Another example of “pay more, get less”..water park hours reduced

[DOOM1001]

Noticed that the hours were 10-5 when I looked for May, wow! Hey, I like your idea of AoA food court...never been to AoA, assume that you have to drive there? Is AoA food court much better food options that at BB? THANKS!

I think Disney sees a lot of water park visitors only go for a couple of hours so cutting back an hour in the morning and an hour at closing will not be a big deal,for me at least I don't get there at opening but I like sticking around as late as possible and I stay there for a good 7-8 hours,say from 12-8.As far as Disney water park food I've had some pretty bad experiences,I know I had the worst burger I've ever had at BB,the patty looked like a cold,burnt up hockey puck.Also on my last visit to TL I had one of those tall Disney sandwiches you see around the parks,they're never great but tolerable.This one however had a nearly frozen bread,like it must have been in the freezer 2 hours before.The AoA food court ius really good compared to other ones.When I stayed at Pop for the marathon I walked over to AoA for the better food court,the make your own pasta station is a favorite.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Considering that you can pretty much count on an afternoon downpour in the summer months, a reduction in water park hours is very disappointing, and no longer worth the added cost. Another loss.

Really good point. It's the loss of a good hour...the afternoons tend to fall apart in Orlando. If they opened them at 8 am we would be there.

 

[pa. dad]

Lets hope that when Universal opens their waterpark that the hours are like 6 am to midnight and that disney is forced to compete.

 

[disny_luvr]

This thread got me wondering about the waterpark hours for our week in June so I just checked and they are 10-5! That is crazy! I can't believe a waterpark in Florida has such short hours in the summer. Even my local waterpark in PA has longer hours than that.

The recent cutbacks and higher prices are definitely making Disney less magical.

 

[Bluegrrl]

Disney will be in a world of hurt soon. Wet&Wild has closed to be part of Kong at Uni. That park is going to be be awesome and will be built quickly if judging by Unis Hp record. Aquatica is still a local favorite too. Maybe Disney thinks Waterparks are absolete? I think Kong will give Disney a real run for it's money.

 

[SnipsNSnails]

We are planning on going down to stay at my parents place in FL in August for 10 days. I told my mom that we should visit a waterpark while we are there. We were just at WDW in Feb/March. I would love to take my kids to Typhoon Lagoon, but after looking at the options, prices, hours, attractions we have settled on Aquatica. It's also our year to be down in FL at Christmas and this has basically cemented the fact that we will be doing Sea World & Busch Gardens. We can get Aquatica, Sea World, and Busch Gardens for $109. We can use Aquatica in Aug. and we have 6 months to use the other two, which we will do in Dec. Those not with us in Aug. will get the two parks for $99. We really can't beat that deal anywhere. My nephew has never been to WDW but it's going to wait awhile longer. We used to go to MK every time we went down for Christmas but it's just not affordable any more, we are at the point where we can do a couple things or just a WDW park and we choose more for our $$$.

 

[asbyrneva]

Just for the record. I checked my end of August trip last year and the tentative hours posted in March(creation of my plan) for 9/2/2015 was 10-5 mid week. (Just like this year posted hours same time Wed before labor day) They ended up being extended 10-6. This is when florida schools are already back so not surprising that hours werent as long as normal summer hours but they were extended after they were originally posted. Other weeks were also posted with shorter hours last year and then extended. I'm not saying they arent cutting back things but I am saying that they have in previous years posted shorter hours and then extended them as they get closer to the summer months.

No guarantee and they may not extend them, but Disney usually puts out shorter "core hours" and then extends them as they get closer.

 

[PetePanMan]

they will probably start selling a "special" after hours ticket for $129 that comes with frozen lemonade

 

[crazy_for_the_dis]

Both Disney water parks are pretty lame by today's standards, and at most people only spend a few hours there. By shortening the hours, Disney still fits this need. Might it make the other hours more crowded....likely.

Wet n' wild does not close until the end of 2016. I don't recommend it though. We went once, and there were tons of youth groups not properly chaperoned. I was "panhandled" in line for ice cream by little kids (like 7 or 8 years old) asking for me to buy them ice cream too or for a dollar or two). It was terrible.I hope when Universal opens theirs it is more family based.

Aquatica is pretty awesome though. One of their lazy rivers is not so lazy. It has a strong current that makes it so much fun. Why not look at Discovery Cove? Their admission includes admission to both Sea World and Aquatica for 14 days.

Our last few trips, including our upcoming one in August always include Discovery Cove staying off site (great deals or use hotel rewards points), Universal staying onsite at universal, and Disney staying onsite at Disney. We get the best of all three worlds!

 

[pa. dad]

Both Disney water parks are pretty lame by today's standards, and at most people only spend a few hours there. By shortening the hours, Disney still fits this need. Might it make the other hours more crowded....likely.

