What Happens When Events Rain Out at Disney World?

One of our old adages is that “even a rainy, crowded day at Walt Disney World is better than a perfect day at home.” I’m not so sure this applies when dropping $200+ on tickets to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party or Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom, both of which occur during storm season.

Over the years, we’ve attended several special events that have been downright Disney Deluges, with downpours so strong that it’s felt like figurative buckets of water falling from the sky. Nights that have been total rainouts, with little to no event-exclusive entertainment happening due to the weather.

Most of those have happened during Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party or earlier Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party dates, both of which not-so-coincidentally coincide with storm season for Central Florida. We’ve received a couple of questions about this, and figured it’d be worth quickly sharing what happens in these scenarios, and how to best position yourself to avoid issues.

That’s doubly true now for a couple of reasons. First, it’s been a rainy week in Central Florida, and the next few days call for even more wet weather. As I’m writing this, the afternoon storm is starting to relent and (fingers crossed) the forecast is looking better for opening night of MNSSHP, but it’s likely that one or more dates in August, September, and October will have rain delays or cancellations.

Second, Walt Disney World actually just added a “Weather Updates and Policies” page for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party in the My Disney Experience app:

What’s most interesting to me is that Walt Disney World is linking to the weather updates & policies from a lot of other pages, which seems to suggest that the updates might contain actual real-time updates so guests can pivot during the party.

I’m not holding my breath, though. I remember thinking that the Skyliner status page might eventually provide real-time downtime notices. Here were are several years later, and the only way to know whether it’s down is walking to it.

Anyway, here are the weather policies for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party:

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party will continue in the event of most inclement weather. If Magic Kingdom park is experiencing rain, thunder or lightning, please consider the following:

• Some Magic Kingdom attractions will not be operational during inclement weather. Please check the attractions page to see which experiences are available and to check their wait times.
• Please check with a Cast Member for more information on how inclement weather may impact attractions and entertainment offerings.
• Trick-or-Treat Trails throughout the park will remain available even in the event of inclement weather. Walt Disney World also recommends shopping at the Emporium or grabbing a bite to eat at a quick-service restaurant location while you wait for the rain to pass.
• Entertainment offerings, showtimes, attractions and experiences are subject to change without notice. Inclement weather conditions may affect outdoor entertainment.

On top of this, there’s the fine print that accompanies special event ticket purchases, before you even get to checkout:

Tickets are nontransferable and nonrefundable. The number of tickets available is limited. Events often sell out early. Tickets are valid only during specific event dates and hours. Prices, entertainment, attractions, experiences, ticket types, entitlements and other event elements are subject to change without notice.

If you click on the actual Walt Disney World ticket terms & conditions during the order flow, you’ll find additional disclaimer:

Parks, restaurants, attractions, hours of operation, entertainment and other products, services and items are subject to change, closure, cancellation, varying levels of availability, and discontinuance without notice due to rehabilitation, refurbishing, capacity, seasonal considerations, weather, low demand, government or other authority guidance or order, pandemic-related restrictions, special events, or any other reason without liability to the Released Parties, named below. Park admission is not guaranteed.

However, just because something is in the fine print does not mean that it’s enforceable.

This type of take-it-or-leave-it transaction does not afford consumers a realistic opportunity to bargain, as there is obviously no ability to negotiate more favorable terms. Consumers cannot obtain the desired product or service except by acquiescing in the form contract. Hence these being take-it-or-leave-it transactions.

In such scenarios, the doctrine of reasonable expectations comes into play. Would a reasonable consumer have accepted the agreement had they known that the agreement contained the particular term? There’s a whole field of law and voluminous legal precedent revolving around various electronic agreements.

Honestly, I have no clue whether Walt Disney World would prevail in such a scenario or not if it came to it. My guess is that they would, since the disclaimer is part of the order flow and not buried; it’s clear and conspicuous. But that doesn’t really matter. This exists not to dictate actual policy, but as a legal CYA for Disney and to discourage at least some guests from seeking recovery.

And it works! We’ve seen many fans say things along the lines of, “Disney doesn’t have to do [X or Y], it’s right there in their terms & conditions.” However, terms & conditions are not necessarily conclusive of what Disney will do in actuality when such situations arise.

Lots of stuff ends up in the fine print that companies have zero intentions of acting upon. Their legal teams thought it’d be pragmatic, a good safety net, want to justify their own existence–whatever. This is how you get absurdist scenarios such as relying on terms & conditions from a free trial of Disney+ to force arbitration in a wrongful death lawsuit, which actually happened.

Companies aren’t monoliths, and sometimes people who aren’t lawyers realize that trying to enforce fine print is a bad idea, especially for a destination that prides itself in exemplary guest service. This is essential to Walt Disney World’s reputation, so it behooves Guest Relations to go above and beyond and offer recovery in some circumstances when it may not be strictly “necessary” pursuant to the terms & conditions. Because realistically, does the average guest think of a theme park visit as being governed by a legally binding contract?!

Enter evenings when Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is a rain out.

Obviously, Walt Disney World cannot control the weather. It’s all about making the most of the situation, offering alternatives and counter-programming that’s not cancelled due to the rain. The upside is that a lot of attractions are indoors, and some event offerings can be moved inside during inclement weather.

The downside is that the unequivocal party highlights are the parades, fireworks, stage shows, and character meet & greets. Without those, you’re definitely not getting the full MNSSHP or MVMCP experience. So if all of this gets rained out, it’s potentially reasonable to request guest recovery.

