Blizzard Beach - morning or afternoon?

[iheartgoofy]

It's hard to believe, but I've been to Disney World 20+ times... but never been to Blizzard Beach! I'm leaving in a couple weeks and wondering when to go. My instinct would be to get there as early as possible and leave in the mid afternoon.... but I'm assuming that's what most people do. So maybe it's better to head over around 2 pm and stay til close? My thought is most people with small kids probably do the morning to mid-afternoon thing and then head back for naps. I'll be with teens, so I wonder if I'm better off heading over later in the day. Any thoughts?

 

[ProudMommyof2]

I would also love to hear some feedback on this

 

[DAZY3BYZ]

Most people do go early and then leave mid-afternoon in our experience. I would assume your teens will want to do Summit Plummet. That will be the ride that has the worst line. I think you may have a good experience going in late and staying till close as the park does start to clear out around 3 or so. The only thing with going in the afternoon is that you do run the risk of running into those pesky afternoon t-storms. If that happens, they shut everything down for safety reasons. We love BB!! You'll have a wonderful time!! What ever you choose just make sure you either get there EARLY and go straight to SP or wait and go later when the crowds have thinned for the day. Mid-day will be very busy!Enjoy!

 

[iheartgoofy]

When they close for thunderstorms, do they allow people to hang around and wait it out? I know they usually don't last long, but since there's so much water I wondered if they have to make everyone leave the park completely.

 

[goNsoon2WDW]

I was glad to see this question. I am interested in this as well. We will be going in October with our boys (13 yrs & 10 yrs).

How long would be an appropriate amount of time to plan on spending at BB? Is this something that would be a 10-5 activity?

It almost sounds like we might want to go to a theme park in the morning and then head to BB for a couple of hours in the afternoon and then back to the theme park for the evening with dinner. Is this possible or is that way too much coming-and-going?

 

[DAZY3BYZ]

They do not make you leave. We had a rough day last year with on and off again T-storms at TL. We just kept waiting it out and waiting for them to have the all clear to re-open rides. You can always shop or eat during those times. Most of the time the storms are short lived and honestly people clear out in droves when it rains so it makes the parks even better when they do re-open. Once when we were at BB it was only raining, no thunder/lightning, so no rides closed. The park pretty much emptied out but we stayed. We figured we were already wet so who cares? All the slides were walk on. It was awesome!

 

[bdink921]

When we went to BB we arrived around 2-230. Our DS was 11 so we headed off to the area for tweens (Ski Patrol, I think) and found a couple of chairs to drop off our stuff. Lots of people were leaving and as the time went by, the park got less and less busy. There was always a line for the ski lift -- even near closing (we just used the stairs). We didn't do SP, but did the family raft slide a few times, used the lazy river to get from slide to slide and had a blast. There were still lines at all of the slides, but they were really short -- I'd say less than 5-10 minutes. We did everything we wanted to and still had time to relax -- for us, 3 hours was the right amount of time because of the lower crowds.

When we went to TL, we arrived at opening and as the minutes passed, the lines got much longer and the park got very crowded -- wall to wall at the wave pool and packed in the lazy river. We got a few things done in the first hour, but forget going on things multiple times. We stayed from opening til about 2 and there was plenty we didn't get to see/do.

We definitely loved our day at BB much better having arrived later in the day. TL is a beautiful park and next time we visit, we'll go in the mid afternoon, when most people are on their way out.

 

[dthogue]

We are doing both parks next week and we plan to arrive between 2-3 pm and stay til closing - I'm hoping that the crowds thin out, plus the fact that we are rope drop people at the parks and I don't want to miss that prime time in another park in the morning.

 

[puffkin]

IF you have a flexible schedule I would check the weather that day. If there is a pretty low chance of t-storms, go mid afternoon. If your schedule is not that flexible, then I would go first thing in the morning. I just wouldn't want to spend the money or risk not getting to really enjoy the park because of T-Storms.

We have not always found the t-storms to be quick 20-30 minute hits and then gone. Many times they have drug into the evenings for us. We have a running joke in our family about going to Epcot in the evenings. No matter when we go to Disney, storms always roll in during the afternoon and last all night when we have plans for Epcot

 

[hlsst7]

I read that they close the water parks once they reach capacity. Has anyone gone in the afternoon and been turned away?

 

[dtchgrl]

Based on our experience last year, I would definitely do the afternoon thing.
We went to BB in the morning, well before rope drop. It was much more time consuming b/c we had to stand at the turnstile, then stand at the rope drop, etc. And of course the lines build quickly. The line for the lift to Summitt Plummet got long very quickly (we were there very late Aug/early Sept). If you do go at opening, don't set up camp anywhere near the front of the park. Everyone is in such a hurry to get onto slides that the seating gets crowded anywhere near the front half of the park. We were packed in like sardines but when we went on the lazy river, we passed lots of more open spots with plenty of chairs towards the back. ALSO, if at all possible, USE THE SINGLE RIDER LINE for the lift! My teens were able to do it over and over b/c that enabled them to walk right to the front of the line. Its only a two minute ride so who care if you have to sit by strangers for a few moments. Its worth it.
We went to TL in the afternoon and that was much better. Again, take your time finding spot far back. It was packed all around the big wave pool, but lots of open spots around the shark viewing.

