Rainy Days at Walt Disney World

You’re all geared up and ready for a great day at the Orlando theme parks, until you turn on the news and get the weather report. Unfortunately, the forecast calls for rain and your plans seem to be washing away with it. Don’t fret; even rainy days at Walt Disney World can be great days for touring through Walt Disney World.

Here are some tips for surviving those showery days:

Rain means smaller crowds

On rainy days most guests decide to forgo visiting the theme parks entirely. This means that the attractions have much shorter wait. In fact, sometimes you practically feel you have the park to yourself.

Avoid Disney Springs

Because many guests stay away from Orlando attractions on rainy days, Disney Springs tends to attract big crowds. Disney Springs is an outdoor shopping complex, so this will not help you avoid the rain. Also parking is limited here, so the extra crowds can make finding a parking spot impossible. All together it is not recommendable to visit Disney Springs on rainy days, instead visit Epcot on your shopping day.

The theme parks are designed for rain

Disney Imagineers certainly had the frequent showers of Florida in mind when they built the Orlando theme parks at Disney World. Most of the lines for the rides are covered and the majority of the rides are indoors. Nearly all of the restaurants are sheltered or indoors as well.

Only these few attractions are CLOSED during rain or lightning:

Magic Kingdom

Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, Liberty Belle Riverboat, Astro Orbiter and Swiss Family Treehouse.

Disney Hollywood Studios

Lights! Motors! Action! and Fantasmic are cancelled during rain.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is not recommended for rainy day traveling due to most of the animal habitats being outdoors.

Epcot

Only Test Track closes due to rain.

Bring ponchos

It’s always a good idea to bring ponchos or rain gear just in case of a sudden shower. Even if it doesn’t rain it’s helpful to have for the wet theme park rides like Kali River Rapids at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom.

Have a nice long meal

Rainy days are great days for enjoying a leisurely meal at the full service restaurants at the theme parks or Orlando hotels. For an entertaining dining experience, visit Rainforest Café at Disney’s Animal Kingdom or Disney Springs, Sci-Fi Dine Inn Theater and 50’s Primetime Café at Disney-MGM Studios, or any of the character meals at the Disney hotels.

Have a rain plan

Florida showers can strike at a moment, so it’s always good to have an idea of an indoor ride nearby that you can get to quickly if a downpour occurs.

Attractions you can ride multiple times while waiting for the sky to clear up:

Magic Kingdom

Pirates of the Caribbean
Mickey’s Philharmagic
Haunted Mansion (must walk outside to re-enter)

Epcot

The Land Pavilion (Soarin’, Circle of Life and Living with the Land)
The Seas with Nemo and Friends
Gran Fiesta Tour featuring the Three Caballeros

Disney-Hollywood Studios

Art of Disney Animation (multiple exhibits)

Find the characters indoors

Disney characters don’t like getting wet anymore than you do. If you’re looking for your favorite Disney friends, you might have to seek them out indoors. You can always find Mickey in his house and various characters inside the Toontown County Bounty at the Magic Kingdom. You’ll also find characters at Character Connection between Club Cool and Innoventions at Epcot.

Wait 30-45 minutes

Florida is a tropical environment, so it’s common to get sudden showers during the summer. These showers usually last about 30-45 minutes but can be rather impressive. Quite often, guests in the theme parks panic and quickly leave the theme parks instead of simply waiting out the short shower. If you find yourself caught in the middle of an afternoon downpour, give it at least a half hour before abandoning the theme park.