder usually seem to pass quickly in FL - the rain might stick around but the thunder/ lightning go away

 

[MataHari22]

A friend just texted me about this. She had planned to go to AK tomorrow. I don't think she's ever really been to WDW before and she asked if HS had more indoor attractions. I love AK, my second fav park to MK, but in bad weather, I would do another park instead.

My friend also NEVER makes plans. Ever. I'll be interested to see where she goes and if she has a good time. She knows what a planner I am. We are polar opposites.

 

[TideWDW]

The park will probably be near empty. We went the other weekend when it started raining nonstop around 11. The rides were walk ons. The only thing I don't like about that park is lack of indoor eating places for quick service dining. only place we found was a pizza place and I am not that fond of pizza.

 

[rsimon]

The weather isn't looking too good today. A strong line of storms is heading here and moving fast so strong winds are pretty likely.

Personally, HS is a better option for rain. I wouldn't want to be caught in AK with strong wind and rain. The good news is it is moving fast so the heaviest part will be through faster, but you may still have rain throughout the day until early evening.

 

[disnut8]

We were once at Animal Kingdom when it was raining almost sideways. It was one of our better trips there and we go to Animal Kingdom a lot. The rains weren't that bad all the time but we were able to go along all the trails, onto the Safari, see It's Tough to be a Bug (twice), Dinosaur and anything else outside we wanted. Animals aren't humans so they don't normally put up an umbrella or don a poncho and hide indoors. Rain, to them, is just another day.

 

[Twende]

We had a storm blow up in AK when we were watching Finding Nemo The Musical. The stopped the show and asked everyone to leave the auditorium. We were all forced out into the rain, thunder and lightening. I had my mom in a wheel chair and we took shelter in the one gift shop.

Were we told by other guests that there was a Tornado Warning issued. It was a bit crazy to move everyone but all we could figure is that the seating area there use to be an outdoor theater and perhaps they felt there was an issue with the roof not being stabile?

Once the storm passed we had a great uncrowded day.

 

[aquabone1109]

Right now in South Florida we are having tornado warnings. Looks like everything is heading north. Reports have winds gusting about 60mph (watching it right now from my office). Hate to be in Animal kingdom during this.

 

[larryz]

Right now in South Florida we are having tornado warnings. Looks like everything is heading north. Reports have winds gusting about 60mph (watching it right now from my office). Hate to be in Animal kingdom during this.

We flew out yesterday morning just ahead of some very strong winds and rain -- we were in slight to moderate turbulence for the first 30 or so minutes of the flight...

 

[GPC0321]

Hope everyone weathered the storms okay. Definitely some crazy weather going on down there.