The best things to do in Anaheim with kids when it rains are the Discovery Cube Orange County science museum, flying a simulator at Flightdeck, grazing the food stalls of the Anaheim Packing District, and, counterintuitively, going to Disneyland anyway, because rainy days are the emptiest days of the year. Anaheim gets barely 13 inches of rain a year, and when it happens, locals treat it as a gift.
Where should you go in Anaheim when it rains?
Discovery Cube Orange County
Discovery Cube Orange County is the region’s big indoor science playground: a hockey-science rink, an earthquake shake room, and a grocery-store game the kids will inexplicably love. Fifteen minutes from the parks, fully indoors.
Flightdeck Flight Simulation Center
Kids (and, let’s be honest, dads) fly real fighter-jet and Boeing 737 simulators with a crew of instructors. Ages 11+ fly solo; younger kids ride along in the 737. It’s the most memorable two hours in Anaheim that don’t involve a mouse.
Anaheim Packing District
A restored 1919 orange-packing house turned two-story food hall: ramen, ice cream sandwiches, live music, and rain drumming pleasantly on the roof. Kids graze, parents actually enjoy a meal.
Lucky Strike Anaheim (formerly Bowlero)
Bowling and an arcade under one roof near Anaheim GardenWalk, the reliable pressure-release valve when the day needs an hour of structured chaos.
Should you still do Disneyland in the rain?
Yes — emphatically. Southern Californians stay home at the first drizzle, so a rainy Disneyland day runs 20–30 minute waits on rides that hit two hours in sunshine. Most queues are covered, the dark rides (which is most of Fantasyland) don’t care about weather, and ponchos turn the whole thing into an adventure.
Where to Stay So Rain Can’t Ruin Anaheim
Rainy Anaheim rewards the same hotel choice sunny Anaheim does: walking distance to the gates. Storms here come in bands with dry gaps between them, and when you’re across the street on Harbor Boulevard you can duck out of the park during a heavy band, dry off, and walk back in for the empty-park hour that follows — a trick the shuttle crowd simply can’t pull off. For the fully indoor days, hotels with big indoor-adjacent amenities — arcades, kids’ zones, heated pools — carry the afternoon, and a rental house with a living room and a yard for the dry spells beats a standard double room by a mile when everyone’s cooped up.
The Rainy Anaheim Day, Hour by Hour
Check the radar over breakfast. If the rain comes in bands with gaps, go to Disneyland anyway, with ponchos on and dark rides all morning while the waits stay short. If it is solid all-day rain, start at Discovery Cube when it opens, take a long lunch at the Packing District, then bowl at Lucky Strike or fly at Flightdeck in the afternoon. Keep the evening loose, because SoCal storms often quit by dinner, and Downtown Disney after the rain is lit up and half empty.
FAQs About Anaheim with Kids on Rainy Days
What do you do in Anaheim when it rains?
Discovery Cube OC, the Flightdeck simulators, the Anaheim Packing District food hall and Lucky Strike bowling, or Disneyland itself, which empties out in the rain.
Is Disneyland worth it on a rainy day?
Often it’s the best day of the year to go: most queues are covered, dark rides run normally, and waits drop to a fraction of sunny-day levels.
Does it rain much in Anaheim?
Very little — about 13 inches a year, almost all November through March. Summer rain is rare enough to be a novelty.
Helpful Local Resources
Before you go, these official Anaheim, CA sites are worth a bookmark. They have current hours, beach conditions, and event calendars straight from the people who know the area best.
- Visit Anaheim for official visitor information, events, and trip planning help
- City of Anaheim Community Services
More Family Travel Guides for Anaheim: