There's Always a Rainbow at Disney World
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (129254)
Gainesville, Florida
July 25, 2026 10:30am CST
I've said for years that Disney somehow can control the weather. For example, every time I go to Disney there always seems to be a full moon in the sky overhead at night. Always. I'm not sure how they do it, but I'm not complaining, since it makes for beautiful photo opportunities at the theme park. Another example is with storms. Florida is known for its afternoon thunderstorms in the summer. They can be legendary sometimes. But somehow, Disney World can be completely encircled by severe thunderstorms, and yet somehow it stays sunny and beautiful in the parks. Again, not complaining, but I do want to know their secret for controlling the weather.
Now don't get me wrong, it does rain at Disney World, but somehow the daily severe afternoon thunderstorms seem to miss Disney more than they hit it. Which leads me to my next observation about them controlling the weather: when it does rain, there is ALWAYS a rainbow after the storm. I've seen more rainbows in trips to Disney World than I have seen total combined everywhere else throughout my life.
I don't know how they do it, but I am grateful for the weather delights I seem to experience each time I visit any of the theme parks in the Walt Disney World Resort.
Attached is a photo of a rainbow from a recent visit. This was taken from the ferry boat at the ticket and transportation center at Magic Kingdom. For those that aren't aware, the parking lot at Magic Kingdom (the second largest parking lot in the world) isn't located at the theme park. It is a mile away on the south side of the Seven Seas Lagoon. The Magic Kingdom sits on the north side of the Seven Seas Lagoon. When Walt Disney was designing the Magic Kingdom, he wanted it to truly be a fantasy escape from the real world, and visitors could not totally escape the real world if they could see the parking lot from the theme park. So visitors park at the ticket and transportation center, and then can board a monorail train or a ferry boat to take them to the Magic Kingdom theme park.
Have you ever been somewhere where you are convinced "they" control the weather to your favor?
6 people like this
6 responses
@snowy22315 (211161)
• United States
3h
Niagara Falls has it fair share of rainbows too. I have seen them often there.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (129254)
• Gainesville, Florida
3h
Yes, you are right! I've only been to Niagara Falls once in my life, but I remember seeing a beautiful rainbow (and it was a crystal clear beautiful sunny day). What a bonus treat that is offered to visitors there!
2 people like this
@Fleura (35877)
• United Kingdom
2h
@moffittjc @snowy22315 You do know what creates rainbows, right? Sunlight refracted through water droplets in the air. At Niagara falls (or any waterfall that's more than just a trickle) there will always be water droplets in the air, so if the sun shines even the slightest bit there will always be a rainbow visible somewhere.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (129254)
• Gainesville, Florida
2h
@Fleura That's the beauty of the science behind rainbows, and one that benefits Niagara Falls immensely! It ensures they always have rainbows for the tourists!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (129254)
• Gainesville, Florida
2h
Considering the theme parks were built on swamp land (and are still surrounded by thousands and thousands of acres of woods and wetlands) it probably makes sense that the concrete jungles they have created at the theme parks are a stark contrast with the surrounding nature, and probably does have a lot to do with the weather phenomena.
But that doesn't explain how there always seems to be a full moon all the time at Disney World! LOL
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (87935)
• United States
1h
Maybe Disney World just has a bubble on top of it, like those stadiums with retractable roofs. 
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (129254)
• Gainesville, Florida
1h
I'm convinced they have some kind of bubble or dome over their theme parks. But if they do, someone keeps forgetting to turn on the air conditioning during the summer months!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (129254)
• Gainesville, Florida
2h
Maybe they have a fake moon up in the sky at night? lol
By the way, it's not entirely science fiction to think that, because at their Animal Kingdom theme park, on the safari trek, they have a fake setting sun that they turn on in the evenings whenever it is cloudy, stormy or dark. Many of the animals become active at dusk, so they trick the animals into thinking it's sunset by "turning on" a large fake sunset in order to get the animals moving around and active as the safari trucks move guests around on the savanna, I've heard many guests marvel at how beautiful the "sunset" is, not realizing it's not the real sun!
1 person likes this
@Fleura (35877)
• United Kingdom
2h
@moffittjc That doesn't surprise me at all. It's like Las Vegas - I wonder how many tourists are disappointed when they visit the real places because Venice doesn't often have lovely blue skies, the gondoliers are grumpy and the city is full of stray cats and smells of fish and mud; the Egyptian pyramids don't come with talking camels and of course the Statue of Liberty is actually a long way away from the city centre of New York!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (129254)
• Gainesville, Florida
2h
@Fleura I've traveled enough places around the world to know from experience that what we see on tv and in fancy magazines isn't the reality of what is actually going on at these touristy locations.
@anya12adwi (10361)
• India
1h
We have here cloud seeding to get rain in tiring summers!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (129254)
• Gainesville, Florida
1h
Some places here do that as well. In the area where I live, we have just emerged from a severe drought. There was talk about seeding the clouds to get it to rain, but fortunately the rainy season finally started and we are getting plenty of rain now without having to seed the clouds.
@LooeyVille (65)
• United States
2h
I was only at DisneyWorld once, around 1996. I'm sure it's changed a lot since then. I don't really remember much about it even though I was 31 at the time.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (129254)
• Gainesville, Florida
2h
In 1996 they would have been celebrating their 25th anniversary. That was the year they turned Cinderella's Castle into a giant pink cake. Do you remember that?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (129254)
• Gainesville, Florida
1h
@LooeyVille I get it. People either love Disney or hate it. I don't think down on people who don't like Disney. It's not for everyone.
And I wish more people would stop liking Disney, the parks are way too overcrowded! lol
1 person likes this
@LooeyVille (65)
• United States
2h
@moffittjc No I don't remember that. I also think I never actually made it into Epcot. I remember being there and nothing was there. Maybe I had to take some other conveyance to get to the actual "stuff" I am not a Disney-basher, but it really wasn't my thing.
1 person likes this
