Tell me about late August

[Heidi K]

The only thing better at night is that you're not in direct sun--which definitely helps.

I was also there late August 2 years ago, when it was high 90's and HUMID every day. We took an afternoon break most days and I would shower then as well.

I have a hard time cooling off unless I'm in air-conditioning, so we only ate at quick service locations with indoor seating. I also saved air-conditioned attractions and buildings for the hottest part of the day--Innoventions, Rafiki's Planet Watch, etc.

 

[Princess_Kirky]

Subscribing. We are looking at returning to Disney late August too (next year)...but because of the weather (humidity and rain), were considering Disneyland instead....so just subscribing to hear the responses as we did absolutely love our Disney World trip.

You can't go wrong with DL! I love Disneyland but airfare is much higher for us to CA. I can get a free flight to MCO with my SW points as it stands. I would hope to snag Free Dining too. I was in Disneyland in March and we were kind of cold, actually (going through the "he//" section of Mr. Toad's Wild ride was a nice respite, haha). I imagine August would be great weather.

 

[Princess_Kirky]

I'm from the northeast and we went the end of August 2 years ago. I was hotter than I have ever been in my whole life. I actually got heat stroke one day....and that was keeping very hydrated...or so I thought. I couldn't wait to get back to the resort to jump in the pool. When I did, it was like jumping into hot soup. I quickly jumped out and into a cold shower. The crowd levels were fine though. We did not have very long waits for most things. It did not rain the whole week until the last day we were there and it cooled things down a lot. We were the only ones not running for shelter! It was an hour of bliss!

Oh, you're scaring me! I visited Pittsburg in July a few years ago and it was so dang hot there. We went to a Pirates game and I was looking forward to enjoying a nice breeze being in the upper deck. Nope, no breeze, just stagnant air. We went to the Jersey shore a few days after that and felt the ocean breeze. Is there at least a breeze in FL?

 

[Princess_Kirky]

I'm from MN too, and we went in Sept (still very hot, but not as bad as August). It is NOTHING like our summers in the Twin Cities. We didn't take breaks (shorter hours in Sept), but we did go into air conditioning a lot (shows, shops, eating). Many of the quick service places are not air conditioned, so keep that in mind when choosing where to eat for lunch. Shade helped some, but I vividly remember standing in line at DHS for rope drop and dripping in sweat before the day even really started. If you have kiddos, one thing that really helped cool us off was bringing a washcloth, getting ice water from a quick service restaurant, and wiping our necks and faces with ice cold water. It can't have been too bad for us since we're planning another trip! Good luck!

We do have the best summers! Just when we think about leaving for good, summer rolls around and we forget about how bad winter is...

 

[DVCcurious]

From Naked Gun

Jane: How hot and wet do you like it?
Frank Drebin: Very hot and awfully wet.

Frank Drebin would LOVE WDW in late August.

 

[tlmadden73]

Looking at late August for a quick trip - 8/23-8/28. Stay on-site at Pop. We would only do 3 days at Disney and one at Universal. I really don't care for Universal but my friend really wants to see HP. I might just stay back and have a pool day. We we get Park Hoppers so we can hit all the big attractions at each. Her son is really into Star Wars so we might spend more time at DHS which is great since it is "the shortest bus ride on Disney property" from Pop.

How hot is it? Should I adapt a touring plan with more breaks due to possible heat? We are from MN, WI so are used to heat in the summer but not constant. We do cool down pretty well at night.
Are the summer crowds still in full force?
Has anyone noticed lower crowds at DHS since the construction began?

I went those exact dates last year (give or take).. Same thing short trip (4 days). We also stayed at Pop.

For us the problem was the rain . .it rained .. POURED every afternoon. (sometimes early, sometimes late). This was not unexpected and we were prepared for it .. but causes a messy or interrupted afternoon. 7DMT was down during our FP+ window .. we had to make a mad dash to and from BOG. (We ate a looong lunch to try and wait the rain out).
There were just several mad dashes through the downpours. The worst one was luckily our last day as we had to stand in the rain (no shelter) waiting for a bus to go back from Fort Wilderness as the boats were closed on account of the thunderstorms.