Wet n' wild does not close until the end of 2016. I don't recommend it though. We went once, and there were tons of youth groups not properly chaperoned. I was "panhandled" in line for ice cream by little kids (like 7 or 8 years old) asking for me to buy them ice cream too or for a dollar or two). It was terrible.I hope when Universal opens theirs it is more family based.

Aquatica is pretty awesome though. One of their lazy rivers is not so lazy. It has a strong current that makes it so much fun. Why not look at Discovery Cove? Their admission includes admission to both Sea World and Aquatica for 14 days.

Our last few trips, including our upcoming one in August always include Discovery Cove staying off site (great deals or use hotel rewards points), Universal staying onsite at universal, and Disney staying onsite at Disney. We get the best of all three worlds!

I've been to Wet and wild a few times and never had that kind of experience. It may draw a few more older kids than disney but I've seen no panhandlers.

 

[crazy_for_the_dis]

Yeah, it was bad. They were kids, so that is why I put "panhandlers" in quotes. But hoards of kids with no adults, and obviously no money on them for snacks. It could have just been that day, but we left after about an hour or so, and never went back.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

I just sent an email to guest.services@disneyworld.com

I encourage others to do the same.

You need to include you name, address, phone number, and email address in your message. They have always called me on the phone after providing feedback.

I asked them why they were opening at 10 am in May/June/July/August. I suggested 9am.

 

[dislmntx]

If Disney is supposedly working to spread out the crowds in their other parks, wouldn't it make sense to EXTEND the hours at their water parks or offer extra activities at the water parks to encourage people to spend time there instead of at their other parks? I don't get their logic sometimes. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall of some of these boardroom meetings!!

 

[mslhb]

I totally understand your frustration.

 

[a742246]

Disney use to be a class act when they made changes, you never knew if the changes were for their benefit or ours! Now their "in your face" changes are both petty in the grand scale of things, and disregarding of its customers! This could spell hidden problems for the company in a future!

 

[Iowamomof4]

If Disney is supposedly working to spread out the crowds in their other parks, wouldn't it make sense to EXTEND the hours at their water parks or offer extra activities at the water parks to encourage people to spend time there instead of at their other parks? I don't get their logic sometimes. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall of some of these boardroom meetings!!

Isn't there some kind of Frozen-themed party happening at Blizzard Beach at some point? I forget the details, but I know I just heard about it recently.

 

[lovethattink]

Isn't there some kind of Frozen-themed party happening at Blizzard Beach at some point? I forget the details, but I know I just heard about it recently.

Yes! No starting date announced yet.

 

[crazy_for_the_dis]

It appears the water parks open at 10 all summer long, and as one poster said did in 2015 as well. I think there is a better chance of them extending them later, not earlier. I think for the amount of people who want to wake up and go straight to a water park, it doesn't make business sense to open that early. I know that is why you liked it, since it was empty. But being that empty is likely why they changed the hours.

 

[eyehartdisney]

We are planning on going down to stay at my parents place in FL in August for 10 days. I told my mom that we should visit a waterpark while we are there. We were just at WDW in Feb/March. I would love to take my kids to Typhoon Lagoon, but after looking at the options, prices, hours, attractions we have settled on Aquatica. It's also our year to be down in FL at Christmas and this has basically cemented the fact that we will be doing Sea World & Busch Gardens. We can get Aquatica, Sea World, and Busch Gardens for $109. We can use Aquatica in Aug. and we have 6 months to use the other two, which we will do in Dec. Those not with us in Aug. will get the two parks for $99. We really can't beat that deal anywhere. My nephew has never been to WDW but it's going to wait awhile longer. We used to go to MK every time we went down for Christmas but it's just not affordable any more, we are at the point where we can do a couple things or just a WDW park and we choose more for our $$$.

Don't forget to look online for "blue friday" deals on that- black friday weekend. BOGO on annual passes, and meal deals have been common. Also, if you're considering doing discovery cove, you might want to purchase an annual pass before buying the DC tickets, you get the same price as your annual pass off of the dc tickets (approximately) under their "annual passholders days" those days are limited- but not extensively. I think they exclude weekends, not sure about that.

 

[kelleybean]

Noticed that the hours were 10-5 when I looked for May, wow! Hey, I like your idea of AoA food court...never been to AoA, assume that you have to drive there? Is AoA food court much better food options that at BB? THANKS!

We ate at BB once and were REALLY disappointed. Food was not good, and battling the crowds was chaotic. It was such a negative experience for us that we vowed never to eat in the park again. Since we are local and have AP's, it works for us to just stay in the park for a few hours. We really like that there are so many choices at the AoA food court and think the food is a step above other Disney counter services.