How long do you spend at Disney water parks?

[sarahothomas]

I'm thinking about adding a water park day to our trip. We've never been to either one. Ideally, I would want to enter the water park at 10 am (opening) and leave around 3 pm. Is this enough time to do every water ride and eat a quick lunch? Also, should I expect to be completely worn out afterwards or can a water park day be more "relaxing" than a regular park day? We are planning to head into AK to see ROL that night too, if we are not too exhausted. We are a party of 4 adults going in May. Any tips on planning this would be greatly appreciated!

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Seems like a reasonable plan. Bring lots of sunscreen. You can bring in any food drink as long as there are no glass containers and no alcohol.

 

[MainMom]

Sun and water combo always make us tired. Plus there is all of the stairs.

 

[lvdis]

Seems like a reasonable plan. Bring lots of sunscreen. You can bring in any food drink as long as there are no glass containers and no alcohol.

Do you know if small coolers are allowed? Thanks!

 

[kreckl]

We usually go for most of the day, and don’t do another park at night. We find it exhausting, in a good way, and usually have a dinner at our resort and early night.

 

[yaya74]

water parks are much different. you can bring a good book and chill out on the lounge chair all day or you can hit all the water slides/rides and get completely worn out by the end of the day. you are in total control of it.

 

[randumb0]

Sun and water combo always make us tired. Plus there is all of the stairs.

stairs?

 

[MainMom]

stairs?

If you want to go down the slide you have to first get to the top.

 

[bocaj1431]

We love the water parks. Every time we visit DW we have to take a day for B.B.

I think your 10-3 plan sounds good. That’s what we do for B.B. I would add, if you are going to be there during a busy time, getting there at 9:30 - 9:50 would be ideal. That way you are parked in the front (just in case need to go back to car for something) and in front for opening and can get your lockers and seating area done as soon as possible and then straight to rides)

If you have a specific seating area you prefer I would go straight there and pick your seats, unless you are using lockers. If you need lockers get that done first. I would recommend watching a YouTube video of the park to see the layout.(this is all stuff I do in busier times) Review the rides you really want to do before getting there and get those rides out of the way first thing.

Just a note about the seating area. I like to sit in spots that are close to the pathways to the restrooms. This way, if I decide I need to use the bathroom (which happens a lot when trying to stay hydrated during 90+ weather) as I am walking to restroom, I stop off at our seats, which are close to the path, grab my flip flops and then straight to restrooms. ( unlike other parks there really is not a place to drop your shoes of at entrance then pick them up at exit of ride) One year I did not do that and had to walk a lot further from ride area to our seats and then to restrooms. It just wasted a lot of time. I use the restrooms at lottawatta lodge so I pick seating along the central pathway from there to the wave pool. If you google one of their maps you can see the path.

Eat at an off time so you do not have to deal with longer waits.

If you are not physically fit be prepared. All of the slides are up stairs, many stairs. You are going up the stairs over and over again. Add the heat and it gets tiring. If you are young and physically fit, no problem.

The lazy river and the wave pool are perfect for breaks from the slides.

I am sure you will be tired from the heat, walking, and water. I suggest taking a nap if you are going to the parks in the evening.

The last time we went was two years ago so I’m not sure if anything has changed since then.

If you enjoy water parks, you will love it.

Have a great time on your vacation!

 

[Bullseye]

We do 4-5 hours at either waterpark and get everything done. Water park is tiring but it's also refreshing.This year were doing DS in the evening on water park day.

 

[Disney Khi]

We did 10-5 at TL this past August and could have stayed longer, but the park closed! We were really tired because we stayed busy going down slides and swimming all day. We showered at the park and then went to DS for dinner, and our feet were so tired that we just got something to eat and went back to the hotel. So, if you spend the day going down slides, you will probably be tired. However, if you just spend the day lying on a lounge chair, you won’t be quite so tired.

 

[sarahothomas]

Thanks everyone!! I've been watching lots of YouTube videos about the water parks and I'm pretty convinced that we need to visit one. I'm just going to extend our trip by one day and make one of the days a water-park-only day. DH, my BIL and I will be hitting the water slides all day for sure. My MIL, bless her, will probably be perfectly content to lounge all day reading a good book and watching our stuff. Now to decide which one to go to!

 

[disneyvoice]

That's the schedule we usually follow for our water park days. We get there before the park opens and then leave around 2:30 or 3:00, head back to the resort to shower and change, and then either head for dinner at Dinner Springs or Epcot (or sometimes dinner at a resort).

You can make a water park day either super busy or total relaxed. Our recent trips have all been very relaxed. We always rent an umbrella space so we don't have to worry about "home base" at the water parks. We aren't big water slide fans so we really only do the family raft rides, lazy rivers, and hang out in the calmer parts on the wave pools. In general we just lounge around our umbrella site. I started bringing a coloring book and colored pencils to the water parks and sit under the umbrella and color. I take a nap. We walk around and just kind of enjoy the day. Maybe get an adult beverage, have lunch. Like I said, we are very relaxed on our water park days now.

 

[Klayfish]

Yep, we're also HUGE water park fans. We go to BB and TL 3 or 4 times each over each summer vacation. You can make them anything you want them to be. They can be exhausting, relaxing or anything in between. Your choice. The big slides have tons of stairs, so just be warned. We show up at 10am and usually are done right around 2 or 3pm and we've done everything...and I mean everything. We hit the big slides at park open. For the first hour, lines are short, so you can go over and over...as quickly as you can climb the stairs to get back up. Then we hit tube rides, wave pool and lazy river. Then we're done. So for us, we spend very little time at our chairs. We find a shady spot, leave our stuff and go. Sounds exhausting, but it's not. From 11:00 on, for us it's a much more relaxed pace. The last hour or so, DW and I just float around the lazy river while the kids go do their own thing.

Yes, you can bring soft sided coolers in. We do...a very big one.

As for which one to go to, you won't go wrong either way. The biggest difference between the two is the wave pool. We love them both, but I prefer TLs.

 

[philbrody]

My family and I counted one time. Climbed enough steps in a day to climb the Empire State Building. No laughing but being 50 I actually 'train' to go water parks. Change workouts from jogging to a stair stepper and add walking lunges.

 

[dreamerkath]

We love the waterparks and go every trip!

As a previous poster mentioned, they can be exactly what you want them to be. Last trip, our plans got a little bit scrambled because of Irma, but we still wanted to hit up TL and BB. So we went for 3-4 hours before a park day and had a great time. On our BB day, we were tired, so we enjoyed the lazy river, did a few slides and soaked up some sun on a lounge chair. On our TL day, we hit up almost all the slides and enjoyed the wave pool.

You’ll have a blast! The theming at each is great!

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Do you know if small coolers are allowed? Thanks!

Coolers are also fine. Check the website for any restrictions. I bring a medium sized hard cooler every visit.

 

[deuceswild10]

I'm thinking about adding a water park day to our trip. We've never been to either one. Ideally, I would want to enter the water park at 10 am (opening) and leave around 3 pm. Is this enough time to do every water ride and eat a quick lunch? Also, should I expect to be completely worn out afterwards or can a water park day be more "relaxing" than a regular park day? We are planning to head into AK to see ROL that night too, if we are not too exhausted. We are a party of 4 adults going in May. Any tips on planning this would be greatly appreciated!

We spent about 5 hours at each on our last trip. That is enough time to do everything, but also time to relax. It is especially nice to relax in a lounge chair and watch the kids frolic Typhoon Lagoon.