Some of you love rainy days, because crowds are small and lines get short. For a first (only) trip), what should we expect? Do many rides (BTM, 7DMT) get closed for rain or do they stay open unless there’s lightening?
I love the idea of hitting big attractions with short rides, but my family may be more of the type to hit shows and be in the rain less. I realize that’s not a good “Touring Plans maximization” theory, but…
Which parks are LESS impacted by days where rain is more or less constant?
Some rides do close when its raining. Both BTMRR and 7DMT closed due to rain when I was there in July. We had an unusually hard and long thunderstorm that had many rides closed. It lasted about an hour and included lightening. I would say that EPCOT is the least impacted, ride wise, by rain. The only ride that closed when it was raining was Test Track. Lots of places to duck into at EPCOT to escape the rain.
Typically, only rides with outdoor elements are affected by heavy rains, particularly any roller coasters. I think Epcot would be the least affected park because most of the rides are indoors except for Test Track. But a good case could be made for Hollywood Studios being the least affected as there are really only four rides going at the moment and they are all inside.
We’ve done both HS and EP in nearly-all-day rain, and we were able to do everything we intended to do. We caught Test Track in a rare break of rain by luck. We found, as many other have said, that the crowds were lighter. We walked right on to most rides. We had both ponchos and umbrellas since the type of rain and wind varied, and we were glad we had both. I had rain boots for my youngest, since stepping around puddles was too much to expect of her. You don’t want wet feet all day. Overall, we did just fine. We even got a very pretty shot at the entrance of HS with all of our colorful umbrellas. I think rain would have affected days at MK and AK far more than HS and EP, but I haven’t done those in the rain in recent memory.