The Heat is On: Preparing for Hot Miles and Magical Days | Ep 11

The heat is on! This week on Rope Drop and Run, we’re sharing our thoughts on surviving hot-weather training runs and magical summer days in the Disney parks. Whether you're gearing up for a race, planning a Disney vacation, or both, this episode is for you. Plus, in our Great Big Beautiful Update, we're reacting to the surprising news that Carousel of Progress is getting a major makeover. Grab your water bottle and join us as we tackle hot miles and magical days!

Transcript

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Hey Disney friends. Welcome back to our podcast. I'm Jenny. And I'm Emily. On today's show, we are sharing our tips for preparing to run in hot weather. And hitting the parks in the heat. I've been thinking a lot about this topic lately because I signed up to run the Army run in September, the half marathon, and I'm starting the training now. I've started already, and I know that it's going to be hot during my training. And I also know that I do not do well in hot weather. Running and I don't get along. Also, for a lot of people, summer vacations, school vacations are starting soon. So many people are planning summer vacation trips to Walt Disney World. In that hot, humid Florida weather, this one is for you. Speaking of sweating, let's get into today's topic. Okay, so we have some hot weather running tips and also going to the park tips and just hot weather tips in general of how to stay cool, how to stay safe, how to stay more comfortable. So do you want to give us your top tip? Or I don't know about your top tip, but do you want to give us your Yeah, I just rank them. I just kind of randomly wrote down some tips. So yeah, we can just go back and forth and whatever share whatever tips we have for hot weather running training. Just want to say that a lot of these are pretty common sense and probably people are doing them, but it's worth repeating as a reminder. And they're just tips that were given to us. And I I did a little research just to make sure I wasn't missing anything. And so I just checked out the Runner's World magazine website. And yep, I was like, oh yeah, I had thought of that, thought of that, thought of that. So I think these are all fairly common things, but anyway, just reminders. Yeah, it's always good to talk about them. So I want to start with a really obvious one, which is hydration, because I wanted to start with it because I think like we can commonly think, oh, well, I just need to drink a lot of water while I'm running. But it actually goes back a lot further than that, like that you need to be hydrating days and weeks ahead and not waiting until the day of. You need to prepare your body in advance that it can hold the water. And so that was one big tip that I had. Adding electrolytes into your hydration is helpful in hot water too, to keep your electrolyte balance because you're do sweating and losing a lot of salts. And also carrying enough water on your training runs. I had that as a tip for hydration too. Definitely definitely more than you would. Like uh some people just go carry water on their long runs, but even on some of those short ones, like even if it's like a four-kilometer run, if it's hot out, take water with you and also watch the how much caffeinated beverages you're drinking or caffeine and alcohol, because that will dehydrate you faster. So when you're saying like be hydrated even before you go out for your run, be mindful of any other beverages you've consumed too. Yeah, that's a good point. When it comes to the parks, I also think hydration is important in the hot weather. So in the summertime in Florida, when it is really stinking hot, it's important to bring water with you. Unless you're okay with buying expensive bottles of water in the parks. I always bring a water bottle. And if there are some water bottle filling stations, it's kind of hit and miss. Like in the new parts of Hollywood Studios, for example, over in Galaxy's Edge, they're really well equipped with water bottle filling stations. But in the older places, like in the Magic Kingdom, I don't know if there's even one water bottle filling station. But one trick that I've learned is that you can go to any quick service or any snack stand and ask them for a cup of water, just tap water, and the tap water is fine. It's total like I've it's nice and cold, and you can drink it. It's and I would just take that and pour it into my water bottle or just drink it. So important to stay hydrated and bring a water bottle, but it's also you got to find where you can refill it when you've drank all your water. So also with when you're planning your Disney trip, if you are getting grocery delivery service, for example, you can I know people who have ordered water bottles there so they don't have to buy water bottles in the park because they like to just take a bottle and then I guess recycle it. I like to reuse my water bottles rather than just recycle them. So what we've done is we've ordered a great big jug of water from the grocery bin. So because I I am particular about tap water