Park Hopper Plus strategies for water park/mini golf newbies

[olive]

We are going to be at Disney for 11 days (including travel days, with an evening flight out). We have 9 day hoppers, and I am thinking of upgrading to hopper plus tickets. With reports of parks getting more crowded and knowing how hot it can be in late June, I thought it might be a good idea for us to have some more options. At the same time, we have never been to Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon, in part because although it looks like fun I was never sure logistically if we would be able to make it work out in a way that wasn't more trouble than it was worth.

I see that TL is closed right now, which is fine, as we don't have any idea what we are missing but thought it might be fun to add BB in on a non park day or hop there mid day to cool off. We also have never done the mini golf at Disney, and my husband LOVES mini golf. I read that there are two courses at Fantasia Gardens, so maybe that will be fun to try on two of the days. I would love some feedback from people who have used the park hopper plus tickets and tried to balance things! I also have a few specific questions.

1. I saw that Blizzard Beach closes around 6 pm. Do the hours typically get extended?
2. I don't see our kids (13, 8) wanting to do any of the more intense slides and I DEFINITELY do not have any interest. I think we would mostly be doing the lazy river and wave pool, and maybe the big family raft thing(s). Is it possible to hop here midday? Looks like transportation-wise it isn't super convenient, but you could catch a bus from an Epcot-area resort if you are at DHS or Epcot, and from MK we can take a bus from Contemporary (we are staying there anyway for most of our trip). I don't think we would go on our AK day. Has anyone done this??
3. I see that you can only do mini golf before 4 pm. How is shade on the courses? I am a little worried about us melting out there. We may have to do the mini golf and then head to Blizzard Beach. Perhaps this would be good for the Epcot day since Epcot opens late anyway? Early mini golf, Blizzard Beach and then Epcot afternoon through evening...
4. Any special tips or things to keep in mind? I saw that resort guests can get free towels at BB with their magic bands, but I don't know a whole lot else.

Thanks in advance!!

Eta - It looks like the bus info I looked at was outdated very unfortunately, and there is no direct bus service from the Contemporary or any Epcot area resorts, but instead we would have to take a bus to AK and then from there to BB. That is super annoying. Still considering.

 

[Shellyred8]

At Fantasia Gardens mini golf, one course has more shade than the other. The "natural" course has more shade, but it also doesn't have all of the fun obstacles that make mini-golfing fun.

 

[jcarwash]

Blizzard Beach has a lot of enjoyable fun slides too besides the big body slides. The Tobaggan Racers, Snow Stormers, and Runoff Rapids are all great and pretty non-threatening, especially for ages 8 and 13. The Ski Patrol Training Camp is for pre-teens, but a 13 year may still find it fun.

I like having a water-park-only day if my schedule works out, arriving when it opens and spending about 4 hours there, then having the rest of the day to relax, have a special dining reservation, shop, etc.

 

[audrey2580]

My tips:
- The mini golf and Blizzard Beach are literally next to each other. You can walk back and forth.
- I highly recommend doing a water park day. Get there at opening some if it rains you still get some time in.
- Have the warm mini donuts. You can thank me later.
- Don't rely on uver/lyft to take you back to the hotel. They will cancel on you because they don't want you to get their seats wet. I speak from experience
- Expect to wait awhile for the bus. Even pre-covid they weren't very frequent
- If you are staying at a Disney hotel you can ask at Blizzard Beach for a free towel to use

 

[olive]

My tips:
- The mini golf and Blizzard Beach are literally next to each other. You can walk back and forth.
- I highly recommend doing a water park day. Get there at opening some if it rains you still get some time in.
- Have the warm mini donuts. You can thank me later.
- Don't rely on uver/lyft to take you back to the hotel. They will cancel on you because they don't want you to get their seats wet. I speak from experience
- Expect to wait awhile for the bus. Even pre-covid they weren't very frequent
- If you are staying at a Disney hotel you can ask at Blizzard Beach for a free towel to use

Is only Winter Summerland near Blizzard Beach? I think that course is currently closed. We do have a completely non-parks day so we can do BB that day, and maybe as a parks break on some other days when the weather looks cooperative. Thanks for the other tips!

 

[olive]

Blizzard Beach has a lot of enjoyable fun slides too besides the big body slides. The Tobaggan Racers, Snow Stormers, and Runoff Rapids are all great and pretty non-threatening, especially for ages 8 and 13. The Ski Patrol Training Camp is for pre-teens, but a 13 year may still find it fun.

I like having a water-park-only day if my schedule works out, arriving when it opens and spending about 4 hours there, then having the rest of the day to relax, have a special dining reservation, shop, etc.

Definitely looking into all of these ideas! Ski Patrol looked awesome - I think both of my kids will like it.

 

[olive]

At Fantasia Gardens mini golf, one course has more shade than the other. The "natural" course has more shade, but it also doesn't have all of the fun obstacles that make mini-golfing fun.

For whatever reason my kids think they want to try golf. We live across from a golf course, so maybe that is part of it (although we have never gone to it with them). Perhaps they will be more inclined to enjoy the fairway course enough to give a try, but my guess is they will enjoy Fantasia Gardens more in the end.

