This weekend, Memorial Day kicks off the summer season. The weather will surely get warm this summer. This week we asked our Parenting Panel: How do you deal with hot weather when your family travels to Disney theme parks?
MousePlanet columnist Chris Barry, his wife, Diane, Samantha (16), and twins Casey and Alex (12), live on Long Island and are all major Disney and Walt Disney World fans. Chris writes:
The conversation usually goes a little like this; I say, “I’m going to Walt Disney World this summer.” They say, “Isn’t it hot?” The only answer to that question is the simplest one: “Yes…yes it is hot.”
It’s a simple truth. It’s Orlando. George Orwell said, “Happiness can exist only in acceptance.” Just accepting that we’re going to be hot when we’re there is half the battle. So step one is to just get over the fact that it’s going to be hot. Quite honestly, after all these years and all these summer trips, I don’t really notice anymore. Hot is just part of the deal.
The great thing is that Disney does an awfully nice job of creating ways to stave off the heat. First and foremost is the arctic air-conditioning that is everywhere on property. There’s just about always a crisp-cold gift shop or counter-service restaurant to duck into nearby. The attractions are predominantly all air-conditioned. Almost all of the attraction queues are either shady or air-conditioned. You’re never too far away from air-conditioned relief. Take advantage of it as much as possible.
Of course, water is the best thing for your body when it’s overheated. Sometimes an ice-cold water break is just the thing that everyone in your group needs to combat the swelter. People complain about Disney’s prices. However, there are a lot of things that I think Disney is fair with. Take bottled water for example. Quite honestly, I think being in an amusement park and paying $2.50 for a bottle of water is pretty decent. I know I’ve paid $4 for water at concerts, sporting events, Six Flags, water parks, ski resorts etc. Sure, you can get an entire case of water at the supermarket for $3.99, which makes $2.50 sound like a rip off, but considering where you are, I think it’s fair and worth the investment on a hot day. My other suggestion is to get a Brita refillable water bottle and refill at water fountains and via the water button at some counter service soda fountains. However you choose, stay hydrated and stay cool.
Getting out of the parks might be the best way to cool off. Our advice is to not be in the parks midday in the boiling heat, but to be back at your resort in the pool. We get to the parks at opening as often as we can. We spend a great morning there and then around lunch or just after, we head back to cool off in the pool. The parks are usually packed in the middle of the day and we don’t really want to be there during those hours anyway. The pool is the place to be.
One of my favorite things over the years that has helped keep the kids cool, and me, too, I might add, are the misting fans. We bought a Disney one years ago that we still truck back and forth every year. It’s still holds up and sometimes there’s nothing better than a cool misty spray of water to change your heated outlook. I know there are cheaper ones for sale at places like Target or Walmart, but my experience has been that the Disney ones are better made, come with a strap, and last. I’ve had mine for seven or eight years now! It’s a must on every trip and has saved the day many times. When the kids were very young, we also found some little battery-powered Nemo fans at Big Lots. They were cheap and the kids loved having them in their strollers. Remember, a cool family is a happy family!
Mary Kraemer is an avid Disney fan and a co-owner at EscapadeAdventures, who loves to travel with her husband and children to Disney destinations as often as possible. Mary writes:
Disclaimer: I’m a total wuss about being in heat and humidity.
Now that I’ve gotten the disclaimer out of the way, my first advice is to plan a time when it’s not going to be 90-100 degrees (with comparable humidity, if you are going to the Walt Disney World Resort).
But, I also understand that sometimes your schedule dictates when you can travel, so you have to go when the weather might be less than optimal.
One of the big advantages of the Disneyland Resort in summer is that the temperature drops after the sun goes down, and there’s not a lot of humidity in general. It’s a relief after a hot day to have a much more temperate evening.
At WDW, the humidity manages to wrap itself around you, day and night. It’s not unusual for the heat index to be more than 100 degrees, when you factor the temperature and the humidity. For purposes of this article, I’m going to focus more on WDW than Disneyland, but a lot of the same ideas work well there, too.
- Wear clothing that “breathes.” Fortunately, there’s a lot of sports wear that’s designed to breathe and not chafe in the heat (some of those fabrics are used in more regular shirts and shorts, so you don’t have to look like you’re heading out for a road rally every day). This type of clothing is much better in heat than polyester (avoid at all costs!) or even cotton. This is true even down to your feet, because you will walk so much during your park days, and your feet need to “breathe” too, so you don’t rub blisters. It’s a good idea to wear light colors that reflect the light rather than dark colors, which absorb it and make you hotter. If you get wet on a water ride, this type of fabric will dry fairly quickly (and getting wet on a water ride can be a refreshing thing to do when it’s really hot)!
- Keep hydrated. Drink water, and also drink something with electrolytes, like Gatorade. Avoid sugary drinks and alcohol (although there is something to be said about the therapeutic “feel” of a frosty umbrella drink when you’re taking a break during the day).
- Plan your park days strategically. See all the attractions in one area before moving on to another area. Don’t criss-cross the park and walk more than necessary. Try to do some of the more “outdoor” attractions (such as the ones in Fantasyland) early in the day, and then save the “indoor” attractions (Mickey’s PhilharMagic, shows, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.) for when the heat of the day really cranks up.
- Take a Swim. You might really consider the benefit of taking a break from the park, going back to your hotel, and enjoying a few hours of downtime by the pool. There’s nothing quite so soothing as “cooling to the core” by jumping into a refreshing swimming pool when you’re hot hot hot!