tastes and all the difference in any water. So I'm particular about that. So but we just ordered a great big jug of water and that and we'd fill up our water bottles before we'd leave for the day. But getting the the free cups of water at the quick service counter service stations is great too. Yeah, I I think just when your water bottle empties after you drank it all. Yeah. There's just finding ways to refill it. And yeah, we've ordered a couple of those big jugs. Yes. Yeah, we did. And that was really handy. It was definitely easy and handy to do that. Do you have any other hydration tips? No, you mentioned about electrolytes for sure. I think that's kind of underrated too. Like if you're gonna be sweating a lot in a way, you can tell if you are have been sweating a lot. Like if you see sweat stains or like a white crustiness on your clothes, then, or even feel like a grittiness along your forehead, you're you've definitely lost your electrolytes and you definitely need to re rebalance those. So just some tips there. Yeah. What's a tip that you have? I think this is again kind of a common knowledge one, but it works for both being in the parks and out on a run, is to what clothes you're wearing and wear to light, loose clothing that's really breathable. Of course, dark clothes, dark like black or blue or what have you, that is gonna absorb the radiation from the sun and then therefore heat you up a lot faster than a white or a light colored t-shirt or hat because it reflects all the light. And so, therefore, it's you're you're not gonna be absorbing that same level of radiation. So that's gonna help. But of course, you also want it breathable because being able to sweat is what cools you down, and it's actually the evaporation of sweat off of your skin that cools you down. And so if the sweat can't evaporate, then it's not really doing the job of cooling you down. So you want to get that um the evaporation rate up. I had similar points to that too about what to wear. I also included in the rate running or the training while you're running to wear a hat. And I was thinking of sunny days, and I have a hat and sunscreen because I was thinking of like running in the sun and how if you're wearing like a ball cap, how the peak of it can shade your face a bit, and if you're wearing sunglasses too, but just the extra sun on your face, the heat on your face, I think for me that makes it even worse. So shade is always my friend, and a ball cap helps. And the sunscreen, I say that, and I have worn sunscreen running, but then when I sweat, it starts to run down my forehead and into my eyes, and I find that sunscreen really stings my eyes. You can get brands of sunscreen that are for sports, or you can, yeah, for sure. And it doesn't do that. So you need to look into that. I learned something from it. Yes. Yeah, you can, but it is important to use sunscreen too, because kind of like the same reason of you know, dark colored clothes versus light colored clothes. If you're not absorbing those rays of sun, then you're not gonna get as hot. So it can help obviously you want to protect your skin so you don't get a sunburn, which is very uncomfortable, but it can also help keep you a little bit cooler. Yeah. And in the parks, for what to wear, I would just say all the same, all of the above. You know, you want to be able to like your sweat to be wicked away from your body and the heat to leave you, and so similar types of clothing, but also I put footwear that is comfortable and can get wet. I did too. Because in the summertime, especially end of summer in Florida, it's hurricane season and there's it rains every day, and so be prepared. Your feet are gonna get wet. And so you want shoes that are waterproof, but I would also say that you would probably want to test those out first that you can walk around. If you're going to the parks, and let's say you're gonna wear a pair of crocs, which are great because you've, of course, you got sport mode. So if you're trying to do a brisk walk to get to that rope drop, then you know did you know that crocs are the most dangerous shoes in the world? No, I did not know. Yeah, people die wearing crocs according. Just kidding. Oh, apparently, somebody, of course, somebody's died wearing crocs, but somebody's died wearing every kind of shoes. Right. But apparently, because of the crocs, they're really slippery on painted surfaces. That just took a turn. What? We just keep going. They're really slippery on painted surfaces. Yeah, like when I wear my crocs to the grocery store, you know, the painted lines in front of the doors and going into the grocery store. Like this is the pedestrian walkway. Yeah. I have to be so careful walking on those when they're wet because I slip every single time in my crocs. They're dangerous. However, I think they're comfortable for people, and yeah, you can put them in sport mode. So anyway, you want to make sure you've tested your footwear beforehand, though, because you can get some pretty bad blisters. And that can ruin your day. Yeah. It can ruin your run, it can ruin your park day if your feet are sore. And along