Best day for water park?

[1disneychic]

it has been quite a while since we’ve gone to a water park. We are planning to go to typhoon lagoon this summer in July on our trip. Any day you would or would not recommend? Also having a chair isn’t important for us since we won’t be there all day. I think we’ll just rent a locker for our stuff. I think the cost I found somewhere for lockers was around $10. Anyone know the cost for sure?

 

[hakepb]

Im guessing a weekend is the busiest.
Earlier in the week may be better?(since most guests start in the parks)

Lockers at Water Parks
Each Disney water park features keyless lockers that can be used throughout the day for a one-time charge. To rent a locker, visit one of the electronic kiosks in the locker areas and choose the size you want. After payment, you can select a 4-digit PIN (Personal Identification Number) that will open your assigned locker.

Regular Large
12.5" x 10" x 17" 15.5" x 13" x 17"
$10/day $15/day

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Any day is a good day for a Disney water park, in my book.

 

[Linkura]

Im guessing a weekend is the busiest.
Earlier in the week may be better?(since most guests start in the parks)

Yeah, a weekday is going to be best. We went on a Monday I think? And it was pretty dead.

 

[1disneychic]

Thank you for your responses. I think our plans are to go on Monday or Tuesday so hopefully not too busy. We are hoping to get there in the morning but it might not be at park opening as that will be our resort switch day.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thank you for your responses. I think our plans are to go on Monday or Tuesday so hopefully not too busy. We are hoping to get there in the morning but it might not be at park opening as that will be our resort switch day.

FWIW, we did a water park day on our switch day during a split stay earlier this year. We ended up being very happy with that plan, worked out well for us. Got there at 10 when the park opened and stayed until around 3pm. Got the room ready text on the bus to the resort. Have fun!

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

I've been a few times to both. I remember getting there EARLY was a good thing!!

 

[Linkura]

I've been a few times to both. I remember getting there EARLY was a good thing!!

Yup, we RDed Blizzard Beach and it worked out very well. RDing it doesn't mean getting up super early either. They open at 10am usually. We had an 8:30 breakfast at Boma and then took the bus at AKL (back when AKL had a direct bus, don't think they do anymore). We still got there way early. Place was empty. Did basically every ride and then took a cab to Typhoon Lagoon and that was pretty dead too.

I'd recommend work on getting there maybe a half hour early at most so you can grab a locker and get yourself sorted.

 

[Klayfish]

We've been to both parks at least 15 or 20 times each, we LOVE them. It makes no difference whatsoever what day you pick. Weekends are a bit busier because locals come, but even then it's not too bad. Since there are no FP+...at least not yet, they're coming...show up at park open and you'll get a ton done.

 

[Shanti]

Thank you for your responses. I think our plans are to go on Monday or Tuesday so hopefully not too busy. We are hoping to get there in the morning but it might not be at park opening as that will be our resort switch day.

Expect it to be very busy, regardless of which day you go. The Disney theme parks aren't too crowded in July, but the water parks are. Going first thing doesn't even help as much with water park crowds as it does at the theme parks, as the water parks don't open until 10am, when even the late-birds are ready to be at the parks. So you just have to cope with the crowds.

I recommend arriving 15 minutes before opening & doing the rides that will have the longest lines (Miss Adventure Falls in TL, Summit Plummet in BB) first.

The Disney water parks are wonderful in spite of their crowding in the summer. Have fun!

 

[1disneychic]

Do they ever run out of lockers? We are thinking of TS breakfast, moving luggage to our new resort by Minnie van or Uber, and then heading out. The longest wait will probably be for a bus to typhoon lagoon. I’d like to be there by 10:00 but for some reason I thought that it usually ended up opening at 9:00.

 

[hakepb]

Do they ever run out of lockers? We are thinking of TS breakfast, moving luggage to our new resort by Minnie van or Uber, and then heading out. The longest wait will probably be for a bus to typhoon lagoon. I’d like to be there by 10:00 but for some reason I thought that it usually ended up opening at 9:00.

I’ve never arrived before the afternoon (the few times I’ve been in July) and always got a locker.

 

[Flora Fan]

We went on a rainy day in July and the place was almost empty. There was a thunderstorm that came through. Once the storm passed, we called and discovered they were open. We had wait times in the single digits. Best day ever!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Do they ever run out of lockers? We are thinking of TS breakfast, moving luggage to our new resort by Minnie van or Uber, and then heading out. The longest wait will probably be for a bus to typhoon lagoon. I’d like to be there by 10:00 but for some reason I thought that it usually ended up opening at 9:00.

The water parks usually open at 10AM.

Are you committed to using a rideshare service to move your luggage to resort #2 before going to the water park that morning?

FWIW, while Minnie Vans will move luggage, there is really not much room for bags AT ALL. They will only let you bring what fits. If you aren’t using the car seats that are otherwise stored in the back, don’t expect to be able to fit much, if anything.

In case you don’t know, Disney will move bags between two resorts. It’s incredibly useful for split stays. You don’t typically get your bags at resort #2 until late in the day, but with some planning and a day bag with anything needed, that’s typically not an issue.

