Is there an Everything Water Parks thread/area?

[avic77]

So we have never visited the water parks. I recently made a spur of the moment decision to switch our fall vacation plans from Universal Studios to a short WDW 2 day hopper with water parks. Husband and kids are excited about the water parks and Im just happy for the 2 days in MK and AK (I really wanna see Pandora). There isnt much info about the water parks. Are they crowded? Do i need a touring plan? Do we need to "Rope drop" them? We will have 1 day at each water park 1 day at MK and 1 day at AK.
Dates are Sept 10-15th

 

[Tiffany_m15]

I'm curious about this too. We will be making our first trip to a Water Park this summer and would love to know if rope-dropping is beneficial?

 

[hiroMYhero]

So we have never visited the water parks. I recently made a spur of the moment decision to switch our fall vacation plans from Universal Studios to a short WDW 2 day hopper with water parks. Husband and kids are excited about the water parks and Im just happy for the 2 days in MK and AK (I really wanna see Pandora). There isnt much info about the water parks. Are they crowded? Do i need a touring plan? Do we need to "Rope drop" them? We will have 1 day at each water park 1 day at MK and 1 day at AK.
Dates are Sept 10-15th

Here's a current thread that compares the 2 parks:
Is there an Everything Water Parks thread/area?

Will Merge you over.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

We will be there the same time as OP.
Universal's new waterpark Volcano Bay opens May 25 so hopefully the Disney waterparks will not be as crowded over the long weekend. I think it will pull a lot of locals and some tourists.

 

[AngiTN]

We will be there the same time as OP.
Universal's new waterpark Volcano Bay opens May 25 so hopefully the Disney waterparks will not be as crowded over the long weekend. I think it will pull a lot of locals and some tourists.

This is what I'm hoping too!

 

[randumb0]

I'm curious about this too. We will be making our first trip to a Water Park this summer and would love to know if rope-dropping is beneficial?

The only thing I would rope drop is Summit Plummet at Blizzard Beach

 

[randumb0]

We will be there the same time as OP.
Universal's new waterpark Volcano Bay opens May 25 so hopefully the Disney waterparks will not be as crowded over the long weekend. I think it will pull a lot of locals and some tourists.

A lot of us locals have talked about Volcano Bay but I'm not sure how many will go due to the expected crowds

 

[Belle & Ariel]

More crowded than Disney? We were at TL Saturday of Memorial Weekend in 2014 and it was insane. We have been several times over Labor Day weekend and it was not bad.

 

[AngiTN]

More crowded than Disney? We were at TL Saturday of Memorial Weekend in 2014 and it was insane. We have been several times over Labor Day weekend and it was not bad.

Since it's opening day I'm not sure anyone knows. Most are guessing it's going to be bad for the 2 reasons that it's opening day and holiday weekend

 

[Carson (DisneyByAge.com)]

So we have never visited the water parks. I recently made a spur of the moment decision to switch our fall vacation plans from Universal Studios to a short WDW 2 day hopper with water parks. Husband and kids are excited about the water parks and Im just happy for the 2 days in MK and AK (I really wanna see Pandora). There isnt much info about the water parks. Are they crowded? Do i need a touring plan? Do we need to "Rope drop" them? We will have 1 day at each water park 1 day at MK and 1 day at AK.
Dates are Sept 10-15th

I agree, it may we worth rope dropping Summit Plummet, if you are into intense thrill slides. If not, no need to rope drop per say, although you will have lower crowd levels the earlier you are there. Crowds will also be low following afternoon rain storms. Here's a comparison guide to both parks: http://www.disneybyage.com/typhoon-lagoon-blizzard-beach-disney-water-park/

 

[AngiTN]

Talked to DGD last night and got her input on what she'd rather do, go to TL on Thursday and Epcot (her favorite park) on Friday or move the water park to BB on Friday, for the debut of Frozen Summer Games.
She picked going to BB on Friday for the Frozen Summer Games, even though it may be more crowded.
We don't really have anything specific to do. We have all day, can get there at 10:00, DH won't get to WDW till about 7:00 (park closes at 5:00) so if we have to wait in crowds, we'll wait. Not like we have anything else to rush off to do any way. We'll just do what we can do
I think all in all it works out better than my original plan anyway.
We will be there early and are staying Thursday night at AKL. I gave her the choice again, go to a park or hang at the resort. She picked hang at the resort. We haven't stayed there since April last year.
We head on Friday back to CBR. We'll get up, head to BB. By the time we get back and cleaned up it will be time to meet up with DH. We'll head to bed early. We plan to get up at the crack of dawn to get to AK for the grand opening of Pandora on Saturday morning.

 

[NavyDad]

So we have never visited the water parks. I recently made a spur of the moment decision to switch our fall vacation plans from Universal Studios to a short WDW 2 day hopper with water parks. Husband and kids are excited about the water parks and Im just happy for the 2 days in MK and AK (I really wanna see Pandora). There isnt much info about the water parks. Are they crowded? Do i need a touring plan? Do we need to "Rope drop" them? We will have 1 day at each water park 1 day at MK and 1 day at AK.
Dates are Sept 10-15th

I would say yes to all three - sort of....

The Water Parks get REALLY crowded around Noon on days with nice weather. The first two hours and last two hours are the least busy.

Rope Drop works really well if you want to find a nice "home base" area to reserve some chairs and then hit the slides. If you don't care about having chairs in a certain area and you are mostly doing wave pool and lazy river you can pretty much get there any time.

A touring plan for BB would be to rope drop, find a home base, head right for the lift and do the big water slides and the family raft ride (it is great). You should be able to ride the lift 3 times and do all of that in the first 90 minutes park is open. Then you can relax, do the smaller slides and lazy river and then maybe bob in the waive pool.