the lines of, okay, this is a little bit different, but of keeping you cool or not. But in those hot summer months in the parks in Florida, at any given moment, the the skies could open up and you could get a total downpour of water, of rain, and you could get absolutely soaked. So a little tip, this might sound really weird, but a little tip is to pack an extra pair of undies in a Ziploc sandwich bag or something to put in your day pack. So if you were gonna spend the whole day at the parks, you could have a change of socks and underwear. Because having like, you know, wet underroofs, uncomfortable. Have you ever done that? Yes, yeah. Have I have I ever switched them though? No, no, but I the lounge. You had them if you needed to. I did. The la when we were there in September. Yes, I did. They were in your loungefly. Okay. Loungefly for Susan is little backpack. That's a brand name, and these little backpacks are designed in all kinds of fun character and themed in all kinds of themes, but at Disney, they're all Disney themed things. My next tip is about time of day. Are we did you have anything else to say about what to wear? Okay, well, I have tips about running and the parks, but let's start with running about the time of day. So for me in the summertime, I cannot run any time mid during the midday. Like I will just swelter. And for me, it means I'll end up walking because I hit this point where my skin starts to get goosebumps and I start to feel nauseated and I just have to walk. And so it's useless to try to run. So early morning, like before the sun, not before the sun rises, but as the sun is rising, when the dew is still on the ground and it's cooler, is a good time to run, or in the late evening when the sun is going down. And then I also noted that for the parks, it's kind of the same. Like going in the morning and leaving by noon, or going out in the evening after dinner are good times to go to the parks. And if you spend the middle part of your day indoors somewhere, or maybe just by the pool at your hotel. I agree. And it can be easier to go back to your hotel if you're staying on the Disney resort property. But if you were staying off site and you're or you were just doing a day trip to Disney in one of those hot, hot days, there are other things you could do midday to get out of the heat as well. And it could be go to a sit-down dining experience, an in an indoor sit-down dining experience where there's air conditioning. Yeah, that's a good idea. Or go to go to one of the indoor shows. There's lots of outdoor shows too that are shaded, but to really get cooled down, you could go to one of the indoor shows where there's lots of air conditioning. There's lots of places where at Disney World where you can hide in the air conditioning. Yeah, I made notes on that too. Like I said, be sure to go indoors to cool down. And there's lots of places. I was starting to make a list of places that are at the Magic Kingdom or in Epcot or wherever that you could go to cool down. So Carousel of Progress is a good choice because it's a 20 minutes indoor sitting down, air-conditioned space, the country bear jamboree, the hall of presidents, any of those, like go in and sit down, be cool, watch something is a good choice. And like many of the attractions, too. Once you get inside, it's just they might not last for as long as one of the shows does. In Epcot, you could go into the Circle Vision at the Canada Pavilion, the O Canada show. You don't get to sit down, but at least it's cool and it it lasts a while. And then something like Frozen Ever After over at the Norway Pavilion, because the the queue is indoors, so you're not standing out in the blazing heat or while you're lining up. Or soarin, also an indoor queue. Yeah, so those are good choices. And actually any of those pavilions down in the that part of Epcot, like where the land, the seas, imagination, all of that, you can go in the pavilion and just be cool for a little while. And then I was also thinking of over at Animal Kingdom, like you mentioned, the shows, the Nemo, the Lion King, like you're getting out of the heat and inside and sitting down for a while and and seeing also some really great shows. And then what about just going shopping? Like at the Emporium at the Magic Kingdom on Main Street USA or going into connections over Epcot or something, or I did forget to mention something about what to wear. Oh yeah. One of the and maybe we said it, but wear clothing that's quick dry, that's breathable, but also quick dry. This is more for well actually for both both when you're running or at the parks, because like I mentioned, sweat cools you down by evaporating. And so if you are staying, if the clothes are hanging on to the the moisture, you're not gonna cool down as much. Plus, it's more uncomfortable. So things that will dry quickly, you'll be more comfortable because it's dry, but also that it's gonna cool you down. Remember when we did the marathon in 2024? And I was wearing a t-shirt that was wicking t-shirt that I foolishly had never run worn. I had never worn on a long run. I had worn it while