Does the weather make or break your trip?

[tjkraz]

Please tell me I'm not the only one that obsesses over the weather!!! I've been checking the 14-day forecast at accuweather.com for almost a week now. My mood at any point in time can usually be traced back to whether our forecast looked good or bad at last check. ;)

We had one trip that was practically ruined by rain. A mid-December trip will always be labeled "mediocre" largely because our temps for 6 of 7 days maxed-out in the mid-60s. (Oh, and the week before we arrived it hit 80 most days. :mad: )

Does anyone else feel that their trip's success largely hinges on getting whatever weather conditions you consider to be "acceptable"?

[Leftcoaster]

Yeah, it does kinda make the trip for me. I am a weather wimp. I don't like cold, and I don't like rain. I want beautiful sunny skies when I'm looking out across World Showcase lagoon.

[athenna]

Well, it doesn't make or break the trip for me, but the closer it gets to trip time, I do get obsessed watching the forcasts. So any day now, I can start getting weather obsessed. I (as everyone else) would prefer it be warm there, 80 degrees every day would be good for me, cause I am always cold. I have like no blood whatsoever:hahahaha:
So I voted other cause I can still have a great vaca even if the weather isn't so great.

[Stimpy]

After having to buy a new wardrobe for myself and DS once b/c the temps were in the 30's....yes 30's, that is not a misprint. (It was in the 60's our first day and then dropped to one of the coldest, iciest cold spell Orlando has had) I do obsess about checking the weather beforehand so I know how to pack.

But, on the flip side, after being there during ice, actual snow falling on a different trip (ok it didn't stick but it was bizarre seeing snow falling in Orlando!), several hurricanes, torrential downpours, we've learned to make the best of it! We're still in Disney and that's what we go for :)

[jdvm]

You've asked a REALLY good question. Of course it's disappointing when the weather's not great. We've been to Old Key West with the whole family an average of six weeks per year since 1992 and my wife and I have made numerous long weekend trips. We've seen about every type of weather, too. Hurricane Charlie was awesome but scary. I can't tell you how many sweatshirts we've bought when it has suddenly turned cold.

But you really have to learn to step back and think...this isn't my only trip here; how can I enjoy my "second home" under the current circumstances. It's difficult but if you can get the mindset that a trip to WDW doesn't HAVE to include Typhoon Lagoon, you can begin to look at your DVC membership differently. For example, we were so excited to discover Winter Park and the fabulous Morse museum (fabulous, that is, if you like Tiffany glass) on a day we would have gone to a water park. What could have been a disappointing day turned into a day of discovering new things. A completely agendaless day of sleeping in and wandering out of the room at lunch time can be soooooo relaxing. It takes a while to get comfortable with this, but this is not a wasted day because you weren't up at the crack of dawn racing to catch the first bus to the magic Kingdom.......

[nono]

Tim,

Yes. :brrrrrr: Not fun.

New rule for us: NO standard BWV view in the winter. Too cold on balcony in late afternoon as the sun hasn't been there all day! :sunny: Give me :sunny: !

[withdisneyspirit]

I asked DH this question and he said that adaptation is the key. Our last trip was Dec 2005 and we had some pretty cold weather down there and a couple of pretty rainy days to boot. We would have traded in the cold for warmer weather of course, but we had a wonderful trip, regardless. I don't look back on the trip and remember cold and rain. I remember the great highlights and fun of the trip.

Now that is not to say that we don't obsess about the weather beforehand. DH flies a small plane for a living and he is an expert on the weather. We watch the Weather Channel like a sport around our house:rolleyes:

[PoohsPal]

I voted yes, although one of my most magical moments was on the trip with the worst weather. The only thing that really gets me is cold and rain, but then the parks tend to eb empty. ;) :dust for good weather so you don't have to worry.

[pouncingpluto]

Weather doesn't matter much to me. Rain just means the parks get less crowded. Now, our wedding trip was an exception; I wasn't just obsessed, I was STRESSED about it. But everything turned out perfectly!

[KNWVIKING]

I'll be in shorts and tank top till the temp drops to 50 F. Below that I put on a t-shirt. DW on the other hand only has about 2 pints of blood in her system. She drives with the heated seats on in August.

While I don't believe the weather "makes" the trip, it definitely enhances it. And while it also won't "break" the trip, it will definitely put a damper on it.

We have PAP's. The weather will dictate if we get full value from them. Poor weather will knock out trips to the water parks. Poor weather also causes Disney Quest to reach max capacity before it opens.

I'm driving out of Jersey expecting better weather in Florida. If the weather is good, it becomes an almost overlooked benifit. But if it is bad, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

[Rozzie]

I'm with nono and the others on this one. Nono and I exchanged PMs daily, sometimes 3-4x daily 2 weeks before our trip, as that is how much accuweather changed their mind on the weather.

Before this trip, I would say no, but I have to tell ya', being freezing cold trying to wait for my beloved wishes was not good times. And I missed my pool time. Didn't think being cold would affect me as much as it did.

Now rain in the warmer months don't bother me as much, DH and I suit up like we are going shrimping and hit all the empty rides. And sometimes the rain causes us to have a resort day, which we have always enjoyed.

oh, and the bitter cold wind this last trip? DH got some great shots of World Showcase Lagoon with huge white caps. That was a first for us!!!

But we really did have a great trip, it takes a lot more than weather to spoil our trip. :thumbsup:

I am sure Tim your trip will be great, just take a little bit of everything in that suitcase. ;)

[SueOKW]

I can take rainy days - - as long as I can get in one or two pool days I'm fine. therefore it HAS to be at least 75 degrees and partly sunny one day ... i went one time at the end of February and it was the coldest week on record... it ruined the trip.

no more february for me!

[Disneymooners93]

The weather is usually better at Disney than where I am coming from when we go, but I've never really had bad weather on any of my Disney trips. One time for a last day at Disneyland it was pouring rain. We were there for just the morning and we had a blast. It was busy for the rest of the trip but crowds were so small we were able to maximize the last couple of hours.

One thing I don't do well with though, is HEAT. I may change my vote once we do a summer trip because of school schedules.

[AFMom]

I'll take cold and rain over the FL summer heat anyday! Love rain at the parks as they EMPTY! One of our best days at DL in CA was a pouring rain day. My family just hates the muggy heat, though - so we just aren't planning on ever going from June to Sept!

[kathyseb]

We hope for lousy weather once a trip so we can justify a shopping day:ROTFL: :ROTFL: :ROTFL:

When we go in November, we pack for all kinds of weather. That way we are preapred. One November we saw it drop from mid 80s to low 30s overnight. People were still running around in tee shirts. Not us.

Although when we hit the parks running the Sunday after Thanksgiving we normally are in tee shirts. CM are constantly saying "Oh you must be from up North."
I guess since it is warmer than back home, we are happy.

Weather make orbreak a trip for us? No way. We are at Disney. It can't get any better than that.:cheerlead :cheerlead

[Leftcoaster]

Before this trip, I would say no, but I have to tell ya', being freezing cold trying to wait for my beloved wishes was not good times. And I missed my pool time. Didn't think being cold would affect me as much as it did.




I can relate to that. One trip, I packed some cold weather cltohes since it was nice in the day and cool at night. Well, my first day there, they had a cold snap and the high temperature was 50 degrees and this was the end of February. By the time Illuminations came around (afterall, I MUST see Illuminations my first night) it was around 40 and you had the bitter cold wind whipping of World Showcase Lagoon. :brrrrrr:

[Colorado Belle]

In my commando days, a cold or rainy day meant less crowds...so it was a decent trade off. But that is for doing the parks only. If you are a playnpool person...ya gotta have sun and warmth and a margarita no?

And a night, my fav time in the parks, when it gets to be so cold ya need gloves to watch Fantasmic or Wishes....well, it's not supposed to be like that. Of course, the answer is to visit between March and October then.

