It’s too hot during summer in central Florida to spend the day at a Disney World theme park. It also storms a lot there during the wet season that usually starts in May and lasts through sometime in October. Yes, that’s when school is out for most kids, but dems da berries. But only if you’re an incurable morning person 🙂
You can count on plenty of people, especially morning people, getting up and at ’em and hitting the parks first thing.
Wake up late morning, have a late breakfast or just start with lunch, and do it poolside if you’re staying at a resort that has one. The pool probably won’t be as crowded then, because everyone is sweating their puh-tooties off at the Magic Kingdom in the 100-minute line for Peter Pan’s Flight. They’ll all hit the pools later in the day.
The other benefit to this approach? The theme parks are absolutely gorgeous at night. Yes, during the summer the parks can still be crowded in the evenings, but it’s much easier tolerate at lower temperatures and in the natural shade provided by the earth after sunset.
If you’ve done well at sleeping in, this is where it really gets fun: very late at night, lots of folks literally collapse in the bus lines into puddles of melted cotton candy and sweat. You will smartly be refreshed and enjoying the late evening. The crowds really thin out during and especially after the last parades and fireworks.
“Wishes” is a very special fireworks show. Introduced in 19xx, it has been performed nearly xxxxx times. I’ve probably seen it 50 times and I never get tired of it. It’s been especially fun to see how my son’s reactions to the show have changed over the years. When he was an 18-month-old toddler, the explosions made him laugh ticklishly, almost sounding like Donald Duck. Now, my third-grader sings angelically along with the chorus and melts my heart.
But I digress… back to the rides.
Stay at a Disney resort if you can. Plan your later nights when extra magic hours.
More recently, Disney began offering very late Magic Kingdom park hours for everyone, even going so far as to remain open for 24 straight hours on May xx. I miscalculated on that one, however. Thanks to extra promotion by Disney, and perhaps bolstered by a social media frenzy (e.g., Twitter hashtag #disney24), the park was packed, daytime style, well past midnight. The very next night, however, the masses had blown their nighttime theme park wad and we were back to ruling the ride roost into the wee hours.
One does have to pay the piper a bit when this version of the Disney summer vacation is over, however. Switching back to a “normal” schedule once you get home, that doesn’t involve waking up around noon, takes a little effort, especially if you do it while school is still in or other morning activities await upon your return. We switched our sleeping schedules back relatively easily, though, because we were so spent from nearly a week at Disney that we were able to hit the hay at a reasonable hour the first night home. And don’t travel home the very day before school and work resume. Give yourself at least one padding day at home to upack, go to the grocery store, and switch your sleeping schedules.