Will the excessive Heat keep you away from the parks?

Yeah we don’t get Fall at all anymore in Florida. In fact September and October are 2 of our hottest months. October starts to cool a little towards the end but you can still cook bacon on your car hood if you are in the unusual predicament of making breakfast outside at 3 in the afternoon and lock yourself out but for whatever reason have bacon on your person as well as tongs and an apron. But to answer your question, yes the excessive heat does keep me away in the hottest months and it will again this year too.

Wow, I can remember living in Jacksonville 30 years ago and some surprisingly cool winters. Been in WDW in near 100 degree weather but sometimes it can be too much.

YES.

I have been saying this for years, climate change is unquestionably the #1 long term issue for Orlando's theme parks. I have lived in Florida for a long time, and while it has always been very hot during the summer/fall, there were weeks last year where it was dangerous just being outside let alone trying to trudge the family through Disney World. Just this week it was 10 degrees above average for Orlando (average is 85 the last week in May, the past week its been 95 every day). I can tell you from personal experience that the amount of 911 calls for heat illness at the theme parks is way up from previous decades. Riding roller coasters in this heat is dangerous.

In my opinion the parks here in Florida have done a very bad job at adapting to the heat. Even at music festivals now they have free water stations, yet these parks don't want to cannibalize their beverage sales (and yes some do have water fountains but they are awful and barely even work but they don't want to spend the money to fix it). Also please don't tell me "they give you free water if you ask for it" and get me going on that rant.

The first aids at the parks in Florida literally run out of space all the time because so many people are in there with heat illness...and when they run out of space its just "oh well looks like you're SOL."

Last summer was so hot for so long that I actually looked at flights to Minneapolis just to try and escape, but then I checked the weather in Minnesota and it was [literally] 100 degrees!

This is bad.

Fattyackin - I mean who hasn't got locked outside with Bacon and and Tongs at 3 PM? Hahahahaahahahaahaha

We we looking to Get away from 4 days for the Holiday - but last minute flights were too high and the Temps were Way Too high......

Yes the_man7 - The parks in the south will have to address this - They need a lot of Tees and shade and cooling stations Free water... All of it..

I almost wonder if The parks will have to open only at Night soon???

Fattyackin- HAHAHAHA!!

MikeW- I really enjoyed Jacksonville's the cooler evenings in the warmer months, longer seasonal changes, and cold winters when I lived there. It's something the central parts of the state and south don't receive.

Man7- Me too!

Brian- In years past, I would visit the parks once or twice in the evening during the summer months. But I don't see that happening this year. It's already too hot. I'll probably skip the parks until October with one exception- HHN in late September. Even though there's a high probability of heavy storms during that month, I prefer to do the event while the crowd levels are low.

It'd have to be pretty extreme weather-wise before it would affect my travel plans. Yes, Orlando regularly has highs in the low 90s during the summer which is not comfortable, but it's not so hot that I'd consider it unbearable for most visitors. Texas in July was worse to me than the Florida trips I've done in August and September, but that didn't stop me from spending the day out at theme parks and other outdoor attractions. Now, if temperatures started getting into the 100+ range it might cause me to start reconsidering or adjusting how I'm planning my day at the park, but for much of the country that just isn't a common enough occurrence to shy away from summer travel (for reference, where I live in SoCal typical summer highs are mid 80s).

@AJ- I get what you're saying, but this year everyone needs to really think about and plan accordingly if they are visiting Florida this summer.

It is predicted to be an extremely hot, productive hurricane summer. The waters off the coast are 80-90 degrees already and daily temps are reaching the mid-90s with feels in the 100s. There have already been reports of people dropping from heat stroke and heat exhaustion at the theme parks. (It's not even summer yet!) Also, they are telling residents to raise their A/C thermostats so they can adapt to the warmer temps in their house and to lower strain on a/c units. A/C repair companies are predicting higher than usual calls this summer which equates to longer wait times; many parts are on backorder.

All I know is we are getting a "cool down" this weekend with 88 and 89. I'm very much looking forward to it. (I live in the Orlando area.)

Remember being at EPCOT in May one year ( 2006 ? ) and it was 100 degrees. Being that there is so much concrete everywhere that temperature was amplified making it so hard to move beyond a snail's pace.
I wouldn't want to do that again. People were telling us that Animal Kingdom was worse but, when we went, we found it that bit cooler because of the abundance of flora and shading.
Today you would not want to be in line for Slinky Dog in that heat.

Not really a problem for us since we don't really travel in the summer. Being from Edmonton our summers are short so we prefer to spend it locally. Our Orlando visits are always in October and February and weather has no impact for us. We will go no matter what. The only thing that could impact would be hurricanes in October if ever there was one about to hit then we obviously wouldn't go.

I prefer to go to Halloween Horror Nights in late September when the crowd levels are low. However, I know that there is a high probability of heavy storms during that month. Because the park is outdoors, the rain can ruin the experience. So, I usually wait until October to go to HHN.

I will say last October we burned to a crisp standing in the HHN line. We also walked an excessive number of miles. At one in the morning I could not take another step. I could not imagine doing that in September.

Well, I have to amend everything I said previously. The extreme weather hasn't kept me away from the parks this month. I've already visited WDW twice.