I've been twice in Nov or Dec recently. Both times I had about half warm days and half cold or rainy. I didn't use the pools at all. But I loved seeing the Xmas Decs, so it was a trade off.

I usually have good weather on my vacations. When I do a beach trip...well, yes, then the sun is mandatory. So I tend to look at a trip to the world as 'nice, but not necessary' re sunshine. Though I admit that my May trip will involve looking at the weather info with trepidation!

[DSNY FN]

NO the weather has no real bearing on our trip I mean we spend most of the time at indoor attractions so if it is cold or rainey you just get wet or chilly walking to and from the attractions. The only thing that bothers me is extreme heat and humidity that is why we go in Dec May was way to hot so I could only imagine what June July and Aug would be like.

[idratherbeinwdw]

I am with DsnyFn and AFMom on this one. Cold and wet is alright, but hot and humid is not. Much though it kills me to wait, I won't go to WDW after the first week of May until the first week of October.
I can deal with WDW being colder than average. When I go in January I pack long johns and gloves just in case. It doesn't bother me to tour in the cold as long as I am warm. I agree with KathySeb: be prepared if you're touring during times of the year that it can get cold. I prefer it to be warmer, but if it's not it doesn't make or break the trip. I'd prefer no rain, but again it won't make a dramatic difference to how I felt about the trip. Put on a poncho and off I go. As has already been pointed out, cold and wet does usually equal lower crowd levels. Oh, and I am not a pool person, unless you include drinking roller coaster meltdowns at Leaping Libations, the BWV pool bar, so if it's not pool weather I don't care at all. Just gimme my jacuzzi and I'm happy.

However I WILT in that Florida sun once the temps go past the low 80's and I am totally miserable anywhere other than inside where there is A/C. I don't even want to stand out in that maddening heat for 2 minutes. I can't stand the feeling when I walk out and it feels like you are entering a furnace, it's just not touring weather for me. It makes me tired, miserable and cranky when it's humid and the sun is BEATING down on me. Plus during the warmest months, with the exception of the end of September, the crowds are some of the worst. Being in a crowd when I am hot, cranky, tried and miserable is not my idea of fun.

BTW Tim, that accuweather stuff will make you crazy. 14 days out is virtually impossible to predict accurately. Although I am totally guilty of doing exactly what you're doing, if you can try to ignore it until about 3 days ahead, you'll save yourself a lot of grief. Easier said than done, I know! Good luck, I hope you get great weather!

[jaysue]

Always good to have nice weather but we are prepared to go out and have fun regardless of the weather (within reason) and in fact when in the weather is less than stellar the crowds are down too which makes for faster touring and shorter lineups

cheers
jaysue

P.S. we have been known to go swimming with the temps in the 40's :brrrrrr:

[DSNY FN]

Always good to have nice weather but we are prepared to go out and have fun regardless of the weather (within reason) and in fact when in the weather is less than stellar the crowds are down too which makes for faster touring and shorter lineups

cheers
jaysue

P.S. we have been known to go swimming with the temps in the 40's :brrrrrr:


We would also but we have never really had anything below mid 50's adn that was at about 10:30 at night. We still all hopped into the pool though LOL.

[mamaprincess]

I'm with you on the weather. We had a day at MGM last trip where it just rained and rained and it was just not a good day. It definitely put a damper on things (no pun intended).

We're going March 19th this year and I really hope the weather is excellent. I understand that March is a low rain month and has nice, warm weather but not to hot.

Our first trip was in june and was suffocatingly hot but I still look back on it as a wonderful trip. I love sun. Don't like cold and can't stand rain.

[tjkraz]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Nice to know I'm not completely alone in my phobia. With us only getting to WDW once or twice per year, it sure does help to have nice weather, too. We try to avoid the extremely warm periods, but all things considered, I'll take the heat over cold anyday.

As I look back on our recent trips, the one thing that really stands-out is consistency over our 6-7 days in Florida. Most of our trips have featured really great weather. But the two I mentioned in my original post were real dogs...to the point that we never seemed to get any relief.

