Water Parks?

Walt Disney World Attractions
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At dinner w/ our 4 kids, we played “Would You Rather” with the kids regarding an extra day we have on our next WDW trip.

Would you rather spend the day at Universal touring the Wizarding World of Harry Potter or going to one of Disney’s water parks?

The vote was unanimous: they chose one of the water parks.

I was blown away… but I’m not complaining, because that choice will save us $700 in tickets.

So… I’ve never done one of the water parks. Anyone on the boards here familiar with Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach?

Any tips?

-Which one do you prefer? (Our kid’s ages: DD12, DD9, DD6, and DS2 turning 3)
-Are these a half day visit?
-Any touring tips? I don’t even see Crowd Calendar estimates for the water parks.
-Most importantly: do they sell alcohol?!

Thanks in advance, Liners!

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Well I can’t speak for Blizzard Beach because I have never been there. Typhoon Lagoon has the wave pool that will sweep you off your feet. There is a lazy tube type ride their which is perfect to take in the sun and veg out. I know I took my grandson their when he was 10. put him on my shoulders and when the wave came at us he was swept away and ended up far behind me. He loved it!

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Thanks Doc.

If anyone else finds this thread in the future asking the same types of questions, I just found this article from WDW Prep School, and it was a little more helpful than the info on Touring Plans: Blizzard Beach vs Typhoon Lagoon: Battle of the Disney World water - WDW Prep School

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We went to both water parks in April, our first time going to them. We liked Typhoon Lagoon best, although my teens really liked the scary Summit Plummet at Blizzard Beach. I prefer the theming at TL, we live in a snowy part of the country and I don’t want to see snow in Florida. :smile: We got to TL about 30 minutes before opening and did everything in the park except the small kids area plus lunch by 1 pm (opened at 10), then went to BB for a few hours. We then went back to the hotel for a few hours before hitting MK for dinner and a late evening. It worked well for us as we slept in the next day and my kids are teens, not sure I would recommend that with younger kids.
Yes, they sell alcohol at the water parks. We went counter clockwise around the park and that worked well for us. We did the lazy river and the wave pool last after all the rides. I have avoided the water parks for years, I just wasn’t interested and there was never enough time. But the kids begged and I finally made time for it. This was one of the best days of our trip, my kids loved the water parks so much plus they had to actually talk to each other as I made them leave their phones and ipads in the hotel room. Have fun!

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my 3 all love water parks and when we went last time, 4 years ago, with friends and kids aged 4,5,8,11, 11. all bar one of the 11 year olds chose to go to water park for 3rd time rather than epcot. so dads and kids went to water park, mums and 11 yr old girl went to world showcase in epcot for afternoon/ evening. we try and fit in a water park every holiday, so next year will be going to TL, BB adn VB.

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The only things I’d choose Blizzard Beach for are the speed slides and the ski lift. Overall I think we’ve always liked Typhoon Lagoon a little better.

If you’ve got a group of 6 and a little splurge money then I’d recommend getting a cabana. They give you a good meeting-up spot, a place to leave your things, a cooler that is always full of drinks, and a server to get your lunch (not included, but you can use QS credits if you have a dining plan) for you.

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Helpful feedback @Wahoohokie, @claredyer, @Nikkipoooo. Thank you.

The kids have been watching videos of the parks and they definitely want to do Typhoon Lagoon more. And then this article by Tom Bricker just solidified it for me. He calls TL a near-perfect park.

I think we wouldn’t hop to BB, though it’s cool to know that you can do that… but we would probably go back to one of the theme parks that evening after we clean up… unless we’re just too exhausted.

And @Nikkipoooo - you have me wanting to splurge an extra $360 for a cabana. This post at the Touring Plans blog makes a compelling case for why that’s not a bad idea at all.

Basically your thoughts along with everything I’ve read over the last few days has me pumped to work in a visit to Typhoon Lagoon.

And while I’m sad to miss out on Harry Potter this trip, my 11 year old made a good case for going to Universal when we can take several days to experience it all instead of just trying to shoehorn it in to our already full Disney trip.

Night, y’all!

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Your 11 year old is very wise! Universal is best if you have 2-3 days so you can really experience it. Also it is wonderful to stay onsite in one of their 3 deluxe hotels for the included express pass. Looks like you have another trip to plan once this one is done!

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I have been curiously following this thread b/c we are going to a water park during our June trip. I have been to TL and love it. LOVE the wave pool. However, taking DD9 and DD5 on this trip and have heard that the kid areas at BB tend to be more enjoyable. Both girls can swim, but the wave pool at TL is pretty big… Don’t have full confidence that DD5 can hold her own…

Any thoughts as to kids areas?

