Give Me your Tips for Touring in the Rain!

Robyn just got back from a trip with lots of rain. I'm sure she can provide lots of tips. I can't so much; so far I've been lucky and not hit much rain. Well, aside from Hurricane Wilma back in 2005, and for that we just stayed in our rooms because the parks were closed.

Have 2 pairs of shoes. For one of our first trips years ago, we were trying to save luggage space, and only had one pair each. There is nothing worse than walking around in shoes that stay wet for days!

I know the Disney ponchos are more durable, etc., but we had cheap dollar store ones. We didn't have to worry about drying them off and saving them each day - we tossed them at the end of the day, and started the morning with new ones in our pockets. I just made sure we had one for every day - in all our trips, this past trip in May was the first time we needed more than one!

We also got experienced with timing our attractions/rides around the weather. Do the outside walking around stuff when it's not raining, or just drizzling, and wait to do the indoor things when the skies open. Don't waste valuable non-rain time on indoor things until you have done all the outdoor things. If it looked like it was about to pour, we always made sure we were near an indoor attraction (the movie in the French Pavilion, boat ride in Mexico, etc.)

I really hope the rain won't be much of a factor for your trip Kristen - the forecasts are notoriously wrong most of the time!

Take advantage of the in park transportation such as the train in MK & the boats in the showcase portion of Epcot to cut down on the amount of time you spend walking around in the rain. The trains are covered & if I remember correctly the larger boats have indoor/covered areas. Be prepared with a raincoat or poncho. Those are the only things I can think of but I'm in the Seattle area so I'm so used to rain that it doesn't really bother me. Ziploc everything you don't want ruined. The contents of my purse including my smartphone spend a large portion of the year in a ziploc bag because it rains over 200 days a year here & I walk or take the bus everywhere. It's one thing to replace a cheapo notepad & quite another to have to replace a several hundred dollar phone or camera because it got soaked.

Finngirl and Revral, those are both awesome suggestions from y'all!

I hadn't thought about taking a poncho per day. I just stocked up on one per person per day...are they a pain in the neck to get back in the pack once they've been used? Is that why you carry more than one?

Great idea on the squishy shoes suggestion, too! Maybe I'll just do the thing I do for "wet" rides, and make the group change into their flip flops (which I'll have in my backpack) once it starts raining. Rain stops, sneakers go back on.

I swannee, this site never runs out of awesome people with awesome ideas!

I bring a quart size Ziploc bag to shove the poncho in to. Oh & in the MK if you're entering or leaving & just trying to get to/from the hub & front of the park cut through the shops on Mains Street. The ones on the left as you enter or the right as you leave are connected so once you're in them you can just stay in them till you get to the front of the park. That also works great to avoid a lot of the crowd when exiting MK at night just cut through those Main Street shops but browse as you go.

If you use the dollar store ponchos, there is no way they will ever go back into the original, tiny package. Plus, they are wet, and the rain stays in the folds, etc. forever. Also, if you put them on, take them off repeatedly during the day, they eventually tear. The Disney ponchos come in a larger package, so they can be refolded I think. If they tear, Disney replaces them for free. But we don't like to carry a backpack, so the dollar store ones are easier to tuck into a pocket or purse. Some of the ones I used in May have been back and forth to WDW since the 90's!

Aha! Great suggestion. I'll go ahead and pick up one per day for each of our party, just in case. You've had Disney ones since the 90s? Dang!!

I also do the dollar store ponchos (or more accurately, the Target $1 bin). I buy one per person/per day. I have a ton left over, but we used them in on our last trip. In addition to the zip lock bags for your personal stuff, if you are buying anything, have a trash bag handy to put the packages in. We got caught in a MONSOON at Sea World and had a bunch of bags with mugs, pictures, etc in them. Too big for our purses, so we used a trash bag to hold them all. Of course, if you're staying on property and having stuff sent to your resort, not an issue.

If your shoes get wet, stuff them tightly with newspaper and let them sit overnight. The newspaper will absorb the moisture and your shoes will be dry in the morning.

The wife and I wear our swim suits for the rainy days. She wears her bikini under her light shorts and t shirt and I just wear my boardshorts/swim trunks instead of traditional shorts. Wearing fabrics that don't stay wet or heavy for long helped us tremendously.

We were there at the same time in the rain and you are right the dollar store ponchos worked great!!! We used the same strategies as you except we were at Hollywood studios and rode the great movie ride then headed over to the animation place,(can't remember the name not a morning person haha) drew a character and had pics taken with Wreck it Ralph, The Incredibles, Jake and sorcerer Mickey. By the time we were done the rain had stopped (well for a little bit anyways) and our dinner reservations were ready.