Disney Orlando in late August...are we crazy?

[neverbeenskiing]

We are a family of 4, me and DH + 2 DC aged 10 and 5. We have been to Orlando before but in the Easter holidays. It was crowded but that didn't spoil it for us and we all had a great time. It was hot but not unbearable and although there were a few rainstorms while we were there they usually passed fairly quickly.

We have an opportunity to go next year for 2 weeks to do Disney and Universal but for various reasons it would have to be the the last 2 weeks in August. Would we be crazy to do this? Will it be much busier than at Easter? One of my DC is disabled so we get a DAS pass which means queuing isn't really an issue just thinking about crowds generally.

My main worry is that it will be too hot and humid for it to be enjoyable. I'm not great in the heat (very fair skinned, burn easily) but DH and the kids don't seem to mind it so much. I've also read that August is hurricane season but not sure how big the risk actually is.

We would most likely stay at a Disney resort but we have also toyed with the idea of doing one week at a Disney hotel and one week at a Universal hotel.

Has anyone been towards the end of August and had a good time? Any tips and tricks for coping with the heat and humidity would also be gratefully recieved.

We were there in July last year.
My biggest tip is pay for the drinks cup then all refills are free, there are drinks stations all over universal so water is very very available.

We didn't find it too hot, it was just very humid.

I would stay at one of the universal hotels, fast passes are included and you can get into the park earlier when it's cooler. You can also have a cool off in the afternoon in the pool.

Also do Volcano cove water park.

You will get absolutely soaked on the water rides at universal, so thin cotton and don't go queue for an indoor ride straight after, you will freeze in the air con.

That's really helpful, thank you. Good to hear you didn't mind the heat too awful.

Been in July, august and last week of august/first week September. The end of august was by far the best.

Most USA schools start to go back for autumn term in mid august so the parks are much quieter, especially if you run into early September as a lot of international visitors have gone home too then.

Weather of course is mega hot and humid but we’ve always coped well enough with cooling towels, lot of water for the kids. You aren’t always outside in direct sun anyway because of queueing/being on rides etc and the air con is great.

My advice is get out early, take advantage of the mornings when it’s not as hot and parks are quieter and then go back to hotel for a rest/pool break in the afternoon when it’s really hot.

You will get some storms too at that time of year but they tend to only last an hour and to be honest, sometimes you are grateful for the rain cooling everything down.

Obviously also consider it is hurricane season, we got the tail end of the hurricane last year but it was basically one evening and one morning of bad rain and wind. Park closed early in the evening and was late to open the next day but they were absolutely empty, we went to animal kingdom and walk d on everything - even the avatar rides which can usually have a 3 hour queue!

We have done end of August. Parks are much quieter than Easter (which is THE busiest time in Orlando) as many US schools have gone back

Heat was ok - we just did lots of water rides or went back to hotel middle of day. Alternatively did pool and then went to parks after lunch so not as long a day.

Thanks all.

We tend to do early starts anyway as the DC are early risers (unfortunately!) so it sounds like that will work in our favour. Getting there early, coming back for some chill time in the afternoons and then maybe heading back into the parks in the evening if they're not too tired sounds like the way to go.

I didn't realise Easter was the busiest time to go but that explains our experience last time as it did feel very crowded! For some reason I'd assumed summer would be worse but hadn't considered US schools going back at different times so that's definitely one advantage then!

You've made me feel a lot better about it. I was worried the heat combined with the crowds would be unbearable but sounds like it won't be as busy as I feared and good to hear people have found ways to manage the temperatures.