How much time is needed for the waterparks?

[BeccaA]

Just curious! We are doing the waterparks and more option this time. I hope we can fit everything all in!

 

[disney meema]

We usually stay at least 3 hrs. at the water parks but usually longer. Between getting their on the bus, riding the water rides, wading in the lazy river, grabbing a bite to eat and then heading back to resort on the bus I plan it as a half day activity.

 

[DOOM1001]

It depends on you,I spend pretty much all day if I can,say 10-6pm while others are good with 3-4 hours.

 

[mousefan73]

I am worried my kids will experience them and not want to leave!! They looove pools... this is one reason I extended our car rental to a week. We plan on hitting them first thing at opening and then coming back to resort and then theme park until close.

I figure the car will save us at least an hour a day and also I really want to avoid my kids in wet clothes and hair getting on a disney bus ( tundra AC air).

This way we literally walk out in our wet suits to our car.. and change at resort.

I hope to do 10-1pm parks by 3/4pm

 

[McKelly]

We usually go at opening and spend 4-5 hours. If we get the waterpark option, sometimes we just pop in at the end of a park day for a couple hours to TL for the wave pool - LOVE IT - so much fun.

 

[rotlex]

Depends on what you want to do there. When we get the waterpark option on our tickets, we spend at least a full day at BB and TL. There is a LOT to do, and they are awesome parks. I see a lot of people posting they spend 2-3 hours at them. I can only assume they are folks who have been to them often, and don't enjoy them all that much. Honestly, to our family, me, wife and two kids, they are as much fun as any of the other Disney parks.

With that said, both our kids are fish and once in the water, nearly impossible to get out, LOL.

 

[gtpoohbear]

We can easily spend the whole day there (open-close). I think my kids would still be happy if WDW closed everything BUT the waterparks, lol! Very glad I got the WP option on our 10-day NE tickets. We are actually planning a waterpark only trip next May

 

[momofboyz3]

We do about 4-5 hours. I plan from 10-2:30 then get back to resort relax and usually go to DTD/Disney Quest.

 

[McKelly]

We can easily spend the whole day there (open-close). I think my kids would still be happy if WDW closed everything BUT the waterparks, lol! Very glad I got the WP option on our 10-day NE tickets. We are actually planning a waterpark only trip next May

We were thinking of doing a waterparks only trip too! We were going to stay at FW and do all the things that resort has to offer, along with the waterparks. This way, when our friends/family ask us what we did for vacation (who all think we are nuts for going to WDW all the time), we can say we went "camping."

 

[MrsDuck]

Totally depends on your family... we are FL residents and get lots of pool/water time so for us, we don't stay forever.

We get there when it opens and stay till about 2 or 3.

 

[StaciMay]

I will be be going Labor Day weekend. Currently the WDW website says the waterparks open at 10 am. Is this normal? I figured they would open at 9am especially since it is a holiday. Any chance they will change waterpark openings to 9 am Labor Day weekend?

 

[MiceFan]

When we've gone, they have always been 10am-5pm. We usually do rope drop at a main park, head over to the water park after lunch, stay until closing & then go back to a main park for the evening. It's tiring but we like to squeeze in a lot on our trips.

 

[skent10]

We are a waterpark family! Due to our shorter vacation this time, we'll only be able to hit TL (and not BB) but we plan to be there open to close, 9 am to 8 pm. In fact, we're squeezing HS and AK into one day so we'll be able to devote the whole next day to TL.

We may head over to the MK afterwards in time for Wishes since our resort is close enough, but we think the waterparks are just as important as the other four parks, especially if you have any waterbabies. The last couple of hours at the park are the best, as most people leave mid-afternoon, especially if there's been a summer afternoon rain shower. At that point, you can walk right on most of the rides.

Amusingly, my 14-year old DS will NOT ride thrill rides at all, but he'll do everything at a water park, even those really steep slides I won't do. We tease him that he would probably ride a roller coaster if someone would just sit beside him with a squirt bottle the whole time.

 

[Fantaluminishes]

I will be be going Labor Day weekend. Currently the WDW website says the waterparks open at 10 am. Is this normal? I figured they would open at 9am especially since it is a holiday. Any chance they will change waterpark openings to 9 am Labor Day weekend?

I believe those were the times last Labor Day weekend as well. Since schools are out that weekend, the waterparks might me a little busier with locals.

 

[jenninaustin]

Oh my goodness. I did NOT expect to love TL as much as I did and I wish we had more time.

I wrote about our morning here - http://jennstwosteps.blogspot.com/2014/06/day-3-june-9th-typhoon-lagoon-and-hoop.html -

I included links to some good articles with better pictures and details - there's so much to do! And it's fabulous. Don't pass those mini donuts by without buying them!

Have fun!

 

[andyman8]

You could "hit" all the major slides in about 3 hours or so assuming you don't run into huge waits, but to relax, rest, and enjoy yourself, you could be there all day!

I'm a big fan of going to the water parks on "rest days" as a form of recovery from the parks, as they still provide the Disney theming and fun without the stress of the parks.

Personally, I like getting to the water parks a bit after 1 and staying through the afternoon, but with FL summer weather patterns (particularly this year), I wouldn't recommend that.

 

[gtpoohbear]

We were thinking of doing a waterparks only trip too! We were going to stay at FW and do all the things that resort has to offer, along with the waterparks. This way, when our friends/family ask us what we did for vacation (who all think we are nuts for going to WDW all the time), we can say we went "camping."

That's exactly what we're doing too! DH wanted to try camping at WDW and I figured if we aren't going to have an AC room to go back to, we better stay cool by being wet all day, lol!

Plus, like you, I thought it was a way to "cheat" and not call it a real WDW vacation. Just camping and swimming, right??