wortst weather memory in the parks?

[mickeymousemom]

I believe it was June of 2004 and we were in Epcot. The clouds looked very ominous and before long a nasty storm started up. We were in Japan at the time and whenever the rain died down a bit we ran to cover in the next country. We finally ended up in the UK and were in the shops toward the back. I believe we were in the toy store. There's a little open area between the toy store and the next shop. Its covered, but the whole front is open. The storm got worse and we ended up stuck in this area with several other guests for the next TWO HOURS. It was very apparent at one point that something on the other side of World Showcase was struck by lightening. It ended up raining off and on for hours and our only visit to EPCOT that trip was ruined.

 

[dreamer423]

This was back in the late 70s or maybe 1980 and I was only 6 or 7. We were staying at the Polynesian and there was a Hurricane off the coast. Well, Disney didn't close and my grandfather took me and my twin brother to the MK that day while the rest of the family took shelter at the resort.

We put on our yellow Mickey rain coats and hopped on the monorail during torrential rain and wind. I'm not sure if the Hurricane actually went over Orlando when it made landfall, but it was bad enough. The park was completely (and I mean COMPLETELY) deserted. Only us and few other sparse families. It was probably 10:00 in the morning and we walked down main street literally alone. We could see cast member taking shelter in thier shops and no one else until you got inside an attraction.

We rode Peter Pan, I think Snow White, saw the old Mickey Mouse show where Philharmagic is now and did IASW about 3 times in a row. Finally, the cast members told us we were going to have to exit the park.

I've been to Disney probably 20 times--a lot for someone who's never lived closer than a 12 hour drive, but even from that early age I have vivid memories of my grandfather doing his best to give us a Disney day.

Unbelievable memory, only in the Magic Kingdom.

If that was in August-would've bee nHurricane David and we were there too. My sister and I-then teenagers would've been the other people on Main street!

 

[jharrowell]

Hurricane Jean(sp?) A curfue went into effect and we were locked down in our rooms for over 24 hours with requests not to sleep in the beds (off site hotel) as they were too near the windows and if a tree came through it could hit us or cover us with glass! We ended up pulling the bed across the room to a safer area and putting it back at the end.

We did a lightning visit to DTD just before the curfue came into effect and bought the most complex Lego set from the Lego store to keep us occupied. Then went to the room and just sat there building it for a day and a half.

Luckily it was a suite so we had food to eat as we'd done a Walmart run earlier in the week.

That was one big Star Destroyer!

 

[Missytara]

Back in 2006, it was our last day there (first week in December) and we were in Epcot. It was so cold and chilly; all I had was short sleeve shirts, shorts, and a light jacket. It was in the 50's, so you have thought a northerner could have taken it, but the wind was so fierce......we went to a few stores to find sweatshirts and they were all sold out.

 

[TLinden16]

This would be a better discussion for the theme parks community board, so I'm going to move it over there now.

 

[golden6911]

I remember going one night during a tropical storm - I forget the name of it.

While we got soaked, we did get to ride every ride in the MK in about 3 hours - so I guess it wasn't really too bad.

 

[pixiefairy]

We were there in June of 2008. It rained every day (which isn't unusual) and we made the best of it - it was actually refreshing at times. Our last full day at the parks, we parked our car and decided we were close enough to walk to the gates at MK. We'd been sitting in the car for a bit, waiting for the rain to slow down and it had all but stopped...so we headed for the gates, all seven of us - two kids in a stroller and the rest walking. Well...the rain wasn't done with us! It POURED and as we got closer to the gates, the water got deeper, and deeper. I think it was a good ankle deep by the time we got to the little underpass. All of us, save my dh and eldest son wore crocs of some sort...so our feet dried quickly. Not the guys. I felt so badly for them! We had brought along a change of shirts because we planned on going to the MK after we did star wars weekends...and we'd changed before we left for the MK...so needless to say...our change of clothes were soaked. We suffered through...a bit soggy, but none the worse for wear. That same day....the heat index had to be well over 100. We wore matching SWW shirts with dis designs...they literally felt like the iron on was melting to our backs that morning! It was hot and muggy all day, but the rain felt good after that morning!

 

[annej]

January 2003! Woke up our last full day and it was 29 degrees out. We put our kids in a double stroller under a blanket to keep them warm even though they were too old for a stroller. Never expected to be that cold in WDW!

 

[stm61]

December 2003, we were stationed in southern NJ and I drove down with my mother and the kids. Dh stayed home with the animals. The only reason we had jackets and jeans was because we drove. Good thing we had them because it was warmer in NJ then it was in FL that week! The stores were out of sweatshirts, jackets, long sleeve shirts, you name it, it was gone. The wind coming off the lake in Epcot was so strong my feet were numb waiting for Illuminations. Dh had a great time laughing at us every night, we were freezing and he was working outside in a sweatshirt. Top it all off, it was our first ever visit. Couldn't have been to bad though, we've been back 4 times since them, but never in Dec lol.

 

[4Robins]

I'll third this memory! I was there the 18th-23rd. We still had a lot of fun, but that rain was nasty - and you're right, ponchos didn't help at all. It was windy so the rain blew through the sleeves and neck holes of our ponchos, and the bottoms of our legs just got soaked. There's nothing like walking through the World Showcase in ankle-deep water trying to find a bathroom.

Allow me to 4th that memory. That was the worst week EVER!! We had one day of sun and 6 straight days of rain. We were so bummed out about it that we booked another trip for this Nov. to make up for it. Hope we dont see a single rain drop the whole week we are there!!!

 

[maddhatir]

A few days before Christmas 1989- it was FREEZING, and then it snowed!

There was another December trip, I forget the year, maybe late 90s I think. No snow but it was so cold I wore my winter jacket, gloves and hat.

It is very uncomfortable when it's cold in Disney

 

[LowesChevy]

One year we were there for the tail end of a hurricane. Another year-94 I believe we went in February and had to wear jeans and jackets the whole time

 

[IZHAYMAMA]

Thanksgiving week 2006- First part of the trip it was beautiful. We only needed a light jacket in the mornings and evenings. However, a front came through on Tuesday and we froze the next couple of days. My husband had to wear every piece of clothing he took for those two days. We had checked the forecast before we left but this was one of those times it was not exactly what we had planned for. From that trip on, I have been prepared for every kind of weather, no matter what the forecast is calling for!

 

[newharmony]

Ours had to be the experience with Hurricane Frances in 2004. We drive to WDW from Michigan. We arrived at the Florida state line and Frances had passed over the peninsula but there were still strong rain bands. We tried to find a place to stay but there were no vacancies anywhere so we kept driving south on I-75 and would check hotels at each exit but no luck. There were hardly any cars on the highway except for the police. Occasionally we would get hit with wind and hard rain. We decided to just keep going and finally arrived at WDW around 6pm. We walked up to the desk to check in and the CM couldn't believe anyone had just arrived!! We found out that WDW had been in virtual lockdown. Everyone had just been allowed to leave their rooms...there were very few food choices in the restaurant. Luckily, we had packed a picnic lunch and still had plenty to eat. The next morning we did go to the MK and realized how hard WDW had been hit by first Charley, then Frances. Lots of damage to the landscaping and, in talking to the CMs while we were there, realized many of them had severely damaged homes. (Next time we will turn around and go back to Georgia to wait out the storm!)

 

[Scrooge Jr]

We arrived the last week in May 2007 the resort smelled like smoke and there was a slight gray smokey hase all over or resort. I saw fire trucks getting water out of the ditches and cannals. When the hurricane came two days later the gray smokey hase was gone.