There's Always a Rainbow at Disney World
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (129650)
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?
16 people like this
15 responses
@snowy22315 (212788)
• United States
25 Jul
Niagara Falls has it fair share of rainbows too. I have seen them often there.
5 people like this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Jul
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!
3 people like this
@Fleura (36175)
• United Kingdom
25 Jul
@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.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Jul
@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!
3 people like this
@FourWalls (87630)
• United States
25 Jul
Maybe Disney World just has a bubble on top of it, like those stadiums with retractable roofs. 
4 people like this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Jul
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!
3 people like this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Jul
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
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (178231)
• United States
26 Jul
Nope. We've gotten caught in lots of storms at Silver Dollar City when we went there. Then leave to go home and it isn't raining two miles away. 
Pretty begged me to turn around and go back but it was still raining in the parking lot at SDC. 
Pretty begged me to turn around and go back but it was still raining in the parking lot at SDC. 2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (178231)
• United States
26 Jul
@moffittjc I left because I'm made of sugar and will melt in the rain. 
2 people like this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Jul
@DaddyEvil Oh, I thought maybe it was because you were the Wicked Witch of the West! LOL
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Jul
I wouldn't leave a theme park just because it's raining. I would just embrace it and keep having fun. I'd also wave to everybody else who chose to leave because of the rain. "Yes, go home people!" lol
2 people like this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Jul
I have another photo--taken less than one second after this one--that shows something really cool developing. I'm going to save that for another post.
2 people like this
@anya12adwi (10369)
• India
25 Jul
We have here cloud seeding to get rain in tiring summers!
3 people like this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Jul
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.
3 people like this
@anya12adwi (10369)
• India
26 Jul
@moffittjc Same here. Although in our state, we did not see much effect of el nino..
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Jul
I'm not complaining, because it's usually in our favor!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Jul
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!
2 people like this
@Fleura (36175)
• United Kingdom
25 Jul
@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!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Jul
@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.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Jul
Hmmm...you may be on to something. We are by far a conservative red state, but Disney is controlled by democrats and liberals for sure. Maybe they do have a way of controlling the weather.
Damn...I just admitted that there might be something good about democrats.
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (22696)
• United States
28 Jul
beautiful picture. I want to go back so bad.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Jul
You should plan a trip so you can go back again!
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (53418)
• Staten Island, New York
27 Jul
I’ve never been to Disney World. Maybe they do the rainbow just for you.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Jul
I’m convinced they do the full moon just for me!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
29 Jul
@lovebuglena My daughter was just at Disney World for a week with her friend from Utah. I need to ask her if there was a full moon while she was there! At least a few nights ago, the moon was at half-moon status, so it would be interesting to see what she saw at Disney!
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (53418)
• Staten Island, New York
27 Jul
@moffittjc Hey, maybe they do. It’s a magical place.
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (125181)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
25 Jul
I have not been to any place where "they" can control the weather.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Jul
That's true, because if there was someone or something near you that could control the weather, Louisiana wouldn't get hit with so many hurricanes!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (129650)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Jul
Mickey Mouse must have some magical powers or something!
@JudyEv (388011)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Jul
I don't know anywhere that seems to control the weather but I'm always pleased to see a rainbow.
