# Rain at WDW



## Caligirlfrtx (Apr 6, 2019)

Can anyone tell me what happens if there are thunderstorms on our park day at Disney. Do they give rain checks or anything?


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## Pedro (Apr 6, 2019)

Although rain can last all day, thunderstorms usually last 30’ or so, although you can have several thunderstorm cells one after another.  Disney does not give rain checks.  Every time we have encountered a thunderstorm, we just wait it out indoors in a safe place.


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## AnnieBets (Apr 6, 2019)

If you can stand to be out in the rain, the parks clear out so shorter lines. Roller coasters won’t run if lightning within 5 miles though. Also outdoor concert was cancelled in the middle because of thunder and lightning. They may not do the nighttime fireworks - think that is due more to wind levels as I’ve seen them in the rain. A lot of afternoon storms that end quickly so stay and enjoy parks.


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## AnnieBets (Apr 6, 2019)

Get ponchos from Walmart etc as current ones at Disney parks are junk. Also can use ponchos on water rides. I take ziplock bags to put wet ones in and reuse mine. A lot of people toss them after using. Just hang up in bathroom to dry when back to condo. Also use ziplock for phone on water rides.


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## DaveNV (Apr 6, 2019)

One of the best days I ever had at Disney was a day at Epcot about ten years ago.  It was POURING.  Umbrellas at hand, my friends and I enjoyed our way through things, with fewer crowds, and a lot less hassle.  By late afternoon the rain subsided, and the nighttime fireworks were spectacular.  I don't remember seeing anything about rainchecks. 

Dave


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## mdurette (Apr 6, 2019)

To answer your question - nope, never seen them give you a rain check.   It's Florida - thunderstorms can be a daily occurrence during some seasons. 


Rain is great - clears out the crowds!!!  

We got caught in a downpour at epcot a few weeks back.    We pulled aside, grabbed our rain gear and kept on going.  BUT...we should have stayed put during the 20 minute downpour because our sneakers got soaked while walking around in it.

If your concern is about lightening.   There are thousands of lightening poles throughout Disney.    All those little "sticks" you see on top of every building are them.


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## Pedro (Apr 6, 2019)

Now, the best day to go to the parks is the day before a hurricane is supposed to hit.  Back in ‘06 when we had 3 hurricanes 2 weeks apart form each other, we evacuated to Orlando and hit the parks the day before the expected arrival of the hurricane while the parks  were still open. There must have been 500 people in the park and all the tourists where already gone.  I remember riding Splash Mountain 3 times in a row, without even having to get out of the car.  The kids had some much fun that the next year they were asking if we knew when the next hurricane was supposed to hit (they were too little to understand the bad side of hurricanes).


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## Dean (Apr 8, 2019)

Caligirlfrtx said:


> Can anyone tell me what happens if there are thunderstorms on our park day at Disney. Do they give rain checks or anything?


As noted, no rain checks unless they closed the entire park.  I alway take cheap disposable poncho's if there's a forecast of possible rain.  There's always something to do and if it rains, the parks tends to be less crowded.  Just have a plan of how to proceed rain or otherwise.


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## moonstone (Apr 8, 2019)

We set out for our last WDW visit on a cloudy day. The crowds were non-existent (it was near the end of Oct. '14). Just as we were walking up to a restaurant for lunch the clouds opened up! We could hear the pelting rain and thunder over all the noise in the restaurant and figured we would just don our raingear for the afternoon. By the time we walked out of the restaurant we were greeted with sunshine which continued for the rest of the day. The WDW staff did a great job of drying all the seats of the rides we did in the afternoon.


~Diane


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## HudsHut (Apr 8, 2019)

In the Target sports/camping section, they have some superthin Coleman ponchos for $1.60 or so. We bought them for our last trip to WDW. Currently out of stock online, but this is the link:
https://www.target.com/p/coleman-174-emergency-poncho/-/A-12805274

If you want better quality, I happened to notice at Century21 (C21) in NYC last week, that they had Totes ponchos w/storage bag, retail $12 for $6. They were substantial.
Here is a link for Kohl's for the same one:
https://www.kohls.com/product/prd-3...packable-rain-poncho.jsp?color=Yellow&prdPV=2


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## ljmiii (Apr 8, 2019)

You can also buy the WDW ponchos which last 'forever' - they will swap you for new ones free of charge.


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## RNCollins (May 5, 2019)

AnnieBets said:


> Get ponchos from Walmart etc as current ones at Disney parks are junk. Also can use ponchos on water rides. I take ziplock bags to put wet ones in and reuse mine. A lot of people toss them after using. Just hang up in bathroom to dry when back to condo. Also use ziplock for phone on water rides.



