Who survived the heat wave?

[SixteenFeet]

Wow. We were at DL/DCA April 29-May 2. The heat was ROUGH and I come from a very hot climate. The super dry windy, sandblasting air...wow. We all came home with heat rashes despite taking long afternoon breaks at the pool. And the long afternoon breaks at the pool saved the day every time, it was so hot! Crowds also seemed super high for the middle of the week! The Frozen M&G line was at 3 hours RIGHT at 9am on EMH, so we had to try again on a non-EMH day...DH got to the gates right at 8:30 when bag check opened and then we waited at the gates until 9:30, then were at the very front of rope drop, and then as soon as the rope dropped EVERYONE ran. DH wasn't planning to, but as soon as everyone took off, he took off too and we STILL waited 45 min to see A&E. Seriously, that M&G is CRAZY. DL will need to do something about the rope drop madness. I got a video of it, which really is pretty hilarious if it wasn't so ridiculous and potentially dangerous. A&E, however, were really spectacular. Especially Anna! And the shorter park hours meant there was very limited time to go back into the parks in the evening when it cooled down and when the crowds were lower but we did manage to get 2-3 rides into the evening hours.

We still had a magical time despite the awful weather. The girls scored autographed photographs of A&E, Minnie, and Cinderella from a CM in the DLH gift shop. In the parks, we spotted Minnie signing autographs and tried to get up there but were told by the handler that Minnie had to leave...but then Minnie grabbed both of our girls' hands and walked with them back to her door! They were DAZZLED and it was so special. We rarely ran into a grumpy CM - seriously it's amazing how cheerful they can remain despite the high crowds, high heat, high winds, dust and sand blowing all about. I'm glad we had the 4-day park hoppers because we needed 4 days to just slog through it all due to the heat. Goofy was fantastic at DLH and on the day we checked out, we ran into him and DH told him we were on our way out. Goofy planted a hand on DH's shoulder, steered him back to the elevators, hit the button, and then stood there "waiting" with us. It was hilarious!

The RSR strategy to wait for FPs 30 min-1 hour after park opening was spot on. We took our time in the morning on EMH and rode the carousel (three times!) and toy story once, then walked slowly back to get FPs for RSR. DH couldn't believe I just walked right to the FP machines and got us FPs in 2 minutes. We felt that EMH at DL wasn't worth it (too many people doing the same thing) but it seemed worth it at DCA. The other problem during the week - SO MANY ride closures, either due to scheduled refurbs or other reasons (high winds? gremlins?). EMH at DL on Tuesday (I think) was totally a loss - there was barely anything at all open. Lots of disgruntled guests talking about going to city hall to get refunds.

I wish the heat wave hadn't overlapped precisely on our days at the parks but the CMs do such a great job trying to keep everyone upbeat and happy and it seemed that more "magic" was happening as they tried to keep guests happy due to the weather...it was worth it. Fabulous vacay! I'm also extra glad we rented a double for our twins...it would've been brutal trying to get them to walk all day in the heat.

 

[PrincessintheCastle]

We were there April 29 to May 3, and also couldn't believe the heat, and the wind! So hot! Also, I found it to be quite crowded, unlike when we visited at the same time 3 years earlier. Besides the refurbs, other "big" rides seemed to be down frequently, and I think that added to the crowded feeling. Still, we enjoyed many special moments!

 

[heybets30]

My brother and his family were there friday, may 2, i couldn't believe how the weather reports cane back!! We usually go that week, but got pushed back to mid-april due to work. Sounds like it was brutal!!!

But - they did see Adam Sandler by Haunted Mansion, then Selena Gomez by RSR. My SIL's fb post mentioned (along with sandler photo) how unfair it is that he got to walk on the rides, while people were skipping rides due to it being so crowded and just too hot to be in line!!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Yep. First trip ever to California for me April 26-May 3. I'm not exactly eager to hurry back. I live in the South but the sandblasting was different. It was awful. This was our first parks vacation after a few years of cruising so readjusting to the bustle and herds of people was definitely an element of difficulty for us. Many moments when we all looked at each other like "What were we thinking?!"

I have teen boys so we didn't deal with the Anna & Elsa meet thing. It was quite unbelievable.

Agreed that early hours at DL were not worth it. With the amount of people there and limited things open lines were pretty much the same as the rest of the day if not longer. DCA was definitely worth it for the early hour. We loved that time.

DL park always felt miserably tight. I can't think of any time of day when we were there that it didn't. My family preferred DCA.

I dunno, I consider the Santa Ana winds the utmost of misfortune. It was miserable and taxing enough that I'm not feeling the need to hurry back to DL. Going in my DH was convinced I'd go and fall madly in love on every level. He thought I'd start down a whole new path of crazy pushing to go back again and again. Weeeeell, that didn't happen. LOL! The AP purchase was still worthwhile for all the savings in food & what tiny amount of merchandise we bought while there. I'm doubtful we make use of them again this year.

 

[thatgrljme]

Thanks for the report. I'll be there on May 10 for a week and am praying things settle down. The entire week looks comfortable and then it starts getting hotter when we get there. Will make me consider February for the next trip lol

 

[Cheshirecatty]

Yes, thanks to all PPs for the great feed back!

