First of all well done you – you lucky ducks! You are going to have the time of your lives. Friends, family, adults, kids, big kids – there’s something for you all and it is going to be the holiday of a lifetime!
We thought we’d just share with you the two main things you will need to think carefully about and plan for (sort of!) due to the time of year you are going – that being July and August.
Those two things are – da da da da da da daaaaaa – the weather …… and the crowds.
Here’s a few hints and tips to help you navigate both!
Let’s start with the weather. You’re thinking crazy hot and loads of sunshine….and you’d be right – sort of. Florida’s not called the sunshine state for nothing, so you definitely will see the sun – and an average of 9 hours of sunshine a day are normal during the summer months. July and August are THE hottest months of the year in Florida – with day time temperatures reaching around 92-95 degrees. Sounds great right – but two cranky and over excited kids that have been up since the crack of dawn with two parents who are worn out and frazzled in the heat of the day waiting for the parade, we can assure you you will feel every one of those 92 degrees.
July and August are also in the middle of rainy season – so expect rain, every day probably, but the showers tend to be fast, heavy and short lived, with everything returning to wall to wall sunshine in about an hour. Humidity is at about 95% during these months so expect to feel pretty damp and muggy – and ladies if you’re in the frizzy hair brigade like Mrs Oh! forget trying to manage that. We’d recommend a hat, tying your hair up off your face or try and style it out with some super duper WDW Minnie ears. You’ll be fighting a losing battle with your straightening irons so don’t bother! There’s also the hurricane season to contend with – they are always a possibility especially in August. But again, you will be safe and looked after as Walt Disney World, Universal and the authorities in the Orlando area are prepared like you wouldn’t believe, you may be slightly inconvenienced for a day or two if there are curfews in place, but everything gets back to normal pretty quickly and having been in Orlando and the Florida Keys for three hurricanes they are definitely an experience.
So hoping we haven’t worried you with the crazy weather forecast – here’s your guide to dealing with the Florida summer months of weather so you have the most amazing holiday ever!
Get to the theme parks early and then leave when the heat gets too much, or go later after the heat has died down a little. The parks are open longest during the summer months and you can spend a lovely morning relaxing in the cool of your hotel or villa pool, pop to an air conditioned shopping mall, grab a nice lunch in an air conditioned restaurant and then head to the parks later in the afternoon and carry on through to the evening. The parks look great in the dusk and after dark – definitely worth a look and although the night time heat is not much cooler than the day time temps at least you haven’t got the blazing sun shining right on you as well. Or go the other way round – go early before it gets too busy and too hot and then head out to somewhere air conditioned or a nice cool pool.
Keep hydrated throughout the day – whether you’re in the theme parks or otherwise. Drink plenty of water, and make sure your kids drink plenty of water too. You’ll be having such an amazing time the fatigue kind of creeps up on you and no-one wants to be poorly on holiday – so water water water. It’s available to buy everywhere, there are water fountains, free water available from the Coke Freestyle machines and also any cast member at any kiosk will give you a glass of iced water if you ask – totally free. Drinks are often refillable and unlimited so grab a drink while you’re waiting for your food and another with your meal, and you should be ready to get back into battle!
Keep hats on yourselves and definitely on your kids – and sunglasses and use SUNSCREEN!! Lots of it – apply it often and liberally. Again, everyone is rushing about having so much fun you might forget but it’s important. If you’re at a water park we would suggest you keep under the shade when not actually in the water and keep your hats on even when you are. Try and go the water parks first thing or later on in the afternoon – weather pending because those afternoon thunderstorms roll in mid to late afternoon – more on those later. Waterproof sunscreen is a must at the water parks.
Shops, theatre shows, inside ride queues and restaurants all have air conditioning – if it’s getting too much for you get yourself in some air conditioning for a little while. Cool yourself down, get a drink and then get back into the day. The shops are amazing as are the shopping malls so there’s plenty to do whilst keeping cool.
Plan rests! Have rest days and rest periods throughout the day. Have days where you do something much more relaxing than dashing around in the parks – trust us when we say you will need them. Why not schedule a relaxing pool morning followed by a bit of shopping, or a wander along International Drive to check out the Starflyer and The Orlando Eye, or some crazy golf or Disney Golf, or a fantastic boat ride with Boggy Creek Airboat rides to see some real Florida, some wildlife and some peace and quiet – apart from the noise of the giant fan on the back of your boat propelling you through the water obviously! Or if you are in the park, why not find a nice relaxing lounge somewhere and have yourself a lovely two hour lunch sitting on a porch at one of the restaurants in the parks or resorts. A bite to eat, a long sit down somewhere peaceful and relaxing and maybe a sneaky cocktail or super cold beer. The kids will be refuelled and you will feel like you have had a good rest – gives you the strength you need to carry on for the next crazy few hours.
