Beating the Heat at Disney: Part 1 of 3

Let’s face it, Central Florida is freaking hot about 9 months out of the year. I wrote about this recently when our family completed a first-ever trip to Walt Disney World in mid-August. It can also be chilly during certain months of the year, but that’s a blog post for another day.

If you’re a parent of school-aged children, a teacher, or just prefer to take your vacations in the summer, there’s a good chance you’ll end up in a similar situation: Central Florida in the heat of summer. It’s freaking miserable and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. But you can take steps to beat the heat or at least make the most of it.

Tip 1: Start early, go back late. The earliest part of the day will likely be the coolest part of the day. If you have a child like mine who is an early riser, take advantage of it. Figure out which park opens the earliest and make that your first park of the day.

Tip 2: Leave. Yep, leave the park. Right around 1130am or so, your group should either be wrapping up a quick lunch or be heading back to your resort. This is when the real heat of the day will kick in, making everyone in your group miserable. Go back to your resort, eat lunch at the virtually empty onsite restaurant (if you didn’t already), shower, nap, hit the pool, whatever your family likes to do to relax on vacation. And Mom, that means you, too. If the kid(s) nap, you nap.

Tip 3: Go back. Once you’ve had a few hours to re-group, head back to the parks. If there was an afternoon thunderstorm, the humidity may (or may not) have dissipated. The crowds will be waning as folks head to dinner or just call it quits because they’ve spent all day braving the heat (unlike you, smart cookie). Do some rides, have dessert (or dessert instead of dinner) it’s vacation. ENJOY IT.