An Unglamorous Topic

I want to talk about ponchos. While not a glamorous topic, ponchos and Walt Disney World, go together like peanut butter and jelly; like salt and pepper; like Wills and Kate (I couldn’t resist!).




Inevitably in the most magical place on Earth, a little rain must fall. Therefore, it might behoove guests to be prepared for that rain. Hence, the ponchos. . . or any rain gear for that matter.



Our rain battling supplies include several disposable ponchos. They can be had for 88 cents at your local Wal-Mart store in the camping section. Almost each time I find myself at my local Supercenter, I grab 3. Our entire supply goes with us each trip to Walt Disney World with 3 of the ponchos in our day bag or backpack each day. (The one day I didn’t put them in our backpack, it rained!)



We also have a couple of small umbrellas that fit into our day bag while at the parks. They can be used for both rain and sun, if one is in need of a little shade while waiting for a parade, show, or in an uncovered queue.



We have also picked up some reusable ponchos that come in their own colorful carrying case—one color for each of us, and the boy’s is a child size. These get packed in our luggage as well and head to the parks with us.



We also have in our, now extensive, collection of ponchos, ones that were given to us on our Adventures By Disney tour that we didn’t use. The day we were at Arches Nation Park—click here to read more—it began to rain (I would call it a sprinkle) and our ever prepared guides whipped out the prepackaged ponchos and passed them out to us, the guests. They are sturdy ponchos with the Adventures By Disney logo. Cool! We have packed these, but haven’t used them.



OK, so let’s say that ponchos and umbrellas don’t make it on your packing list and you find yourself in the most magical place on Earth experiencing that, almost daily, afternoon rain. What should you do?



Well, one thing would be to pay for the Disney ponchos that you will easily find in stores, especially when it starts to rain. While these ponchos can be a bit expensive, they come with an exclusive Disney guarantee. If your ponchos gets ripped or torn, just take it to any store on property that sells ponchos and return it for a new poncho. It’s like L.L. Bean!



If you don’t want to pay for gear that will keep you dry, you have the option to wait out any rain. Stores are a great place to do this, but caution—others are thinking the same thing and the stores can get crowded. You can also make your way to your car or resort for shelter.



The best bet is to make sure that rain gear does make it on your packing list, so you can enjoy the potentially uncrowded touring of the parks that rain and preparation for rain produce. But more on touring in the rain in another post!