Tips for staying cool in the parks?

[rosiegmendez]

can anyone recommend a small fan?

 

[Klayfish]

Any of the small battery powered fans will work fine.

On a broader level, there are lots of ways to try to stay cool. We're big fans of WDW summer, so deal with it all the time. Suggestions:

Avoid the attractions that have outdoor queues during the heat of the day. Thinks like BTMRR and Tomorrowland Speedway come to mind. So many attractions at WDW have a/c, so those are the ones to do during the worst of the heat. Philharmagic, Dinosaur, Nemo, Muppets, Soarin', Living w/the Land, etc...

Wear light clothes.

Drink plenty of water - all the QS places offer filtered ice water for free. Use it.

Some people like cooling towels. That's a personal decision. Try them and see if you like them. I find them gross and they just make the heat problem worse. WDW is already hot and humid, putting a wet towel on you just makes that worse. Sure, it's cool for a little, but that wears off real fast.

Some like misting fans. Try those. My feeling is same as the towels...they're gross and make things much worse.

Really, for us, it's just being mindful that it's hot outside. We do the a/c attractions during the heat of the day (this is the biggest factor), drink lots of ice water and don't rush. We find that to be more than sufficient to help avoid melting in the heat. During June/July from about 10am to 4pm, we're mostly only out of the a/c to go from attraction to attraction. Only outdoor ones we tend to do then are the water ones such as Splash (with FP+, the queue is HOT) or Kali (ditto).

 

[Heluvsme]

My son likes his misting fan, but we told him he has to carry it around, not us. Hats and sunglasses are a must! We visit the air conditioned attractions as much as possible, we do rope drop and do as much as we can until lunchtime then leave for some pool time until about dinner, then return to the parks. We love nighttime at the parks.

 

[cgattis]

I like the Mission cooling towels. They are very lightweight, not like the Chilly Pads, and they dry completely pretty quickly. They’re easy to clean, so they’re good for just wiping sweat too.

I don’t know the brand of my little fans, but they are about the size of a deck of Uno cards and have a cord to hang around your neck. Had them for years and they still work great. I don’t care for the mister fans to carry around—too big and once the water gets warm they don’t do much for me.

 

[Sara_H]

We like the spray fans (Wal-Mart or Target). We will also avoid the lines where there is no shade or A/C during the hottest part of the day (Haunted Mansion, Barnstormer, Tomorrowland Speedway). We will also freeze bottles of water and let them melt throughout the day so we have cold water and don't always need to buy more. Carousel of Progress at MK is a great way to cool down too.

 

[minijenny]

We used cooling towels for the first time two weeks ago, and I loved them. Everyone had his own towel in separate colors. Just dip in water, squeeze out and wear. Kids would wrap them around their necks, heads, or bellies for a quick cool down or walking through the sun. I liked to drape mine over my arms and shoulders and it felt wonderful and stayed cool about an hour. In addition, we constantly were filling our water bottles with ice water from CS restaurants, munching on Mickey bars and popsicles, and trying different slushy drinks around the parks- Night Blossom in Pandora and Violet Lemonade in WS near Canada were our favorites. Finally, pay attention to areas around the parks designed as cooling stations. Our kids' favorite was the fake Coca-Cola cooler which sprayed out cool mist near the drums in WS's Outpost.

 

[diswis]

The $20 fans Disney sells are obviously expensive, but they work. I'd buy some on amazon.
Also, as someone stated, there are many "cooling" stations throughout the parks.

 

[cj.scribbles]

Honestly whenever I go to the parks I walk through the gift shops as often as possible instead of taking the roads. Its cooler in there and any time away from the sun is good.

Sit down when needed and ask for water from quick service locations as often as possible. If you feel thirsty you're already a little dehydrated. I'd definitely recommend taking refillable water bottles with you and just filling up the bottle with water they'll give you when you can.

Also lots of sunscreen, sunglasses and light clothes!

 

[heidijanesmith]

I love these cooling fans: Opolar. There are several different types of handheld and table fans. They are surprisingly powerful and batter rechargeable.

I use them all the time, Florida heat and hot flashes!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Tips for staying cool in the parks?

Go in winter.

 

[bad_dylan]

Any of the small battery powered fans will work fine.

On a broader level, there are lots of ways to try to stay cool. We're big fans of WDW summer, so deal with it all the time. Suggestions:

Avoid the attractions that have outdoor queues during the heat of the day. Thinks like BTMRR and Tomorrowland Speedway come to mind. So many attractions at WDW have a/c, so those are the ones to do during the worst of the heat. Philharmagic, Dinosaur, Nemo, Muppets, Soarin', Living w/the Land, etc...

Wear light clothes.

Drink plenty of water - all the QS places offer filtered ice water for free. Use it.

Some people like cooling towels. That's a personal decision. Try them and see if you like them. I find them gross and they just make the heat problem worse. WDW is already hot and humid, putting a wet towel on you just makes that worse. Sure, it's cool for a little, but that wears off real fast.

Some like misting fans. Try those. My feeling is same as the towels...they're gross and make things much worse.

Really, for us, it's just being mindful that it's hot outside. We do the a/c attractions during the heat of the day (this is the biggest factor), drink lots of ice water and don't rush. We find that to be more than sufficient to help avoid melting in the heat. During June/July from about 10am to 4pm, we're mostly only out of the a/c to go from attraction to attraction. Only outdoor ones we tend to do then are the water ones such as Splash (with FP+, the queue is HOT) or Kali (ditto).

Thank you very much! This is a really helpful information. I am also planning to take my vacation with all my family in 2 weeks, and I think these tips will be very useful for us.

 

[Euby]

Definitely take advantage of the free ice water from the QS restaurants. We would get a couple of cups and fill our insulated travel mugs every chance we got. We even asked for a cup of ice water to go after one of our table service meals. They brought us the large sized cups! That cast member got a big thanks from us!

 

[tinkerhon]

I love these cooling fans: Opolar. There are several different types of handheld and table fans. They are surprisingly powerful and batter rechargeable.

I use them all the time, Florida heat and hot flashes!

just bought 2 from Amazon - they are amazing!

 

[tinkerhon]

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Exprenee&ref=bl_dp_s_mw_0

and these cooling towels - EXCELLENT!

(The ones on top of the page)

 

[bad_dylan]

and these cooling towels - EXCELLENT!

(The ones on top of the page)

Have you bought and used one of them? Is it really worth it? Want to try one but waiting for any reviews.

 

[tinkerhon]

Have you bought and used one of them? Is it really worth it? Want to try one but waiting for any reviews.

Yep - used them last July - worked so well ! Just purchased another 4-pack !

 

[disneyworldsk]

Definitely take advantage of the free ice water from the QS restaurants. We would get a couple of cups and fill our insulated travel mugs every chance we got. We even asked for a cup of ice water to go after one of our table service meals. They brought us the large sized cups! That cast member got a big thanks from us!

is that filtered water?

 

[Euby]

is that filtered water?

I honestly don't know if it is filtered. However, I will say that it didn't have any kind of odd taste to it (like the water fountains can have).