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
Showing posts with label breaks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breaks. Show all posts
Friday, June 15, 2012
Monday, April 11, 2011
Take a Break!
One of the recommendations I make most often is TAKE A BREAK! I know you want to do as much as you can for as long as you can, but let me tell you from experience...if you've been in the park all day with that hot sun shining down on your pretty little face, by about 3:00 in the afternoon you are going to start fading. We tried staying for a full day on our first Magic Kingdom trip without park hopper. We haven't made that mistake again.
Our experience: We had been in the park all day and our daughter wanted to ride Goofy's Barnstormer. Most of the line is outside. There were fans, but it was a long line, and it was very hot (about 2ish in the afternoon in late May). My thought was...we ride this, then we go back up and watch the parade at 3. WRONG! By the time we made it through that line in that heat, we were done. All the girls wanted to do was go back to the hotel. We were supposed to come back to the park for fireworks that night, and they didn't even want to do that. They were wiped out!
So now we almost always schedule a break in the afternoons. Every once in a while, we may stay at a park all day, but in the afternoon we do something cool and quiet like Hall of Presidents (Magic Kingdom) or American Adventure at Epcot. Doing something like that allows us to take a little break and cool down. BUT, most of the time, we get to the parks early, do as much as we can, eat lunch, then maybe take in another attraction or two, and head back to the resort to rest. This way, we completely avoid the hottest, most crowded time of day at the parks. Then, we come back out again around dinnertime cool and rested, and we are able to enjoy our evening.
If you have park hopper, this is easy to do. Tackle one park in the morning, rest, then attack another in the evening. But many people do not realize you can do the same thing without park hopper! You just have to leave and return to the same park in the same day!
I highly recommend scheduling a break in your Disney World itinerary. It is so worth it. While you feel like you might miss out on something by leaving the park, I guarantee you will not regret it. You will be so happy and rested, you will be ready to come back in the evening and attack the rest of your itinerary and best of all, HAVE FUN!
Until next time...
Disney Diva
Our experience: We had been in the park all day and our daughter wanted to ride Goofy's Barnstormer. Most of the line is outside. There were fans, but it was a long line, and it was very hot (about 2ish in the afternoon in late May). My thought was...we ride this, then we go back up and watch the parade at 3. WRONG! By the time we made it through that line in that heat, we were done. All the girls wanted to do was go back to the hotel. We were supposed to come back to the park for fireworks that night, and they didn't even want to do that. They were wiped out!
So now we almost always schedule a break in the afternoons. Every once in a while, we may stay at a park all day, but in the afternoon we do something cool and quiet like Hall of Presidents (Magic Kingdom) or American Adventure at Epcot. Doing something like that allows us to take a little break and cool down. BUT, most of the time, we get to the parks early, do as much as we can, eat lunch, then maybe take in another attraction or two, and head back to the resort to rest. This way, we completely avoid the hottest, most crowded time of day at the parks. Then, we come back out again around dinnertime cool and rested, and we are able to enjoy our evening.
If you have park hopper, this is easy to do. Tackle one park in the morning, rest, then attack another in the evening. But many people do not realize you can do the same thing without park hopper! You just have to leave and return to the same park in the same day!
I highly recommend scheduling a break in your Disney World itinerary. It is so worth it. While you feel like you might miss out on something by leaving the park, I guarantee you will not regret it. You will be so happy and rested, you will be ready to come back in the evening and attack the rest of your itinerary and best of all, HAVE FUN!
Until next time...
Disney Diva
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