july in disney

[happy day]

I have gone to disney many different months. I am trying to plan a trip this summer in July. I know it is hot, but are crowds huge, and are tour groups to large too. Is it worth going during this time of year?

[Strmchsr]

Yes, crowds are quite large, but the park also has much longer hours and more CMs working so they keep lines in check. As for hot...yes. Very. I can already give you that forecast - highs in the 90s, lows in the 70s, 50% chance of an afternoon thunderstorm each day.

[deedeebee]

All I can say is NOOOOO! We were there in the summer of '09. We won't be back in the summer, ever. The heat, the masses of people, mean nasty people:mad::mad: Don't go near the 4th of July! We were at the Poly, it was no longer our resort, anyone who wanted to pay the parking fee was there! Not an inch of sand anywhere, they were taking chairs out of the lobby:mad: The parks were very busy too, long lines at all the rides, and anywhere a cold drink could be found. We are going back in Dec next time:santa3::santa:

[KylesMom]

We frequently visit in July (mid-to-late July - never near the 4th), and we will continue to do so every other year due to our A/P purchasing schedule. We are from the Midwest and are certainly not used to Florida's heat and humidity, but frankly it was hotter this June for our trip than it was in July of '08 for us. We ensure we have plenty of "down" time, hydrate frequently and make sure we book plenty of time for our resort pool.

Yes, it's hot & crowded in July - but as Chris mentioned, between extended park hours & late night EMH that sometimes go until 2 or 3 am, we'll take it1 :mickey:

[DizneyRox]

It's not hot... It's HHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTT!!!!

I'd say that the 50% chance of thunderstorms is a little low IMHO, it's more in the 80-90% range. It's a passing thumderstorm, but some can be quite severe.

We go every year, I wouldn't miss it! It makes packing easy, I'll tell you that!

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

It will be really hot and humid and the thunderstorms don't cool things off, if anything it makes it more humid.
But as the others have mentioned, the parks are open a lot later so you can take the time to go back to the hotel for a mid-afternoon break without feeling like you are missing valuable park time. Bring the mister fans on lanyards, drink lots of water and make sure you take time for the inside rides like HOP, COP, CBJ, Tiki room etc as they are good down time in the airconditioning. And I'd avoid the 4th of July if possible!

[CanadianWDWFan]

We go pretty well every July and August. We enjoy the longer park hours, this way we can spread our day out. Hit the parks in the morning, the go back to the resort in the heat of the afternoon for a swim. Then back to the parks in the evening. Sure it is HOT, just as everyone says, but there are lots of ways to beat the heat.

We have gone at other time during the year but we still are drawn back to July/August.

[SandmanGStefani24]

i have done it before, and will never do it again. we managed to have a good time, and many people do every year but we wont be in that group. it was crowded, wait times we long, rides kept breaking, and it was hot. (and we're from Texas!) The resort situation wasn't too bad aside from very messy, crowded food courts and long lines for crowded buses, ect, ect...

All that said, you CAN have fun and manage it well with some planning. After all, would so many people go to WDW in summer if it was so terrible? I just choose to travel there at different times.

[Ms. Mode]

Until our recent trip on New Years we have alwys gone the first week of August because of our DDs school schedule. Yes it's crowded and yes it's hot,(but as others have posted) we have found that if you spend the morning hours in the parks, go back to the resort around 2pm and take a 2 hour break you will be ready to head back into the parks until closing.

Florida is in the south, we go there for the heat:mickey:

[tazlikesrobots]

We went during the 4th of July week last year, and it was not bad at all. We got to the parks before rope drop and did the polular rides early in the day. Around 2 PM we went back to the hotel for swimming, some resting, and a quick CS dinner meal. After sundown we'd head back to the parks for evening EMH.

We got to do everyhting we wanted and thanks to Fast Pass we did not wait more than 30 minutes in line for any ride....

