Blizzard beach advice needed

[ktbugsmom]

We go to Disney every year - however, we have never done the waterparks. Well, I am now going on a spontaneous trip at the end of August, and my sister and her kids want to go to Blizzard Beach.

I am the planner of the group - but have no advice on BB! I tried to do a search - but it was not working.

We are two sisters (me and my sis - late 30s) and 3 kids ages 6, 8 and 10. They can all swim and all love slides.

We are planning on going on Friday morning Aug. 25 - since I figured Saturday would get more locals. We will get there right at opening and get a locker and chairs ASAP. After that, I am stumped. Any slides we should do ASAP? How crowded do you think it will be? Is staying until 1 or 2pm long enough? (The park opens at 8:30am)

Any tips are appreciated. Thanks much! I am so excited to try out a waterpark. We normally go in January, so we always skip them...

 

[Bob P]

Lots of info here:

http://allearsnet.com/btp/bb.htm

It will be crowded and by 10 or 11 the lines for the slides will be as long or longer than the lines for the rides in the parks.

We usually stay until right after lunch, but we do all the slides first thing in the morning.

 

[ryley26]

We do the same thing big slides early and wave pool and little slides till 1:00. After that just to hot to be in the sun for that long.

 

[sameyeyam]

We do the slides first thing, no lines in the mornings. Then when lines start getting long we do the wave pool and lazy river. We normally get there when they first open and then leave around 2-3pm, that's plenty of time to do everything.

If you have any kids that like to go underwater I suggest bringing goggles and letting them dive for money in the Lazy River. Most money to be had first thing in the morning, but my son usually makes $5-$15 each day from change he finds in the Lazy River.

My family would rather go to Disney waterparks than the themeparks. They are much cooler, a lot of fun and no pounding the hot asphalt all day!

 

[ILvRbnHd]

if anyone in your group wants to do summit plummit do that first!!! i was there on a saturday (jul 29th) and we didnt go to that one first we started small then were gonna go up... but then after the park only having been opened two hrs the lines for summit plummit were already 2hrs long and remained that way til we left at 530.. and none of us wanted to stand in line for two hrs for a 10 second drop... with y'all going on friday i do not know if that will make a diff in how long the line will be for plummit that day...

i also planned to have my lunch around 11ish... cause about 1145 is when the places to eat started to fill up and tables were full... so by starting at 11.. we got our food right away and had a nice shaded table right away...

if youre bringing your own food try to be the first at the park so you can "claim" your picnic table in the sand... put your crap all over it to stake your claim and then go back for your lunches.. thats what i noticed everyone did that brought their own.. there is not very many picnic tables that i noticed so its really first come first serve... as well with all the lounge chairs..

also the earlier you go the better lockers you get (closer to the main entrance/exit) the later you go you get stuck with the lockers in the middle of the park.. and there arent benches around it for you to sit on to make it easier as with the ones close to the entrance/exit.. small lockers fit a wal mart bag full of change of clothes my friend brought and her towel... and a large locker fit the good sized backpack i brought stuffed to the brink with stuff... the large lockers are 12.00 and you get a 5.00 refund when you bring the key back... i do not know what my friend paid or got for her small locker tho..

thats all i can think of hope this helps.. and have fun..

 

[hamlet35_2000]

We just got back, and the best advice I can give you is to go early and get the slides in right away. We went for early morning for resort guests, and the park opened an hour earlier for anyone staying on Disney property. Another tip is that don't go all the way over to the towel and rental place, as you are coming in there is a store on the left that rents lockers and towels and you can avoid any kind of a line at the other place. Even when we left much later, there was a line at the place by the lockers and no wait in the store at front.

 

[ktbugsmom]

Thanks everyone!!

Great advice all around. My sister does not do slides so much, so I will be running the kids around to those and will plan to do it ASAP! Then we can do some smaller slides and lazy river stuff. Cool.

Any thoughts on that "family" raft - I forget what it is called. Does that get super busy fast?

And yes, we will be taking advantage of the early morning hours - which start at 8:30am. Hopefully that will help some. I also feel the crowds will be down a bit since many places are already back at school - but I could be wrong.

I will have the kids bring their goggles and search for money! Man... maybe I will do that too!

As always - you guys are great!

 

[essmom]

Family ride is Teamboat Springs and was our favotie- also the longest one- we didn't like SLUsher gusher- it sprays in your face and you can't see or breathe- YUCK!!! We went at 8 and lines were long by 10. also, if you get the refillable mug- lines were very long for that- we just bought a few cokes- friends bought a cooler in- which is allowed!!It's fun but not fun when crowds are so long- should be better for you with bigger kids in school!!!

 

[ktbugsmom]

Thanks essmom. Teamboat Springs sounds like a winner for us. I will stay away from the other one you mention. I wear glasses - so that would just plain be yucky for me! I can't go without them, so I have a strap to keep me from losing them - but lots of water on them is also a pain. I will have my sister hold my glassses if I have to do any of the steep slides with the kids. I can be blind for brief periods of time!

