Obviously, if you're a local and have access to air conditioning at home, this is the time to hunker down and watch your favorite ride videos on YouTube rather than hitting the parks. But if you're visiting Southern California and you're stuck with these as your vacation days, what should you do?
Here are our top tips for enduring extreme heat at Disneyland and other theme parks:
Drink lots of water before you go — Hydration keeps your body's internal air conditioner working. Without adequate water, you'll start overheating quickly in these temperatures. And notice that we said water, not soft drinks, juices, beer, or any other beverage. You want nice, plain water in your body for hot days, and you want to start loading up before you get to the park. Bring a water bottle and refill it throughout the day as you keep drinking, too. Sure, drinking a lot means going to the bathroom frequently. But every single bathroom we've found at Disneyland is air conditioned and indoors. Why not take every excuse to get inside and use them?
Sunscreen and light clothes — Sunscreen's always a must for day in the parks, and especially so on extreme heat days, when you'll probably want to bring some extra along for to reapply as it sweats off during the day. Light-colored and loose fitting clothes also help you to avoid overheating, too. (But don't wear something that disappears when it gets wet. We'll tell you why in a minute.)
No running — Yes, that's always a rule in the parks, but these are not days for the theme park power walk, either. Conserve your energy as much as you can while you are outside. For little ones, that means skipping playground attractions, such as the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.
Have you seen a good show lately? — The more time you can spend sitting in dark, air-conditioned theaters, the better. We think that Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room is one of the best animatronic shows ever made. Have you seen it recently? Here's your excuse, if you haven't. Or even if you have. Long indoor rides such as Pirates and Small World are great picks, too. But don't wait outside in the sun too long for them.
Don't eat so much — As much as we love feasting on unique and fun theme park food, extreme heat days aren't ones where you want to feel extra weight in your belly. Go for lighter meals... with plenty of water... to keep you fueled throughout the day. If you've ever wanted an excuse to have a Mickey bar for lunch, here ya go.
You can't get enough water rides — Basically, our advice for extreme heat days is the same for our advice for rainy days: Stay inside as much as you can, plan ahead with meal and ride reservations so you minimize waits in the sun, and dress appropriately. But there's one big difference — water rides are totally in play on extreme heat days. Get ready to install Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah as your earworm today — Splash Mountain is about to become your best friend. These are great days to sit in the splash zone at Universal's Waterworld and pretty much all SeaWorld shows, too.
Now, this is why we suggested not wearing clothes so light and loose that the become transparent when they get wet. Between your sweating and all those rides on flumes and rapids, you're going to be wet a lot on an extreme heat day. Remember that when picking your clothes for the day.
Drink more water — You've been reading this for the past few minutes, so it's probably time to drink some more water again. Keep cool, insiders!
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Do remember waiting at bus stop when we got one of those Florida flash downpours and the heat so much, literally an inch of steam rising from the ground. It's tough but if you're smart enough to duck into an air-conditioned building at times, it works out. Again, a key benefit of WDW, so much more indoors to help out.
I've written before about how much I love Animation Academy, but on a hot day in California, it's especially wonderful. Other nice places to hide from the heat at Disneyland are the Main Street Opera House, the Main Street Cinema, the lounge at Carthay Circle, and of course, the great "break room" of the Disneyland Resort - the Grand Californian's lobby.
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