Best strategies for dealing with the heat?

disneycat321

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 13, 2013
What are your best strategies for dealing with the FL heat and humidity at WDW, especially in summer? We've gone in June before, but it's been 9 years since that trip. We're going in July this year. I'm a teacher, which limits when we can go, and summer is our easiest and cheapest option. We're from CA and are used to hot (high 90s-low 100s) summers...but hot and dry summers. We are not accustomed to humidity. Any suggestions welcome! Thank you!
 
Buy O2 Cool misting fans.
Park in the early morning, park at night, pool in the afternoon.
Know where all the A/C options are, make good use of FP to avoid outdoor lines.
Bring a frozen bottle of water to start the day.
 
Be up early. Use EMH to get to the park extra early. Leave the park by 11am or right after an early lunch ADR. Rest in the afternoon. Visit the arcades and Community Halls, gift shops, etc.

We find swimming in the afternoons too hot and crowded. Much prefer scheduling a few pool mornings at 9 am on resort days or evening swims.

Return to the parks after dark. This is why you need a nap. Early mornings and late nights.

Those little personal fans are great.

Walk through shops enroute to places to cool off. Drink water from the counter service restaurants.
 
Think realistically, don’t overdo it. Include breaks in a/c, even just for some water each time you pass an indoor concession area. We got those frogg togg towels that stay cool, which were helpful. Get shoes that adjust/expand - my feet will swell with the heat and I’m appreciative of straps I can loosen a bit.
 


Love all of this, thank you! I'm glad to hear some of the strategies I'd thought of might really help. Definitely planning on mornings and evenings in the parks with a PM break. We're also going all out this trip since we haven't been in 6 years, so we're doing a lot of TS meals (in AC!), and making sure our CS choices have indoor seating with AC!

I'm glad to hear the little portable fans/cooling towels are helpful. I just added a couple options to my Amazon wishlist.

I'm worried about my feet, for sure. My feet blister extremely easily. Last time we went, I ended up having to wear sneakers, because my feet just couldn't handle sandals with the moisture and heat. And I was wearing Tevas, not cheapie sandals.
 
Love all of this, thank you! I'm glad to hear some of the strategies I'd thought of might really help. Definitely planning on mornings and evenings in the parks with a PM break. We're also going all out this trip since we haven't been in 6 years, so we're doing a lot of TS meals (in AC!), and making sure our CS choices have indoor seating with AC!

I'm glad to hear the little portable fans/cooling towels are helpful. I just added a couple options to my Amazon wishlist.

I'm worried about my feet, for sure. My feet blister extremely easily. Last time we went, I ended up having to wear sneakers, because my feet just couldn't handle sandals with the moisture and heat. And I was wearing Tevas, not cheapie sandals.
I wear Teva and Abeo ... I always sprinkle the sandals with gold bond in the morning ... it helps.
 


I went this year in August and it was Africa HOT! Early mornings and afternoons in the pool.
 
The fan (I find a regular fan more effective for me than a misting fan) and cooling towels are great ideas. If you go with tennis shoes/sneakers use wicking socks with them. If you use sandals bring a small shaker of the Gold Bond powder with you and reapply at midday. I also bring cooling wipes from Ban that I buy from Amazon and I wear a hat designed for runners (shades my face but still lets air get to my scalp).
 
Invest in a good hat. Not just a base ball cap, but one that will give you good coverage from the sun.

The one my husband got from a sporting-goods place had a brim all around which covered his neck too. It had a drawstring and was water proof but breathable. On our second day at the parks he put it on our grand-daughter when the sun was beating down on her while they were sitting in the sun. After that she claimed it as her own. She liked it so much she didn't want to give it back even when her parents offered to buy her any other hat in the park (and I had bought her a Minnie baseball cap at the start of the trip). The broad brim actually covered her shoulders and neck, and it gave her good coverage when it rained a bit.
 
Hydrate!!! And take advantage of AC.

If you insist on using one of those misting fans, please be judicious about using it so that you're not getting people wet who don't want to be wet. I despise them, and it irks me when people are waving them all around their bodies getting everyone in range damp - or worse gives them to kid who then decide to sprat each other with them.

There are also chilly towels which are cool.
 
First and foremost, drink, drink, drink, and when you think you've had enough to drink, drink some more. It is way too easy to get dehydrated in that humid heat. We get to the parks for rope drop, and try to get a lot done early before the crowds, and heat really ramp up for the day. Later in the day, we try to slow down, and take it easy. We go for longer, indoor attractions in the middle of the day to take advantage of the air conditioning. This is the perfect time for Carousel of Progress, the Hall of Presidents, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, etc.

Lunch, we typically have counter service, but pick somewhere with indoor seating, and we take our time, rehydrating, and cooling down. Supper is usually a table service, and again, we take our time. Beyond that, listen to your body. If you are starting to feel a bit worn down, go find a place to sit, have a drink, and cool off for a bit. Many of the quick service restaurants have indoor seating, and outside of the normal meal times, it isn't hard to find a seat. Grab a round of drinks, and have a seat for a while. Twenty minutes with a cool drink, and some air conditioning will do wonders for you in the Florida heat!
 
We went in August and while the heat and humidity were brutal, it certainly didn't ruin our trip and I would consider a summer trip again.

Definitely stay hydrated. We had a camelback that we filled with ice water that we drank through out the day. We also always got water with our meals in addition to another non-hydrating drink.

I enjoyed the cooling towels. We would shower after the pool in the afternoons and then in the morning wear wicking workout clothes to the parks. The cooling towel was necessary for me between the hours of 9:00 and 2:00! We generally went back to the parks around 6pm (after showering and wearing "real" clothes) and didn't need the cooling towel then. Vanity goes out the window in the summer at Disney!