Bring ponchos! All the time. Every day.

The heat? when it wasn't raining in the mornings and afternoon it was hot.
The key is go EARLY .. Rope Drop or early magic hours to beat the heat. Take a break (back to hotel or find a cool place) to rest during the mid-afternoon heat (at DHS they had a "cool" zone there in one of the old buildings where the Jack Sparrow attraction used to be. Hopefully they continue that trend .. it was very nice . .dark, quiet and cool. He napped there for 90 minutes without issue.


And crowds were fine .. I found them much better than October of 2014.

What's funny is DHS is super close to Pop, but the way the buses have to get there it takes about 3 times as long as it really should if there was a road straight there (or a back entrance). The cool thing is if DHS is having fireworks you can see them from Pop. We watched the Frozen fireworks last summer from our balcony every night.

 

[Nancyg56]

I went those exact dates last year (give or take).. Same thing short trip (4 days). We also stayed at Pop.

For us the problem was the rain . .it rained .. POURED every afternoon. (sometimes early, sometimes late). This was not unexpected and we were prepared for it .. but causes a messy or interrupted afternoon. 7DMT was down during our FP+ window .. we had to make a mad dash to and from BOG. (We ate a looong lunch to try and wait the rain out).
There were just several mad dashes through the downpours. The worst one was luckily our last day as we had to stand in the rain (no shelter) waiting for a bus to go back from Fort Wilderness as the boats were closed on account of the thunderstorms.

Bring ponchos! All the time. Every day.

The heat? when it wasn't raining in the mornings and afternoon it was hot.
The key is go EARLY .. Rope Drop or early magic hours to beat the heat. Take a break (back to hotel or find a cool place) to rest during the mid-afternoon heat (at DHS they had a "cool" zone there in one of the old buildings where the Jack Sparrow attraction used to be. Hopefully they continue that trend .. it was very nice . .dark, quiet and cool. He napped there for 90 minutes without issue.


And crowds were fine .. I found them much better than October of 2014.

What's funny is DHS is super close to Pop, but the way the buses have to get there it takes about 3 times as long as it really should if there was a road straight there (or a back entrance). The cool thing is if DHS is having fireworks you can see them from Pop. We watched the Frozen fireworks last summer from our balcony every night.

This was our experience last August. Torrential rain and thunderstorms. Between the heat and humidity, and the storms, I'm done with August.

 

[BattyKoda]

Our normal week at Disney is the week leading up to Labour Day, so this year it's 8/27 to 9/4.

Nothing to add to the topic that hasn't been said so far... but that's the same dates we have Gillian... See you then

 

[Lori Fuhrmann]

Nothing to add to the topic that hasn't been said so far... but that's the same dates we have Gillian... See you then

Those are our exact dates too!!
See you both then

 

[MommyRobin]

We have gone at that time for 4 years (this Aug 29 -Sept 3 will be our fifth). Yes, it is crazy hot. But we go for rope drop and only stay til about 1. There are so many attractions inside with ac that it's pretty easy to escape the heat. Then we go back to Pop to swim and have downtime. We head back to the parks around 5. I've always found the evening lovely to walk around in.

 

[Stan's MaggieMouse]

For those who have been, does it get better at night at all or is it still really really hot?

Hot, hot and more hot. Crowds are good though. We used to go then when the kids were in school.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

Well OP, I have to thank you for making this thread. We have really been toying with the idea of taking a late August trip with the idea that IF they extend hours, we would just tour mainly at night and spend our days by the pool. But by the sounds of it, it stays HOT HOT HOT.

 

[kam1011]

We go every August. Last year it was particularly rainy. Every night around dinner time. Most years we don't see any rain or maybe one five minute rain shower. It does cool off at night because at least the sun isn't beating on you anymore. I bring two outfits per person, per day. When we go back to the resort mid-day, we swim or shower or both, and our clothes from the morning are so wet that we have to change for the second round. We are DVC members, though, so we have a washer and dryer in the room and I just throw everything in at the end of each night. Crowds really aren't too bad in late August.