Tell me about August

[sportel]

We had been looking at a trip to US/IOA over Christmas / New Years, but are now seriously considering late August instead.

How bad is the weather in August? Heat? Rain? Hurricanes? Is it doable with midday breaks?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Aliceacc]

ETA-- sorry, I was distracted and didn't read carefully-- all my experience is at WDW, not US. So I'll edit out the WDW-only info.

We're both teachers, so the only time I've ever been to WDW is August.

And I LOVE it!!!!

OK, first, hurricanes: Orlando is inland. . Hurricane season on the east coast (maybe the west coast too??) is from June 1 to November 1.. pretty much half the year. FYI: Disney (so pretty much US too) is on the border of Osceola and Orange counties. If you're really concerned, bring a map of Florida by counties--- storm warnings are announced by county.

We did meet Tropical STorm Faye in 2008-- she arrived on our departure day. It was the best day EVER!!! They opened all the parks early, and we had the Magic Kingdom to ourselves. A few dollar store ponchos and we were good to go.

As to the rest: We're at rope drop every day, and we hit all the headliners early. We head back to the resort from lunchtime until our dinner ADR... once it gets to be about 1 pm you hit the point of diminishing returns where the heat and the crowds suck a lot of the enjoyement out. The evenings are more relaxed, and we're refreshed.

I won't kid you... it's HOT. But there are enough air conditioned attractions that it's not a big deal. (And a few MistyMate personal misters from amazon make a HUGE difference!!!) But the parks are open from early morning until late at night, so that mid day break isn't a real issue... lots of time to enjoy!
!
Again, we LOVE August in WDW!!

This year we're having a family reunion the first week of August, and I can't wait!!

 

[sportel]

Thanks - this is helpful! I think we can handle the heat with a well planned strategy - my DH needs convincing (which is funny, since I'm much more sensitive to heat than he is). I'm a little concerned about rain, though.

I am also looking at a split stay with both parks, so your WDW info is helpful as well!

 

[Aliceacc]

We hit the dollar store and stock up on disposable ponchos. Some trips we've used them all, other years very few of them. But they take no room, and they can totally turn around a rainy day.

In 3 August trips, there was only ONE time we waited more than 20 minutes for anything. (Our first trip, I mistakenly chose to do laundry one morning, and we arrived at Hollywood Studios at noon... then tried to get onto Toy Story Mania. The wait was 90 minutes. Not a mistake I'll ever make again.) But aside from that, a little knowledge and some planning can make August a fabulous time to be in the Parks!

 

[daisy87]

We went to Florida 19th-26th August 2012 and are going back 16th-30th August this year.

It was very hot but it was fine as long as you're prepared .

We don't have kids so I'm not sure how they would cope,but we just made sure we put plenty of sunscreen on,drank plenty of water and wore hats during the midday hours. There was only 1 day when we had to leave the parks on the afternoon for a nap because I was too hot,DH was fine but it was too much for me lol other than that we coped just fine.

It rained every single day at some point between 1-4pm. Sometimes if was a quick 10 min shower and sometimes it was a hour long pour down with thunder and lightening. This didn't affect out holiday at all because although its raining its still very hot and you dry out really quick,there's plenty on inside attractions to visit when it's rains and afterwards its much more pleasant and less humid. There was one night it rained on the night and fireworks at disney were cancelled (we did both wdw and us) but it was fine we went back to hotel for an early night.

There was a hurricane while we were there,I know Miami airport was closed the day we left but Orlando seemed totally unaffected to me,no wind or anything all week!

The thing we really liked was the lower crowds,in both us and wdw. We always hit the parks at rd, and managed all the main headliners without any wait during the mornings. During the afternoons and nights we could always find rides with low wait times and never waited more than 20 mins to get on something. A lot of rides had wait times posted of 30 mins that were walk ons,it was amazing! Definitely work the hit on the weather to have less crowds

Hope you have a great holiday!

 

[RMulieri]

We went August 18-25th last year..it was very very hot and humid.The crowds were heavier than we were expecting, but very doable with express pass and staying onsite.I would expect crowds to be ALOT LARGER this year since the HArry Potter expansion is opening

 

[daisy87]

Yeh we're expecting much bigger crowds this year from Harry potter, were thinking of buying express passes for at least one day,on a side note does anyone know if you would need the express pass at sea world or Busch gardens in August? We've never been but are going this year and can't decide if its worth the extra $20 each?

 

[rowan555]

Yeh we're expecting much bigger crowds this year from Harry potter, were thinking of buying express passes for at least one day,on a side note does anyone know if you would need the express pass at sea world or Busch gardens in August? We've never been but are going this year and can't decide if its worth the extra $20 each?

We found that at Sea World in August, the rain REALLY brings the day to a grinding halt. The coasters shut down for HOURS when there is storm activity anywhere in the vicinity, and when they re-open the lines are tremendously long. We had the one time use quick queue passes from our hotel, but we'd used them in the morning - it rained for an hour and the rides were closed for two hours total, then we gave up trying to ride either coaster afterwards because there were 90 minute waits.

Basically, if you plan on hitting the coasters multiple times but also want to catch the shows, etc, IMO it's worth the money for the QQ pass. If you want to try the coasters once or twice, you can hit them at rope drop with very little wait and then do the shows, etc. I'll say Manta is my favorite coaster EVER, and I'd gladly pay $20 to ride it again and again all day long.