- Don’t do the “Disney Death March” everyday. I know it’s tempting to “make the most” of your time, by getting to the morning Extra Magic Hours and then closing down the parks in the evening, but the heat will take a lot of your energy and by about Day Three, you will be simply going through the motions of being on vacation rather than enjoying it because you have about as much energy as a zombie. Pace yourself; if you rise and shine for Extra Magic Hour, go to bed at a reasonable time. Sleep in some mornings, so you can enjoy the parks later in the evening. Plan what you want to see, so you don’t overdo.
- Mist it. One last thing I can suggest is a personal “mister” which has a water bottle connected to a spray nozzle. This helps you feel cooler, especially if you refill the bottle with cool water.
Chris Salata, also known as GusMan, is a Disney-inspired author and photographer, and loves to help people get the most out of their Disney vacation. Chris writes:
I can’t help but kindly chuckle when someone asks me about summer weather at Walt Disney World. I get the “what am I getting my family into?” look in return. Truth be told, I don’t think that anyone could have prepared my family and me for what was our first late summer trip. Summer is obviously one of the most popular times to visit the Disney Parks. It also adds in several other factors to consider when planning your trip. These are not necessarily big things, but the details make the most difference when it comes to outright enjoying a summer trip vacation. Just know that being mentally prepared as much as physically prepared for the weather will go a long way.
Here are some of the best practices that my family and I use during our summer trips:
- Start your touring day as early as possible. You may not be a morning person, but the sun has a consistent record of being on time for rope drop. Follow that example. The earlier you start the day, the better. The days tend to only get warmer going forward.
- Dress for the occasion. Lighter fabrics, both in color and material, win out every time. Any sort of garment made out of comfortable duo-dry or “wick-away” sort of fabric will quickly become your first choice. Not only does it keep you cooler, but if you get wet from rain or a water ride, they dry much faster.
- Hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen are pretty much musts. The sun is intense. It is best to keep as much of it off of you as possible. Where your skin is exposed, apply sunscreen often. A sunburn magnifies the sun's rays so it is best to prevent overexposure as much as possible.
- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Do not wait until you are thirsty. Keep consuming water and other liquids on a regular basis. And while it may seem like an odd way to gauge your fluid intake, if you are not using the rest room every few hours, chances are you are not taking in enough liquids. Continue to hydrate throughout the evening and before you go to bed. Water fountains are your friends as well as being able to get a cup of ice water for free at any counter service eatery.
- Be mindful of what you eat. One thing I learned is that the heat can really impact your ability and desire to eat larger meals. I am a bigger guy and I love to eat at WDW. However, the heat has the great ability to make you want smaller, lighter meals. If you think that the heat will impact you in this way as well, you might want to set up fewer ADR’s or even skip the dining plan. The last thing you want to do is get caught up in a dining routine that makes you end up feeling ill because of a dining obligation.
- Consider alternating between attractions that have outdoor and indoor (air conditioned) queues. Trust me when I say that even an hour-long line waiting for “it’s a small world” is going to feel like a real treat if you just got done waiting for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. If you are in a park in the middle of the day, consider one of the longer indoor attractions which will give you a nice break while still enjoying an attraction.
- Go back to the resort mid-day and enjoy the pool. Nothing cools off better than a swim. This is where upgrading resorts might be a good option as they might provide more bathing options. As an alternative, you may want to consider a non-park day and enjoy a water park instead. They are a great place to beat the heat. Just remember to keep hydrating and reapplying sunscreen.
In the end, the best advice is to take things slower than you would normally. Enjoy the parks at a more relaxed pace and you will see a lot of things that you would normally skip. And who knows, it may become your favorite season for a visit.
Sheena also known as Mermaid, teaches first grade in Arizona where she lives with her husband and two children, Matthew (4) and Katie (3). She visits the Disneyland Resort as often as she can and has passed on her love of the parks to her little Mouseketeers. Sheena writes:
We best handle the heat by trying to avoid it! To do this, we are at the park gates at opening and ride the more popular attractions early in the morning. This is good touring strategy any time of the year, but in the summer months, we also focus on the more exposed lines such as Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Casey Jr’s Circus Train and Storybookland Canal Boats early in the morning. Lines like Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and even Splash Mountain, are much more shaded and easier to take in the middle of the day. Disney California Adventure’s queues feel more shaded so hitting that park mid-day is also an option.
In the summer, we choose our lunch spots more carefully as well. I like quick service places with lots of seating and in the summer, I want that seating inside! Pizza Port in Tomorrowland is a frequent stop for us, as well as Flo’s V8 Cafe in Cars Land. Although outside, the downstairs area of the Hungry Bear Restaurant is very cool and shaded. A long lunch in a cooler area does wonders for recharging the batteries and staving off the crankies that tend to come with the heat.
As we tour the parks, we each carry a water bottle. They sell cross-body water bottle carriers that work well for hands free touring. Right now, my husband and I each carry one of those and the kids’ water bottles are in the stroller, but as we leave our stroller years behind, we will each start to carry one. I feel like if we can stay ahead of the heat, it doesn’t feel as brutal. I also carry a washcloth or two. Generally this is to clean up messes, but in the summer, I wet this and someone can put it on their neck or head to cool off when needed. Many people carry spray bottles which are sold in the park as well. I don’t want to lug it around, but I don’t mind being sprayed by someone else! Just be careful when you do spray as not everyone around you may appreciate it.
If the heat becomes too much, we use that as an opportunity to see a show such as Aladdin in DCA or we will return to the hotel for a rest or swim. Before kids, we would take an hour-long rest break in the lobby of Disney’s Grand Californian as an alternative to going all the way back to the hotel. This was very relaxing! If your kids are better nappers than mine, this would be a wonderfully cool spot for everyone to rest.
We live in Arizona, so a hot day in Disneyland is always better (and cooler) than a hot day at home!
It’s your turn—keep the discussion flowing!
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