FYI, we thought that in general the slides at BB were better than TL. The thing they like the most at TL was catching the big waves (but my teens are competitive swimmers...other than them and a few 20-something guys, most people had a hard time with the endurance needed to do it and just ended up being crashed on by the waves.)

 

[kidd_freeper]

We were at WDW a month ago for 12 days. Had 5 days at the waterparks (4 at BB, 1 at TL)

We tried to go to the theme parks every other day, resting on our non-park days. We used part of our "rest" days at the waterparks

We typically arrived at 2pm.


If I had a choice, I would have gone to the waterparks at opening, but my family needed to sleep in a bit after a late night at a theme park.

Reason: in July, it rained every day in the mid afternoon. The rain was always accompanied by thunder/lightning...which meant that the waterparks stopped for several hours. After the lightning had passed, typically after a 2 hour wait, the park was empty and most things were walk-ons. But 2 hours was a long wait. If we had been there at the opening, we would've gotten in a good 6 hours of waterpark before the lightning.

 

[ujpest_doza]

We get there at 10 and stay till about 4 or 4.30 and leave just before closing

 

[ArielDreams]

I was just there on Thursday for my first time ever (like you, I've been to Disney many many times but just never made it to BB before!) It was the last day of our trip and we had an 8pm flight that night so we didn't have the option of going in the afternoon. I was initially worried because we weren't staying on property and it was an EMH morning for BB - I thought it might mean longer lines for the rest of us. But, we were there with tickets at 8:30 and the CM let us "regular people" into the park at 8:45. I did not want to ride Summit Plummit but BF did so he waited in line for that immediately while I went to rent us a locker/go to the bathroom etc. I read the posted line time was 30 minutes but it ended up being less than 20 which was great! Then we did the family tube ride, followed by all three slides on the red slope. We waited for the Double Dipper far too long (the line was quite deceiving) and then did the two slides you need mats for (you can see I'm horrible at remembering the names!). After that, we had a leisurely lunch and hung out in the wave pool and lazy river the rest of the day. At 1:30, we got changed, poked around the shops and were ready to head out. We got all of the slides we wanted accomplished before there were massive lines. We're more "hang out in the lazy river" types anyway. So, it's definitely do-able in the morning unless you're really into doing the slides over and over again.

 

[kwdw]

I definitely agree with the "check the weather forecast" advice.

Okay - so on the same beautiful October day last year - I started at BB in the morning and arrived at TL in the afternoon. At Blizzard Beach - we arrive about 45 minutes after opening and there were NO chairs to be found that were free. Lines were not too long initially, but people were still swarming in. Lines were getting worse while we were there. The Summit Plummet line was 45 minutes long!

We got to TL about 2:30 until close. We did manage to find a couple chairs by the main wave pool. Honestly, lines were not as bad as BB overall - but they got even shorter by the time we left. At the end of the day, my boyfriend just kept riding again and again the Crush n Gusher without waiting for more than one or two people each time.

So - that particular day - BB was much more crowded than TL. I don't know if that is common or not. And it definitely thinned out at the end of the day. Alot of people didn't stay until closing that day - and it was a beautiful sunny day in the mid-80s.

 

[mill4023]

We get there at 10 and stay till about 4 or 4.30 and leave just before closing

This is what the vast majority of people do.

So if you want to avoid lines, be there at 8:45 and hit the big slides early.
OR
Arrive at 2 and hit the big slides late.

We've done both and either one can work out great. I actually prefer doing the afternoons, but as someone else pointed out, you've got a much bigger risk of thunderstorms in the afternoons/evenings. So check the weather forecast, then decide.

 

[jessily]

We were there about a half hour before opening on the Thursday after 4th of July. It was an EMH day so I think the park opened at 8 am. We rode every slide (some slides 2-4 times) and spent some time in the wave pool and lazy river... all by 10:30. We left then and the park was really starting to fill up (but the lines for everything except Summit Plummet still seemed short). Not sure if the short lines were due to EMH morning, but we find that it's always best to arrive early to any of the parks.

 

[ujpest_doza]

This is what the vast majority of people do.

So if you want to avoid lines, be there at 8:45 and hit the big slides early.
OR
Arrive at 2 and hit the big slides late.

We've done both and either one can work out great. I actually prefer doing the afternoons, but as someone else pointed out, you've got a much bigger risk of thunderstorms in the afternoons/evenings. So check the weather forecast, then decide.

As we usually go in March, May or October the water parks haven't usually opened until 10AM other wise we would go earlier.

We spend a lot of time in the lazy river or just relaxing and just make a whole day of it rather than trying to cram lots of slides in and then leave. We treat a water park day as a kind of rest day really.

 

[Magic3forme]

we went 2 weeks ago. we were there right after rope drop. By 10:45 on both days, swarms of tour groups came in, and the lines were super long by then. and at 12:00 the lines for food were really really long too. Summit Plum was an hr wait during 12-2.

the groups left around 2:30 to 3 each day. and it really made a difference.
just from a crowd stand point.

we stayed until 4:15.. the t'storms started in, and the park wasnt closed, but no one was allowed in the water.

we didnt do the late times, we had dinner reservations.

but I agree with everyone, go early if possible!!

 

[ParrotBill]

We went early to both TL and BB last week, got all the good rides done quick, then enjoyed the pool and lazy river before leaving.

It was more crowded at BB since it is more popular with teens... as others said the crowds arrived about 10am.

My 9 year old daughter caught a case of insanity and went down the lower of the two tall slides!