Tips for DL with kids in the rain?

CandMmommy

September
Joined
Jan 2, 2012
Messages
412
I know weather changes all the time and as of now 2 of our park days are showing 60%chance of rain. My girls are 5.5 and 2.5. Any ideas on making the most of the parks on rainy days? We will have a stroller with big umbrellas... And we are walking from hojo
 
We spent two rainy days at DL in October of 2010. I wish I had some great suggestions but it was just a little better than miserable. It was about 65 degrees and varied anywhere from overcast, drizzle, to down right pouring. We did lots of the inside shows like playhouse disney, muppets ect. My daughter was four at the time and she was a trouper through it all. If you have other days that look like better weather I would have some type of plan B for having fun at the hojo. Maybe use the not so good days for DD shopping/eating.

Hope the forecast starts to look up.
 
Layer up, take ponchos and umbrellas, and stop for hot cocoa and treats when there is heavy rain. Also, you can take cover by riding the train. Try and do some of the longer rides like IASM and POTC. Good luck, it was rainy and miserable when we were there last.

Midnightred
 
I don't have kids, but parts of Disneyland can get very slippery in the rain, so anyone who's walking should have slip-resistant footwear if possible. If you have shoes that aren't fabric and are somewhat water resistant (i.e. leather, faux leather), I'd wear those, and I'd bring an extra pair of socks for when it gets dry.

Even if it says 60% chance for rain, that doesn't mean it will rain all day--in most cases, it won't. Then it becomes a matter of finding a place to wait out the rain. There are quite a few shows and I don't know about your kids, but I could easily and gladly spend an hour in the Animation building in DCA. In Disneyland, Innoventions is dry (and popular in the rain!). And characters have been known to show up in the Animation Building and Innoventions in the rain. I THINK Princess Fantasy Faire runs in the rain? If so, that could be worth it with a (hopefully) shortened line.

If there is a ride your family loves and it runs during the rain (most do) and the line is short, I'd suggest you just do that ride a bunch of times. I wish I'd done that when we went in the rain. And make sure you plan to do shows/parades/outdoor rides when it's not raining.
 

In spring, does it generally rain a.l day or for a bit then clear up? I'm hoping for clearer days even if it's cooler
 
I know weather changes all the time and as of now 2 of our park days are showing 60%chance of rain. My girls are 5.5 and 2.5. Any ideas on making the most of the parks on rainy days? We will have a stroller with big umbrellas... And we are walking from hojo

A complete change of clothes in a locker can be a huge blessing if you get soaked.

Know that there are certain rides that shutdown in the rain and plan around them. (Don't make promises about teacups, for example.) Small World is a 15 minute indoor experience but the exposed line puts most people off of it so my experience has been that it's quick to get on in the rain. :) Any restaurant with indoor "seat yourself" seating is going to be crowded full of people, many of whom are not even eating. Avoid those if you can. Now is a bad time for ice cream at Gibson Girl. Ditto shopping. The stores are crowded with people just looking to get out of the rain.

Embrace the rain. Remember that attitude is contagious and how the kids view the rain will have a lot to do with your spin. We go with, "Yay! Most of the locals are going to stay home and everyone is crowding into shelter... let's ride Splash Mountain since we're already WET!"

On the flip side, some people just hate being wet and cold. I've seen miserable little puddles of tears and woe because they just couldn't take it. If you have a water-soluble child, that's something to know and accept and work around. I got lucky. My kids think rain is either an adventure or funny.
 
We had 1 day with light rain on our trip last month.
I had planned on it and brought rain boots for dd and myself.. they sat in the closet of the hotel ALL week, then on the last day they came out:)
We got tons of compliments from CMs saying, "Rain boots! How cool! what a GREAT idea!"

I also had a stroller cover/rain shield for dd... it helped keep her seat dry even when we were on attractions etc, and kept her dry why I held my own umbrella on our walk from Hojos

And I concur, SPLASH is fun in the Rain! It was my first time on that ride, never wanted to get wet before- but on this day my kids got me on it! :rotfl2:
 
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We had 1 day with light rain on our trip last month.
I had planned on it and brought rain boots for dd and myself.. they sat in the closet of the hotel ALL week, then on the last day they came out:)
We got tons of compliments from CMs saying, "Rain boots! How cool! what a GREAT idea!"

I also had a stroller cover/rain shield for dd... it helped keep her seat dry even when we were on attractions etc, and kept her dry why I held my own umbrella on our walk from Hojos

And I concur, SPLASH is fun in the Rain! It was my first time on that ride, never wanted to get wet before- but on this day my kids got me on it! :rotfl2:
My girls don't seem to be bothered by the rain...and my hubby keeps saying " it's not going to bother me!"
So I'm packing hoodies and ponchos and hoping for fun!!
 