running. I wasn't that dumb to wear a shirt that I'd never worn running before, but I hadn't worn it for a long enough run, and I got terrible chafing underneath my arms from it. But the shirt itself was fine for like wicking away water. But then over top of that, I had that cotton Mike Wazowski t-shirt, and it rained while we were running the marathon, and that big cotton t-shirt that I had on just held on to all that water for so long. It was wet. It was it was uncomfortable. So I'm just saying that to back up your point. Thank you. You're welcome. I also made some notes on the pace, and I was kind of thinking as I was talking about like taking a moment to go indoors and sit down and be cool and watch a show or be entertained in some way, uh along the same lines, like your pace while you're running, uh like give yourself permission to go slower. Don't push it. Yeah, for sure. It takes it can take even up to 14 days for your body to acclimate to hot weather. And so if it's a new heat wave to where it like, or if you are coming from a cooler climate to the hotter climate, it's gonna take a few days for your body to acclimatize to that. So for those first few days, maybe, maybe you just go easy and those are rest days if you're if you're training for a run, or back off the intensity of it and just know that don't go by you know the pacings on your watch. Go by how you feel. Give yourself permission to go slower, and then your body will acclimate to the warmer temperatures, but it can take it can take a few days to do that. So if it takes 14 days to acclimate to the hot temperature, are you saying that a Disney vacation should be three weeks long? I guess it's the only safe thing to do. No, just kidding. Way to try to sneak that in there. But some other ideas for running and training in the run. Not only could you just take rest days and and if it's a really hot day, also consider like the air quality because sometimes when you get those blistering hot days, the air quality can be a lot worse. So you can check your, you know, the weather apps for those because they'll they'll give you air quality readings. But you could do things like switch to a treadmill instead in an air conditioned environment. So we're talking about the parks, go find air conditioning. Well, same thing if you need to do, want to do a training run, do uh a treadmill training run in air conditioned, or you could switch to some other kind of cross-training, go for a swim, do laps, and you could instead of going for a run, you could uh swim lengths instead to get some cardio exercise. I have a question Do all of the hotels have gym facilities? Do you know? I don't I don't know, but deluxe resorts do, but I don't know. We should look that up. I wonder. Okay, so we talked about changing your intensity of your run. Also on race day, adjust you may have to adjust your goals. You might have had a training plan all the way through with a certain time goal or a race goal, anyhow. And if all of a sudden on race day it's exceptionally hot, hotter than any of your training days, and it wasn't part of the plan, just adjust your goals. It's better to be safe. It's when you're training, you're not out to you're not out competing, you're not out to get a personal best of anything. It's a training run. So yeah, be kind to yourself. Another tip about training in the heat is plan your route. Plan your route through shaded areas like a trail through the woods. Keep keep out of the sun. Yeah, I like the shade. Well, when I'm running out into the country road, I will run from the shade of one tree into the shade of the next tree. Even if sometimes I'm weaving across the street, your intervals like it's like an interval, like slow in the shade, and then go quickly through the Oh, it's just so hot, you know. And I go, I just have to make it to the next shady tree, and then I can walk, and then I'll walk to the next shade, and then I'll run to the next one. Those are my walk-run intervals. There's a bluey episode. Everybody knows bluey, I hope, but if you haven't, go watch it on Disney Plus. But there is a dis uh Bluey episode about Bluey and Bingo and friends, and they had they had a whole game about staying in the shade. Anyway, it was funny. I love it. Yeah, it's fun. Charlie and I played that game that August that I took Charlie and George, and we were at Hollywood Studios and we were leaving for like our midday. Let's get back to the hotel and go to the pool. And it was so hot walking across that concrete walkway that like to get to the buses, because we were staying at Animal Kingdom, so we were going to find the bus. It was just blaring sun, and there was hardly any shade, and Charlie was losing his mind. It was so oppressive. So I'd say, just run to the next shade of the pole. It was like hardly a line on the ground. Okay, run to the next one. And Somehow we made it to the shaded cover of the bus stop. And yeah. Shade is a good thing in the heat. I made notes on what I carry on hot runs or on hot park days too. Like in my pack when I'm running for a hot run, I have those little salt packs that you can get at like Tim