The Best Theme Park Strategy for the Florida Summer

The perfect theme park day in the summer heat

During the summer, theme parks in Florida can be a tough place to be. Florida can routinely be 90+ degrees with high humidity. It is also time for rain. Lots of summer showers. Unfortunately, when it rains, some rides are not open and wait times can build up. For the non-Florida locals, I have devised the perfect theme park routine for you and your travel party to enjoy.

Waking up at the hotel of your choice has to be early. I know you are on vacation, but one of the strongest strategies to get the most out of your day is to rope drop. Getting there early is also important for the summer days due to the extreme heat that comes midday. My advice is to go to the rides that aren’t the number one attractions. This strategy has helped me a lot in my park days and I will continue to preach this. Here is the list of rides I suggest at every theme park.

Epcot: Test Track, Frozen Ever After, Ratatouille. Guardians will be the one that fills up the quickest so hit these other attractions first. Guardians at nighttime right before closing. Maybe even Frozen Ever After too depending on how you go about it.

Hollywood Studios: Runaway Railway, Midway Mania, Tower of Terror, Rock’n Roller Coaster, do Star Wars and/or Slinky Dog Dash last.

Animal Kingdom: Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur. This can be done quick while everyone is in Pandora.

Magic Kingdom: Peter Pan, Jungle Cruise, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Space Mountain. This park does a pretty good job of spreading people out.

Universal Studios: Nothing….. This park is bad. Maybe the Mummy

Islands of Adventure: Early Park admission? Velocicoaster, Forbidden Journey. Regular rope drop? Hulk, Spiderman

Seaworld you should avoid during the summer at all costs.

After these rides just monitor the waits of other supporting attractions and shows, go on them if you would like.

By the time mid-day comes around. Go back to your hotel. The heat, the crowds, and just everything about a theme park is worse in the middle of the day. It smells worse. It is hotter. It is crowded. Just avoid it.

During this mid park day break. I know it can feel like you are missing out on this one-time experience, but you paid money for your hotel too. Sometimes A LOT of money depending on where you are staying so definitely enjoy it. You are on vacation. Do less to enjoy more. If you are at a Disney hotel, they have plenty of restaurants at hotels that you can enjoy. Watch TV. Take a nap. Go to the pool. My favorite order is lunch, pool, and then nap. Sometimes even dinner too or go to the park for dinner if you want to try something. The point is to recharge for the park evening.

At Universal hotels you can do the same but the food options are worse in my experience table-service wise.

Off property hotels with a car, you can try a local place to Orlando. Enjoy your hotel amenities. And really just relax.

Pool days and naps are elite during theme park vacations in the summer.

Avoid the rain, avoid the heat, and recharge.

Around five or six go back into the park. Be careful with Universal as park hours are a bit inconsistent. Rides close earlier than expected. This is the time where you hit all the other rides with smaller wait times.

The largest ride is at the end of the night. Here are the options.

Gringotts at Universal Studios.

Hagrid at Islands of Adventure. This should be the last ride of the day. A few minutes before it closes. This will limit the amount of express pass ratio, and the line should be constantly moving and this ride at nighttime is awesome. The forbidden forest at night is incredible.

At Disney the rides to close the park on are follows:

Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarves Mine Train and Tron. These rides are extremely popular, and the fast passes line ratio are great. I will only call it fast passes now and forever.

Epcot: Guardians of the Galaxy. This ride needs to be the last one hit. This line will not drop during the day. Wait until close where no fast pass people can join.

Hollywood Studios: Finally go back to Galaxy Edge and ride Rise of the Resistance.

Animal Kingdom: Go see Pandora and ride Flight of Passage.

After that, go home, rest, and get ready for your travel day, or your next park day. This strategy will help you through the summer. It will help you from burning on the concrete while waiting for an attraction. It will save you from most of the rain, and you still get to enjoy most if not all attractions in the park. These theme parks are huge with endless things to do. You will not be able to do it all in a few days, and you need to be honest with yourself about that. Taking your time through the park is the best way to ACTUALLY enjoy the vacation you paid so much money for.