We have always really enjoyed being at the Resort during the 1st or 2nd week of May, but maybe we'll rethink that for next year!

 

[PirateFish989]

Yep. First trip ever to California for me April 26-May 3. I'm not exactly eager to hurry back. I live in the South but the sandblasting was different. It was awful. .

My mom and I were at the parks on Friday, May 2 and it truly was hideously hot (and we live in central California where the average summer day is over 100 degrees so we understand hot!). I do have to say though, that the heat is very, very uncommon for this time of year. I've lived in California my entire life and it doesn't usually get into the 90's until June! California is having some bizarre weather this year. Every other year I've been in May, it has been lovely and wonderful and sweatshirts are typically needed in the mornings and at night. It's really unfortunate that your first experience in California was greeted with such horrible weather. I want to say not to give up on California, and especially Disneyland, because of this one really unfortunate experience, but you have to do what's best for you.

 

[NancyIL]

I was there April 28-May 3. Naturally - it was in the 70s the weekend before I arrived and now that I have left! However, had I been at WDW instead - it would've felt hotter because of the FL humidity. I didn't mind the wind, as it helped to cool things a bit.

The World of Color lunch at Carthay Circle was excellent, and well worth $39 + tax and tip for a great central viewing area.

I was there 6 days and had a 5-day ticket, so I chose Thursday (the hottest day) to go on a Gray Line tour to LA, Hollywood, and Santa Monica and Venice beaches. I figured a few hours riding in an air conditioned bus would be better than walking around a hot theme park all day. It was good to take a break from Disney, and it was cooler near the ocean.

Since Disneyland Park was open until midnight on Friday, I went back to my hotel (Sheraton Anaheim) at 1 and returned at 7. I enjoyed a nice, long nap, and missed a lot of afternoon heat.

It has been mentioned here that the 2nd Fantasmic show is much less crowded than the first. I stood on the bridge over the entrance to Pirates, and if that was less crowded, I would hate to see the crowds for the first show! I can finally say I saw Fantasmic at Disneyland, and don't have to do it ever again!

My last day was Saturday, May 3rd. I used my Magic Morning admission that day, then went on the Cultivating the Magic horticultural tour from 9:00 - 11:00. We rode the Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, and Storybook Land Canal Boats with our guide, and had a nice overview of Disneyland Park. I caught a red-eye flight out of LAX at 11:45 p.m., so I left the park at 7:45 p.m.

My previous visits to the Disneyland Resort had been for 2 or 3 days. In hindsight, 3 days would've been plenty for this trip, too.

 

[medievaldave]

We were there April 26-May 2 and yes it was hot. Im from Arizona and wanted to escape the heat. Hot windy plus the huge fire made it even worse. The smell was dreadfull

 

[msmama]

I was there Monday through Friday last week, too. We actually originally had 4 day hoppers but I added another day because we couldn't handle being there much past lunch time. My son and I were both sick which added another downer to the trip.

At least with the crazy wind, it didn't feel quite so hot which I guess is a positive. Wednesday morning (I think) there was just about nothing open at DCA because of the wind. The whole are over by monsters inc was closed because stuff from trees was falling everywhere.

We survived but it'll be awhile before we head back to Ca I think.

 

[californiamomof4grls]

The last week of April first week of May is traditionally when we go! with the schools changing their last day and first day of school (to much earlier) we couldn't take the kids out to go. I'm amazed by the weather it's always been really nice weather! I hope you've all recovered heat like that can be brutal!

 

[SixteenFeet]

Yes, thanks to all PPs for the great feed back!

We have always really enjoyed being at the Resort during the 1st or 2nd week of May, but maybe we'll rethink that for next year!

So every single CM we talked to about the weather (as well as our local friends who live 20 min away from DLR) said that this was really unusual for this time of the year. If it hadn't happened, the weather would've been gorgeous and perfect...we've also gone in Feb and were lucky to not get rain and LOVED the weather then as well but it's so much harder to pack for because you have to have warm clothes for the mornings/evenings (which also makes it tough if you aren't staying at a walking distance hotel) and also had to pack rain jackets for just in case. But I LOVED the 40-degree mornings/evenings and the 60s-70s during the afternoon. We even got in the pool at DLH since it's heated!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Do not reschedule your trip because of the weather. You will not know what the weather will be like until the week before. That was incredibly unusual weather. Today I sent my kids to school (we live about 10 miles from Disneyland) in jeans and sweatshirts-the weather changed about 30 degrees in just a couple of days.

Plus, I thought the wind, although extremely dangerous to our hillsides and mountains, was just what we needed and kept us cool for the most part making it almost bearable.

So just come when it works for you-don't plan around the weather because like Forest Gump's mom said, "You never know what you're going to get!"

 

[Kyjin]

Like others have said, the heat was really unusual last week for LA area. It isn't usually that hot. In fact, today the high in LA is only 68! I'm in jeans and probably wearing a jacket this evening.