Hortons or wherever. You know what I mean? Yeah, the little tiny paper paper packs. Yeah. Because when I start to lose a lot of salts then and I'm drinking too much water, like I just start to lose it. And my fingers turn into sausages and that little hit of salt just helps clear my brain again. And I don't think it's harmful to just take a little salt pack. That's at least what I'm told. And of course I have lots of water and electrolyte on me. So like I've got my camel back on with two liters of water in it. So it's a bit swooshy and it is a lot of water to carry around, but I think it's better to have more than enough water than not enough water on a hot run. And I recommend, like on those really hot days with filling up your water bottle, put ice, even like a block of ice. Like if you put your maybe fill your water bottle or your water bladder up, like maybe two-thirds of the way full and put it in the freezer because it will melt pretty quickly, but it will help keep you cool. Would it break the water bladder? Well, that's why I don't fill it all the way up because it would burst. Okay. I've actually, to be honest, I've only put ice cubes in my water bottle. I've never put it but or in my water bladder, I should say. Yeah. But I have put I have frozen water bottles. But don't fill it all the way up because ice expands as it cools, as it gets, as it freezes. And so yeah, it can This is a very science-y podcast. This is great. Okay, beaker. What else did I put? Oh yeah, that I carry a sponge or a small towel, like even smaller than a face cloth, but something that you can get wet and then squeeze out onto your head or cool yourself down a bit with. Some people, I've never tried this because the heat doesn't bother me as much as it does for you or others, but some people have tried you get like a a scarf or like a and something to wrap around your neck. I think you can even get products off of Amazon, but you put it in the freezer, so it's like an ice, like you you get it wet, freeze it, and then you wear this like ice scarf around your neck. And it on the putting it on the back of your neck, like if you put like a cold ice bottle in the back of your neck, that will help cool you down pretty quickly. Yeah, on the top of your head too, because you lose a lot of heat on the out of the top of your head. And what else did I put? Oh, I carry blot body glide for chafing. But that's I don't know, is that worse in the hot weather or the cold weather? I don't know, that just might be a thing in any weather, depending on how long you're running and what clothing you're wearing. Changing your outfit. So I don't know. And then in the parks, I'm carrying a backpack or lounge fly because I'm gonna have my water bottle for sure in it, and a poncho, because it could pour rain, and a hat to keep the sun off my face, and my sunglasses. Some people have these little, and I think you can get them at the Disney parks, but you can get these little handheld battery-operated fans, and again, it increases the evaporation rate of sweat off of your skin. So yeah, I forgot about those. I carried one of those, and it was one that you could like fill with water, and then you could like a mister, yeah. You could mist cool water on your face. That was delightful. Yeah. They sell them at the parks too. Can I do another science nerd thing? Okay, because water has a really high specific heat capacity, and so it it takes a lot of energy to warm it up and there and also takes a long time to cool down. So but water will help cool you down because it will absorb the energy off of you. And there you go. Is that right? I was only half listening to that. I'm just like, oh, you got this. You can talk about it. I'm looking at something on my computer or what's next. Actually, I'm all out of tips. Those were all the tips I had. Did you have anything else? Just the one the other thing would be to know the signs of heat stroke and to recognise, yeah, recognize the signs. Now, I am no medical professional. This is just things that I have been told myself or read off of other websites. So please speak to a medical professional. But I think that these are pretty safe to say if you know the signs of heat stroke, please stop running when you begin to feel them and cool yourself down immediately. So some of the signs would be dizziness, feeling nauseous, muscle cramps, having an intense headache, or if you get like an intense buildup of heat in the head. If you were sweating profusely and then like cold, clammy skin and your sweating abruptly stops, that is a big sign of heat stroke. Yeah, that's a dangerous sign. Yes. If there's any kind of confusion or inability to concentrate, get yourself cooled down and into a safe place. That's a good thing to end on. Some safety tips. Mm-hmm. All right, that is our hot weather game plan. Be safe out there. It's time to move on to our great, big, beautiful update. There's a great big beautiful tomorrow. Shining at the end of every day. So, Jenny, Carousel of Progress with the great big beautiful tomorrow. How are you feeling about this week's news? I feel really sad. Can you tell