Best Water Park with a 2 Year Old?

[Skwinkles]

I was thinking about adding a day at one of the water parks to our schedule and was looking for some help deciding. In general, DH and I prefer Typhoon Lagoon, but we have never taken DD, who just turned 2. Just wondering if anyone can help me as to which park would have more for her to do or better kiddie areas since she's obviously too small for the slides. Also, can she come on the lazy river with me in my tube?

Thanks!

 

[disneyderns]

Blizzard Beach is my vote...We were just there the 2 weeks ago. My son is not quite 2 yet, but absolutely loved it! They Tikes Peak area is perfect for kids that age. They have a shallow pool (no more than 2ft. deep - zero depth entry) with fountains and rocking alligators, etc. to play with. At the top of tikes peak (short walk) they have a little water playground with tiny slides that my son loved. He even went down both of the longer waterslides that are in that area. It's great because no one over 42" can ride the slides. The slides are very tame but he had a blast!

As for the lazy river, they have tubes with bottoms in and my DS rode in his own tube through the lazy river. The life guards were great on the lazy river (and everywhere else) - always saying hi to him. He made it the whole way around (even through the places where water poured down on him). He also liked the wave pool because it is much tamer than TL - he stayed in the shallows and tried to jump the waves, and then went deeper as long as Mom or Dad held him.

I hope I'm not rambling too much as I was a little worried about that day as well, but everything went so well...

PS - I recommend the garbage pail ice cream sundae --soooo good

 

[chicagoshannon]

Blizzard Beach is my vote...We were just there the 2 weeks ago. My son is not quite 2 yet, but absolutely loved it! They Tikes Peak area is perfect for kids that age. They have a shallow pool (no more than 2ft. deep - zero depth entry) with fountains and rocking alligators, etc. to play with. At the top of tikes peak (short walk) they have a little water playground with tiny slides that my son loved. He even went down both of the longer waterslides that are in that area. It's great because no one over 42" can ride the slides. The slides are very tame but he had a blast!

As for the lazy river, they have tubes with bottoms in and my DS rode in his own tube through the lazy river. The life guards were great on the lazy river (and everywhere else) - always saying hi to him. He made it the whole way around (even through the places where water poured down on him). He also liked the wave pool because it is much tamer than TL - he stayed in the shallows and tried to jump the waves, and then went deeper as long as Mom or Dad held him.

I hope I'm not rambling too much as I was a little worried about that day as well, but everything went so well...

PS - I recommend the garbage pail ice cream sundae --soooo good

That sounds great! Have you been to Typhoon Lagoon also?

We were planning on TL but now maybe we'll change to BB.

 

[disneyderns]

No - I honestly haven't been to TL, but I did so much research into which would be better. I also have a very timid DD age 8 so I wanted to make sure I had something for everyone. TL sounded good, but everywhere I looked said that with the exception of more sand at TL, BB was better for small kids.

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

We've been to both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach with our boys (last visit they were 4, 2 and 1) and BB wins hands down for the little ones.

TL is geared towards older kids / adults and has only a small area for the little ones. Plus, one thing at TL that really bugged my two youngest was that the kiddie area has these permanently mounted water blasters which kids can shoot at one another and my boys hated being sprayed every so often. They didn't want to stay at that spot and there weren't many other areas for them to play in.

The main wave pool at TL is definitely off-bounds for anyone under the age of 10, in my opinion. I watched DH get knocked off his feet a few times (by either the water or by being bumped by other people) so I can only imagine what would happen to a small child.

The family raft ride at BB is awesome - possibly a bit fast for some kids but we held the boys snug against us and it was a total gigglefest for them. We rode it 6 times!

We brought a waterproof disposable camera (bought at home - much cheaper that way!) to BB and got some great pics. There are also a bunch of Photopass folks around so carry your Photopass tag on a stretchy wrist thing to make it easy to use.

The family raft ride at BB:

The kiddie area:

Kiddie inner tube slide in kiddie area - that's my 2 year old coming down. The lifeguard catches them at the bottom (they're going pretty slow) and gives their tube a nudge towards the stairs (the water is very shallow and only one kid goes down at a time - there's a lifeguard at the top of the slide who monitors it)

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

PS - I recommend the garbage pail ice cream sundae --soooo good

Totally!!!

 

[allyphoe]

Another vote for BB - the year we had water-park APs and 2 3yos, we left TL mid-day and went back to BB because we weren't having any fun. My DD wanted to slide in the kid's area at TL, but the padded area at the end of the slide was so short, she'd tumble straight onto the textured concrete every time. Also, not a consideration for a 2yo, but for slightly older kids - the lazy river at BB is 6 inches shallower than the TL river. My DD was much happier knowing she could touch bottom if she fell out of her tube. (Not that that ever happened, but she's not particularly brave in the water.)

 

[Skwinkles]

Great info...thank you to everyone that answered!

MyDizneyBoyz - I love the swim floaties on your little one! Can you tell me the brand and where you got them? Was he able to stay afloat by himself in them?

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

Great info...thank you to everyone that answered!

MyDizneyBoyz - I love the swim floaties on your little one! Can you tell me the brand and where you got them? Was he able to stay afloat by himself in them?

The floats worked "okay". When he leaned forward in the water it worked well as it kept his chest up on the surface and so long as he lifted his head a bit he was in a good position. If he let his feet drift forward so he was laying more on his back it didn't do such a good job as there was no support under his head. They were comfortable, easy to move around in and gave me enough peace of mind that if they happened to get in water over their heads and I wasn't within arm's reach (which I always was - but you never know...) then it would keep them at the surface. I got them from One Step Ahead:

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=534705&cmSource=Search

 

[DisneyToddlers]

We've been to both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach with our boys (last visit they were 4, 2 and 1) and BB wins hands down for the little ones.

TL is geared towards older kids / adults and has only a small area for the little ones. Plus, one thing at TL that really bugged my two youngest was that the kiddie area has these permanently mounted water blasters which kids can shoot at one another and my boys hated being sprayed every so often. They didn't want to stay at that spot and there weren't many other areas for them to play in.

The main wave pool at TL is definitely off-bounds for anyone under the age of 10, in my opinion. I watched DH get knocked off his feet a few times (by either the water or by being bumped by other people) so I can only imagine what would happen to a small child.

The family raft ride at BB is awesome - possibly a bit fast for some kids but we held the boys snug against us and it was a total gigglefest for them. We rode it 6 times!

We brought a waterproof disposable camera (bought at home - much cheaper that way!) to BB and got some great pics. There are also a bunch of Photopass folks around so carry your Photopass tag on a stretchy wrist thing to make it easy to use.

The family raft ride at BB:

The kiddie area:

Kiddie inner tube slide in kiddie area - that's my 2 year old coming down. The lifeguard catches them at the bottom (they're going pretty slow) and gives their tube a nudge towards the stairs (the water is very shallow and only one kid goes down at a time - there's a lifeguard at the top of the slide who monitors it)

Your pics and info have me all excited to try BB with my 2 and 4 year olds this Sept. Also, thanks for the link for the puddle jumpers-looks great!

 

[goofygal531]

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=406124&kwtid=269592

They have additional colors. They're also much less than One Step Ahead!