Hello Main Street Mouse family!
What a week it was here in Central Florida as hurricane Dorian traveled along our coast. We were all bracing for rough weather and that made me think of my next top five. Rain! I know what you are thinking… you have planned this vacation for months and now it’s raining? How can you enjoy Disney in the rain? The truth is, you can take advantage of some great things when the weather is not so great. Here are my top five rain activities at Walt Disney World!
- Shopping
Disney World has some great shopping on property in all of the parks, resorts, and of course Disney Springs too! I mean you need to take home a souvenir or two (or more) while you are there right? So it’s the perfect time to shop when it rains. Ok in all seriousness I can shop in any weather and I don’t mind the rain at all but that’s just me. I’m talking about you! Get all your ears, pins, t-shirts, and gifts now while it’s raining and then go enjoy some park fun. Stroll through the Springs with your umbrella or poncho (Disney has cute ones you can buy now FYI with a matching umbrella) and shop to your heart’s content!
- Monorail Loop!
Please stand clear of the doors, “Por Favor Manténgase de las Puertas!” I love the monorail and you can have a lot of fun on the monorail loop in the rain! If you park at the transportation and ticket center, you can ride the monorail to three Disney resorts, The Contemporary, The Grand Floridian, and the Polynesian Village Resort. At the resorts, you can grab a refreshment or a quick snack, explore the grounds, or enjoy a meal in one of their restaurants. You can also ride the monorail to Epcot and back if you want a longer journey. Depending on the time of year, you can see some pretty neat things at the three Magic Kingdom resorts. During the holiday season you can see the gingerbread house displays. At Easter they have chocolate eggs at the Grand Floridian and Contemporary, and sometimes characters may roam the lobby! So hop on the monorail and explore!
- Grab a bite/Character Restaurants
Disney World has great restaurants, but when you are there on vacation it is a toss-up… do you want to spend a few hours eating and miss the rides? So if it is raining this is the perfect time to go to a sit-down restaurant that will take a bit longer like a character buffet. What if you don’t have reservations? This may not be a problem if you check the My Disney Experience App or call Disney. You might get into a restaurant that had a cancelation or if you are really lucky you can just walk up! This is not always a guarantee but it’s worth a try, right? There are so many great restaurants on Disney property! Maybe you are not into a character restaurant, you could head to Disney Springs and check out Splitsville where you can bowl and eat! Or Rainforest Café which is a neat experience. There are so many great food choices across Disney property.
- Catch a Show or Movie
Disney Property has great shows. In Hollywood Studios, you have the Frozen Sing-Along which is my favorite (especially when I see my favorite historians), Beauty and the Beast or Disney Junior. In Animal Kingdom you can see Finding Nemo or Festival of the Lion King. EPCOT is home to The American Adventure, and other short presentations at some of its countries! Going to see a show is great in the rain because hey it’s Florida and by the time the show is over, the rain may be too! Not in the park? Go back to Disney Springs and catch a movie! You can even do a dine-in option and have a decent meal while you watch the movie, how neat is that? If you watched the coverage from D23, you know that there is a new Cirque du Soleil show coming to the Springs so soon this will be another option!
- The Kilimanjaro Safari at Animal Kingdom
A safari ride while it’s raining? Literally, this is the best ride in the rain! Ok, let me break this down for you. The animals on the safari are mostly active in cooler temperatures. So when it rains, they LOVE it! I have had the best luck with the safari in the rain. You can see elephants splashing in the water, the lions might be awake, white rhinos taking a mud bath. It’s so neat to see. This is why it is my number one on this list, especially now when our temperatures here are so hot during the day. The safari is about 20 minutes long once you board the truck, so in that time the rain may be finished or close to it. What a fun way to ride out the storm! The last time I caught a safari in the rain, it reminded me being on the Jungle Cruise and the scene with the elephants all splashing in the water. Such a fun time!
So the next time it rains on your parade at Disney, grab your poncho and check out one of these suggestions! Like they say, a rainy day at Disney is still better than a sunny place somewhere else!
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