The current bus setup from the resorts to either water park is a pain. For TL, you have to transfer at DS. For BB, you have to transfer at AK. It can end up taking a lot of time and I strongly dislike trying to get to water park rope drop with this setup as it’s so hard to peg the timing correctly.

 

[Klayfish]

Expect it to be very busy, regardless of which day you go. The Disney theme parks aren't too crowded in July, but the water parks are. Going first thing doesn't even help as much with water park crowds as it does at the theme parks, as the water parks don't open until 10am, when even the late-birds are ready to be at the parks.

I don't know when you go to Disney, but I don't agree whatsoever with this. We go to the water parks a lot in June and July and they aren't anywhere near as crowded as the theme parks. Going early absolutely helps a ton, without a doubt. From 10am to 11am, you can get on any of the big slides with no lines...we've done it countless times over the past 3 summers. I can't tell you how many times I've spent 45 minutes running up the stairs to Summit Plummet, sliding down, and running back up to do it again. No wait. Same for Humunga Kowabunga, Slush n Gusher, Crush Gusher, Miss Adventure Falls. The parks get busiest from about 11am to 4pm. Since there is no FP+ quite yet, that's the time to do things like the wave pool or lazy river. Then after 4pm, go back to the slides.

 

[pangyal]

I don't know when you go to Disney, but I don't agree whatsoever with this. We go to the water parks a lot in June and July and they aren't anywhere near as crowded as the theme parks. Going early absolutely helps a ton, without a doubt. From 10am to 11am, you can get on any of the big slides with no lines...we've done it countless times over the past 3 summers. I can't tell you how many times I've spent 45 minutes running up the stairs to Summit Plummet, sliding down, and running back up to do it again. No wait. The parks get busiest from about 11am to 4pm. Since there is no FP+ quite yet, that's the time to do things like the wave pool or lazy river. Then after 4pm, go back to the slides.

As a waterpark veteran, are you able to give an estimate of average wait times for the big/most popular slides during that 11-4 timeframe ?

 

[Klayfish]

As a waterpark veteran, are you able to give an estimate of average wait times for the big/most popular slides during that 11-4 timeframe ?

Well, it would be an estimate, because we don't go on them between 11-4. Once we have to wait in a line that's more than a few minutes long, we stop hitting the "big" slides and move toward the smaller ones. During peak summer mid-day, they post the wait times as 45 to 60 minutes. Judging by the lines, I'd say that's about right. The one exception I'd say is Summit Plummet. It's one person at a time and they only send a person roughly every 30 seconds. So that line probably gets to be a bit more than an hour at its' very, very worst. Downhill Double Dipper may get an hour too, as it moves pretty slow. Humunga Kowabunga at TL is 3 at a time, so it's faster.

Another great time to go is right after a t-storm. It tends to clear a lot of the crowd out. If it's just raining, with no lightning, they will stay open. That's a great time too, and actually pretty fun.

I think it's likely FP+ will appear at both parks this summer. They were testing it last summer at Blizzard Beach, and we got to take part in on two different days. It helped for Summit Plummet, a lot. For DDD and Teamboat Springs, it was near useless. Hopefully, they'll have some of the "bugs" worked out of it this year.

 

[Shanti]

I don't know when you go to Disney, but I don't agree whatsoever with this. We go to the water parks a lot in June and July and they aren't anywhere near as crowded as the theme parks. Going early absolutely helps a ton, without a doubt. From 10am to 11am, you can get on any of the big slides with no lines...we've done it countless times over the past 3 summers. I can't tell you how many times I've spent 45 minutes running up the stairs to Summit Plummet, sliding down, and running back up to do it again. No wait. Same for Humunga Kowabunga, Slush n Gusher, Crush Gusher, Miss Adventure Falls. The parks get busiest from about 11am to 4pm. Since there is no FP+ quite yet, that's the time to do things like the wave pool or lazy river. Then after 4pm, go back to the slides.

11am - 4pm is the majority of the time the water parks are open, and yes, it's quite crowded then during July. You can't get all of the rides in the water park done between 10 and 11, no matter how fast you are. I'll also assume by the tone of your post that you've never been at a water park on the same day that a large Latin American tour group shows up...They really add to lines and wait times.

Also, it often rains during the mid and late afternoon in summer. A thunderstorm can lower crowds, but it also closes rides, sometimes permanently. I have been there on some days where the rain and/or lightning sighting is so persistent, the park's slides are mostly closed from mid-afternoon onward, so getting on slides after 4pm isn't always an option in summer.

Sure it's nice to have short lines after a thunderstorm (after waiting under shelter for 1-2 hours for the storm to end), but it stinks when after 20 minutes, the slides are closed again because more lightning was spotted. And then it starts to rain again...

Nonlocals who only have one day devoted to the water park have no choice but to do the slides midday, because that might be the only time available to them.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Last time we purposely did a water park on our third day, which I really liked. - It was too short a trip for a real "rest day" but still made for a slow-start morning and a shorter day in the middle of four busy ones.

It happened to be a Thursday, and while there seemed to be a decent crowd at opening, it spread out really quickly, and I didn't feel our waits were too long at all.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Bell services will move your bags to the 2nd resort for you, no need to do so yourself in the am. The earlier the better if you all want to go on the big slides. If you just want to go in the wave pools and lazy river, etc., then anytime is fine.