everybody what's happening? Well, in true Disney fashion, this place will never never be finished, in Walt Disney's words. Keep moving forward, always plus it up. The carousel of progress is getting a refurb. And so the decades that exist right now, which are the 1900s, uh the 1920s, the 1940s, and then the last scene uh would have been when it was built, the 1960s, and that would have been the today, or like predicting the predicting the yeah, the future. But like it would have been built. I don't know when Carousel of Progress was built, but it would have been 50s, 60s, right? So it would have been like this is us today and into the future. That last decade has every decade had to update, and now we're in 2026 and we are uh uh uh six decades later. I guess uh it was just not I don't know, I can't speculate. I I mean I suppose I can speculate, but I don't know what the rationale officially is for changing it, but they've changed uh they're changing the decades. So it will start with the 1960s with the moon landing as being the big news of the decade, and then it will go to the nineteen eighties, and then I I guess to the 2000s, and then to the now and the future. Predicting the future. Yeah. So I just did a quick little search. It was uh for the 1964, 1965 New York World's Fair was when it was first opened. And yeah, the idea, the idea behind it was that people at the World's Fair could relate to that, and our parents have talked about it too, could relate to some of those decades of those changes going through. But we can I think we can still read to you know that our grandparents well and I think okay, so uh I get the idea of shifting it all forward because now we can relate to, you know, the 1980s, we can relate to the 2000s and in those generations, but I really feel like it's a learning opportunity to learn about what was it like in the 1920s and you had electricity just coming in or an icebox. And I also think it really links to a lot of the different theming that is in the Disney parks, like a lot of it's at the turn of the century. I mean, okay, you could say, well, why don't we learn about I don't know, the 1600s? Because the 1600s really aren't represented as like I don't know, maybe some of the fairy tales or something, but I don't I just am really upset. Why don't they just change the last scene? I could get behind changing the last scene. Yeah. But I am change the last scene. I'm not I'm not on board with this yet. Not yet. I'll try to be keeping an open mind. I know. I I'm trying to keep an open mind too, because I hope you know it'll be done as well as Disney does things. I just can't imagine. Like it just seems so boring. The 1900s. I know it's not as much changing. It's like what technology, yeah, there's been changes in technology, but in the last few years, like our TVs have changed, but TV is still TV. And I don't know. Yeah, sure, instead of having cable, we stream things. That's I don't know. It's so much more interesting going from like an icebox refrigerator and something that we didn't we didn't live through. Yeah. And so I'm learning from it. And to see the funny things that people did, like that exercise machine that vibrated or you know, like and the I don't know, the gramophone, like all it's just a piece of history that I feel we're losing. I almost feel like it needs to be a figure eight. So we get off of, we go and we just have a part two. I heard like a sequel. I heard somebody talk about it and say they should just make it two stories. So you go on the bottom level is what it is, and you go the upper level, and it's the new one, like going forwards. And you could go like like kind of like in the spaceship earth when you're and you're going through the big huge golf ball and you're going all the way up. And so you could do that. We could just keep moving and then you go up a floor or or around a corner, do a figure eight, infinity. Or maybe they just build a second one. Yes. Carousel of progress. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I feel sad about it, and me too. Trying to be optimistic that it'll be something. I will definitely go and visit it, but I am also shocked that that's happening so soon. Like it's just being announced in in July, I think, is when they're starting the refurb, right? Yeah, and it won't be open until 2027. Well, I guess that's that's progress for you. Yeah. Someone would probably argue it's in the name. Yes. Where's carousel of nostalgia? Yeah. They should have that one. Just rename that one, Carousel of Nostalgia, and then build a new one, carousel of progress. Everybody's happy. Done. And you can stay cool for longer and keep out of the heat because you've got two attractions to go on. Perfect. There we go. Solving the world's major problem. Well, that's it for this episode of Rope Drop and Run. Join us next time. If you liked what you heard, share this episode with a friend and follow us on Instagram at Rope Drop and Run. Please follow, subscribe, leave us a review, and send us all your Disney questions. We can't wait to chat with you next time. We'll see you at the castle or the start line.