If and when the afternoon wild heavy downpours arrive and you’re in a theme park – you’ll see them coming trust us! – get yourself into a show. The theatre shows like The Lion King, Finding Nemo and My Little Mermaid are inside in proper theatres – cool and dry – perfect! Likewise The Muppet Show and Philharmagic are also indoors and last long enough to have you avoid the downpour altogether. You could also plan to do those big queue rides that you couldn’t get a Fastpass for – fifty minutes in a fun and interesting queue whilst keeping dry is not such a bad idea. Again, a nice long late lunch will also easily get you out of a quick shower. They don’t last long and you’ll be back to blinking in the bright bright sunshine in no time at all. You could give the ponchos a go and carry on regardless – loads of folks do. It’s not a thing for us – we get as wet on the inside of the poncho as outside – boil in the bag fish comes to mind! So for us – take shelter, grab a long drink, a show, a queue or get wet.
And don’t worry about the hurricanes – we have been going to Orlando for over 25 years and at different times of year so the three hurricanes we’ve seen in total is not bad odds – so put those out of your mind. The chances of one passing directly over Orlando are slim.
So – weather sorted – you’ve got your hats, your sunscreen, your rain ponchos, your rainy weather plans and you know where to go to get shelter and air conditioning etc. Check the weather forecasts – they are crazy accurate in Orlando, if they tell you it will rain at 3pm it pretty much will. Onto the crowds!
The crowds in WDW vary from month to month and they can depend on holidays in the US and also the UK summer holidays. If you cannot choose to travel during a less busy time – like September – then you just need to make some plans to navigate the parks and events to your best advantage.
Firstly – crowd calendars. Find one, use it to help you make your plans. There are lots online, including WDW’s and Universal’s own crowd figures. The busiest day of the year in WDW with the highest crowd is actually Christmas Day! We’re assuming you’re not going that day, but you probably are still travelling during the UK summer six week’s holidays or maybe Easter. Easter is not too bad crowd wise, but July can be pretty busy. It is generally the first week in July that is very busy as that includes the Fourth of July. There are special events on in the theme parks on that day and as it’s a holiday in the USA the crowd levels are high. They drop down to moderate for the remainder of July but the weekends are still high crowd levels, particularly in the Magic Kingdom. So the crowd calendars will be invaluable – for example try and go to the Magic Kingdom on a week day rather than a Saturday and Sunday. The first week in August is also fairly busy – staying at the moderate level, but then drop down to a lighter crowd during the last three weeks of August. To explain things – a moderate crowd level will mean around half an hour wait for most rides and attractions and up to an hour or even longer for the main and best rides. Lighter crowd levels are nearer the half hour wait for the biggest attractions.
Use your WDW Fastpasses. If you are a planner then making some advance plans won’t bother you in the slightest. You can book your Fastpasses for three rides or attractions per person per day 30 days in advance of your travel (unless you’re staying in a WDW resort in which case its 60 days) – so we would suggest if you are planner, make yourselves a basic timetable of which days you want to visit which parks and then book those Fastpasses. If you are not really a planner and would rather just see how you feel on the day by all means do that, but be prepared to spend a long time in queues. Or try a compromise, plan some park days and book your Fastpasses for the most popular attractions, and leave the rest of the days free for you to see how you feel when you get there. You may well have to amend your plans as you go along – due to the weather (outdoor attractions stop running when there is a threat of lightening in the area, and water parks get guests out of the water and into shelters) so be prepared to adapt things as you go along anyway. Universal parks don’t have a free Fastpass system, they have a “paid for” Express ticket you can buy to avoid the longest queues. Check out the crowd calendars for Universal too and plan your days accordingly where possible.
Make use of the early park opening hours and later hours if you are staying in WDW property or a Universal resort. But in any case in the Summer the parks are open the longest anyway so you can come and go in and out of the parks as many times as you want in one day and that only counts as the one day park entry. So go early, come out, go for a rest, pop back later when the crowds have died down a little.
You’ll most certainly want to see a parade whilst you are they – cos they are absolutely amazing!! But if you’ve seen it once, or maybe even twice….. you’ll find that the queues for the rides are lighter when the parades are on and for a little while beforehand while people stake their claim for a place to watch the parade. So you can take advantage of that and whizz onto a couple of rides while the majority of the crowd is watching the parade.
Check which parks have night time fireworks or parades or night time shows as people head towards them late afternoon and spend the afternoon and evening, so you can head out of those parks when they start to get busy and get into a quieter park or area for the afternoon.
It’s also worth knowing that if you are already in a queue for a ride at the time the park is closing you will still be able to ride! So – last resort, pop yourself into a queue at 8.30 if the park is closing at nine and you will get to ride it even if you don’t get to the front of the queue until 9.15. Plus – as the park will be super empty on the way out you might get some fantastic photographs of Main Street USA, or The Tree of Life, the iconic Universal ball at the entrance, or the Tower of Terror with a near empty street rather than the usual hoards of people in your picture.
So – plan ahead a little, prepare to adapt your plans, relax and enjoy – and we will see you there!
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