I found tennis shoes and socks more comfortable than sandals. I would wear sandals for short excursions but for our park touring I liked tennis shoes.

There are options in every park for longer shows with air conditioning/cooling. Use them!

I also found making ADRs helpful for the A/C respite. You can also use mobile ordering at counter service and those locales will generally have indoor eating the A/C. The idea of eating outside in the swampy air made me physically ill. I don't know how people did it at Sleepy Hollow for example.
 
We went to Universal in September a few years ago and about melted. We did water ride after water ride, and got into all of the misting things around the park.

Get up early, and go back to the resort to swim mid day. Wear a sun hat, and DRINK tons of water. We scheduled sit down reservations for both lunch and dinner to relax and escape the heat. Gives you a solid 1-1.5 hours to regroup. I also have not done well with Sandals and still have to do tennis shoes, but I don't really think that makes me hotter. The hat is the biggest help honestly.
 
Just a little common sense and you'll be fine.

I know some people like them, but I think misting fans and cooling towels are nasty and actually make things worse. It's already hot and humid and you're already sweating. Now you're going to spray yourself with water?? Sure, it's cool for a few seconds, but then it turns right into hot water, along with the rest of the existing sweat. Ugh. Cooling towels are the same idea. No thanks.

Afternoon breaks are fine if that's what you want to do, but you don't have to.

Here are the things we do, and we LOVE summer at WDW. Sunscreen. Light clothing. Plenty of ice water...they give it out free at any QS place. Do the outdoor rides in the morning or evening. Mid-day is the perfect time to do attractions with a/c. There are endless attractions that have it in the ride itself and/or queue. Philharmagic, CoP, SE (use a FP+), MS, Soarin', Tough to Be a Bug, Dinosaur, etc....you can spend an entire afternoon and only be in the heat when you walk from attraction to attraction. If you like getting wet, do things like Kali or Splash. Go to a water park, they're awesome!!!

Really, like I said, just use a bit of common sense and it's not really a big deal.
 
From past experiences with two kids in the last week of August and late September the best advise I have is plan early and late afternoon trips to avoid the sun.
However make sure you bring/drink lots of water. break up your disney experience with breaks at the park, find someplace cool to sit and relax, buy in advance spray bottles with fans. go back to the hotel room and cool off at the pool or find other activities that is not outside.
 
I used a FrogToggs Chilly Pad towel on my last trip, and it was heaven. It was 93-95 each day and 1,000% humidity, and it still made a noticeable difference. I wore tanks to the park each day and wore that towel like a cape around my neck and shoulders. It kept the sun off and maximized cool towel-to-skin surface area. I think it did a much better job than just the skinny towels folks hand around their necks.

Vanity in the parks in summer? I’m not going to worry one bit about it. One afternoon I even had some ladies at the bus stop asking me how I still looked so fresh and nice after a long morning/afternoon in the parks!

To make sure the towel never got gross, I washed it out with soap and warm water each night and hung it to dry. It never started to get funky at all. I’ll never do hot weather trips without it.
 
Just a little common sense and you'll be fine.

I know some people like them, but I think misting fans and cooling towels are nasty and actually make things worse. It's already hot and humid and you're already sweating. Now you're going to spray yourself with water?? Sure, it's cool for a few seconds, but then it turns right into hot water, along with the rest of the existing sweat. Ugh. Cooling towels are the same idea. No thanks.

Afternoon breaks are fine if that's what you want to do, but you don't have to.

Here are the things we do, and we LOVE summer at WDW. Sunscreen. Light clothing. Plenty of ice water...they give it out free at any QS place. Do the outdoor rides in the morning or evening. Mid-day is the perfect time to do attractions with a/c. There are endless attractions that have it in the ride itself and/or queue. Philharmagic, CoP, SE (use a FP+), MS, Soarin', Tough to Be a Bug, Dinosaur, etc....you can spend an entire afternoon and only be in the heat when you walk from attraction to attraction. If you like getting wet, do things like Kali or Splash. Go to a water park, they're awesome!!!

Really, like I said, just use a bit of common sense and it's not really a big deal.

Good idea with the AC attractions in the afternoon. I know the heat is what forced us to see shows on our 2010 trip - we'd never been big show people at DLR - and then we discovered how great they are! And all because we were desperate to sit in some AC. ;)

I like hearing that you love summer at WDW. I read too many posts that say things like, "I will NEVER go in the summer. It's the WORST." Well, all of us don't have a lot of freedom with our vacation schedules! Summer will forever be what works best for us, so I'm glad to hear from someone who likes going then.

I used a FrogToggs Chilly Pad towel on my last trip, and it was heaven. It was 93-95 each day and 1,000% humidity, and it still made a noticeable difference. I wore tanks to the park each day and wore that towel like a cape around my neck and shoulders. It kept the sun off and maximized cool towel-to-skin surface area. I think it did a much better job than just the skinny towels folks hand around their necks.

Vanity in the parks in summer? I’m not going to worry one bit about it. One afternoon I even had some ladies at the bus stop asking me how I still looked so fresh and nice after a long morning/afternoon in the parks!

To make sure the towel never got gross, I washed it out with soap and warm water each night and hung it to dry. It never started to get funky at all. I’ll never do hot weather trips without it.

This is great! I was suspicious about those towels before this thread, because they just seem too good to be true! Oh yeah, I couldn't care less what I look like in the parks in summer. I just want to survive the heat and enjoy myself! :)
 

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