Thanks!

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Watching too …as we taking a 9 and 7 year old in early June and have heard BB is better for younger non thrill seeker children . We have one morning to spend in water park’s. Interesting that the article suggests TL can hold better crowds…like I need anything else to research. …God I love planning lol

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I will add one thing for TL. The wave pool is the best. That said, you don’t have to experience it’s full effect. If the girls are the age of 9 and 5 they simply stay closer to the beach where the created wave is almost dissipated by the time it gets to the beach area. Also as I stated in a previous post, I put my grandson on my shoulders and the wave just kind of swept him off and toward the beach area. Depending on age, adjust for effect.

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We only had time for one water park and kids chose BB. We loved it and it turned out to be the perfect break from the parks in the middle of our stay. The big scary rides became a right of passage for the older boys (12 and 10). DD6 along with DS10, when he wasn’t on plummet summit, loved the traing camp area. It had smaller slides, a zip line that dropped into the water, ice berg floats to hop across like a obstacle corse. There was a family slide that we could all go down together and we also enjoyed the lazy river. We went on an overall CL 6 day for the parks in October and had no real waits in line except for the chair lift but once the line formed we just took the stairs back up. So advice is to do chairlift early and have fun!

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Thanks @kjsprouse_577366.

Those of you with kids and pre-teens, like @claredyer and @kjsprouse_577366: if you got there at park opening or before - how long did you stay? And were your kids worn out or did they have energy to hit one of the parks that evening?

Trying to decide which day we’re doing a water park and if we’ll plan anything else that day.

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We had a sleep in morning and got to BB when it opened at 10 and stayed until 1 or 2 so that we could get back to SSR (had to take bus to AK then another bus to SSR) in order to get changed for HS ADR (fantastic package). We felt a little rushed leaving and next time I will plan to not push to fit in more on our water park day. We felt more rejuvenated than the tired feeling we got from spending a day in the parks. I’m not sure if we had stayed longer that we may have felt wiped out.
On our next trip if we go to TL then I will plan to stay until later afternoon and then go to DS for dinner and explore. BB is an easy trip to AK. We wished we had brought a change of clothes and had gone there instead of back to resort and then HS. Or AKL would be nice for dinner if not wanting to use park pass. Others just plan to uber or drive so transportation isn’t an issue.

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Helpful. Thank you.

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Well, I know you picked TL, but I wanted to give a vote to BB for you. We have spent time at both.
You have a big age range of kids. I have 7 years between my kids, so splitting up was needed at either park (we have a thrill seeking family). Last time we went they were 4 and 11.

  1. My oldest was 11 last time we went and am excellent swimmer. The wave pool is a real wave pool and is huge - I was not comfortable letting him enter it alone. It is very vigorous. I didn’t mind him doing BB alone (while we were on beach), which was gentler and more bobbing.
  2. I thought the toddler area at bb was much better. (My 4 year old loved both). Bb had 3 or 4 slides he could navigate alone while still in my sight. TL had only 1 tube river ride and maybe 1 very short 5 foot slide. The TL toddler Ride was set up so that it was hard to see the top and bottom, and if you waited at the end and sent kid to beginning, there were lots of other paths kid fought get distracted by. I saw several panicked parents. Also BB toddler area is much shadier if that is important to you.
  3. Big draws at TL were crush n gusher and shark swim. Crush required 48 inches. Little one was devastated to miss this family ride. The shark swim… sucks. Water cold, I’ll fitting masks, kids panicked (not mine, others in the pool) and it’s just little nurse sharks at the bottom of a pool you swim over.
    4 the family raft ride was tops at BB.
  4. We loved the theme - a water park in snow! A chairlift ! TL was lush but felt more like a traditional theme water park.
  5. Bb had these amazing hot mini donuts At a little kiosk. These might be at both, but I remember getting and loving them at BB. The food is otherwise mediocre at both.
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The shark swim is now gone from TL, and has been replaced with a new family raft ride called Miss Adventure Falls. All ages can ride this one.

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Kids and grown ups have always been exhausted after either of the water parks. We never plan anything else for the day.

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Thanks for the feedback. My daughters - I think because they liked the look of the lush theme-ing at TL - chose it instead.

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Thank you @kjsprouse_577366 and @missoverexcited… Based on this feedback, I moved our dinner at HDDR to our water park day. Our ADR is not till 6:15, and since we’re already staying at Ft. Wilderness, it should be an easy and fairly relaxing dinner at the end of our day at Typhoon Lagoon!

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