How do you do Disney in the rain?

got15

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 11, 2014
Leaving in a few days for our usual May trip... but not looking forward to the torrential downpours that are in FL at the moment. Having never done a trip during the rain (not talking about the 15 min summer storms) how do you tour? What do you wear? How do you pack? I am so lost because I was looking forward to some pool downtime with the kiddos and like most people- we hate getting wet.
 
Leaving in a few days for our usual May trip... but not looking forward to the torrential downpours that are in FL at the moment. Having never done a trip during the rain (not talking about the 15 min summer storms) how do you tour? What do you wear? How do you pack? I am so lost because I was looking forward to some pool downtime with the kiddos and like most people- we hate getting wet.
Sturdy waterproof sandals, no denim, collapsible umbrella and poncho. And patience.
 
Leaving in a few days for our usual May trip... but not looking forward to the torrential downpours that are in FL at the moment. Having never done a trip during the rain (not talking about the 15 min summer storms) how do you tour? What do you wear? How do you pack? I am so lost because I was looking forward to some pool downtime with the kiddos and like most people- we hate getting wet.

I usually wear plastic sandals/flip flops, something comfortable and waterproof. Definitely no leather sandals or gymshoes. (They’ll take forever to dry out!) I’ll pack dri-fit activewear (undergarments included!) which helps keep us dry. I also bring either an umbrella or poncho and a plastic bag to put them in once they’re wet.

Keep in mind some outdoor activities get cancelled due to weather, if you’re planning on catching a show I would check with a cast member and adjust accordingly. We also tend to do more table service dining to catch a break from the rain.
 


Wear shoes that dry out easily and have traction on wet ground. I wear Teva sandals. If it looks like it will rain all day, bring a back up pair of shoes and plastic bags for wrapping up wet shoes. Wear clothing that won't become see-through in wet weather. Bring baggies for your phones and anything else you don't want soaked. We have tried ponchos in the past, but they were too cumbersome and hot for us. We decided wet clothing was better.

We do look for indoor attractions, stores, restaurants, etc to escape the rain, but we don't let the weather get us down. MK is actually a pretty good place for a rainy day. Lots of ways to pop in and out of the rain there, and lines can be shorter. We found Epcot to be much worse in the rain. Things are more spread out and the pavement fills with water quickly. We haven't had rain at AK or HS, but I imagine those parks might be a bit trickier than MK, too. I would probably spend a good deal of time taking in shows at HS if it was a rainy day, though.

These towels are a must have on a rainy day (or a hot, sweaty day). They wick away moisture quickly and dry out quickly, too. They come in a variety of sizes.

Baseball caps can help keep the rain off your face. If you have long hair, a pony tail works better than having wet hair hanging down around your face and on your shoulders.

We've been in tornado warnings, gale warnings, and had quite a few full days of rain during our trips. The very first bad weather day we experienced was the worst, but it taught us what not to do. The most miserable aspect was our feet, so keeping them as dry and comfortable as possible is our main priority in rainy weather now.
 
I carry a VERY small umbrella in my day pack, use in sunny or rainy conditions (not sure how it'd hold up in torrential though).

Long lines with completely indoor rides. Even better if multiple things under one roof. Like Soarin', Living with the Land, and Circle of Life. Include a meal in that building at Sunshine Seasons or GG, and you've enjoyed 2-3 hours in the dry, pick a break in the rain & move over to Nemo building & spend another hour plus. Next break in the rain & get on Spaceship Earth, then play the interactive games at the end, another hour plus. Move over to Mission Space, when done riding play the interactive game at the end & go into the booth and email a postcard from space to your friends, if you have kids let them climb in the play area. Move to Journey into Imagination Bldg, ride the ride, then do all the interactive play at the end. Morph your picture on the screen & email it to yourself, later forward it to your friends. You can do similar plans at each park. I think you'll find a lot of details you always just passed by.

Take a small microfiber towel, it can dry your seat when things do open up again. They wring out & dry quick, you can carabinier clip them to a day pack to dry.
 
Also, bring waterproof bags for electronics, phones, watches, cash, change of socks, etc. Or at least freezer grade baggies of various sizes & multiple so you don't have to dig in one big one.
 


I pack Gold Bond powder for shoes and feet when we get back to the room and I bring some newspapers from home if we need to stuff them in shoes to dry them out. It will usually work over night and it's almost impossible to buy/get newspapers on property anymore.
 
