8 Ways to Keep Your Cool at Disney
It's 96 degrees today where I live which is decidedly not normal, especially considering we are often referred to in the sports world as "the frozen tundra". There's a phrase used by Disney World fans to describe this sort of heat. It's called "Animal Kingdom hot", a phrase lovingly given because Disney's Animal Kingdom is the park with arguably the least opportunities for air conditioning. Imagine a hot Florida summer day and your plan is to go to Animal Kingdom. You'd better have a plan to deal with the heat too.
The most obvious advice I might give you is try to plan your vacation for sometime other than summer in Florida, but I know with kids in school that can be hard. I'll leave talking about the pros and cons of taking kids out of school for vacations in another post. The coolest times in of year in Florida (like anywhere in the Northern hemisphere) are December, January, and February. But I'm going to assume you are going the other 9 months out of the year. Even October and March can be incredibly warm and humid.
When I did my College Program internship at Walt Disney World, I got the job posting of outdoor foods. These are the people you see standing at the ice cream, hot dog, and popcorn carts, or walking aisles doing theater vending. My day consisted of at least 8 hours standing outside in the Florida heat. I know a thing or two about coping with the heat and here are my tips:
1. Hydrate
This is obvious, right? But if it's so obvious, how come so many people fall victim to dehydration? It's because our bodies aren't really great at telling us we are thirsty sometimes. Sometimes dehydration feels like a headache, or nausea, or crankiness, instead of thirst. So, one of my pieces of advice is to try to reflect on how you react when you are overheating.
Of course, better than that is to never get to that point. I prefer to carry a resealable water bottle into the parks on hot days. I carry a bag so that's no skin off my back. If you prefer not to carry a bag into the parks, you should also know that you can ask for a glass of ice water at most of the quick service food locations free of charge. The important thing is to drink this water routinely. If you're sweating, you should be drinking too.
I prefer my bottle of water as opposed to getting water in the park for two reasons. Both have to do with lines. If you are entering a line for a ride, you might be asked to dispose of any open beverage containers. There goes your glass of ice water, whereas, I get to keep my bottle and sip it while I wait in line. The other reason is the line at the quick service food location to get the water in the first place.
That said, when I traveled this winter and the highest temperature was around 80, I did not take bottled water into the park because I felt I could handle getting water at quick service or any water fountains I saw, and this worked pretty well. But in the heat of summer you will not find me without my bottle of water.
When it's really hot, I like to freeze a few bottles of water in the hotel room's mini-fridge over night. I take a normal unfrozen bottle for immediate hydration, and a frozen bottle for later. It feels SO good to crack into the cold bottle in the middle of the day.
I know this section is getting lengthy, but hydrating is the single most important thing you can do to handle the heat, so one more thing I have to mention. Alcohol is not hydration. Alcohol is quite the opposite. Save your drinking for after the sun is down.
2. GET OUT of the park between 11 and 4
I'm a big proponent of LEAVING the park. Yes, I know, I know, you spent your life savings to get to Disney World and by golly you are going to enjoy it! But trust me, there is nothing to enjoyable about 11 am to about 4 pm in the middle of summer in Florida.
So, I'm going to tell you to get into the park early each morning, right when it opens. It's cooler during the morning, and also the crowds are lighter until about 10 am.
Then, around 11 am or when it starts getting steamy and crowds start getting unbearable, get out. Go back to your resort or at the very least go get a nice, slow, air conditioned meal. I like to return to the resort, have a drink in the air conditioning, and maybe have a swim or a nap.
Then, refreshed, return to the park around 4 pm. I've made it earlier (2:30-ish if I want to catch the parade) and later (6 or 7 pm). People will start to leave for dinner around 4 pm, and if it's summer, it's likely the 3:00 or so thunderstorm has rolled through and made the air less muggy. Then, stay throughout the evening or as long as you like.
3. You need two pairs of socks
You're walking up to 10 miles a day in the Florida heat. What do you think your feet are doing? Sweating, that's what! It's nasty! You need to budget for 2 pairs of socks each day. Just trust me on this. Better yet if they are cotton. For bonus points, bring some nice cooling foot refresher spray like this stuff from the Body Shop.
4. Plan air conditioned attractions for hotter parts of the day
When it's possible, plan to be in air conditioning when it is getting hot starting at about 10 am and going until about 6 pm. Do your outdoor things like Kilimanjaro Safaris, Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, walking nature trails at Animal Kingdom, walking World Showcase lagoon, during cooler times of day.
Desperate for a long air conditioned time? Try these attractions: Hall of Presidents (some say this is good for a nap, too), The American Adventure, and the Legend of the Lion King.
Are you going to have to wait in line for a ride? These rides have mostly outdoor queues. You want to avoid these during the heat of the day:
-It's a Small World
-Peter Pan's Flight
-The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
-Kilimanjaro Safaris
-Kali River Rapids
-Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
-Splash Mountain
-Spaceship Earth
-Tomorrowland Speedway
-Tomorrowland Transit Authority
-Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
-Frozen Sing Along
-Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
-Expedition Everest
These rides, on the other hand, have air conditioned (if often lengthy) queues:
-Mission:Space
-Soarin'
-Living with the Land
-Test Track
-Turtle Talk with Crush
-Most World Showcase attractions and circle vision shows
-Space Mountain
-Avatar: Flight of Passage
-Na'vi River Journey
-Hall of Presidents
-Tower of Terror
-Rock N Roller Coaster
5. Get a little (or a lot) wet
In the park and just need to dive into some cool water? Here's the next best thing. Find these opportunities to get wet (or soaked) in the parks:
-EPCOT splash pad between FutureWorld and World Showcase near Test Track. Depending on how you time it, you could get soaked.
-There is a slight chance to get splashed on Frozen Ever After. I wouldn't count on it.
-Splash Mountain. Results vary from "a little wet" to "soaked". Chances of getting soaked improve if the front of the car is heavier than the back.
-Kali River Rapids. You are very likely to get soaked.
-Frozen Ever After - Ok, not exactly wet, but you will get "snowed" on.
-At any park, if you find a mister going, stand in it for a bit.
6. There's a club for this!
I'm speaking of Club Cool at EPCOT. This is a fun little place where you can sample Coca Cola products from around the world to your heart's content. It's also air conditioned and a great place to cool off.
7. Take an air conditioned shortcut
Taking an air conditioned shortcut often means knowing when it's easiest (and coolest) to get from point A to point B by cutting through shops. Prime examples of this are cutting down Main Street USA through the shops to either side, and cutting through to Pandora by doing through the shop directly to your left as you enter Discovery Island in Animal Kingdom, and exiting at the end just outside of Pandora.
8. Bring the right tools
I have two products I will suggest for beating the heat. The first is an insulated water bottle that also can be squeezed to mist you in the face. My 10-year-old loves this.
But my favorite product are these cooling cloths. These actually make a world of difference when strategically applied. Your neck is a great place to put them. Strictly speaking, your chest and armpits are also places that will cool you fastest if you apply cool to them, but it may look a little weird. Just wet them with cold water, seal them up, and they'll be ready when you need to cool down mid-day. I surprised my family with these on a 97 degree, high humidity day in South Carolina after a morning touring a plantation when we wanted to tour more but weren't sure we could stand it. The looks on their faces was like I sent them straight to heaven. We toured another couple hours after this refresh until a storm drove us out. These towels are also small and hardly take any extra space when packing.
So, those are my tips for staying cool at Walt Disney World. I hope those of you going this summer find them useful. Let me know how it goes in the comments!
