Best water park for 7-8 year old?

[Spoiledraf]

Taking the grand kids next year. Last visit was at the Poly and all they wanted to do was use the pool and the water slide. Kinda bummed me out! After a couple hours at MK or AK they wanted to go back to the pool! It was in the mid 90s so they did have a good argument but they didn't want to go back and see the evening parade and fireworks. We have only gone to a water park one time and it was so crowded we left before getting in the water.
So, which water park is best for kids, 2-1/2, 7, 8, (these two are a little less daring) and 10?

 

[glassslippergirl]

I think you can't go wrong with either. Typhoon Lagoon seemed to have a better kids' area, but BB had a really great family slide (Teamboat Springs?) that might appeal to your more squeamish ones. The wave pool at TL is great, but there's a really cool "ski" lift to the upper slides at BB. Both have awesome lazy rivers. With all of that considered, My husband and I prefer the theming at BB, so se go there the most. But, like I say, both are great. Why not let the 7 and 8 year old decide?

 

[Gumbo4x4]

At 7-8, they should be big enough to enjoy the premier features of either water park. Maybe read a couple reviews to see which suits you best

 

[stm61]

Blizzard Beach has always been my kids favorite. Check out the Ski Patrol area, it's got kid sized slides, a zip line, and an ice floe walk across the pool thing. The water isn't deep, except under the zip line. The wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon is very rough. My kids always hated it until they were tall enough and strong enough swimmers to get out into deeper water. Even when staying in shallow water they got scraped up by adults by were fell on them when they were knocked over by the waves. The family raft ride at BB is also better, and you don't have to drag the raft up the stairs! The kids say the lazy river is better to, but I'm not sure why. The swim with the sharks thing at TL was a big draw at TL at 7/8, until we actually got there. Then half my kids decided they really didn't want to get in the water with real sharks lol. The braver kids loved it, though they did complain about the cold water, the others refused to get in until they were around 10ish, if I remember correctly.

 

[puffkin]

My DS8 and DH like Blizzard Beach better, my mom (who travels with us but still young at heart) and I like Typhoon Lagoon better. DS2 doesn't really have an opinion on the matter yet, but I guess he is the tie breaker

We have PAPs so we usually do both each trip....but honestly we all have a blast at either one.

 

[Momoftwins+1]

We just did Blizzard Beach with our two 7 year old sons, and 10 year old son in June and they had a blast. The 7 year olds were tall enough for all the big slides and too big for the little kid area which thrilled them since last time they were too small for everything pretty much.

10 year old loved the speed slides <which mommy refused to go on>

 

[mslhb]

We just went to Typhoon Lagoon with my DD(6). She is a big nervous nelly and loved it. We chose it over BB for the snorkeling. It was really cool and perfect 1st snorkeling experience for young kids. My DD especially loved the wave pool and could have spent all day there. Next trip we hope to try out BB. I think either park is a good choice!

 

[AllieBoo]

My kids are 8 and 15 now, and BB has always been their favorite water park. We love the "family raft ride" (Teamboat Springs) and they also love riding the ski lift up the mountain.

 

[Danadanes]

Taking the grand kids next year. Last visit was at the Poly and all they wanted to do was use the pool and the water slide. Kinda bummed me out! After a couple hours at MK or AK they wanted to go back to the pool! It was in the mid 90s so they did have a good argument but they didn't want to go back and see the evening parade and fireworks. We have only gone to a water park one time and it was so crowded we left before getting in the water. So, which water park is best for kids, 2-1/2, 7, 8, (these two are a little less daring) and 10?

Blizzard beach is by far better I think for your crowd. The wave pool at TL is very intimidating. The kid area at BB has more slides for kids and better shade. It's also better shaped to keep them in eyesight. TL big draws are the shark swim and crush gusher, which has a 48 inch requirement. The family raft ride at BB is wayyyyy better too.

 

[Aliceacc]

Not exactly what you asked, but....

Would you consider staying at the Beach Club and letting them enjoy Stormalong Bay?

That way, every time they went swimming (in my family, that's every afternoon at Disney. It keeps us all human. ) they would have access to the amazing pool complex.

And, of course, there's that phenomenal access to Epcot, great access to DHS, and a lower price tag than at the Poly. Oh, and no construction.

 

[FancyNancy]

My DD10 loves Blizzard Beach.

 

[MidgeD79]

Why choose one? The cost of a one day water park ticket is about the same as adding the water park feature to your tickets. We never just do one water park - it's impossible for us to choose!!

 

[wishtdream]

I feel your pain. It always hurts to hear your kids say "I just want to go back to the hotel and swim" when you spend a fortune on a vacation.

That said last trip we bought the water parks and more feature on our park passes and we would never go without it again.

My kids favorite children's area was at Blizzard Beach but we had an awesome time at both water parks. You will too.

 

[jenjersnap]

Blizzard Beach for the Ski Patrol area!

 

[stm61]

We just did Blizzard Beach with our two 7 year old sons, and 10 year old son in June and they had a blast. The 7 year olds were tall enough for all the big slides and too big for the little kid area which thrilled them since last time they were too small for everything pretty much.

10 year old loved the speed slides <which mommy refused to go on>

There are 2 kid's areas at BB. Most of the posters are talking about the Ski Patrol area, which is aimed at kids from about ages 4-12ish. The other kids area is for younger kids and has a "must be shorter then" height limit. I can't remember the name, but it's designed for kids 3 and under. Cm's will measure a taller child and ask them to leave, the only exception being playing with a smaller sibling and being close to the cut off height. The poster I quoted probably had her sons in the area for toddlers if they were to tall at 7 years old.

Remembered the name of the little kids area: Tyke's Peak!

 

[kathy884]

When DS was seven I picked Blizzard Beach over Typhoon Lagoon for one and only one reason: He loves a wave pool and as a former lifeguard, swim instructor, and competitive swimmer, I did not feel he was a strong enough swimmer to be in the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon with the huge waves, and I knew he would want to spend lots of time there. Despite my background even going into the wave pool and being with him every second, I would not have felt confident in my ability to keep him safe. The waves are just too powerful. The Blizzard Beach wave pool on the other hand was just fine for him. We had a great day and I was very happy with my choice.

 

[firstwdw]

We just did Blizzard Beach for the first water park in May with an. 8 year old. The ski patrol training area is awesome! It is for kids in between, too old for the kiddie area but not brave enough or ready for the bigger rides. Parents could even do some of the tamer slides. We loved the short tube ride in this section that ended in very shallow water(1-2feet deep). Wave pool is wonderful and tubes are avail to float on the waves. Lazy river is great too. Plus we met Goofy in his bathing suit. I have no done the other water park but was very pleased with our choice to do BB.

 

[jklmw]

We have only been to TL one time. We rented chairs at TL, does BB offer chair rental? We have an 18 month old and we need a home base. Leaving in 4 days for an impromptu trip.