My friend and I braved the heat on Friday. We picked up one liter water bottles at Rite Aid before we drove down; I ended up refilling mine three times during the day. Because of the heat, we took it easy and mostly did shows. The Royal Theatre performance of Tangled was great, especially with apple freezes we bought right before hand. Tiki Room, the Aladdin show, Star Tours, Space Mountain- air conditioned rides and shows were our friends. We stuck around for Fantasmic! too, and it definitely felt fine once the sun went down.

 

[ffugitive]

Looks like we're in for a second wave next week!

 

[tarheelalum]

We had planned on being there the 28th through the 2nd but the Santa Ana winds got me and my wife's allergies going so we left on Thursday morning. The heat didn't help much either. It was awful weather. It was probably the worst weather I've ever experienced at DL. This week its going to be 70 and sunny, the way its supposed to be this time of the year. But once my allergies get going it can take a week or two to get them under control. Still it was not all bad, and it certainly beat going to work, but it was not the best time I've ever had at DL.

 

[Kristina4109]

I'm in L.A. right now and it just RAINED in our back yard. Completely different weather from a week ago. I totally agree - it was miserably hot and no one could believe it.

 

[thatgrljme]

I understand weather changes as I grew up there and live in Texas now where the motto is if you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes. However I also know that this is unusual for Anaheim and although it's cool now it will climb back into the 90s by Monday. Trying to vacation away from the heat and I'll be bringing it with me.

 

[Carolynleanne]

Wow. We were at DL/DCA April 29-May 2. The heat was ROUGH and I come from a very hot climate. The super dry windy, sandblasting air...wow. We all came home with heat rashes despite taking long afternoon breaks at the pool. And the long afternoon breaks at the pool saved the day every time, it was so hot! Crowds also seemed super high for the middle of the week! The Frozen M&G line was at 3 hours RIGHT at 9am on EMH, so we had to try again on a non-EMH day...DH got to the gates right at 8:30 when bag check opened and then we waited at the gates until 9:30, then were at the very front of rope drop, and then as soon as the rope dropped EVERYONE ran. DH wasn't planning to, but as soon as everyone took off, he took off too and we STILL waited 45 min to see A&E. Seriously, that M&G is CRAZY. DL will need to do something about the rope drop madness. I got a video of it, which really is pretty hilarious if it wasn't so ridiculous and potentially dangerous. A&E, however, were really spectacular. Especially Anna! And the shorter park hours meant there was very limited time to go back into the parks in the evening when it cooled down and when the crowds were lower but we did manage to get 2-3 rides into the evening hours.

We still had a magical time despite the awful weather. The girls scored autographed photographs of A&E, Minnie, and Cinderella from a CM in the DLH gift shop. In the parks, we spotted Minnie signing autographs and tried to get up there but were told by the handler that Minnie had to leave...but then Minnie grabbed both of our girls' hands and walked with them back to her door! They were DAZZLED and it was so special. We rarely ran into a grumpy CM - seriously it's amazing how cheerful they can remain despite the high crowds, high heat, high winds, dust and sand blowing all about. I'm glad we had the 4-day park hoppers because we needed 4 days to just slog through it all due to the heat. Goofy was fantastic at DLH and on the day we checked out, we ran into him and DH told him we were on our way out. Goofy planted a hand on DH's shoulder, steered him back to the elevators, hit the button, and then stood there "waiting" with us. It was hilarious!

The RSR strategy to wait for FPs 30 min-1 hour after park opening was spot on. We took our time in the morning on EMH and rode the carousel (three times!) and toy story once, then walked slowly back to get FPs for RSR. DH couldn't believe I just walked right to the FP machines and got us FPs in 2 minutes. We felt that EMH at DL wasn't worth it (too many people doing the same thing) but it seemed worth it at DCA. The other problem during the week - SO MANY ride closures, either due to scheduled refurbs or other reasons (high winds? gremlins?). EMH at DL on Tuesday (I think) was totally a loss - there was barely anything at all open. Lots of disgruntled guests talking about going to city hall to get refunds.

I wish the heat wave hadn't overlapped precisely on our days at the parks but the CMs do such a great job trying to keep everyone upbeat and happy and it seemed that more "magic" was happening as they tried to keep guests happy due to the weather...it was worth it. Fabulous vacay! I'm also extra glad we rented a double for our twins...it would've been brutal trying to get them to walk all day in the heat.

WE DID!!! We were there April 20th - May 6th. The past couple days have been significantly better. But yeah, we pretty much hid in the shade for hours through out the day. We also ate A LOT of frozen lemonade Too hot for lines!!!

 

[SixteenFeet]

WE DID!!! We were there April 20th - May 6th. The past couple days have been significantly better. But yeah, we pretty much hid in the shade for hours through out the day. We also ate A LOT of frozen lemonade Too hot for lines!!!

OMG, YES!!! We survived on the frozen lemonade (the icee-type since it's more fluids). The kids and us adults LOVED them. I first read about them here and we each had at least 1 of those each day in the parks...we'd walk to get to the stands that sold them. Those totally saved the day too! DLR made a killing off of us on those:/