are the water park passes worth it

[Goofy_Girl]

Hi planning my first ever WDW vacation. Just wondering if having the water park passes is worth the extra $$$Trying to budget and the water park is the most expensive addition adding $200 extra(it may not sound like alot to most ppl but I am a single mom trying to get my sweety to WDW). I know I def want the park hopper option. Just wondering if the water parks are def a must see the first time around or something that would be fine to wait until later.

 

[DISNEYmooner2008]

Hi planning my first ever WDW vacation. Just wondering if having the water park passes is worth the extra $$$Trying to budget and the water park is the most expensive addition adding $200 extra(it may not sound like alot to most ppl but I am a single mom trying to get my sweety to WDW). I know I def want the park hopper option. Just wondering if the water parks are def a must see the first time around or something that would be fine to wait until later.

When are you planning a trip for?? That would have an influence as to whether or not that addition is worth it

 

[Goofy_Girl]

planning the trip for the last week in august

 

[DISNEYmooner2008]

Sorry then, I really can't help you. This will be our first trip as well, so I'm not sure whether the waterparks are a must or not I wanted to know your dates because there's a free upgrade option for january-march. It gives FREE park hoppers, free waterpark, pleasure island admission, and free disneyquest admission upgrade to your basic tickets and about a 15% room discount. That would be worth it obviously

 

[thunderbird1]

It really depends on several things: how many times you've been to WDW; how long you'll be there; ages of the people in your party (the very young and the very old generally don't enjoy the water parks as much); and what kind of budget you have.

Since you've indicated the budget is an issue (which it is for the vast majority of us) and it's your first trip, I would skip the water parks fun & more upgrade unless your trip is pretty long, say, longer than a week. There is so much to see and do in the main parks and resorts alone that you won't even miss the water parks. We've logged 8 trips in the last 13 years, and just visited a water park for the first time on the last trip.

I do agree with you that the hopper option is a must have, especially for a first timer. You never know if you're going to love (or not love) one park more than another, and it's nice to have to option to leave and head somewhere else to make your trip more enjoyable. After you've been a couple of times, you'll have a better sense for what you like and what you don't like, and could plan a trip in such a way that you could do without the hopper option. But not for a first trip.

Congratulations on your first trip, have fun, and welcome to the DIS!

 

[pepe of ohio]

It really depends on several things: how many times you've been to WDW; how long you'll be there; ages of the people in your party (the very young and the very old generally don't enjoy the water parks as much); and what kind of budget you have.

Since you've indicated the budget is an issue (which it is for the vast majority of us) and it's your first trip, I would skip the water parks fun & more upgrade unless your trip is pretty long, say, longer than a week. There is so much to see and do in the main parks and resorts alone that you won't even miss the water parks. We've logged 8 trips in the last 13 years, and just visited a water park for the first time on the last trip.

I do agree with you that the hopper option is a must have, especially for a first timer. You never know if you're going to love (or not love) one park more than another, and it's nice to have to option to leave and head somewhere else to make your trip more enjoyable. After you've been a couple of times, you'll have a better sense for what you like and what you don't like, and could plan a trip in such a way that you could do without the hopper option. But not for a first trip.

Congratulations on your first trip, have fun, and welcome to the DIS!

We've been to WDW 39 times and have only visited the water parks a couple of times. We normally stay 10 nights or longer and have AP's, there just doesn't seem to be any days we want to dedicate to a water park. We take afternoon breaks, and enjoy lounging around the resort pool, we always stay deluxe and the pool area is themed fantastic. We believe we get enough enjoyment out of the pool instead of trekking to a water park but if the time and energy afforded us a trip to the water parks we would rather just pay out of pocket then have passes added to our tickets that we wouldn't use. We never get a package deals at Disney, room only and we buy AP's, packages come with way more items then you can use and you pay for all the extra stuff and usually return home with alot of things not used, waste of money. People believe they can go forever, the property is small, they will be bored with nothing to do, these are first timers, and end up buying too much, staying for only a few nights and rushing around like crazy to get things done. Spread out the wealth of Disney fun into a few trips, there is just too much to see and do and relaxing is primary on our vacations.

 

[stepdisney]

It's worth it for us. We went this year from August 30 until the 8th of September. Ten park days with hoppers would have been WAY to many park days without the water parks and more. There were no lines at the parks so we just walked on all of the rides. If you are staying 10 days, I would definately get the water parks and NOT the hoppers. It was so hot that week that if we had to wait in line we would have had a difficult time. Instead, we went to the water parks in the morning a couple of mornings (no lines) and then ate lunch at our resort and went to the parks in the evenings. We also went to disneyquest which is a part of your water park and more option. We will do this every year. My DS's love it every time. Hoppers are good if the parks are over crowded and you just run in and run to several rides and leave and go to other parks. We had the park hoppers previous years with the water park and more and for us it was a waste since we do the water parks and then the theme parks. It's just like hopping only one park is a water park, you just have 7 parks to choose from instead of four. It really depends on what your family likes. My boys LOVE the water slides and in August......so did I.

 

[eliza61]

planning the trip for the last week in august

We generally go this week also and always get the water park option but I think it depends on your family.
First, my kids love, love, love to swim so they enjoy the water parks. Next, August is really hot and the parks are open really late. We have plenty of time to go to a water park in the morning come back, shower and still have 5-6 hours in a park. My kids are older so they can definitely last a long time.
Last August we went for 10 days and used every one of our add on's at the water park.
Maybe you could skip the addition and just budget for the water park for 1 day, then do resort pool the rest of the time.

 

[Jrabbit910]

The water parks are fun but for our family it really depends on who is going and thier ages.. I think its a waste for little little ones as the pool is just as much fun in the resort... If budgeting is a concern think of the $200.00 at hand and what else you can do w/ it.... Since this is your first trip you might want to spend as much time in the parks to catch everything.
Also, is this trip booked yet... ? The time that you are going there might be the Disney Dining Special... sooooo the money that you would put towards food could be put towards the water parks instead...

Hope this helped & either way... going to WDW is a blast w/ or w/o the wp!

 

[naf917]

We have younger children and tend to skip the water parks, at least since the kids were born. We do sometimes take breaks during the day or even a whole day and just hang around the pool at the resort, if it is hot enough or we just want a relaxing day away from the parks.

I think going to the water parks is just like going to any other park. It can be crowded, a lot of waiting in lines for the rides and may not be as relaxing as one might imagine.

IMO, If you want a relaxing day save your money on the water parks and just hang arond the pool.

 

[Goofy_Girl]

I keep hearing about the Disney dining special.What is this and when should I book to get it? I want to book early for fear our week would not be available but at the same time if it's a special I want to take advantage of it. Can anyone fill me in about this Disney dining special.

 

[JDSNY10]

The Dining special is a special that Disney usually gives out in their off season... late Aug into Sept... and its free... You can read more about the Dining plan on Disney's web page..