Speaking of Florida winter weather . . . .How does Disney handle opening rides like Splash and Kali? Anyone ridden these water rides on really cold days?
BOTH rides typically go into seasonal rehab after the holidays.
Yes, the water effects of splash can be turned to almost nothing. We've done it a number of cooler nights, as our last ride, and not gotten wet.
Kali, we usually just skip in winter. A nice plus of OLD FP was the flexibility where weather was concerned. If it was warm, we could opt to FP Kali on the spot. Actually, you probably can still do that. Or the opposite, if you see it will be too cold to enjoy - change it (ideally the night before that day, or that morning.) Then again, AK only has two real FP attractions.
One reason Fantasmic isn't a big favorite in our family has to do with a memory of seeing it on a very WET spring night. They almost cancelled, and we should have taken that as our cue. A serious windstorm blew the water effects right AT us, and we got soaked. (not sitting anywhere near front row, just downwind side.) I turned around and saw palm trees doubled over. When we got back to the hotel, sure enough, it was a rather severe storm.
Many winter days, are cold in the AM/PM, but not too bad in the afternoon. I'd aim to do Kali around 2-3pm...especially if you make it your last ride at AK. OH- and avoid wearing JEANS on Kali. (any denim.) You can also take the wimp route and wear a plastic poncho on the ride, but it might not help 100%.
We also like layers. I personally like bringing a dark colored fleece jacket. They are compact and very warm. One trip we took a newbie to WDW, and he didn't pack for the COLD. This was back when Illuminations was new. He was a bit whiny (cold, spending any $), so we took pity. Missing the fireworks wasn't an option, so I quickly bought a blanket at the Mexico shop and 'loaned' it to him so he could be warm and save face.