A touring plan for TL would be rope drop, Crush N' Gusher, family raft ride in the first 90 minutes and then do smaller slides before hitting the lazy river and the (amazingly powerful) wave pool.

The last two hours at a water park are great as well and you can get pretty much everything done. Many people leave after lunch. One thing I will say is when the water parks close they close. The nastiest experience (really the only nasty experience) I have ever had at Disney involved a CM basically throwing us out of one of the water parks. As the park was getting ready to close we heard the announcement on the speaker that the park was closing soon and that guests should start heading toward the locker room and park exit. DW and I were waiting for our kids to meet us at our "home base". We were picking up our belongings and tidying our area a bit. Right as our kids walked up we told them to grab their stuff and lets go. A really, really "assertive" CM (she looked to be a manager or something) starts berating us to leave our area and head to the locker area right away. I thanked her and responded that we just found our kids and that we will grab our stuff and go. As our daughters put their "pool dress" on over their bathing suits and put their flip-flops on and DS throws his T shirt on she starts to aggressively berate them that they were not allowed to "change" anywhere but the locker rooms. I again thanked her and said that we will be leaving and she threatened to have us banned from the parks due to changing in an un-authorized location and loitering in the park after closing hours (at this point it was still about 5-10 minutes before the listed closing time). So anyway, unlike most Disney Parks just be advised that when the water parks close they are not messing around..... LOL

 

[AngiTN]

One thing I will say is when the water parks close they close. The nastiest experience (really the only nasty experience) I have ever had at Disney involved a CM basically throwing us out of one of the water parks. As the park was getting ready to close we heard the announcement on the speaker that the park was closing soon and that guests should start heading toward the locker room and park exit. DW and I were waiting for our kids to meet us at our "home base". We were picking up our belongings and tidying our area a bit. Right as our kids walked up we told them to grab their stuff and lets go. A really, really "assertive" CM (she looked to be a manager or something) starts berating us to leave our area and head to the locker area right away. I thanked her and responded that we just found our kids and that we will grab our stuff and go. As our daughters put their "pool dress" on over their bathing suits and put their flip-flops on and DS throws his T shirt on she starts to aggressively berate them that they were not allowed to "change" anywhere but the locker rooms. I again thanked her and said that we will be leaving and she threatened to have us banned from the parks due to changing in an un-authorized location and loitering in the park after closing hours (at this point it was still about 5-10 minutes before the listed closing time). So anyway, unlike most Disney Parks just be advised that when the water parks close they are not messing around..... LOL

That may well be true but I seriously doubt her manner of encouraging guests to leave was any more approved than your being there 5 to 10 min before closing. I hope you reported her treatment because even a manager has someone over them.

 

[NavyDad]

That may well be true but I seriously doubt her manner of encouraging guests to leave was any more approved than your being there 5 to 10 min before closing. I hope you reported her treatment because even a manager has someone over them.

No - I did not. It takes quite a bit to get me to complain about something. I took the "kill them with kindness" approach which seemed to really get her mad ... that is when she threatened to ban us from the park. Our day at the waterpark was great even with one overly zealous CM tossing us out on our ears LOL.

 

[AngiTN]

No - I did not. It takes quite a bit to get me to complain about something. I took the "kill them with kindness" approach which seemed to really get her mad ... that is when she threatened to ban us from the park. Our day at the waterpark was great even with one overly zealous CM tossing us out on our ears LOL.

That is a great way to get under their skin, that's for sure. It was the threat that was so clearly over the top. Hate to get CM on power trip. Thankfully they are few and far between but oh so annoying

 

[Klayfish]

A lot of good points from NavyDad. Like in the main parks, crowd size is always subjective. I wouldn't call the water parks really crowded, even on a summer afternoon, at least not compared to the main parks. However, the lines for the big slides do get long, and there is no FP+.

I do agree with the "touring plans", but for TL I'd add in Humunga Kowabunga. That slide can build a line fairly quickly.

And yes, when they close the park, they close it. Never had an experience that unpleasant, but we've been at the parks for closings several times...either for park hours ending or t-storms coming through within an hour or two of park close. They try to empty the parks quickly. The CMs have always been professional and polite, but are definitely making sure you do your due diligence in heading for the exit. Had to push back a little one time when I was heading for our "meeting spot" with the kids, which wasn't on the path CM wanted me to go. Again, not unpleasant by any stretch, but took a bit of convincing.

EDIT: In thinking about it, I'd bet the rush to get people out has to do with liability/safety/insurance. They don't want guests trying to sneak into a pool, onto a slide when the park is closed or there is a storm nearby.

 

[avic77]

Are the water parks slower in September? (Sept 10-15th)

 

[randumb0]

Are the water parks slower in September? (Sept 10-15th)

Yes the first 2 weeks in September are one of the slowest periods for all of the parks

 

[Pills]

Anyone that was there recently - given the new bus situation, how crowded does the bus line get? If you can only get from TL to DS at close, how long does it take to get a bus? Or are there a bunch waiting?

 

[anniemae]

I've looked and looked and if there is something, I'm missing it.
I have always assumed we'd never do a Water Park. DH hates them. Can't swim, hates the sun, being hot, being outside just sitting around, everything that you'd do at a Water Park makes him miserable.
Well, turns out DGD and I will be at Disney a day and a half without him next month.
So, we though why not try out a water park.
But I know nothing about either one really. Other than their names.
DGD is not at all adventurous so we'd probably steer clear of any massive slides. A slide at a regular pool is thrilling for her. She is also not a super strong swimmer so I'll be right on her tail the entire time.
Is there anywhere I can go to read over what each one has and the differences in them?

You just described me!! LOL!!! We are toying with the idea of trying one out since we have never done a water park before. This thread is very helpful.