I’m not a huge fan of waterparks, and I’ve only ever been to Typhoon Lagoon once, on 4th of July week 2013. I ended up renting a cabana and inviting some local friends to join us, because I knew nothing about waterparking.
I’ll be going with my niece (9) on 9/11. I still don’t really like waterparks, but she does and it was only $20 pp to add the + to our hoppers so I said we could go. I looked at the beachcomber shacks, and they’re not unreasonable since that’s the first day of off-peak pricing ($225) but with just the 2 of us it seems like a waste. I was looking at an umbrella instead, since I’ve been schooled in the ways of the lockbox by @darkmite2, but I don’t know if it’s even necessary to rent an umbrella.
We’ll be there for park opening, and will probably stay until 1:00-2:00 or so, since we have MNSS that night. Our costumes aren’t terribly involved, but we will have checked out of Poly that morning, so we’ll want to go to GF if our room is ready by then.
Are there shaded chairs available without renting an umbrella? Is it likely to be really busy on a Sunday in mid-September?
What other waterpark tips do you have for me?
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We’ve been 3 times at least to Typhoon Lagoon, trying to arrive at opening. We were always able to get even 4 chairs in shade. We like shade.
Most of the time we went left, towards the kiddie areas where we got lounges in shade. One trip we had tweens who were going to be on the go the whole time while the rest of us weren’t interested in sunning. We wound up a bit right of the entrance and up under a roof area with chairs, rather than lounges, kinda overlooking the wave pool.
In the before times. I did make sure to notice where the sun would be traveling in order to be sure to have shade in midday.
I think your niece may be considered an adult - neither of the kids’ areas open to her.
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9 is still a kid for pricing - what’s the age cut off for the kids area? I know my 8 yo will want to be there.
Oh - I see it’s based on height. My daughter is short for her age - she will probably be under but not by much.
We were at TL Aug 16. It was a Tuesday. I’m sure our crowds would be different from your’s so I won’t comment on that.
We had a shack for the first time. It was fun and nice to have. Didn’t wait in line for beers or food. They give you the refillable cups which my wife and kids filled probably 4 times each. The towels included are convenient. The ice chest / cooler was nice. The lockbox was also nice, but small. I wanted to try it once since we were out until 11p the night earlier at EP EEH and I didn’t want to rush the next morning. All that said, I probably wouldn’t do it again. There’s plenty of shade to be found. And we don’t just sit around. I mean, I would just sit around, but that’s just a waste of money. Our Cabana host even mentioned how busy / gone we were. If you had a bigger group or were planning late arrival and stay all day, it might be worth it.
Other tips. Bring a change of clothes. Feels nice to travel home dry. Bring water shoes / water socks unless the bottom of your feet are made of leather and can resist the heat walking on paths. Sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, etc, the normal stuff. I brought my water bottle and filled it at the refillable stations for free and added Gatorade packets.
If you are looking for a tour plan for slide order, there is a premium TP for TL.
Oh, we took a Lyft so we didn’t have to transfer at Disney springs via bus.
I like all the water parks. I was disappointed in TL’s merch. I wanted a nice tee shirt, maybe something with a small logo on the upper left chest and a big wave pool like something on the back. Everything they had looked like a Disney character threw up all over them.
If you like being in water, even just a little, you’ll have fun. We did the plus option on our hopper ticket same as you because it was a cheap upgrade.
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There should be. We went on Memorial Day and it was packed and we arrived at park opening (so behind the crowds more than I would liked) and we found chairs in the shade (back by the storm slides). So I think you should be fine.
Do the more popular rides like Miss Adventure Falls and water coasters first thing.
The wave pool is awesome, but if the intense waves aren’t your thing there are times when they have gentle bobbing waves. You can find those times written on a chalk board just after you cross the bridge over the lazy river (past the ice cream and donut places). Oh, and the donuts are delicious.
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I just became that person. shopDisney had matching swimsuits on sale so I bought them. We’re going to be those people.
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I laughed out loud. Get some matching stitch patches sewn in next.
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Now I’m going to make making t-shirts for all 10 days this weekend. In for a penny, in for a pound.
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Seeing ‘those people’ always make me happy.
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Good for you and good luck!
For our big 2019 group I didn’t bother with sizes, etc. We just picked the “color of the day” for each day - either a shirt you’ve already got or buy new, solid, pattern, it’s all good. It worked out pretty well. We at least coordinated in the photos. 
Reviving this thread. We probably won’t do Miss Adventure but some smaller slides and the kid slides. Also want to do the lazy River and the white water one. Which should we prioritize? Going on a Monday in June. How long are the waits for things typically? It’s annoying that MDE doesn’t show waits.
We ended up not going, because our morning was delayed by a broken toilet 
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We were there last week (on a pleasant Thursday from about 12:30 to close). Crowd levels at the parks averaged a predicted 6 according to TP and typhoon lagoon felt uncrowded. The wave pool was busy when big waves were out but no slide ever had more than a 10 min wait and most were 1-2 min. No issue getting on a tube for the lazy river.
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