Plans in case of rain during trip

[jenanderson]

I am tried to be more prepared this year. We currently have reservations to stay at the CBR with the ultimate pass (silver add-on) and have "loose" plans for the 6 days we will be there.

My question is: What do you do on days when it rains?

I would like to have some ideas that I could use in case we run into rain on any of the days. DD (turning 7 while we are there) and DS (2) will not want to sit in the hotel room.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[crisi]

Keep going!

A lot of attractions are indoors or covered and an umbrella will take you from one to the next. There are often shorter lines when it rains as well. Epcot's Future World is a good choice - the pavillions are spread far apart, but inside any one pavillion you can spend enough time to make the dash worth it.

DisneyQuest (I haven't been there) is also inside.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

We were just talking about this! We go to the parks anyway. Different people have different ideas on what park is the best in the rain. Last year we went to MGM in the rain and while it worked fine, it ended up being my least favorite park of the trip. Many people think that epcot is ideal on a rainy day. I would avoid MK. Just put on ponchos and go. We always bring ours from home as the ones in the park are all the same color and keeping up with your family is a nightmare. We also take a baseball cap to wear under the poncho so the rain runs off instead of into your face. These are just important in case of a all day hard rain as we had last year at MGM. Depending on the time of year, showers are often quick and over. I would also pack a cover for the stroller to keep the rain off your DS and protect it from the rain while you are in attractions.
If you choose not to do a park in the rain, there is DQ ,though your two are a little young for that, movies in DD, and touring other resort can be fun too. Don't let the threat of rain bother you. Just be prepared.

Jordan's mom

 

[BevS97]

we had a very rainy week last year, and we just went to the parks. The lines were very short, and most of the time the rain was on and off, an hour or so of rain, and then it would brighten up again. Even when it was pouring we just dashed from place to place and still had a great day.

bev

 

[Libbysmom2000]

If you're looking for non-park things to do on a rainy day and you'll have a car Orlando has a wonderful science center. It's about a 30 minute drive from WDW. Last year they had Richard Scary's Busy Town there (a big hit with a 2yo) and they had lots of hands on things for school age kids. Here's a link to their website: http://www.osc.org/

Kate

 

[NotUrsula]

WDW has very few rides that close in the event of rain, most of them are indoors. If you bring sports sandals that can get wet (we always wear these at parks anyway) and ponchos for everyone, then there is no reason why rain should slow you down at all.

I buy our ponchos ahead of time, and for the little ones I cut them down if needed so they don't drag the ground. A color other than yellow is a good idea; when it rains and all the Mickey ponchos come out, everyone else will be wearing yellow.

 

[Bella2000]

Another vote for going despite the rain and purchasing your poncho in advance.

 

[vicb]

Ditto on the "put on a poncho and go" advise... it's what we did. We did a half day at Epcot and half in an empty MK. We were wet and bedraggled and had a great time! It's Disney, can't waste a day hiding inside!

 

[BevS97]

if it's very rainy, I would suggest you get the better quality ponchos (like they sell in the parks). We bought the 99c ones from Walmart, and they were quite flimsy and not very comfortable. But, being blue, did mean that we could find each other!

Bev

 

[mommystieg]

And yet another "put on a poncho and go" We also bought blue ones before we left so that we could tell ourselves apart from the sea of yellow ponchos. There really is a lot to do at the parks even in the rain. The only park we left when it was raining was AK. We would have stayed for FOTLK but they closed it due to a lightening strike nearby.

 

[ZachnElli]

Last trip to Disney, it rained hard everyday. One day it rained 5 inches! And we kept going! Hey, it was July (2001), the rain was much better than the heat! Even my 2 year old enjoyed it, and she took off the poncho!

 

[stacy6552]

go to target and buy a ton(more than the people youve got) of the $1 ponchos in a color other than yellow, thats the color of the disney ones and you dont want to blend in. get a box of snadwhich ziplock bags. buy a stroller cover.

Now cover your stroller anytime you leave it unattended. we learned this the hard way. but should you come back to find it soaked, use a diaper to absorbe the water. if theres a pad just take it off.

throw on the cheap ponchos. if you cant find a kid sized one, just tie knots on the bottom of your 7yr olds and put the tot in the stroller under cover. when your done stuff them into the ziplocks, cuz youll never get them back into the ones they come in. if you tear one, just toss it out and grab another.

Return the ones you dont use when you get home.

 

[welovedis]

One of the things we did after our first trip to WDW was bring our rain ponchos back with us. We had the generic yellow Mickey ones and realized pretty quickly that we could get lost or separated easily. DH got some permanent markers and we spread out the ponchos, then let DS "Decorate" the backs of them using the different colored markers. The next time we went we took the old ponchos and never had to worry about finding each other if we were separated.

We did buy the cheap ones from either Walmart or the Dollar Store and found it to be pretty lightweight compared to the Disney ponchos. They were fine for a short time but would rip pretty easily and really were not good for using more than one day. We used ours to cover the stroller and my mom's ECV.

 

[NotUrsula]

...they just stay there all the time, so that if we need them, they are handy, but we don't have to carry them. The bag actually came with the ponchos we bought at Target, and I can get 3 ponchos into it if I fold them carefully. I don't like the super-cheapy ponchos. I sprang for the $3 polypropylene ones, and we have been using them for 6 years now.

Be careful with stroller covers made to fit your stroller; they may not cover the undercarriage, so the things in your basket can get drenched. I use a cover made for a tandem on my single; it covers right down to the axles. For a cheap cover, I recommend a clear shower curtain liner + a couple of big metal file clips to hold it in place. Using a poncho works, but the child can't see through it, & you usually get a leak where the neck hole opening is. If you pleat the rainshield back over the hood and secure it, you can pull it over to cover without much difficulty.

CAUTION about raincovers: make sure that they are not so tightly fitted that ventilation is a problem. With a really little baby, be sure to monitor this carefully and make double-sure that the airflow is sufficient.