Blizzard Beach was full today (4/6/25) - hotel guests turned away

[VGCgroupie]

That should be a very busy day, can you report back on what the crowd level is like in the park?

Yep I will. We have BB the 16th, then all the other parks from the 17th-21st.

 

[FireflyTrance]

We have Blizzard Beach planned for our 1st day, April 16. Honestly didn't really think about it being at capacity. Thanks for posting! I will not lollygag around and get there as early as we can.

Edit: just want to be sure it didn't come across like I was saying you lollygagged around. We are taking the red eye so we will be there early, I just tend to stop in the shops, grab food, see the sights etc, I will be more mindful in order to get there early

No worries, I didn’t take it that way. We did kind of lollygag around that morning because I didn’t expect it to be full. Hopefully this post helps some others arrive earlier though.

 

[TandDandE]

It's been so long since I've been there with two water parks open. When they're both open, I'm curious if there will be a way to know which one is fuller before trekking over. My girls float in the lazy river 90% of the time, so it doesn't matter to them which park we go to.

 

[scrappinginontario]

It's been so long since I've been there with two water parks open. When they're both open, I'm curious if there will be a way to know which one is fuller before trekking over. My girls float in the lazy river 90% of the time, so it doesn't matter to them which park we go to.

I’m not aware of a way to know this as wait times at water parks are not shared.

 

[focusondisney]

Gotta agree there no matter what the T&C say. After all “fair” is not “legal”, it’s seemingly appropriate. If you’re going to show up to go to the park, everyone who shows up should be given 1 day passes good for any day of your stay. While for you this didn’t help, for others it might and it seems pretty fair since they can’t cap demand.

This is also an excellent reminder to anyone looking to use this perk- you better be there at park open if it’s a warm day!

Respectfully disagree with the bolded. If they wanted guests to be able to go any day of their stay, they would have offered that in the first place. Anyone turned away has the option to return later. What about guests who arrive late in the day? They don’t get to utilize this perk either. And they don’t get to go a different day either.

For once Disney tried to do something extra, but people still aren’t happy. I’m guessing if too many people complain, they won’t even bother offering this benefit again.

 

[traveler9]

Respectfully disagree with the bolded. If they wanted guests to be able to go any day of their stay, they would have offered that in the first place. Anyone turned away has the option to return later. What about guests who arrive late in the day? They don’t get to utilize this perk either. And they don’t get to go a different day either.

For once Disney tried to do something extra, but people still aren’t happy. I’m guessing if too many people complain, they won’t even bother offering this benefit again.

They shouldn’t have offered it without both parks being open at the same time.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Hello FreflyTrance,
What you should do next time you are planning to go to Blizzard Beach is you should call Blizzard Beach ahead of time and ask if the park will be full on the day you go. Because the smart rule of thumb is when you plan to visit a place but it is full is to call ahead and it will save the hassle of waiting for the park to be less busy
Dodger

 

[elvispursley]

Or just get there ahead of park opening. Not sure how a park can predict capacity throughout the day. I’d just go in with the thought that the park could fill to capacity and get there early.

 

[Flash_Sloth]

Wow, I guess the new free-waterpark-on-arrival-day perk has really increased the crowds. I have the waterparks option on my AP so I can go any day I'm there.

I usually don't do mornings or full days at the waterparks, but try to do rope drop & ETPE at one of the 4 main parks and sometimes a waterpark in the afternoon. But if they're reaching capacity, maybe I should dedicate a day to a waterpark.

WDW transportation to get from a theme park to a WP is painful (except for DAK->BB), and it would be really disappointing to do that and then be turned away if they're at capacity.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Has anyone confirmed if ‘at capacity’ meant they stopped buses too? I have not heard or read that anywhere.

I understand parking was full but I’m not convinced that they were not transporting guests from resorts via bus to the water park. I would think if that was happening it would have been mentioned somewhere.

If that happened, can someone please post a link to that information?

 

[lanejudy]

Has anyone confirmed if ‘at capacity’ meant they stopped buses too? I have not heard or read that anywhere.

I understand parking was full but I’m not convinced that they were not transporting guests from resorts via bus to the water park. I would think if that was happening it would have been mentioned somewhere.

If that happened, can someone please post a link to that information?

There is a post on the Resorts Forum thread that might be saying that…? Maybe @Disturbia can confirm.

 

[Disturbia]

No they did not stop buses. Resort guests were still being allowed in. We saw the big ‘at Capacity’ sign while being driven in and it took a few extra mins because cars had to turn around. Cars were being turned around as there was no parking; we saw cars parked on grass and those were packed as well).

 

[scrappinginontario]

No they did not stop buses. Resort guests were still being allowed in. We saw the big ‘at Capacity’ sign while being driven in and it took a few extra mins because cars had to turn around. Cars were being turned around as there was no parking; we saw cars parked on grass and those were packed as well).

Thank you for confirming this!

If a parking lot is full, a parking lot is full. They cannot create more spaces and all it does is cause challenges, confusion and frustration when people are driving around but there are no available spaces.

Thank you @Disturbia for confirming that the park itself was still allowing new guests to enter.

A clearer title to this thread would be to indicate the Blizzard Beach Parking Lot was Full.

 

[VGCgroupie]

That should be a very busy day, can you report back on what the crowd level is like in the park?

Strongly considering skipping BB and just hanging out at both of the AKV pools, my son is new to the water slide world so I don't think he will miss it that much. Seeing reports of people not having chairs and no rafts just doesn't sound fun for us. If we had went in March or February or even next month when both water parks were open it probably would have been better for us.

 

[holden]

I wonder if someone were to rent an umbrella or cabana on their free waterpark day, would they be guaranteed admission? I would think so. Might be a way to guarantee entry if the park is at capacity. Just a thought.

 

[Mirabell Rose]

There isn’t another day I can go so I’m not planning to ask about it. I think it was full today because it was the weekend and over 90 degrees.

But the offer isn’t a fair offer if there is a possibility the park is full and you can’t use it.

We had a check in day in January where the water park was closed and they sent us an email or text (can’t remember which) that said we could go another day of our stay. I think it came the next day.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Strongly considering skipping BB and just hanging out at both of the AKV pools, my son is new to the water slide world so I don't think he will miss it that much. Seeing reports of people not having chairs and no rafts just doesn't sound fun for us. If we had went in March or February or even next month when both water parks were open it probably would have been better for us.

Makes sense in my book. Waiting 30 mins just for a drink? That’s only ok if it’s being delivered to my poolside lounge chair!

 

[VGCgroupie]

Makes sense in my book. Waiting 30 mins just for a drink? That’s only ok if it’s being delivered to my poolside lounge chair!

Yep. And Im not tryin to walk down the lazy river like I saw someone post... I want to be lazy

 

[B-Ride]

That's a bummer. Certainly not a perk if it's not available. Did you talk with anyone at your resort? It seems like they would have some way of making good on this offer. Weather is not something they have control over, but they should know that resort guests are going to want to take advantage of this offer.

When I read about this perk I figured this would be a pretty normal occurrence.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I wonder if someone were to rent an umbrella or cabana on their free waterpark day, would they be guaranteed admission? I would think so. Might be a way to guarantee entry if the park is at capacity. Just a thought.

Please note guests on Disney buses were never turned away. Cars were turned away.

Arriving by bus was still gaining entrance. I don’t know that renting a cabana would make a difference when driving. If there’s nowhere to park, there’s nowhere to park.

Taking Disney transportation seems to be a better way to gain entrance on a busy day.