July 2019

Greg36

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 30, 2017
We are a family of four that have almost always tended to go to Disney annually in the fall. We went once in May for two weeks and we found it hot, but still had a great time. We have a trip coming up for Oct 2018 but are both thinking this will be it for taking the kids out of school. As well, missing the opening of Star Wars is on our minds (we had originally planned to go Dec 2019 for our 2019 annual trip)... Looking at everything, we are feeling like July 2019 may be our best window for our trip. I have been reading a lot and it sounds like it is going to be very wet, humid, and maybe (depending on what you read) busy... We are from Canada and although we currently live in a pretty moderate climate we do enjoy travelling to warmer climates in summer ... Having said that, we have never visited a place with average 40+ degree humidity... For those who have been, how did you find it travelling to Disney this time of year? Any tips/suggestions? Thanks, Greg
 
July is HOT in Florida. It's also brutally humid most of the time, except after the usual afternoon thunderstorm.

Coming from a similar moderate climate (the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania), I would suggest you start your day at rope drop, plan on leaving the park for the hotel to get in some afternoon swimming, and then return to the park in the evening. Trying to walk around the crowded park in the afternoon, with the high heat, high humidity, and the sun beating down on you will quickly tire you out.
 
For those who have been, how did you find it travelling to Disney this time of year? Any tips/suggestions? Thanks, Greg

Hi Greg36! Well, I live here in central FL, very close to WDW and I can tell you that July's heat is HOT. Like REALLY hot and humid. My a/c units run non-stop and still can't keep the house as cool as I prefer in the hot hours of the day. You need to know that it will be hotter than your May trip. Possibly a good deal hotter and more humid.

That said, my kids and I used to come in early summer every year before moving here. I look back now and wonder how we did it, but we did. And we had a blast! My advice if you DO book July next year:

-Come prepared with breathable clothing, and possibly clothing with SPF built in.

-Bring comfy shoes you don't mind getting wet. And btw, though it's soggy, the parks will often clear a bit with the rain, so wear clothing that quick dries, bring an umbrella and enjoy the parks while it rains! :-)

-STAY HYDRATED! Cannot overemphasize this!

-WEAR SUNSCREEN!!! And reapply throughout the day.

-Get into the parks at rope drop and do the "big" rides as quickly and efficiently as possible. When it starts to get crowded AND hot (these things happen pretty close to the same time), have a bite at a sit down restaurant about that time or LEAVE the parks and go back to your hotel for a swim, lunch and a nap. Then in late afternoon/early evening, when the heat is ebbing a bit, go back into the parks and stay until as late as you like.

Good thing about summer? Late park hours and fireworks every night! And oh, how GOOD those hotel pools look!!! :D
 
uly is HOT in Florida. It's also brutally humid most of the time, except after the usual afternoon thunderstorm.

Coming from a similar moderate climate (the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania), I would suggest you start your day at rope drop, plan on leaving the park for the hotel to get in some afternoon swimming, and then return to the park in the evening. Trying to walk around the crowded park in the afternoon, with the high heat, high humidity, and the sun beating down on you will quickly tire you out.

LOL!!! It just took me way longer to say that and a bit more, CraigInPA! :rotfl2:
 


We are a family of four that have almost always tended to go to Disney annually in the fall. We went once in May for two weeks and we found it hot, but still had a great time. We have a trip coming up for Oct 2018 but are both thinking this will be it for taking the kids out of school. As well, missing the opening of Star Wars is on our minds (we had originally planned to go Dec 2019 for our 2019 annual trip)... Looking at everything, we are feeling like July 2019 may be our best window for our trip. I have been reading a lot and it sounds like it is going to be very wet, humid, and maybe (depending on what you read) busy... We are from Canada and although we currently live in a pretty moderate climate we do enjoy travelling to warmer climates in summer ... Having said that, we have never visited a place with average 40+ degree humidity... For those who have been, how did you find it travelling to Disney this time of year? Any tips/suggestions? Thanks, Greg
Exhaustingly hot and oppressively humid. My brother was just there for 4th of July week. There was a daily downpour that lasted a solid 30 minutes or more. They got caught by surprise in one as they entered AK and had to literally wring out their clothing in a rest room. I have not gone to Disney in July in years because of the climate.

As for crowds, I don't think that there is a slow time at Disney anymore. It really goes from really crowded to "I can't move an inch" crowds where you get to know the person next to you in a way that you would never normally permit a stranger to touch you. My brother did say that Epcot was a ghost town after one gully washer and the standby lines were manageable for the headliners. And the parks are open later in the summer, so if you do rope drop, head back to the villa to escape the heat, and then head back out to a park for the evening then it's not as bad as I make it sound.
 
Yes, it will be hot and humid. No getting around that. I consider myself and my family veterans, and would say you have to learn to pace yourself, though that might be easier said than done! I'm attaching a very recent thread with some comments regarding this July (including my own 2 cents). You will see a number of comments/observations regarding crowds, as well as comments regarding the weather. There are certainly other factors that could impact a trip next July such as the progress of on-going construction, etc, but I really think that July may be the new "low" season. Hope this helps you and enjoy your October visit! https://www.disboards.com/threads/is-july-as-crowded-as-it-gets.3693811/
 


We’ve done three trips in the past several years. Once in August for 6 nights, once in October for 3 and one in April for 3.

The summer is hot and humid, but I actually enjoyed it more than both other trips for a few reasons.

- We got to enjoy the pools much more
- When it rains, people tend to leave the parks and lines get shorter
- Crowds weren’t as bad as food and wine or race weekend
- Ice cream
- For some reason, I feel much more like I’m on “vacation” when it’s really hot. There’s just something about it...
 
