What's the weather like in Disneyworld in August? Plan to go there next year. Thanks.

Very hot, very humid. Worst possible time to go visit Florida from a weather standpoint IMHO. If you're not used to high humidity, it will be a very draining experience.

Oh no. August is the best time for my husband to take off from work. We've been vacationing in August every year. Any tips for braving the climate?

Lots and lots and lots of water. Don't venture out for long periods in the heat of day. You're from CA-- think Central Valley on humid monsoon days. What would you do if you were stuck in Sacramento in late August?

Why Disneyworld? It's not any better than Disneyland, just bigger. In fact, I don't think there's much of anything in Orlando other than newer versions of California theme parks. If you're really planning on hitting Florida in August, I would think about finding a city that offers things that you WON'T find in California.

Well, we have enough frequent flyer miles to go to anywhere in the mainland U.S. only (no Hawaii). I thought of Disneyworld for my little kids. Last time they went, they were still toddlers and hardly remember the trip. I figure we should give it one more shot for the kiddie memories before they grow up. Then--it's Europe! Yeah!

Be there before the gates open. The parks aren't too crowded then. Spend the morning in the parks. Stay on site and then go back to your hotel for a swim in the afternoon. Return to the parks in the evening. For LOADS of info on Disneyworld, go to www.disboards.com

Okay, drink lots of water and go to the park early. That's a plan. By early, that means be at the gates by 8 a.m., technically 5 a.m. California time, which means I have to cajole my kids out of bed by 4 a.m. West Coast time. Oh boy...

I absolutely love DisneyWorld and Orlando attractions for that matter. Please do as prior poster recommends and research on disboards, also on www.allearsnet.com

We own a timeshare week in late August at an Orlando resort, so have been there many times. Hot, humid, rains every afternoon (briefly). Get each person one of those small personal fans with a mister and carry water bottles. There are lots of places around the parks to cool off, go into air conditioned attraction, or get wet. If you will not have a car staying on property with WDW transport is best, and you can go back to hotel pool during heat of the day. You WILL have a great time.

Just one little thing more - you might want trip insurance just in case of hurricanes during your visit. Last year we had to dodge Hurricane Gaston driving south from Virginia, and left Fl early to miss Hurricane Frances. other years were no problems, but you can't predict when and where they will decide to hit. This year the family insisted we go to Massachusetts, but if we had gone to Florida like usual, we would have been fine.

Trip insurance? Never had one of those. I guess I better read up on that.

Not at all the best time of year for DW, but preparation is key - loads of water and sunscreen. Bring a hat. You may want to wear bathings suits under your clothes and hit the water rides often! Definitely do Typhoon Lagoon. There's also Wet 'N Wild and SeaWorld in Orlando. Have Fun!

"Why Disneyworld? It's not any better than Disneyland, just bigger."

Wow, rjw_lgb_ca, I usually agree with you about most things, but you couldn't be more wrong about anything than you are about this. Obviously you haven't been to Disney World since about a year or two after it opened to say that.

Now I admit I haven't been to Disneyland in two years, so I guess I missed the new things they built there after California Adventure. Is the Wild Animal Kingdom there as nice as the one at Disneyworld and have the same nice lodge? And tell me about the MGM Studios they built at Disneyland, I'm curious if it's the same only smaller. For that matter, does the Epcot at Disneyland have both the world village AND the various other attractions?

But to the original question -- Orlando is HOT and HUMID. Go early, head back to your hotel after lunch to swim and relax (or go to one of the water parks) and return to the theme parks in the early evening. Night is really nice.

I'm from FL and it is hot and humid. What advice I can give you is that alot of the rides in disney are air concitioned-even in the waiting areas. Also, if you stay at one of the disney hotels, you have a place to go back to every few hours and cool off. Nice pools, childrens programs, entertainment, and happy folks on vacation. Also-school starts in mid august in fl so if you go in late august in fl the parks wont be so crowded. There are water parks on disney property too. Yes the weather will be hot-but disney knows that and they have done alot to accomodate people for this.

We took the kids to Disneyworld last August and we all had a blast. Yes, it was hot and humid but that made the water rides all the more delightful. The rides are clearly marked to tell you how wet you can expect to get. Plus there were big fans that sprayed water throughout the park and you could just walk through them to cool off. We had no problem with the heat whatsoever. This summer, on the other hand, we are sweltering in the northeast and some days it's been pretty hard to take. But we have no alternative as we live here!