[PeterPan]

You can do it, but as the folks here will tell you, it takes lots of planning. Be the first one in the parks in the morning. Leave in the middle of the day and go back to your resort - swim or something. Go back in the evenings when the sweating masses are leaving.

Me? I will NEVER go back in July if I can help it. TOO dang hot, period.

[MarkC]

We went during the 4th of July week last year, and it was not bad at all. We got to the parks before rope drop and did the polular rides early in the day. Around 2 PM we went back to the hotel for swimming, some resting, and a quick CS dinner meal. After sundown we'd head back to the parks for evening EMH.

We got to do everyhting we wanted and thanks to Fast Pass we did not wait more than 30 minutes in line for any ride....


Exactly!!! As you can see by my signature line we've been to WDW at several different times of the year. Get to the parks at rope drop and use Fastpass and you'll have no problem. Not saying there aren't crowds but you can easily manage them. Go and enjoy. We just booked for July 13-17 and we'll still have a great time!

[#1donaldfan]

....July is very busy and very hot...but so is June, August, and mostly September....

....it's very "dooable" so go for it and keep an open mind....it's all fun....we've been between Christmas and NYE and it's nowhere close to as busy as that time.....you talk insane crowds, talk NYE !!!:cool:

[kcrc]

We were there the end of June/beginning of July in '09 - and I have to say... I was ready for just all out PACKED. But, you know, I was so very pleasantly surprised. Were there lines? Yes. But there were lines when we just went in December too. I had prepared my kids that everything would have an hour wait. So, when it didn't, we were thrilled!! I would absolutely go back during that time. As one earlier poster mentioned, it was soooo much easier to pack for July than it was for December!!! And the best part was - the kids didn't have the "missing school/makeup work" thing hanging over their heads!! Go and have fun!! Wish I could join you!

[Rosemickey68]

We went last summer in July. We wanted to be at WDW for July 4th.
It was crowded but alot of fun!!!
We usually don't leave the parks once we get in..while as you see some go back to their resort and swim or take naps.

We were worried we wouldn't get back into the park if we left because of the crowd.The closer it gets to the 4th the more crowded the parks become. I know that MK reached capacity on the 4th and they wouldn't let anyone else in.

It is hot and humid during this time but it is possible to have a great time.

To work around the heat we went to the parks early and rode as many outdoor rides possible, drank plenty of water, ate our relaxing sit down meal for lunch to cool off and counter service at night when it was "cooler".
We rode alot of the inside rides during the heat of the day.

If you are going for the 4th, go to EPCOT that day, the park is spread out more and you don't notice the crowd as much as the other parks. It is still crowded but not shoulder to shoulder! Plan your spot to watch illuminations ahead of time! People were already starting to camp out at 5pm!!! We stood by America which was awesome!!!!
Avoid MK on the 3rd at night and the 4th unless you like BIG crowds.
We went to MK on the 3rd and it was managable during the day at night they show the special 4th of July fireworks and it became VERY crowded..it was so crowded that you could not move once the fireworks were over and it was chaotic! The CM's were having to do massive crowd control. We actually stood in our spot for almost an hour before we could move without getting knocked over! The fireworks were worth it though!
We utilized the fast passes as much as possible...they do run out quickly! We saw lots of tour groups from Brazil when we were there. It didn't affect anything, as there are lots of people from all over. If you knock out alot of the "BIG" attractions during the early morning most of the time the wait was usually 20 to 30 minutes. As the day progressed the Standby wait times increased to 60 minutes or more.
There is nothing like being at WDW for July 4th, the firework show at EPCOT was AWESOME!!! I think everyone should see it just once!

[Frog]

The tour groups seemed to be everywhere we went, and became somewhat of a joke for our family as whoever was in the lead as we walked from spot to spot held their hand up and pretended to be the "flag holder" for our small but determined group! The heat is no biggie for us, in fact it was cooler in Orlando than it was back home during our July visit!

[MaxPower]

I will always avoid Summers at WDW. It's amazingly more enjoyable other times of year.