Rainy day - which park is best?
looking for park with most inside attractions to visit on a rainy day.
Posted February 2, 2011 at 3:15 PM
Posted February 2, 2011 at 3:57 PM
Definitely do NOT go to Islands of Adventure - it's the complete opposite there. Only Forbidden Journey,Spiderman, Poseidon, and Cat in the Hat operate in lightning storms.
As for Disney Parks, I'm thinking EPCOT is the way to go because all the rides are inside pavilions for the most part, except Test Track would likely close for lightning.
As with all parks, you would have to be brave enough to run from ride to ride ;)
Posted February 2, 2011 at 4:41 PM
Posted February 2, 2011 at 7:12 PM
Posted February 3, 2011 at 3:03 AM
EPCOT's world showcase is still okay in the rain too. In fact in some places, like "my very own" UK exhibit, the wet weather lends a touch of authenticity. ( lol )
Posted February 3, 2011 at 6:36 AM
Posted February 3, 2011 at 8:02 AM
Lets see what theme parks have I done and remember doing in the rain?
DHS
IOA
Epcot
and I believe we were dodging the rain storms last time we went to Universal.
DHS was miserable because we had a group of 15 girls none of us had a poncho and we couldn't keep everyone together. Once we set up a system however it was all gravy. We just took extra long in the shops and when everyone was read high tailed it to the next thing. (Very heavy rain that day)
IOA was miserable. There was no where to duck into to get your ponchos out if you had them. The little shelter there was in the area was overcrowded and you couldn't sit down to eat if you chose to do that. We ended up leaving within the hour and waiting the storm out. Luckily we stayed on site. (Semi light-medium rain)
Epcot was okay. We had a group of maybe 10 I think it was a little less. 2 adults the rest were older children (late middle school/highschool). All of us had been there before so we didn't waste our time looking at the buildings and such. Again we spent more time in the shops did a few things/rides we wouldnt normally do and just walked quickly to the next one. This was my my enjoyable experience but then again it was only sprinkling/scattered.
Universal was okay too. Again we had all been there before so we didn't look around much. We pretty much just road Men in Black back to back and Mummy back to back waiting on the shower to stop. When it did we moved on to the next things dipping in and out of shops as needed.
Long story short- bring a $1.00 poncho that you buy AT HOME and you should be fine. Better yet buy/bring a nice rain jacket and a pair of good shoes. As long as you're prepared most theme parks in Orlando are just fine in the rain.
Posted February 3, 2011 at 11:28 AM
Right off the bat, take out Island of Adventure and Animal Kingdom. AK has a lot of outdoor attractions that really are kinda meh in the rain. Islands is almost all outside, so I would skip that too. Universal is ok, but (and this is just me), I tend to do Universal and Islands in 1 day, so I would not do Universal in the rain.
MK is ok in the rain, but it depends on what you do. Really, there are only a few major attractions that are outdoors and uncovered. But, and I advise this out of experience, do NOT ride Thunder Mountain in the rain unless you have someone sitting next to you. Plastic bench seats, when wet, can be very slippy. That makes this a painful ride.
DHS is ok, but the shows there might not run in the rain. At least the major attractions are inside, but, honestly, I would do DHS on a clear night that they are running Fantasmic.
Epcot is almost all indoors, and Test Track is almost always running. This is a great choice, to be honest, as when it starts really raining, you can just go into come pavillion and shop or something.
So, I would recommend MK or Epcot, depending on what rides you are interested in and what (if any) fireworks show you want to see. Disney is good about running rides in the rain (almost everything runs to the point of hilarity, I mean I rode Splash Mountain in a monsoon, and could have ridden again.) So I would stay there, probably at Epcot.
Posted February 3, 2011 at 12:01 PM
I just imagine coming around the bends on Splash mountain and being stuck underneath a waterfall the entire time!
Posted February 4, 2011 at 6:19 AM
Posted February 4, 2011 at 9:21 AM
Posted February 4, 2011 at 9:59 AM
In fact I think the gung-ho spirit of " we're all in this together " shared by everyone in the Parks that year added immensely to my enjoyment.
Most of us were kitted out in those plastic yellow raincovers which was bizarre as you could barely tell if you were still with the same people you set off with. I lost my wife at least 3 times and grabbed the hand of some poor unsuspecting soul before realising my mistake.
All good fun.Which only goes to show that bad weather in the Parks isn't always a bad thing. Just different.
Posted February 8, 2011 at 8:26 AM
Thanks for all the great advice!