Disney Adults Are At It Again, And Using Hurricane Helene For Shorter Ride Lines

If there’s one thing that everybody hates at Disney World it’s long lines. If there are two things everybody hates it’s long lines and bad weather. The good news, however, is that you rarely get both of those things at once, as bad weather often reduces the length of lines. And really bad weather means really short lines, even at Disney World.

While the worst of Hurricane Helene was well to the west of Orlando, Central Florida still got a lot of rain yesterday as the storm went by the area. While this may have ruined a lot of people’s plans for their Disney World vacation, if you were willing to brave the storm, it meant really short lines. WGN’s Marcus Leshock retweeted a (now deleted) post that revealed that Rise of the Resistance, usually the longest line in all of Disney World had only a five-minute wait at one point yesterday.

Visiting Disney World During A Storm Has Its Benefits

Needless to say, while being at Disney World during a hurricane is not my idea of a good time, a five-minute wait to get on Rise of the Resistance is a pretty good incentive to do just that. It’s rare, even in bad weather for lines to get that short. One assumes most other attractions had to be essentially walk-ons at this point.

While it’s easy to be critical of people crazy enough to go to Disney World during a major storm, for many, there almost isn’t another choice. Disney World vacations require pretty significant planning and an even more significant expenditure because Disney World is expensive. Money has been spent and refunds are often not available, especially once your trip has already begun.. While a day at Disney World in the rain sucks, so does wasting money.

It rains a lot in Florida and so while this particular weather was especially bad, it can be difficult to completely avoid the rain during and theme park vacation. I’ve been stuck at Universal Orlando in the rain before and, largely due to my own lack of preparation, it wasn’t much fun, but if you’re ready for the weather, it isn’t always that bad. Of course, as some video shows, the weather this time was significant.

It’s not surprising that street is empty. Who wants to be out in that?

Disney World Did Close Locations And Cancel Attraction

While the storm resulted in very short lines for attractions, anybody who was out in the rain wasn’t able to have a complete Disney World experience. While the theme parks remained open, Disney World and other parks did close some attractions in preparation for Hurricane Helene.

Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park and miniature golf courses were closed. Several special behind-the-scenes events at Disney's Animal Kingdom were also canceled, though they were reportedly reinstated later. Disney World did cancel its fireworks and other nighttime spectaculars for the night. Universal closed its water park, Volcano Bay, and canceled Halloween Horror Nights for the night.

As of now, the weather in Orlando is clear and Disney World is fully open for business.