Walt Disney World Sees Unprecedented Flooding – Becomes One Big Water Park

The rain, rain, rain came down, down, down…

And just like in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, rain led to major flooding for Disney Guests visiting Walt Disney World today.

Central Florida saw incredible scenes today, March 7, as torrential thunderstorms led to severe rainfall and localized flooding. And for the first time in years, Disney’s theme parks became covered in water.

Who needs Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach water parks when you can swim down Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ streets?

No severe weather was expected on Monday, but heavy rain was needed due to current drought conditions in the Orlando area.

Disney Guests were shocked Monday evening, only hours before Park closing, to see EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios fill with water as rain poured out of the sky. 

We all know and love Florida’s afternoon thunderstorms, but this downpour was like nothing we’ve ever seen. The streets of Disney World’s theme parks were left full of families playing in the rain, dancing, running, and pretending to swim.

One TikTok user, @pagingmrmorrow, posted a video full of joy with scenes of the major flooding in Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

The best day ever

@pagingmrmorrow

The best day ever #distok #disneytiktok #disneyparks #waltdisneyworld #disneyworld #disneypark #hollywoodstudios #disneyhollywoodstudios #pagingmrmorrow #flood #disneytiktoks #distokfam #disney #disneynews #disneyride #waltdisneyworldparks #wdw #disneyworldflorida #themeparks #viral #disneyfood #di

♬ Disney Pictures Intro – Disney Pictures

According to weather experts, what Lake Buena Vista saw was a rare, summertime-style rain event where the Gulf of Mexico sea breeze collided with the Atlantic sea breeze over the Interstate 4 corridor.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios, home to popular attractions like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog Dash, and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, seemingly couldn’t cope with the incredible downpour.

Apparently, Cast Members had seen nothing like this crazy weather in years. Sara Thornton on Twitter shared a video of the entrance to Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

Flash flooding @WaltDisneyWorld @DisneyParks Hollywood Studios this eve. One cast member said he’d never seen the like in 17 years… #florida #disney

Flash flooding @WaltDisneyWorld @DisneyParks Hollywood Studios this eve. One cast member said he’d never seen the like in 17 years… #florida #disney pic.twitter.com/AKL3TUz4ES

— Sara Thornton (@SaraThornton1) March 8, 2022

And over at EPCOT, the International Gateway was also completely flooded, making ponchos and umbrellas necessary (and definitely Wellington Boots!)

Twitter user @MadAbtDisney shared a video with shocking scenes at Walt Disney World’s second theme park:

Floods at #Epcot international gateway pic.twitter.com/ICom80HBOz

— Mad About Disney (@MadAbtDisney) March 8, 2022

We’re not sure if the parking trams were replaced with boats this evening, or whether swimsuits were worn to enjoy this new “water park” at Disney World.

All we know is that many Guests took the unique and rare opportunity to see WDW flooded as a chance to have fun. Many families made “rain angels”, pretended to do front-stroke in the floodwater, and even danced together in the rain.

We’re not clear yet whether this flooding and heavy rain will impact Disney’s theme park operations tomorrow, March 8.

It seems that most of the flooding was fairly shallow and didn’t enter any buildings. We’ll keep you posted with any post-flood damage or theme park operations.