In July, it is typically in the 90's and very humid. If you live in the north, you can get some days in 90's and humid. A major difference in Orlando is what it is like for a 24-hour period. Unlike in the north, where it can be in the 90's but only for about five hours of the day, the temperature hits the 90s in Orlando by 9 a.m. and stays there until 8 p.m. Moreover, the nightly and early morning humidity and temperatures are also still very high. You literally can sweat standing still outside at midnight. You also can get daily thunderstorms, but that often means a 30 minute storm followed by about four hours of sunshine before another one (it is somewhat fascinating to watch a heavy thunderstorm drop a huge amount of rain in a short period and then within an hour after it is over everything looks dry again). You have done May and October before and had hot weather but what you likely did not have were the stifling overnights.

Park crowds are larger than you get in May or October (and July 4 time is extreme), making fastpasses a necessity for many rides. Parks are still doable because even with the heat, you get to go inside and cool off a lot, including for majority of rides and attractions. Sunscreen should be considered a necessity, particularly for any kids. Recommend highly that you bring bottles of water with you to the park because lines at the kiosks that sell water can often be quite long in the parks. Park hours are usually long and you can often find some usually crowded rides with reduced lines during parades and during late afternoon to early evening when many have left and before the surge of the evening crowd.

From a DVC reservation viewpoint, July 7 to 31 can be considered ideal as it is the second lowest DVC demand time of the year at WDW (Feb 1 to the Thursday before Presidents' Day is first). Not likely to get AKV value or club level, BLT standard, BWV standard or boardwalk view (except 1BRs), CCV studios with showers (and resulting 2BR lock-offs), or VGF studios at 7 months out, and BCV is a 50/50 chance, but other things are usually open.
 
I live a mile and a half from the Gulf of Mexico in SW FL. I either stay in my house, use my pool or go to the beach (and sit under an umbrella hoping for a breeze). Going anywhere else is awful.
 
Agreed! July is very hot/humid. The older I get the more I like/love AC! We now go to WDW in early May and Late September. Still hot, but not
AS hot as July/August in Central Fla...
 
July is HOT in Florida. It's also brutally humid most of the time, except after the usual afternoon thunderstorm.

Coming from a similar moderate climate (the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania), I would suggest you start your day at rope drop, plan on leaving the park for the hotel to get in some afternoon swimming, and then return to the park in the evening. Trying to walk around the crowded park in the afternoon, with the high heat, high humidity, and the sun beating down on you will quickly tire you out.

Hi Greg36! Well, I live here in central FL, very close to WDW and I can tell you that July's heat is HOT. Like REALLY hot and humid. My a/c units run non-stop and still can't keep the house as cool as I prefer in the hot hours of the day. You need to know that it will be hotter than your May trip. Possibly a good deal hotter and more humid.

That said, my kids and I used to come in early summer every year before moving here. I look back now and wonder how we did it, but we did. And we had a blast! My advice if you DO book July next year:

-Come prepared with breathable clothing, and possibly clothing with SPF built in.

-Bring comfy shoes you don't mind getting wet. And btw, though it's soggy, the parks will often clear a bit with the rain, so wear clothing that quick dries, bring an umbrella and enjoy the parks while it rains! :-)

-STAY HYDRATED! Cannot overemphasize this!

-WEAR SUNSCREEN!!! And reapply throughout the day.

-Get into the parks at rope drop and do the "big" rides as quickly and efficiently as possible. When it starts to get crowded AND hot (these things happen pretty close to the same time), have a bite at a sit down restaurant about that time or LEAVE the parks and go back to your hotel for a swim, lunch and a nap. Then in late afternoon/early evening, when the heat is ebbing a bit, go back into the parks and stay until as late as you like.

Good thing about summer? Late park hours and fireworks every night! And oh, how GOOD those hotel pools look!!! :D

^^^ YES. We have been once in June and a few times in August. As a child, we always went in August around my birthday as well. The midday break is essential. Last August (late August), we had some 40+ (Celsius) days followed by torrential rains in the late afternoon/evening. Know that some rides will shut down during thunder (7DMT for example), and the pools as well. This last time we had our 2 young kids with us - we'd be up early (my kids never sleep), at the parks for rope drop, and doing our FP and having lunch or leaving the park by 11am - noon. Then we'd have lunch, have a nap in the blessed AC, and if it wasn't thunderstorming by then, go to the pool for a while before then going to dinner and then a few rides or attractions in the evening. The nice thing, at least about August, is that the parks aren't very crowded, so there are short/minimal waits for many attractions so you can go from air conditioned attraction to air conditioned attraction, occasionally stopping in a store to cool off if you're crossing the park, lol. As a result, we mostly avoided the super hot times.

Preparing for rain: Bring ponchos! The Disney ponchos are sturdy and they will replace them if torn. Also, if you have a stroller, put a raincover on it if you are leaving it for more than a few minutes, even if the sky looks clear. We had a dinner at Akershus where, when we went in, the sky was pretty clear. Near the end of dinner we got a torrential downpour with little time to prepare - and the stroller had 2" of water in the basket underneath! We had to turn the city mini double stroller upside down to get the water out of it. Which brings me to footwear: Sandals that don't care about water are the only way to go. I prefer Olukai flip flops, my husband likes Tevas, and my kids wear Merrell water shoes. I don't even bring sneakers and socks when traveling in the summer. If you've got waterproof sandals or water shoes on, and a poncho, a downpour isn't going to bother you (much). And it will cool things off a bit.

Until recently, I had *only* gone to WDW in the summertime, so it was all I knew. Expecting and preparing for rain, and taking a midday break were key.
 

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