Disney World/Universal in the rain - which parks?
 

Hello all - feedback is much appreciated. Our family of 5 (three kids 15, 9, 7) is going to do 5 parks in 5 days (Universal, 2 days; Disney, 2 days; Sea World, 1 day) starting this Saturday (8/25).

We now hear that there is a tropical storm passing through resulting in torrential rains for two of the 5 days that we are there. We have base tickets (non hopper). I had spreadsheeted the park hours, etc, but now with the rains not sure what to do. We have not been to Disney World in several years and would love to get suggestions on which parks lend themselves to the rain more than others. We intend to do Universal Studios, Universal Islands of Adventure, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and SeaWorld.

We are staying in Kissimmee (and not on Disney/Universal property)... and yes, we will carry ponchos :-)

Thank you!

I was once in Epcot Center, when the heavans opened up and a deluge followed.

Unfortunately, I was at the far end of the nations when it happened. I ducked into a store for a few minutes.

By the time I ventured out, all transportation was gone. I walked in the deluge for at 20-30 minutes before I finally went to my car.

Totally soaked, particularly the shoes, to say the least.

If you are going to have really heavy rains ponchos will be useless - they are OK for showers - but that's about it. I would also have sturdy folding umbrellas and rain boots available (or wear disposable plastic flip flops - but not the cheap kind - which wold come apart - but the $20 kind - and assume you will throw them out after the storm.

I would remap indoor activities and the shortest distances between them for rainy days - and if you get a true down pour - just stay where you are until the rain slows.

I would go to one of the waterparks. your gonna be wet anyway. Think of the rains as a blessing, no crowds.

We once did Seaworld in the rain and had a great time....sat in the splashzone for the whale shows...kids loved that...it was actually more memorable than the other parks.

I would say Magic Kingdom at Disney and Universal Studios at the Universal parks would be your best bet in the rain. I hope the weather forecast isn't as bad as they are saying and you will be able to enjoy all the parks.

I am posting this as I sit in the Beach Club at Disney.

First, this is Central Florida in August and as usual, we had two thunderstorms yesterday afternoon. The first one passed overr in a few minutes; the second one hung around for quite a while. A few folks stayed in and around the pool because there was no visible lightning (when there is the pools are evacuated for obvious reasons).
The forecast is for periodic showers the rest of this week and the tropical storm that may very well become a hurricane at the end of today could head either up the east coast or west coast of Florida.

I don't know why someone would say a pancho won't help...they are better than nothing. As far as rain boots and all that, you may need them but I have to wonder if it is worth it. Personally, I''d try to do any park where there are lots of things to do in buildings and since a lot of the things in buildings at the Magic Kingdom seem to be attractions you ordinarily have to wait for and cannot hang around in after you're done, perhaps the Studios or EPCOT would be better.

Good luck

It really depends on how close the hurricane gets and right now it is a crap shoot. If it gets close enough where the wind is too dangerous they will close the parks. Still to early to tell. Definitely keep an eye on the forecasted track of the storm.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

I agree with Dukey on everything but the poncho. They don't help much at all, IMOP.

Does Disney still let you use your admission tickets forever?

Our family went to Disneyworld when our daughter was in second grade. We had a rain out one day and didn't use one day of our multiday pass. She used the pass when she went to Disneyworld with friends when she was in college.

I still have my ticket in my Florida file.

Let me prefus this by saying that it has been years since we went to Orlando and we went in May so we had rain not a hurricane. The day it rained we went to Universal because you have to stand in line for everything and all the lines are undercover. They also had an animal show that was covered. Ponchos did help a bit but we were still soaked by the end of the day because everything in the park gets wet.

Thank you, all, for your input. We have purchased base tickets without the no expiration option, so have to use them :-(. I am going to have water shoes, ponchos and some rain jackets (I will be the pack mule, of course :-). We are going to make the best of it... I will pack an umbrella or two. Hopefully, the storm passes on to Tampa :-).

Ponchos are fine if you get mist, drizzle or light rain. If you get the rain from a tropical storm - or a true summer thunder/lightning downpour - you will end up soaked to the skin from the head to the feet - since the water puddles and then runs in streams along the sidewalk.

If it's the latter you can usually wait it out - since it;s often just 30 or 40 minutes, If it's the former they may well close the parks - or you will wish that they did.

http://thedisneyblog.com/2012/06/24/...oward-florida/

This is from earlier this year. Some attractions/rides won't operate in heavy rain/winds. The parks may close in the event of lightning and/or tornado warnings - both of which are likely if there is a tropical storm passing through.

A tropical storm has maximum sustained winds of 39 to 74 mph. Fortunately they typically move through in less than a day, followed by beautiful weather. I would be surprised if a tropical storm would linger for 2 days over Orlando, that is probably in the forecast at this point simply because they are so hard to accurately predict.

I would also think that Sea World would be somewhat better than the others during a big storm, as I don't think a seal or dolphin really cares much if it's raining. I think perhaps one of the studios would be ok as well - I think a lot of their rides/attractions are indoors. I guess I'd research which rides/attractions are must-sees for your group, and go to whichever park has the most of those that are indoors if there is a storm.