Beating the Heat, Which Shows and Attractions?

[Nakkira]

So my Husband and I are going to Disney in early September. He does not really deal well with the heat.

We are planning on a midday break each day so he can get out of the worst of it, and get some rest in the A/C.

That said, as my FastPass window approaches, I have also been giving some thought about throwing in a mid-morning & mid afternoon A/C break into our park touring plans.

So, that said, what are some good Air-conditioned shows/attractions etc in each of the Parks? I am looking for at least 15 minutes of sitting down in a “cool” environment.

What are your Favorites? (ok, so at AK I already have Finding Nemo marked down, because we love that)


Please do not suggest restaurants, we are on Quick service dining and most of that is mapped out, lunch will almost always be during our midday break) unless you know of Air Conditioned quick service seating where we can just get an iced tea or something.



Thank you!

 

[VandVsmama]

At MK:
Hall of Presidents
Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor
Mickey's Philharmagic
Country Bear Jamboree
Carousel of Progress

At Epcot:
I've got nothin' here. No suggestions.

At AK:
Festival of the Lion King
the Nemo musical

And you can go into any quick service location and just sit down and rest. You don't have to buy anything. You can definitely just buy a drink if you want. We did that a couple of weeks ago.

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Carousel of Progress is the best for this. And if you're lucky, they will have to repeat a few scenes and the attraction will take over 30 minutes! Impressions de France is really lovely as well, though I've never been able to stay awake for the whole thing.

 

[TavieP]

Country Bears, baby.

 

[Tink-aholic]

At HS: Muppets!

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I second Hall of Presidents. This is our go-to for a cool rest, and it’s an interesting classic. There’s also the mini museums in WS (Morocco,China,norway,Japan) they’re usually empty. And you can sit and rest in the waiting areas for O Canada and Reflections of China, there are benches. All of Mexico is inside as well.

 

[gharter]

MK:
Hall of Presidents
Monsters Laugh Floor
Carousel of Progress
Country Bear
Pirates of the Caribbean

HS
Little Mermaid
Muppets

EPCOT
Movies at France (sit down), China and Canada (you stand, but have AC)
Living Seas (you can go inside and just sit and watch the fish)

AK
Lion King
Nemo
Nomad Lounge (inside part)

 

[pitpat]

Frozen Sing Along at HS

 

[VillainFavs]

Some additional ones:

Epcot - The American Experience (is that what it's called?) -- the animatronics show. Bonus points if you watch Voices of Liberty before or after!

MK - Columbia Harbor House -- grab a drink and go upstairs. Air conditioned and much quieter than most QS places.

 

[WDWAurora]

At Epcot, the land pavilion is great. I love the living with the land boat ride, and I can occupy myself there for a while. Also, imagination and the Pixar film festival. The film in France (the others don’t have seating since they are circle vision). There is a little museum area in Morocco that has some benches and is nice.

AK-tough to be a bug can work.

HS-path to Jedi, muppet movie, the movie in the launch bay, and the movie preview.

 

[BrianL]

Little Mermaid at HS is really good because there is a mist that falls over the crowd. It's light, but refreshing.

In Epcot, so many things are indoors. Soarin', the queue is 1005 inside as you have to enter the land pavilion first. The SeaBase at The Seas with Nemo and Friends is also good (you can ride the ride, or just enter the aquarium section from the exit). The American Adventure and Impressions de France are both seated and long A/C breaks.

Splash Mountain is a good 15 minutes long (just the ride portion) and ends with a cooling splash. And it's outdoors, but if you wanna get drenched, then Kali River Rapids will get the job done.

Edit: Oh, and my favorite cooling spot in all of WDW - enter the Single Rider line for Test Track. As you come to the curve toward the loading area, you will encounter "The Vent," a full-blast A/C vent pointed right at the line. It's a couple minutes of heaven as you get your turn to stand there.

 

[winnieofpooh]

I'll throw Figment/Mission Space into the hat for Epcot as well. The rides are fairly short, but both have interactive games and exhibits as you exit the ride, so you could hang in there and play some of the games for a while.

 

[rentayenta]

Following though we will likely belly up to a bar when its too hot or chill by the pool.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

There’s also character spot in Epcot, the area after you exit Test track with the cars and interactive games, club cool, carousel of progress...there are tons of fun or interesting places/attractions to cool down in

 

[Nakkira]

And you can go into any quick service location and just sit down and rest. You don't have to buy anything. You can definitely just buy a drink if you want. We did that a couple of weeks ago.

I kind of figured. Does anyone have a list going of Quick Service locations that have A/C? I know many are outdoors, etc.

Some additional ones:

Epcot - The American Experience (is that what it's called?) -- the animatronics show. Bonus points if you watch Voices of Liberty before or after!

MK - Columbia Harbor House -- grab a drink and go upstairs. Air conditioned and much quieter than most QS places.

I will have to remember Harbor House. I always thought it was a table service and walked right by it

 

[BrianL]

I kind of figured. Does anyone have a list going of Quick Service locations that have A/C? I know many are outdoors, etc.

Many QS have indoor seating with A/C I don't know if this is a complete list:

MK:
Casey's Corner (though it's very limited inside with and open to the outside too)
Pecos Bill's Tall Tale Inn & Cafe
Columbia Harbor House
Village Haus
Gaston's Tavern (limited inside but rarely too busy)
Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe

EP:
Sunshine Seasons
Some in WS do and some don't - I don't even know them all

HS:
Backlot Express (limited indoor seating plus large covered outdoor area)
PizzaRizzo
ABC Comissary

AK:
Satu'li Canteen
Pizzafari
Restaurantosaurus

 

[Spencer Wright]

I did not look what else was suggested, so I will give you some of my ideas for Epcot and MK:

Epcot:

-Living Seas with Nemo and Friends (it is often quiet)

-It is not a show/ attraction, but Mousegears has excellent merchandise for men. It is my personal favorite.

Magic Kingdom:

-I normally am one of those people who do not wait long for attractions (maybe 30 minutes at MOST), but find waiting 45 minutes for Space Mountain is a dark cool place to get out of the sun.

-Depending on how hot we are talking, the People Mover can be a great place to cool down, but still enjoy MK.

 

[dreamit]

When not staying at a monorail resort, we've taken the monorail from MK over to the Poly for an adult beverage and a Dole Whip. It got us out of the heat and was a really pleasant break from the park.

 

[WrongLeverrrr]

One of the things I miss most about the closings of GMR at HS and Ellen over at Epcot is that they were both PERFECT answers for this question. Nice, long, indoor show rides (especially Ellen) that never had any waits.

Of things that are currently open, ones that haven't been mentioned here are the American Adventure show as well as the Disney/Pixar "film festival", both over at Epcot. American Adventure works great since it's halfway around the world showcase so you can split your day in two based on that if you want.

 

[Moliphino]

At Epcot:
I've got nothin' here. No suggestions.

The American Adventure - this is a solid half hour of sitting in the AC
Impressions de France
The Mexico pavilion is a nice place to cool down (Gran Fiesta Tour, La Cava de Tequila )
The Land pavilion (Living With the Land, Soarin', hang out at Sunshine Seasons for a while)
The Seas pavilion (ride Nemo, do Turtle Talk, check out the aquariums)