In the "rainy" trip, it rained on 4 or 5 of our 6 days. And I'm not talking about a little downpour. Each time it started raining mid-afternoon and continued into the night.

In the cold December trip, it was under 70 for 6 of our 7 days. 70 is pretty much my minimum for doing any swimming. We did hit the pool the warmest day of that trip, and I still remember my daughter's teeth chattering uncontrollably whenever she was out of the water.

Right now things aren't looking too good for our upcoming trip. I'd love to get 2 or 3 days in the 70s. That makes the cold days a little more palatable. Here's hoping... :worship:

[AFMom]

Ya know - I do say weather isn't important to us - but that didn't include the trip we had to postpone for a hurricane..... so I guess that weather did break our trip!

[carolina_yankee]

I voted "Yes" becuase I get real grumpy in the rain. I can take the heat, and the cold - but wet puts a damper on everything (no pun intended - :) )

Having said that, I can usually handle the obligatory 4 pm thundershower.

Dirk

[Leftcoaster]

I voted "Yes" becuase I get real grumpy in the rain. I can take the heat, and the cold - but wet puts a damper on everything (no pun intended - :) )

Having said that, I can usually handle the obligatory 4 pm thundershower.

Dirk


I can agree with that. If it's cold out, it better darn well be sunny as heck so I can take some great pictures.

[ghost1000]

First, let me state that we don't visit WDW in the summer--it's too hot. But other than that, the weather isn't really important.

Yes, I check the temperatures before traveling, just so we know what to pack. But I've been rained on plenty of times. And it was cold during my December 2004 trip to WDW. But it's all part of the vacation experience for me. And rain tends to keep the crowd levels in the park small.

We were in Disneyland for New Year's Eve and it rained just about the entire day. About 2:00 the crowds started to leave the park in droves. We were booked for a 2:30 tour, so hung in there. In spite of the rain, it was a lot of fun. After all, a bad day at Disney is better than a good day at work :jumpingbe

[matysgranma]

I am with DsnyFn and AFMom on this one. Cold and wet is alright, but hot and humid is not. Much though it kills me to wait, I won't go to WDW after the first week of May until the first week of October.
I can deal with WDW being colder than average. When I go in January I pack long johns and gloves just in case. It doesn't bother me to tour in the cold as long as I am warm. I agree with KathySeb: be prepared if you're touring during times of the year that it can get cold. I prefer it to be warmer, but if it's not it doesn't make or break the trip. I'd prefer no rain, but again it won't make a dramatic difference to how I felt about the trip. Put on a poncho and off I go. As has already been pointed out, cold and wet does usually equal lower crowd levels. Oh, and I am not a pool person, unless you include drinking roller coaster meltdowns at Leaping Libations, the BWV pool bar, so if it's not pool weather I don't care at all. Just gimme my jacuzzi and I'm happy.

However I WILT in that Florida sun once the temps go past the low 80's and I am totally miserable anywhere other than inside where there is A/C. I don't even want to stand out in that maddening heat for 2 minutes. I can't stand the feeling when I walk out and it feels like you are entering a furnace, it's just not touring weather for me. It makes me tired, miserable and cranky when it's humid and the sun is BEATING down on me. Plus during the warmest months, with the exception of the end of September, the crowds are some of the worst. Being in a crowd when I am hot, cranky, tried and miserable is not my idea of fun.

BTW Tim, that accuweather stuff will make you crazy. 14 days out is virtually impossible to predict accurately. Although I am totally guilty of doing exactly what you're doing, if you can try to ignore it until about 3 days ahead, you'll save yourself a lot of grief. Easier said than done, I know! Good luck, I hope you get great weather!
Mar!
I coud not have said it better! I can take cold (40 to 50 degrees in winter is like a heatwave to me), but, boy, I just can't take the heat. Easiest way to remedy is just don't do WDW in June, July, August. There's enough months left for me to get my disney fix!
Pam