Top Ten Tips for Staying Cool at WDW

Since I am planning my first official "Summer" trip to WDW, I've also been thinking a lot about how to beat the heat.  I know it is going to be positively sweltering, and I know that I need to have a plan for how to deal with the heat.  Getting overheated can really take the magic away from the most magical place on Earth!

10 - This one is a no brainer - hydrate!  Bring water bottles with you to the parks, pick up a free water from any dining location, just drink lots of water!

9 - Find a shady area to cool off.  There are some nice areas scattered all around the parks where you can sit and "rest a spell" as my grandmother would put it.  :)  Take advantage of these locations.  If you are hot and tired, you are not going to enjoy anything.  It is worth it to stop and take a break!

8 - Head toward an air-conditioned attraction.  There are lots of these all over the parks.  Carousel of Progress at Magic Kingdom, American Adventure at Epcot, One Man's Dream at Hollywood Studios, It's Tough to Be a Bug at Animal Kingdom, and so many more! 

7 - Or enjoy a nice sit-down, shaded attraction.  Our personal favorite is the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover at Magic Kingdom.  This ride takes you all over Tomorrowland, indoors and out, and you even get to view some of the attractions from the ride!  It is a great way to sit and rest, and enjoy a nice breeze.  Some other examples might be Kilimanjaro Safaris at Animal Kingdom, the Studio Backlot Tour at Hollywood Studios, or the boat ride around the lagoon at Epcot.  Once, we rode back and forth for nearly an hour while my daughter napped! 

6 - Head back to the hotel for a siesta.  Parks are hottest and most crowded between about 1 and 6 pm.  This is a great time to take a break and head back to the hotel.  You can rest, nap, go for a swim, or just take a break.  Then, come back out around dinnertime refreshed and ready to enjoy the parks again!

5 - Take a lunch break (or breakfast, or dinner, or hey, you're on vacation, you can eat whenever you want).  I always think it is a nice break when we stop for a meal or snack.  You get to sit down for a while, cool down, rest your legs, and get some energy to enjoy the rest of your day. 

4 - Go shopping!  Nearly all the shopping areas in the parks are either shaded or air conditioned!  This is a great time to spend some time looking around to find the perfect souvenir!  If you don't want to carry it around the rest of the day, you can even have purchases delivered to your resort (if you're staying on-site)!

3 - Dress for the weather.  Another  no-brainer here.  Wear light colors, and loose clothing.  Hats are great, too for some relief from the bright Florida sun.

2 - Enjoy a frozen treat!  This is a great time to enjoy a Mickey bar, Dole Whip, smoothie, ice cream, whatever your pleasure!  Just make sure to eat it fast, because it's going to melt quickly!

1 - Play in the water!  Take a ride on Splash Mountain (Magic Kingdom), Maelstrom (Epcot) or Kali River Rapids (Animal Kingdom).  Find a water play area and splash around with your kids.  In Adventureland at Magic Kingdom, you can get wet from the spray at the tiki statues, and the spitting camel.  There is also the brand new Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak Station in the new Fantasyland expansion.  At Epcot, you will find water play areas on the walkway from Future World to World Showcase, and you can sometimes get wet on the upper level outside the Imagination Pavilion.  Or if you've purchased the Water Parks and More option, enjoy some time relaxing and cooling off in the water parks. 

Well, those are my top 10 tips (in no particular order).  Do you have any other ideas for keeping cool at WDW?  I'd love to hear from you!

Until next time...
Disney Diva

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things (Epcot Edition)

There are two main parts of Epcot, and they are very different:  Future World, and World Showcase.  We thought for sure when we took my daughter (age 4 at the time) and niece (age 9 at the time) to Epcot, they wouldn't be all that excited with it.  Boy, were we surprised.  Really, our girls have a hard time choosing whether they'd rather go to Epcot or Magic Kingdom! 

When you enter Epcot, of course, the first thing you see is "the big golf ball."  Our girls LOVE this ride!  It is actually an omnimover ride through history (including things like Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and on up through the late 20th century).  They ride it again and again.  This is one of our Epcot favorites.

But, the first thing we do when we head into Epcot is go straight for Soarin'.  This ride is AMAZING!  Soarin' is a simulated ride on an IMAX screen as if you're hang gliding over Southern California.  The coolest thing is that you can even smell each place!  The ocean smells salty, the vineyards smell grapey...so cool!

Of course since we have a young child, we have to ride The Seas with Nemo and Friends, and visit the aquariums.  There is also a really cool show called Turtle Talk with Crush, where Crush from Finding Nemo actually interacts with the audience!

Test Track is another really cool ride.  I was terrified the first time I rode it and took my 5 year old daughter on it, but my husband LOVED it!  On this ride, you get to be the crash test dummy and go through all sorts of automotive tests. 

And that's about it for us in Future World, then we head over to World Showcase.  One cool thing to do is to find all the Kidcot Fun Stops.  The kids can make these little masks and decorate them.  Then in each country they get a little stamp and attachment for their mask.  It is totally FREE and makes a cool souvenir.   We love walking through each of the "countries."  It really feels like you've entered another world!  One of our favorite World Showcase rides is Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros in Mexico.  This is a boat ride similar to It's a Small World, but Donald Duck just cracks my daughter up when we ride this.  It is a must do on our Epcot list.

I could go on and on.  Most people will tell you that you should schedule 2 days for Magic Kingdom, but we also schedule 2 for Epcot!  There is so much to do here!  We love it!

You can find out about even more attractions at Epcot at
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/epcot/

Until next time...
Disney Diva