How to spend 3 hours at Blizzard Beach??

[PAdislover]

Hi there,
We arrive to MCO at 11am on sat 10/24 and will be taking DME to poly. My plan had been just to hang out at hotel and swim and relax that day before hitting the parks on 10/25. However, my DS9 is dying to check out BB. We were going to go there later during our trip but now that they have switched the dates of the WP refurb, BB will be closing on 10/25. So if we want to go, we have to go on arrival day 10/24. This obviously throws a kink in our plans. I was to BB once about 20 years ago and I don't remember much of it. My questions are:
1. what time do you think we could realistically expect to get there (we will take DME to poly, drop carryon bags with bell services, change into swim suits, and take a cab to BB)
2. would it be worth it rent the premium chair space so we don't have to waste time looking for a chair to put our stuff on (its only $40 to rent the chairs)
3. how much could we get done before they close at 5pm ( I don't think anyone in our group will be doing summit plummet, it will be me, DH, DD5 and DS9.) we usually divide at WP's, DH takes the boy and I take the girl.
thoughts?? I thought I had this trip so carefully laid out but now I am rearranging our days b/c of this.

 

[Alesia]

1. Sometime between 1:00 and 2:00. Pack one of your carry on bags specifically for the water park - swimsuits, sunscreen, etc. Take it with you and change at the water park.
2. Maybe. I probably would considering that the park may be a bit busier than normal since it's the last day before the refurb.
3. I think you can get to pretty much everything. 3 to 4 hours is my limit at a water park - I just can't take any more than that.

 

[PAdislover]

Thank you!! that is so helpful that you think we can get a lot done in 3-4 hours even arriving late in the afternoon. I heard that even though they "close at 5pm", we can line up for slides right up until 5, which means we will really be leaving after 5pm. so that gives us a bit more time.

 

[lovethattink]

You can cover a lot that first day, or if your kids are like mine use to be, you may end up spending the whole 3 hours at the pre-teen Beach Patrol area.

My suggestion is to get a locker and ask for one at the Beach Patrol area. There are slides, icebergs to scale across, etc. You can climb the steps directly from there or take the nearby ski lift up to the family slide. After the family slide, hop into the lazy river and get off at each stop and do what appeals to you before hopping back into the lazy river to your next stop.

 

[Rosebud123]

Don't bother renting a spot since you're not going to be there long enough to need the chairs to relax. Either rent a locker or find a chair (one chair will be easy) on which to toss your stuff.

If no one cares about Slush Gusher or Summit Plummet, I think you can pretty much stick together.

Teamboat Springs is the family raft ride and it's a lot of fun! I'd do that first (take stairs, as line for chair lift will be too long in middle of day), then maybe the Toboggan Racers and Run Off Rapids. If time, check out Ski Patrol Training Camp. Your 5 year old will love it and probably your 9 year old, too! Or have your husband bring him to the wave pool or more slides while you do that with the five year old.

Downhill Double Dipper is extremely fun and your kids will love it, but it gets very long lines. I'd time that one to do last (make sure you find out what time the line closes). Check the height requirement (48"), but my son did it at 5.

 

[Kathryn777]

We did Blizzard beach last October. We found the lines never got insanely long. You'll probably get everything you want in

 

[CinderellaDreamer]

In October, you won't have to worry about a chair or long lines. We have shown up after lunch during a non-summer month and were able to find chairs. They might not be as close to a ride or the big pool as you might want, but the expensive reservations ones often are not close either. You just need somewhere to put your bag. We have a locking KYSS bag (read about it on these boards) that we chain to the chair and lock so that we don't have to rent a locker.

We ride up until the last minute. There is a mad rush to get to the showers at 4:30. We wait and head to the showers right at five. They close at about 5:10, so you have to be quick. But there won't be lines for the shower then.

I think you can ride most everything in that amount of time. My kids love all of the rides at BB, but their favorite is the family ride Rosebud mentioned, Teamboat Springs. Its a lot of stairs to climb. Might be worth the wait for the ski patrol lift for the 5 year old. But my kids would never leave the Ski Patrol Training Camp. They play on the icebergs forever. Some smaller fun slides and a zip line are there also.

Sounds like a wonderful trip! I love the poly.

 

[PAdislover]

In October, you won't have to worry about a chair or long lines. We have shown up after lunch during a non-summer month and were able to find chairs. They might not be as close to a ride or the big pool as you might want, but the expensive reservations ones often are not close either. You just need somewhere to put your bag. We have a locking KYSS bag (read about it on these boards) that we chain to the chair and lock so that we don't have to rent a locker.

We ride up until the last minute. There is a mad rush to get to the showers at 4:30. We wait and head to the showers right at five. They close at about 5:10, so you have to be quick. But there won't be lines for the shower then.

I think you can ride most everything in that amount of time. My kids love all of the rides at BB, but their favorite is the family ride Rosebud mentioned, Teamboat Springs. Its a lot of stairs to climb. Might be worth the wait for the ski patrol lift for the 5 year old. But my kids would never leave the Ski Patrol Training Camp. They play on the icebergs forever. Some smaller fun slides and a zip line are there also.

Sounds like a wonderful trip! I love the poly.

Thank you so much for all this wonderful info and for taking the time to respond! Super helpful!