Oh the weather outside (or on the Backlot Tour) is frightful….

unusual – right?  With the polar vortex, record breaking temps & blizzard conditions it’s been an unusual winter…and then who can forget Atlanta!!

Today where I live it was a balmy 72 degrees which is warm for this time of year even for the lower south.  So we all know that weather can also be a big factor on vacation especially at the Magic Kingdom where we expect things to be… well…magical!

But even Walt Disney World does not have the ability to control the weather and inevitably there are going to be those days when you want to chuck the fast passes and head back to the hotel.

This past summer we went to Walt Disney World in early June.  It was not my first choice at all but due to the timing of our daughter’s job &  son’s graduation we decided it was best.

That week Florida experienced a tropical depression and it rained and rained. We did have one day where we simply could not bear the thought of being in the parks as the rain was torrential with very, very gusty winds so we headed to Downtown Disney.

But even that was hard to navigate and the wait times for restaurant tables were long. We did have periods of dry weather during the week thank goodness so the entire week was very up and down.

One thing that does make it easy on rainy days in the parks is the availability of ponchos and the amount of indoor attractions. The majority of the time we were fine and were able to do everything we wanted to do.

The other thing I learned is that often when there are adverse weather conditions it causes us to stay in one area for a longer period of time.  The result is we will ride things we might have skipped in the past or try things such as food or shows that we have never tried before.

On this particular trip it was the Backlot Tours at Hollywood Studios that was new for us. We were in that portion of the park near the Great Muppet Movie when the raindrops began again.  You can see in the photo in front of the Miss Piggy fountain we were dry but it didn’t last! We had just a short portion of time to pick something and do it before we were to meet back up with our son.

We decided to do the Backlot Tour because we would be “under cover” in a tram & it was literally right there. In my mind being in a tram equaled “dry. Everything started out well but the rain began to fall steadily by the time we finished the show under the pavilion.  It was then time to get on the tram.

With each turn of the tram – water would pour off the roof line and dump right into our seats – unfortunately we were in the very last car which is why this was occurring.  Everyone in the cars in front of us seemed quite dry!

At first it was mildly amusing and as we huddled under our ponchos my daughter and I began to giggle.  As we neared the part of the ride where we were to observe how great rushes of water were created on a movie set our giggles turned to side splitting laughter of complete disbelief.

[quote]We just could NOT get away from water no matter how hard we tried. [/quote]

Of course the water rushing down the big fake canyon does not get you wet because it hits a big plexiglass instead.  We were already soaked by the water pouring into the tram itself.  Our rear ends were seriously soaked and the water poured even heavier onto our legs and seats as we worked our way back to the pavilion area.

After the ride our lower halves were completely drenched – this time our ponchos helped not. one. bit.  It was a very squishy walk to our dinner at The Brown Derby.  Part of me was not that thrilled but the other part thought it was totally hilarious.

[quote]Who knew the Backlot Tour was just like Splash Mountain![/quote]

I took cell phone photos during the ride in between laughs and scrapped a layout about it.  The tour itself was actually pretty good and all the times we have visited Disney World we have never done it.  I highly encourage you to give it at try on your next trip. It is fascinating to see how special effects and stunts are created in movies.

BUT if it is raining don’t sit in the back of the tram!

 

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Scrapbook Page Credits:

• Sweet Life Chalked Up Fun & Stylin’ Frame Clusters all by Simple Pleasure Designs by Jennifer Fehr