Now, you could argue that guests should understand what they agreed to, or that it rains a lot in Central Florida during storm season.

The easy counter to that is that Walt Disney World should’ve realized the same, and not predicated a party on outdoor entertainment that gets cancelled when it rains. The party best situated to avoid the loss is Disney, not the guest who purchased tickets weeks in advance.

(Although this is about Walt Disney World, the same logic applies to Epic Universe. We’ve seen a disturbing number of Universal fans defend the park even on days of its worst meltdowns. No, the reasonable guest should not expect all but 2 rides in the entire park to be down simultaneously due to rain and technical difficulties. The park is charging premium prices. It is reasonable to expect a premium experience, not a trainwreck.)

The good news is that all of this is moot, and presented mostly as an academic exercise. Because the reality is that Walt Disney World does issue guest recovery in situations when MNSSHP or MVMCP are essentially rained out. (Thankfully, so does Universal Orlando in the case of Epic Universe!)

The “simple solution” is going to City Hall to respectfully and politely inquire about what the Cast Members at Guest Relations can do. “Respectfully” and “politely” are the operative words here for a reason. While an irate rant might make you feel better, it’s not the route to take if your goal is a favorable outcome.

At the risk of stating the obvious, those Cast Members do not control the weather. If you’re complaining about something other than the weather, remember that those Cast Members also do not control whatever that is. We’ve seen and heard way too many adults throw tantrums, which is sad–and reflects poorly on them, not Disney. “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar” is a cliche, but it’s also one that a disturbing number of adults don’t seem to grasp.

If the event was completely or mostly rained out, Cast Members at Guest Relations will likely be proactive with recovery options.

The default in this scenario is usually going to be a 1-day ticket. Alternatives include gift card, refund of your special event tickets, or rescheduling you to different dates of MNSSHP or MVMCP, pending availability. On one occasion, we actually had 1-day tickets automatically added to our accounts without doing anything because the party was a complete lost cause. (We didn’t even go to City Hall; the bar for us seeking guest recovery is much higher since we usually write about this stuff, rain or shine.)

However, if the event is a complete rain out, you’re almost assuredly going to find a long line at City Hall, even at the end of the night.

The photo above was taken at around 1:10 am, so ~70 minutes after MNSSHP ended. We were the last guests left on Main Street and I managed to capture photos with absolutely no one in them.

As we left Magic Kingdom at 1:15 am, I noticed the line spilling out of City Hall (see photo below). Although we didn’t survey those standing in line, it’s safe to assume they were either requesting refunds due to rain-cancelled entertainment or offering compliments to the chef on the hot dog burger at Cosmic Ray’s. If the line was this long at 1:15 am, I can only imagine how bad it was when the second parade was cancelled.

Throughout that evening, we talked to or overheard many guests disappointed by the weather. There was even one dude who was absolutely irate and yelling that Cast Members who he claimed didn’t do more to “deal with” the rain. (Not entirely sure what he meant…perhaps CMs should have threatened the clouds?)

To this point, it’s worth noting that City Hall doing something is not a given. If your event was not actually rained out, and there are quibbles with technical difficulties or other issues, complaints are going to be met with greater scrutiny–and recovery often will not be offered.

Disney has exemplary guest service, but thankfully, does not embrace the ill-advised “customer is always right” mentality. Plenty of guests have completely unrealistic expectations about theme park operations, and it’s perfectly fine that we acknowledge this.

If you visit when there’s a total rain out and the line for Guest Relations is really long, our strong advice would be to skip City Hall on the night of the event itself.

If you’re going earlier in the night to get out “ahead” of the weather and cancellations, it makes sense. But after the party is over? You can just as easily stop by any Guest Relations window at Magic Kingdom or any of the other parks the next day and achieve an identical outcome.

You might even receive a better outcome as the frontline Cast Members will have been fully briefed by leadership at that point and will have coordinated protocol. And you won’t be messing up your sleep schedule or subsequent days of your vacation. If it’s towards the end of your trip, you can also email Guest Relations once you’re home. You can also try the chat feature in My Disney Experience; I’m old school and prefer the in-person approach whenever possible.

Our other advice is to not abuse Walt Disney World’s high guest service standards. We were weary of even writing this post in the era of TikTok and social media “hacks” that basically recommend people game the system, scheming or scamming their way into freebies. (Hence the DAS crackdown!)

The thing is, bad behavior will eventually come back to bite those guests. Not just in the karma sense of the term, but because every interaction with Guest Relations that results in recovery or an accommodation goes into the guest’s Magic File. Once Cast Members see you’re a serial complainer, outcomes change–so there’s incentive to do this sparingly, and only when you have a legitimate issue.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? If you’re interested in learning more about hotels, our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page is a good place to start. For where to eat, try out our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews page. If you want to save money on tickets or determine which type you should get, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at unconventional things you should take on your trip. Once you arrive at the parks, our Walt Disney World “Ride Guides” are great for determining what to do and when to do it. For overviews of all of these topics and so much more, the best place to start is our comprehensive Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide to make the most of your experience!

YOUR THOUGHTS

Have you attended Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World on a rainy night? What did you think of the experience? Would MNSSHP still be worth the money without the Boo to You Parade, Disney’s Not So Spooky Spectacular Fireworks, Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular, or other entertainment? Any other tips, likes or dislikes? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!