Oof. I did NOT plan for storms!

[Figment1989]

Hey all! I'm down in WDW now on my precisely and ridiculously planned trip. Hahaha. You know how they say that people plan and God laughs? Well someone is laughing so hard that he is crying (rain) and coughing (thunder) and ... Something else (lightning). I've been down here during this time of year before and I'm very used to afternoon storms. What I'm not used to is intense storming throughout the afternoon and evening. I'm not at all complaining - it has to rain sometime so we can have all of that awesome hollow ice after all. Besides - we are on our honeymoon and together and that itself is all I need. Question that I have is - what do you recommend to do during these massive multi-hour thunder and lightning storms? And do they always cancel all of the fireworks and parades when there is lightning all around? I believe yesterday's 3:00 was cancelled and I'm unsure if they will have Fantasmic tonight.

 

[fugawe09]

Well, if you are on your honeymoon, there is always the hotel room...

The rain is running a little late tonight. I suppose it's payback for a couple dry days, but not unheard of. They cancel all outdoor activities when lightning is within a certain radius, for your safety and that of the performers. They watch the radar and if it looks like things will clear, they will delay the show as long as they can. Shows with human performers (ie: Fantasmic and parades) are the most weather sensitive, while things like Celebrate the Magic are the least weather sensitive. Rainy days are actually a great time to do many of the indoor attractions (ie: most of Epcot) because a lot of people leave the park, unwilling to get wet walking from building to building. Do not go to DisneyQuest - it will be a madhouse.

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

we used to find places to hide out in the parks while everyone left because of the rain. it always seemed like many people would try to stick it out 20 minutes and if it didn't show signs of letting up, they'd move en masse toward the exits. hubby and i would hole up somewhere for an hour or so and then enjoy the steamy, sunny, less busy park.

if it's been raining for hours at a time, you might need to adjust your plans. if it's close enough to a meal time, try to get something to eat. if you have an ADR that evening, call and see if they can accommodate you a bit earlier. no ADR? pop into one of the table services places nearby and give it a whirl. if you're at epcot, get on ellen's energy adventure - that will eat up almost an hour of your time between the wait and the ride (and i still think it's good after all these years). anything having to do with shopping or disneyquest should be avoided because everyone else will be doing that.

 

[mateomouse]

If it's raining and you just want a place to sit, across from Mad Hatter Tea Party and Cosmic Ray's there is the Cheshire Cafe. Next to that there is a decent size "room" with some outlets that you could use to charge your phone. If your at HS, One Mans Dream is a good one because you can stay in there as long as you want. The same applies for Magic of Disney Animation. Your best bet for AK would be to do Finding Nemo-The Musical or Festival of the Lion King. EPCOT has a lot of options, but I feel like The Land would be a good place to go. You can spend a lot of time just waiting to get on Soarin, and then you still have another ride and a show.

 

[DisneyDelirious]

If the lightning subsides, strap on your poncho and enjoy the closest thing to low crowds at the parks! the lightning does make things a lot harder. As mentioned above, inside shows are always an option or a meal. If you aren't lucky enough to have an ADR during the same time as the storm, you can people watch for a while at a counter service with seating and hope it blows over. Dry space can be hard to come by if you move quick or know the layout of the park. My son and I rode out a terrible storm that flooded the MK by making a break to the Merchant of Venus and sitting under the awning on a planter. You could also take my wife's approach and use the time for some extra shopping

 

[dadddio]

Get in the line for soaring. That will blow a couple hours until the rain passes.

 

[SAV]

We were in WDW in mid June this year and noticed that instead of the "normal" afternoon 1 hour shower, we were getting several hours of rain each day. It seems that 2 years ago, we had a few more rain days than in 2010 where it was just the afternoon shower.

One of the locals mentioned that this "Summer pattern" of weather is shifting earlier and earlier.

So we just ducked inside and ate during the intense stormy part of it or at Epcot went into Innoventions. Once the lightning passed, we just poncho'd up and went on about our business to the attractions that were open.

During our stay, I don't recall any of the parades or night time shows being cancelled.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Spend time wandering the shops in the parks... even if you dont want to buy.
Visit some of the other resorts and see what they are like. Some have different shops with unique gifts. The resort snack area differ and you can find something tasty that you havent tried. Check out the resort restaurants you may stumble upon some place to eat that you hadnt thought of before. Some guests have never in multiple visits to Disney scoped out other resorts.
Check out what might be in you resort... pin trade with CM's, watch old dis cartoons, converse with CM's. Waste some time in the resort arcades.

 

[Redsky89]

Welcome to Florida in the summer. I usually grab a beer and go through a shop or get in a indoor attraction line.

 

[MarFV]

Honeymoon. Hello? Back to your room stat!

 

[zurgandfriend]

Rain storms are the time to visit Hall of the the Presidents, CoP, Mickey's Philharmagic etc, but if I were on my "Disneymoon' I'd be spending more time at the room as well.

 

[Carol53000]

We were at WDW a couple years ago when Tropical Storm Debby blew through. Our first day is normally Magic Kingdom but with all the rain forecast we went to Epcot. Got soaked but stayed through until the bitter end. Of course now with all the pre planning that needs to be done we wouldn't have been able to do that. I'm not normally a big planner so I may not bother spending the money to come back. Sounds like too much work. Too bad. We used to come and just enjoy the day rather than have to run around meeting all sorts of time schedules.