Another fantastic web site is wdwinfo.com. mousesavers.com will give updates on any discount codes.

That time of year, you'll need a park touring plan. I recommend using the plans from the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disneyworld (a book) or tourguidemike.com (an online subscription service that costs about the same as a book).

Disney knows that Florida is hot and they do there best to give you relief. The gift shops along Mainstreet U.S.A. (left side as you exit the park) in Magic Kingdom and along Hollywood Blvd. in MGM studios look like seperate stores but actually connected. You can walk the whole length in glorious air conditioning. Sometimes it is even the faster way to travel the length. Disney has those misters in various places throughout the parks and there are always opportunities to get wet.

We were in Walt Disney World this late June and we never waited more than 15 minutes for an attraction when we used the tourguidemike.com touring plans. We ate lunch in restaurants with air conditioning and we just planned on buying a water, soda, or ice cream bar if it got too hot. We managed to stay reasonably comfortable - and we're used to the cool, dry air of Colorado.

Have a wonderful trip.

Oh Patrick, I was certainly indulging in a slight bit of hyperbole here, but admit it: Orlando only offers glitzier, bigger and more plastic versions of California attractions. Universal Studios in California has morphed into a theme park with movie studio attached, but it WAS originally a movie studio. Can you go visit Warner Brothers' studio in Orlando? Granted, everything is scattered in the southern California area (SeaWorld is way down in San Diego), but it's all here. And when you're done with the theme parks, there are some fairly cool things to do that don't involve theme parks-- a hard thing to find in Orlando, unfortunately.

We just returned this Sunday from 8 days in Orlando. Yes, it was HOT!!

We rented a house, rather than staying on site, so early entry and returning to the room to cool off weren't options, but we managed anyway.

Our week's itinerary was as follows:
Saturday: arrived, shopped to stock house, swam in private pool.

Sunday: Toured Kennedy Space Center. Although kids' friend had said it was "lame," ours enjoyed it (11 & 9 yr-old boys).

Monday: MGM Studios. Whole family went on Tower of Terror -- big fun!

Tuesday: Magic Kingdom. Used Fast Passes for Space Mountain and Splash Mountain. When our time came for Splash Mtn (5:30), we were more than ready to get doused, but the ride was shut down for some reason, so we decided to leave.

Wednesday: Cocoa Beach. Rented umbrella, chairs and boogie boards. We couldn't get over how warm the water was!

Thursday: Universal. The boys were ready for some more challenging rides, especially The Hulk. Being newbies, we used our tickets to enter Universal Studios rather than Islands of Adventure (tickets were not multi-park, and Univ. Studios only has "baby rides," as my kids put it). We explained to guest services that the boys had been looking forward to all the roller coasters at IOA, and they reissued us new tickets to switch parks. Very accomodating.

Friday: Epcot. We arrived at 9 am, as we could only stay until 2. No lines for anything (the "countries" don't open until 11). Walked right up and onto Soarin', Epcot's best attraction as far as we were concerned. Made our way around the countries and ended with oldest son riding the Test Track before leaving.

Fri pm/Saturday: In-laws drove up from Boca to visit, so we hung out at the house and swam. It was nice to have a chance to wind down before returning home on Sunday.

Some heat-beating tips (heat index was above 100 each day!):
1. Buy the mister fans at home (Wal Mart, etc.) We brought one along and bought a second at MK for $17!!

2. The parks allow small coolers. We put a soft-sided one in hubby's back pack and stocked it with frozen bottles of water. Avoid soda, with its sodium. Also, wet and/or frozen washcloths felt very good around the neck.

3. Shade is your friend. Each member should wear a hat. I carried a small umbrella, as did many other guests, and was glad to have it.

4. Attractions have AC'd waiting areas. Everything indoors is AC'd as well, including the rides, and you'll never enjoy trips to the bathroom more!

On a final note, we felt Disney did a much better job of providing shade and other cooling options than did Universal. Of course, Universal was the boys' favorite park!

Hope you enjoy your trip.

SusanM, those are some great suggestions! I also enjoyed reading about your vacation--as a local here, it's a nice perspective. Thanks.

I recently moved to Fl. and we plan on a trip to Disneyworld the end of September. We took our children there approximately 20 years ago, and now we are planning to go there again with our children and grandchildren. I am sure you will have a great time, even if the weather is hot and humid. Our children still have a lot of memories from their trip many years ago, and now we are looking forward for new memories with the grandchildren. ENJOY