Yes, hopefully, with the big kids will be back in school, the crowds won't be horrible and we can get a couple good hours on the slides. Then I would not mind enjoying the lazy river and other things where I don't have to stand in line.

Thanks again to all! Such wonderful advice. I am looking forward to my first trip to Blizzard Beach. And, if we like it enough and I get a warm day when we are there in January, I will take my husband and DD again!

 

[HopperFan]

When you enter, cross the bridge and go right. Head to the Ski Patrol Area. Once inside pass the icebergs on your left, bath house on your right. Keep going and looking to the right. There is a little cul-de-sac of sand just off the "pool deck" that has two picnic tables that are COVERED and lots of lounges. It actually backs up to the lazy river. We grab the one on the left. Put our stuff on table and only take enough lounges for each. GREAT spot ! Another family usually takes the other table/cover but no one else usually ventures in.

You are in the Ski Patrol area so you could actually relax alittle while kids play there, you are a hop to the lockers and bathroom, not far at all from the ski lift, stairs or lazy river entrance. As some of our group float by on lazy river they call out to whoever is there. We are a group of wide ages but we can make a whole day of it there since we have cover from the sun, room to relax and our own table to eat. We bring some snacks and cooler with drinks, and buy lunch and treats, carrying it back to our private table to eat it.

 

[ktbugsmom]

Thank you hopperfan! That sounds perfect! I am going to print off your notes and try to find that spot! My sister will think I am crazy, but she trusts me because she knows I do all of the Disney planning and have never let her down yet!

 

[HopperFan]

Look at this map http://www.wdisneyw.co.uk/bbmap.html.
The spot is approximately just below where the #14 is located. That says the climbing wall, although I have never seen it in use.
It looks like these, but there is only two in a private space http://www.wdwinfo.com/Photos/Blizzard-Beach/pages/Sitting Area DSC00109.htm. Oh, and it is close to the end of the Family Raft ride that is ASWESOME !

There are a FEW of these http://www.allearsnet.com/btp/bb139.jpg hanging over the lazy river on your right as you go towards the Ski Patrol area, they go fast. But if you see one, and you like it, you may want to grab it.

PS I SENT YOU A PM.

 

[ktbugsmom]

Again - many thanks Hopperfan and all! I was not that excited about BB at first, but now I am! Sent you a PM note as well.

 

[Jules123]

Can you charge your locker and towel rental to your KTTW card?

 

[mmmears]

Yes, we charged the towels and lockers to our room charge card.

I would second the suggestion of setting up near the Ski Patrol (pre-teen) area. With kids of the ages you mentioned, you can rest and keep you eyes on them there at the same time. (we set up at the bottom of the ski patrol slides under a nice cover of shade).

The family ride (Teamboat Springs) get a huge line -- make sure you do this one soon after you start. With EMH, you should have about and hour and a half to do the big slides before the lines become long. After that, try the preteen area. The lazy river is one of our favorites -- it's filled with lots of "surprises" for the kids, so they like it, too.

We go the Melt Away Bay last, since there is plenty of room there.

Especially with EMH you should be done by 1 or 2 pm, I would think!

Have a great time there -- BB is a favorite of ours!!!

 

[rlovew]

Make sure everyone has water shoes of some kind. It is much easier on your feet especially in the wave pool. Don't forget to get your tubes before heading up to the tube rides. Other than teamboat springs these are my favorite slides in the park. I have never stayed at a Disney water park much past lunch. It is just too much for me and DH.

 

[clonetothebone]

I agree about setting up in the ski patrol training camp area. Centrally located and if you don't have kids you aren't allowed.

Another bit of advice...there are two ways to get up to the top where Teamboat Springs, Slush Gusher, and Summitt Plummit are located. You can use the stairs which begin just behind the Ski Patrol Area or use the chair lift. The stairs are almost always going to be faster than the chair lift. We did the chair lift once when the line wasn't long and then one more time later in the morning when my legs were worn out.

We arrived at opening and left by 1245 and did every slide at least once and lazy river. We didn't get in the wave pool. This was the most tiring day of the entire trip. My legs were noodles by the time we finished up at MK that evening.

 

[clonetothebone]

Make sure everyone has water shoes of some kind. It is much easier on your feet especially in the wave pool. Don't forget to get your tubes before heading up to the tube rides. Other than teamboat springs these are my favorite slides in the park. I have never stayed at a Disney water park much past lunch. It is just too much for me and DH.

Is good to have the water shoes to walk around in but you must remove them on the slides for safety reasons. Plan on holding onto them if you wear them and then go on a slide.

 

[kaybird]

Oddly, Disney has a pretty good info page online about BB. We LOVE teamboat springs, and think the tube rides are really great!

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/parkLanding?id=BBLandingPage

 

[cepmom]

I have a quick question...I hope the OP doesn't mind ~

we plan on going to BB on Sunday of Labor Day weekend ( we will be getting off a Disney Cruise and have an old hopper with one "plus" option left) The park opens at 10:00 that day, so I figure we can be there for opening, but they will be having AM EMH that day.

How bad can we expect the crowds to be on a Sunday? TIA