Beat the Heat at Disneyland
Summer time is here and so is the heat. Anaheim California historically stays in the 90's during the summer months with the occasional dip into the 100's. When visiting Disneyland or Disney California Adventure however, you'll need to take into account the thousands of people whom you'll be walking next to, standing in line with and crowded together for parades and shows; all of which will be giving off body heat. The next thing to factor in for increased heat inside the Disney parks is all of the concrete and metal structures which will be absorbing and also emitting heat back onto you as you walk around. Lastly, all of those fun attractions are operated by heavy machinery which are also giving off a tremendous amount of heat. These things combined will make Disneyland a few degrees hotter than if you were walking around other areas in Anaheim.
So what does all of this mean for you?...Because lets face it, the heat isn't going to stop you from going to Disneyland!
1. Stay hydrated!
I cannot tell you how many people underestimate this and find themselves dehydrated and feeling miserable. When I was a cast member at Disneyland, it was a guarantee that at least one person everyday during the summer would collapse, faint or otherwise need medical attention due to dehydration or heat exhaustion. It should go without saying, don't let this happen to you. Not only will it make you feel sick, it can definitely ruin your day and your parties day if you end up being put out of commission due to dehydration.
Staying hydrated is extremely importation, not just so you and your family can enjoy your day and have the fun you expect, but for your health and safety as well. There are plenty of drinking fountains found throughout the entire resort, from inside Disneyland and California Adventure, in the Esplanade, Downtown Disney and of course all of the Disneyland Resort hotels. If you're picky about where your water comes from and desire something a bit more filtered, go up to any quick service restaurant and ask them for a cup of water. Most locations have this setup at the pickup window and some, such as the Smoke Jumpers Grill in DCA have filling station which allows you to serve yourself as well as fill up any bottles or cups you may already have with you. Other than being filtered water, the other advantage is that the water comes with ice to help cool you down and did I mention these waters are free?! Yep, free! Just ask the cast member for a water, some locations have them pre-made and others make it once it ordered. Most locations seem to use the smaller cups, however some use the larger ones and some give you the choice and will ask you which size you prefer. When Marzz and I are in the parks, often times, one of us will go and grab a table and the other will go get the waters. When doing it this was, we simply ask the cast member for two cups of water and we've never had an issue.
Marzz and I usually bring our reusable water bottles which is 16.9 Fl. oz., or 1 regular sized water bottle. We try to drink one of those per hour and we will refill them using the drinking fountains and sometimes we'll add ice via getting cups of water as mentioned above from the quick service restaurants.
I know you're on vacation and that usually equates to eating foods and drinking items that you wouldn't normally eat or in excess, but try to limit the amount of sugar you have either through sodas, candy, even iced teas may contain added sugars. If you do drink sodas, say with your meals, make sure you balance that out by drinking waters in between those meals and don't under estimate how being out in the sun all day will drain your energy which is also consuming your body's water; so hydrate and be happy!
2. Stay Cool
Staying cool in Disneyland is challenging when your trying to ride and see everything, especially in a short amount of time as many people are on a tight time schedule for their vacation. This is fine, just remember, chances are that you can't do everything. Instead, pace yourself, and this will help you stay cool by not running around from place to place. Also, use Disney MaxPass if you can, this will also save you a lot of walking time back and forth. Try to book your fast passes near you or when you will be at that given time so you're not back tracking and walking more than is necessary.
Utilize the stores air conditioning by walking through them to get to where you're going or just pop in to soak up some AC. There are also other locations such as the Star Wars Launch Bay in Tomorrowland or the Animation Academy building in DCA where you can go inside and sit down and you do not have to be in line for anything; it's just a comfortable place to sit and get cooled down. I would also recommend Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln on Main Street. This attraction also has a lobby where you can sit and relax, but the show itself is calm and the theater is cool...and it's a great show to boot!
In addition to utilizing elements in the parks, I would also recommend wearing comfortable clothing which will help keep you cool. They also sell neck coolers which you soak in cold water and wear around your neck and those can really help keep your temperature down.
Splash Mountain anyone? Yes, there are several attractions which may get you wet and in turn help cool you down such as Splash Mountain, or Grizzly River Run in DCA. As expected, the lines get quite long for these on hot summer days so if you're going to go this route, I suggest getting a fast pass. It's not uncommon for the stand by lines to exceed 100 minutes.
3. Rest
Your body will be working overtime on a hot day and with the added elements of walking around, eating foods you're probably not used to eating and just being excited, you need a rest. For Marzz and I, this is more difficult because our house is 30 miles away so running home to take a nap is not an option. However, many of you will be staying at a nearby hotel, and for those that are, I highly recommend going back to your hotel during the peak heat times of the day to take a nap, or just sit and cool off in the air conditioned room. Perhaps take a gander at the pool, depending on how busy it is, but either way, get out of the parks for a bit and this will be paid back in full later on when you're watching the fireworks or even closing out parks at midnight and you see others hobbling around, kids asleep and you'll know that rest earlier in the day really paid off.
As mentioned earlier, I realize that many of you only have a couple of days at the Disneyland Resort, perhaps only one, and so leaving for a few hours in the middle of the day doesn't sound like something you want to do, but again, it will pay off later and if nothing else, just think of it as a safety issue. Taking the time to rest and be out of the heat may prevent you from heat stroke or heat exhaustion, and either of those will put you out of commission for a lot longer than a couple of hours, so perhaps play the odds on this and take that break. Most hotels are either less than half a mile from the main entrances to the parks, or they offer a shuttle service. Be sure to check with your hotel check-in desk or concierge to find out what they offer. You may be thinking that a half a mile is so far and you're thinking I'm crazy for asking you to walk that?...Let's put it into perspective, from the main entrance of Disneyland to Mickey's Toontown is a half a mile. There, now you realize, you're walking this distance anyways, and it's the same distance from the west side to the east side of the park. The difference here, once you walk the half mile, you can take a cold shower, or sit in the AC, and/or take a nap, all great things that Toontown will not offer you.
Most of these things are pretty straight forward and common sense type stuff. I truly think a good rule of thumb is don't do anything you wouldn't normally do. If you were out all day in the sun, maybe running errands or working in the yard at home, at some point you'd stop to get a drink or tell yourself that you've had enough and stop doing that activity. At Disneyland, people often push themselves too far, either because they're worried about "losing money" by not getting the most of their time; which is the most common reason; or they're just excited and want to keep going and going. Whatever it is, it is never worth your health and safety and when you're in pain from walking, irritable from the heat and perhaps because you're dehydrated, it doesn't seem to matter that you got those "extra" 2-3 hours earlier when you're feeling terrible at 8PM and the park is open for another 4 hours any way. I would challenge any of you reading this that have doubts, just give it a try and see how you feel, see how much, if any, it affected your trip or day in any way shape or form other than for the better. Let me know if the comments what you do to avoid the heat and share any tips that you may have. Also, I'm curios to know what people think of these tips here, specifically the taking a rest part because I think that is the most difficult thing for most families to do.
As always, thanks for checking out our blog. Have a great day!