Haven't experienced DL in the rain but my plan if that happened would be get DD and rain suit from Wal Mart or target ( I know both are in easy driving distance) as well as rain boots and bring an umbrella. The change of clothes in a locker is a good idea as well though having a stroller I would probably bag up my clothes and keep them in the stroller so I don't have to walk back to the lockers all wet should I need that change of clothes.
 
Being from the PacificNW, rain is our main weather pattern.

At least it's warm in So.Cal. My group (adult kids and grandkids) generally wear shorts, even in January, them getting wet is the least of my problems. :laughing:

We've had rain on a few of our visits. Having the appropriate gear can make the difference.

When it's really raining if they've had enough of the parks, the grandkids enjoy time in the pool.

Be ready for it and have fun. As another person said, it's how YOU spin it!
 
We had one day of POURING rain on our trip in October!! Seriously dreadful!! But we just made the best of it and planned to leave early to swim in the indoor pool at our hotel - We managed to be there from about 10am - 5pm which kinda surprised me!!

We did pack our Canada day ponchos - but they were the kinda garbage bag style and were pretty wrecked by the end of the day. Oh well :rotfl: We also had an umbrella I forgot was in the car, but it broke after a mini-wind gust. :headache: Didn't really matter tho as it seemed that the rain was coming from all directions!

We did all the outdoor rides that had no lines (a few we did a couple of times in a row) as no one wants to ride those - we were already soaked so we went for it!! Thunder is AWESOME in the rain :thumbsup2
And when we sat in the Matterhorn there was literally a foot deep of water at the bottom - again, oh well - we just went with it! Had a great time!!

We were lucky that our hotel had washers and dryers on every other floor for guest use. They had loads of change ready as EVERYONE was washing or drying clothes that night :laughing:

We did do a walk of Downtown Disney thinking it would help in the rain, but as it's pretty much all open-air too we just headed back to the park :)

It'll be fine :goodvibes - grab a few cheapy ponchos and tie them up to fit the kids :) It's Disneyland, it's always fun :cloud9:

Here are a couple of pics in the serious rain :rotfl: notice the soaking wet hair!! We took his glasses off finally, they were just constantly needed to be dried off!

DSC03686.jpg
DSC03723.jpg
 
I know weather changes all the time and as of now 2 of our park days are showing 60%chance of rain. My girls are 5.5 and 2.5. Any ideas on making the most of the parks on rainy days? We will have a stroller with big umbrellas... And we are walking from hojo

We "played" in the areas with shops and rides that were inside. The rain was a bit of a downpour so we just ducked into and out of rides and shops...the great thing is DLR empties out!:banana:

You and the family will be rewarded if you throw on your rain jackets and just brave it! We are from Vancouver, BC, and believe me we know rain...if you start to feel miserable just use it for a reason to stop and have a nice warm snack and hot chocolate:drinking1 /teapopcorn::

I hope you have a magical trip:cheer2:
 
I LOVED disneyland in the rain! When we were there in oct 2010 there were 5 days straight of record rainfall. It looked like Oregon with palm trees...lol. It was easy to recognize the people from the PNW, we were all the ones not wearing ponchos and running around in shorts- it was still warm to us,lol. I agree with whoever said it is all in how you spin it... Tell the kids it might rain, and that you guys are going ot make special plans in case of rain...have ponchos handy, and plan on a special hot cocoa treat....If you play it up as something fun, the kids will enjoy it more.
 
Ponchos and rain boots paired with umbrellas and Sham-Wows are amazing. :) Wear the rain boots and ponchos to stay dry, use the umbrellas to stay drier, use the Sham-Wows to dry your seats before you sit and no wet bottoms. :) We use a gallon Ziploc for the shammy, wipe off the seat, wring it out over the side of the ride and put it in the Ziploc for carrying in your park bag. :)
 
Ponchos and rain boots paired with umbrellas and Sham-Wows are amazing. :) Wear the rain boots and ponchos to stay dry, use the umbrellas to stay drier, use the Sham-Wows to dry your seats before you sit and no wet bottoms. :) We use a gallon Ziploc for the shammy, wipe off the seat, wring it out over the side of the ride and put it in the Ziploc for carrying in your park bag. :)

Great idea!!
 
Rain boots work but often kids don't like wearing them all day. They're not that great for being on feet all day especially if the rain is off and on.

Instead we've used large plastic baggies put over the kids socks. Shoes get wet, socks and feet stay dry.

The Disney ponchos are rather short. For kids over about age 7 get the adult size.
 
We tried plastic baggies over the shoes one year when we didn't check the forecast enough....it didn't work at all. lol But rain boots did. :) You can always grab a locker to keep your boots, umbrella, dry clothes in. :)
 
We tried plastic baggies over the shoes one year when we didn't check the forecast enough....it didn't work at all.

What went wrong? Always worked for us! Oh, the baggies go over the socks, not the shoes! Hope that wasn't the issue! lol
 

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