Hi all! So, the school choir trip is coming up this week. I am their accompanist and won’t have chaperone duties aside from when I have to play for their master class Friday morning and then again for the actual competition Saturday morning. I’m arriving in Orlando on Wednesday morning. My plan is to check in at Aventura and then be in the parks by 11:30am. I will have the rest of the day Wednesday and all of Thursday in the parks on my own in addition to Friday and Saturday after my accompanist duties. The school group isn’t arriving until Thursday night, and they will just have Friday and Saturday afternoons/evenings for the three parks. Wednesday and Thursday at this point look like washouts regarding possibly all day rain, highs in the low 70’s, and very very windy. Several months ago I bought a 2 day, 3 park express pass that I can use on any 2 of my 4 park days (does not have to be consecutive days). My original plan was to use express when I’m there “by myself” on Wednesday and Thursday with doing IOA and USf on Wednesday and then Epic on Thursday. Now I’m second guessing my plans based on the forecast. Should I hang onto the Express and use them Friday and Saturday given the better forecasts for those days even though my park time will actually be more limited? I know realistically I need to wait until I actually get there and see what the weather is day of, but the planner in me is freaking out right now. 
I’ll definitely be watching the weather forecast for you!
As of now, Thursday could be mostly rain free. But we’ll see how that forecast changes.
In general, if there are rainy days, the following rain free days are extra extra busy because everyone is trying to make up for lost park time.
Can you give an estimate on your available free park time on Friday and Saturday?
Thanks! We should be finished with all choir events on both Friday and Saturday by 11:00 am. I will have a car while I’m there and planned to go do some photography around Lake Apopka or Orlando Wetlands right after each day’s choir events depending on weather and also how much I do at the parks on Wednesday and Thursday. Ideally, I plan to use my express passes on Wednesday and Thursday to ride all of my must do rides and then use single rider on Friday and Saturday once I get back to the parks around mid afternoon (if I don’t go do photography right after the choir events then I should be back in the parks by noon on Friday and Saturday.) My plans at this point are pretty much weather dependent which-I know-is risky in central Florida! 
Realistically I think I’m just going to wing it, be flexible, and adjust plans day of depending on that rain. I just want to be smart about when I use my 2 days of express passes because once I use it a first time for a ride then I’m locked into using it the rest of that day.
If you have a rainy day try to move around plans to USF for that day. Every major ride is indoors and Diagon has the most covering and indoors of any potter land.
Thanks-I will definitely plan for that in worst case rain scenario!
Okay, I need to stop checking the forecast…it keeps getting worse. 
. My really “must do” outdoor ride at the original parks is Hagrids. My plan as of right now is to get to IOA asap if it isn’t raining Wednesday morning and do that first and then go from there. If it is raining then I will start at USF. Regardless, I plan to poncho up and carry on and at least hit up all the indoor rides worst case scenario. Since I have park to park to park tickets, I could even end the day over at EPIC for their 3? indoor rides. 
Well you have BatM, Bowser and I Monster’s plus both shows! That’s not bad if people clear out because of the rain.
I nearly forgot about the shows! I loved the dragon show, and we didn’t get to see the full Cirque Arcanus show due to technical difficulties. Also over in USF the Bourne stunt show and Horror makeup shows are also great. 
And Animal Actors 
Ooof. I also forgot about Stardust Racers which was also down when I was there in August-one day due to weather when we waited too late to get in line and the other day for who knows why. Hmmm…I feel like I will really need my express passes on the rainy days for all the indoor rides and shows because that’s where it will be the most crowded. But then on the two as-of-now forecasted less rainy days, I feel I will need them on those days because everyone will be flocking to the outside rides and coasters that (again as of now based on the stalled front forecast), will likely be down on the rainy days. If it wasn’t the week right after Easter I would depend on single rider exclusively, but I know that isn’t reliable for Epic and for Hagrid’s. I’m contemplating calling Universal to see if it’s possible to increase the number of days on my express and what the added cost would be. 
. Time is money as you all know, and with just having to pay for me it’s quite possibly doable.
Okay, well never mind. Express is sold out for the additional days I would need it, and I cannot add more days to my existing express pass. I don’t know why I am stressing so much over this and experiencing fomo as I’ve been to IOA and USF so many times before.
One thing to keep in mind is that rides generally don’t shut down due to rain – they shut down due to lightning. In Florida, lightning and rain are almost always a package deal in the summer. But that can vary the rest of the year depending on what is driving the rain. So don’t panic – definitely try to zig to indoor activities if it’s raining, but don’t completely write off a rainy day.
I think for sure I’m going to plan on using one day of express on Wednesday. I can certainly poncho up and get to all the indoor rides, and if there’s a break in the rain to ride some coasters, all the better! Then I’ll determine which of the next three days will be best to use my other day of express even if I have to wait until Saturday to hit the outdoor stuff at Epic.