I add one or two of the rooms facecloths and hand towels to my backpack to wipe down seats and wet bodies. Works for the humidity too.
 
Remember that the crowds will be down. Our first day yesterday started in some terrific rain. We knocked magic kingdom our of the park! 13 rides before 2 including all the headliners, 2x on http and splash!! So much fun! DIL asked if we could go in the rain every time!!!
 
We were there during tropical storm Gabrielle and they did not close the parks. It was very wet for a solid two days. We wore Tevas and a raincoat. Now that was before we carried cell phones, but my plan for our August trip is to bring our waterproof pouch for the phone. We now have kids and we pack raincoats for them. We have taken many trips to Disney in May, August and September and wear active sandals that can get wet. They even have active water sneakers that may be better then socks and traditional sneakers. We also wear what I call quick dry clothes. Active wear really. Never denim or heavy cotton. Also great for those splashes on some rides too. My kids did kali river and really got wet and they dried in no time!!
 
We pick up a poncho amd keep on trucking. We wear shoes that dry quickly any time we are in a park, and avoid denim at all costs. Beyond that, we just do our thang and eventually we dry out. I don't like to carry a lot of extra stuff, so no special towels or clothing changes here.
 
Our plans tend to be much simpler. We take our lightsaber umbrella's with us everyday anyways so out come the umbrellas and I remember to tank g*d for the much lighter crowds.
 
We just got back yesterday. We were there for a week and it rained everyday. Two of our days were sunny in the morning. All the other days it rained all day. We wore ponchos and crocs. I think this is an unusual storm since I always thought May was a dry month (other than the usual afternoon quicky storm and these were definitely not a quick storm). But it poured - the puddles were deep! So I was glad to have crocs. And the crowds didn't get any lighter - I think everyone was like we're here so let's make the best of it. It was a sea of ponchos. The monorail line friday night in the downpour was over an hour long! They did cancel fantasmic shows but the magic kingdom fireworks still went on every night. They also closed one water park each day so they only had one open (they alternated days on which one they closed). We tried to make the best of it - still went on every ride in every park just had our ponchos on. Didn't get much pool time which is what we wanted. Did go in the pool in the rain and so did everyone else. Just kept getting out when lightning came. It was like the rain storm was just circling over florida the whole time. Maybe May is going to be the old June now? Rainy season starting early? Dang that climate change! And the beginning of last week was in the low seventies - I had to buy a sweatshirt! Strange weather pattern - the whole east coast had that rain.
 
Waterproof comfort sandals, quick dry clothing, poncho (I despise the cheap discount store ones), hat or visor to keep rain out of your face, ziplock bags for electronics and wallets.
 
We just got back last night also from a very rainy week. Waterproof flip-flops or sandals are definitely your best bet since we had to walk through some puddles that were ankle deep. We were in MK on Friday night and got completely soaked all the way up to our knees because of the massive downpour and the puddles we had to walk through while leaving. We took the ferry because we thought it would be quicker than the monorail.

I would definitely consider bringing a poncho along with an umbrella because the umbrella just will not cut it when it’s raining very hard and your clothes will get wet from the waist down. When it starts raining harder, we would put on our ponchos. When we would go into a building or ride we took our ponchos off inside out to keep all the wetness on the inside ( which is really the outside ) and folded up the poncho to put into our dry bag and all the wetness was kept on the inside and didn’t soak our bags. Does that make sense? Then we would just pull out the ponchos, unfold them and flip them right side out before putting on. Oh, and the dollar store clear, thin ponchos will not work. We brought sturdier ones that I got at Walmart before our trip.

We usually go in May and this was definitely a different experience than what we had been used to the past few years. But it was totally doable and we had a blast!
 
I think last week was a bit unusual. I’m on the east coast and it rained every single day. After six straight days we saw the sun for the first time yesterday. Our May trips have been very dry and lower humidity compared to our aug/sept trips. When we go in August I always pack for tropical storm season. I guess we will have to see if this weather becomes a pattern for May too.
 
We've been prepping for September already. Bought light rain jackets, as we hate ponchos. I wear Keen Whispers all summer here in Louisiana, so I know they hold up well on rainy days. We have an umbrella for shade as well as rain. I always bring a small towel in our backpack and will definitely continue that! Cheap ponchos for if we need to sit on wet ground or seats anywhere.
 

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