Coldest time in a theme park?
So with such a brutal winter across the U.S., wondering what was your coldest time in a theme park?
I recall January 1992 trip to WDW when in the 40s. My family had moved from Chicago so okay but amused seeing folks bundled in hats and coats, etc. Remember Jungle Cruise captain with great delivery of "welcome to the hot...boiling...brutal...crushing heat of the jungle."
However think topper is March of 1993 with a brutal winter storm hitting the entire East Coast. Felt more in the 20s on some rides, especially Splash Mountain and even some frost to make it memorable.
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December 23, 1989 - see https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/200912/1577/ for my story.
This past Saturday/Sunday were likely the coldest its been since WDW opened, with the temp in the 20's but because of sustained high winds the "feels like" temp got down in the low teens.
I was at Magic Kingdom last night and it hit the low 30’s with a nice dosage of wind gusts peppered in for good measure. Needless to say, Frozen wasn’t just at Epcot. But it was also glorious considering it’s usually hotter than 4 fat guys in a Ford Pinto there.
It was 1990, early April and we were on a school trip to Canada's Wonderland. It was cloudy, windy, and around the lower 40s. It was my first time riding coasters in a winter coat and gloves which is an experience in and of itself.
The river rapids were open and the vehicles were moving through it with no people onboard. We coaxed our friend to ride it while we all stood at the observation area and watched that pour soul get drenched in his jeans and sweatshirt. He shivered and froze his bits off the rest of the day and we laughed and taunted him the remainder of the trip like only immature high schoolers could. Ahhhhh good times!
Internationally, we visited Tivoli (in Copenhagen) in late December 2011, and there were light snow flurries throughout the day - I think the official high was somewhere around 1-2 C, but when the park closed that night it was probably -5 C.
Domestically, before BGW expanded to nearly year-round operations, they would open the season with a Pasholders Day on the weekend of St. Patrick's Day. I believe it was 2006 or so when there was snow and sub-freezing temps for that day.
I've done several visits to parks where the temps were in the low 40s. For the most part, this has been for holiday events or very early season visits, but there have been a handful of times SoCal got a cold wave and I got this experience at my local parks. Never been to one when it was near or below freezing, though...once it starts getting below the minimum operating temperature for rides, it's not worth it to be there (plus I wouldn't fit some attractions in full winter wear).
December 1983. I was a CM at the Magic Kingdom. At around 5 AM on a December morning, I was waiting for my ride into work. The time/temp clock on a sign next to my apartment complex flashed 27 degrees.
Punchline: I was working as a conductor on the Walt Disney World Steam Railroad. Riding in the open air on the back of the train. Brrrrr.