Ponchos for the whole family:


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## djohn06 (May 5, 2019)

DaveNW said:


> One of the best days I ever had at Disney was a day at Epcot about ten years ago.  It was POURING.  Umbrellas at hand, my friends and I enjoyed our way through things, with fewer crowds, and a lot less hassle.  By late afternoon the rain subsided, and the nighttime fireworks were spectacular.  I don't remember seeing anything about rainchecks.
> 
> Dave



Same here.

On my daughter's 7th bday we had a tropical depression at WDW in June.  I was afraid of going with all the rain, and then a local told me that was the best day to go.  For 5 hours it was 15-20 mins of rain followed by 30-40 mins of no rain.  

Park was very slow and we waited maybe 15 mins tops that morning on every attraction.


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## jlp879 (May 5, 2019)

ljmiii said:


> You can also buy the WDW ponchos which last 'forever' - they will swap you for new ones free of charge.



Really?  I had no idea of this.  You give them wet or ripped ponchos and they just hand you a new one.  No questions asked?


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## ljmiii (May 5, 2019)

jlp879 said:


> Really?  I had no idea of this.  You give them wet or ripped ponchos and they just hand you a new one.  No questions asked?


I don't know about 'wet' but 'ripped' absolutely.


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## Luanne (May 5, 2019)

ljmiii said:


> You can also buy the WDW ponchos which last 'forever' - they will swap you for new ones free of charge.


We bought ponchos years ago at Disneyland when we got caught in the rain.  I don't think they were the kind you could swap out, but they lasted a long time.  We used to take them camping, and on other trips as a "just in case".


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## mrsFIT (May 10, 2019)

ljmiii said:


> You can also buy the WDW ponchos which last 'forever' - they will swap you for new ones free of charge.



On the contrary, we had the opposite experience a couple years ago at Epcot.  We purchased ponchos and one of them ripped within a couple hours.  They asked for a receipt before they would exchange it for us.  Maybe things have changed since then?


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## ljmiii (May 10, 2019)

mrsFIT said:


> On the contrary, we had the opposite experience a couple years ago at Epcot.  We purchased ponchos and one of them ripped within a couple hours.  They asked for a receipt before they would exchange it for us.  Maybe things have changed since then?


I don’t know. The first time we did this was sometime around 20 years ago and the last was 2017. Maybe you got an uninformed CM or maybe the policy changed but the CMs are trained to honor the request of guests who clearly think a swap will happen.


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## blondietink (May 23, 2019)

We were at WDW one year in August during Tropical Storm Faye. the area received something like 25 inches of rain in 4 days. Thre was so much water that it came up to the bottom of the billboards along I4 from Orlando to Daytona.  It was the best time we ever had at the parks.  We just wore our sandals every day, put on our rain ponchos and walked on all the rides.  Nothing was cancelled. The locals stayed away because they were busy handling the excessive water in their yards and the tourists stayed away because it was raining.


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## Janann (May 23, 2019)

These ponchos from IKEA are awesome!  We even managed to impress some people at WDW with them.  Don't forget to bring something to protect your backpack on rides.  We sacrificed a super cheap poncho for this function, but you might consider bringing a tall drawstring kitchen trash bag.  Just throw everything in and put it at your feet.


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## 4Sunsets (May 23, 2019)

Caligirlfrtx said:


> Can anyone tell me what happens if there are thunderstorms on our park day at Disney. Do they give rain checks or anything?



No such thing as a rain check at DW or DL. It can be coming down monsoon buckets with lightning everywhere with all the rides closed and that's just how it goes.

If you are going to DW during rainy season, carry with you the thinnest/lightest rain ponchos you can find. Some fold up almost pellet-sized (golf-ball sized). Buy extras and keep em at hand. Or buy the ones in the park when it starts raining at considerable markups.


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## 4Sunsets (May 23, 2019)

If you have wee ones, definitely extra shoes and socks for rainy days (or rain boots but then where to put them???)


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## Merbears (Jul 19, 2019)

It stormed heavily almost every day of trip late last July. If you have a fp for a ride that closes due to thunder & lightning , they will honor it at other at certain other rides. At least that’s what they did when we were there. They have lightning rods all over the parks. This eased my extreme fear of lightning while I truly enjoyed the trip. They should have lightning rods everywhere in the real world imo .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## whitewater (Jul 22, 2019)

if you have a fast pass during a time which there run cancelling or delaying the ride.  you can come back to ride by swapping the FP for a ticket that the cast in line will give you.  only valid if you have a FP during the rain and the ride is closed/delayed.

otherwise - enjoy cooler weather and less people as others have said.


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## dioxide45 (Jul 22, 2019)

We sat through a downpour to watch the Phil Donahue at the Candlelight Processional. Almost everyone had left but we paid for the package that included the meal and we were staying to watch, rain or shine!


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