 

[finedice]

As the PP said - Hopping to a waterpark isn't the best. I would start there early and then have lunch, change and hop to a dry park. Lines get pretty long, and I'd imagine if TL doesn't reopen it will be a zoo. The Winter / Summer mini golf is better than the Fantasia one in my opinion, and it's right at BB as someone said above. If I remember correctly, Disney changed things around with the mini golf several years back and I think the plus option only works daytime. Forgive me if that was just a recollection from the times when they offered a "free round" for staying on property. I like mini golf much better after dark when it's not so hot!

Overall, the PH+ is good if you will visit a waterpark at least twice. If not, you might be better off just paying the gate fee at the waterpark. At least that's how it used to be. We always used to get it, but stopped the last few trips because we realized one waterpark day was enough, and we didn't miss it that much if we didn't go at all.

You are there long enough though that you might squeeze in the 2 visits, and it will be a nice change of pace.

 

[Jolene Fraser]

I definitely recommend a water park day (we usually do 2 but since TL is closed we are only doing one day on our trip which starts next week!).
I agree on going at park opening. We've been caught there in the rain storm in the afternoon and it isn't fun. We plan to go on a non-park day and hit Disney Springs in the evening. And as @audrey2580 said, the mini doughnuts are a must!!

 

[olive]

As the PP said - Hopping to a waterpark isn't the best. I would start there early and then have lunch, change and hop to a dry park.

Do you typically hop directly to a park? I was thinking it might make sense to start at BB and then hop to Epcot, since Epcot opens later anyway (and closes later). Do you just stash your soaked bathing suits in ziplocs for the day and then wash them out at the hotel that night?

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[disny_luvr]

We have a very similar trip as you planned this summer, with 9-day park hopper PLUS tickets. We absolutely love the Disney water parks. When we go to a water park, we are usually there for the entire day and then head to Disney Springs or to explore different resorts in the evening. For our upcoming trip, we have three non-park days. We plan on visiting the water parks each of those days. We utilize the resort pools on park days when we come back for mid-day breaks and/or in the evening.

We never mini golfed in Disney, but that is a good idea for this summer. Does anyone know, can you visit a water park and play mini-golf on the same day?

 

[olive]

We have a very similar trip as you planned this summer, with 9-day park hopper PLUS tickets. We absolutely love the Disney water parks. When we go to a water park, we are usually there for the entire day and then head to Disney Springs or to explore different resorts in the evening. For our upcoming trip, we have three non-park days. We plan on visiting the water parks each of those days. We utilize the resort pools on park days when we come back for mid-day breaks and/or in the evening.

We never mini golfed in Disney, but that is a good idea for this summer. Does anyone know, can you visit a water park and play mini-golf on the same day?

I don't have experience with it personally, but according to my research you can do both in one day! But I believe you may not be able to use two mini golf entitlements in the same day. (I have a feeling they may make an exception though if you REALLY wanted to play twice.)

 

[disny_luvr]

I don't have experience with it personally, but according to my research you can do both in one day! But I believe you may not be able to use two mini golf entitlements in the same day. (I have a feeling they may make an exception though if you REALLY wanted to play twice.)

Thank you!

 

[Juliet25]

We've been to TL twice, never BB, but my kids didn't go for any of the slides. They spent their time in the wave pool (which is AWESOME at TL) and the lazy river. It's an enjoyable day.

 

[finedice]

Do you typically hop directly to a park?

No, we typically go change first - (but sometimes we have had dry clothes in our rental car).

 

[cutigerlady]

We have played miniature golf many times. One course is themed and easier and the other is very challenging for golfers. We use to take a bus from a theme park to the Swan and walk across the street to the courses. Now, you would need to go to the Boardwalk and walk around the lake to the Swan and walk past the quiet pool and across the street. It’s a much bigger road to cross to get to BB from the mini golf courses.

We got our money’s worth of the PH+ when the NBA experience was open because my kids went there every day to shoot hoops and play the shooting games (plus admission was good for the entire day).

We are going to BB for the first time this summer. I’m hoping a weekday will be less crowded than a weekend. We bought one day tickets online cheaper than the gate price and you don’t have to pick a date (easier to work around FL weather changes).

 

[samsteele]

A round of 'free' mini golf - with time of use restrictions - at Winter Summerland in BB's parking lot always used to be included as a perk if you purchased a WDW hotel and parks package. Don't know if that's been removed or not during the pandemic. I had heard the coupon book was no longer being mailed to US guests. If that's the case, try asking for it at the front desk. Google shows this mini golf is temporarily closed but that could easily change soon. I always enjoyed Winter Summerland. Fun and quirky. But def gets hotter than the surface of the sun by late morning. Pack your sunscreen.

 

[CJGamer]

Unless it's been changed- they used to have a bus from Animal Kingdom to Blizzard Beach. Since AK is the park you generally hit earliest and such, can be out quicker- we generally once each trip will go to AK, have an early lunch- then go right to BB for a few hours before returning to the hotel. I also generally do a few early days at BB, where we are hitting one of the 4 parks from dinner until close.
Of note- the water parks tend to be easier if you have a car as sometimes it's quite a wait to get a bus to them- its hit or miss.
We also continue to have mini golf on our schedule every time but never manage to do it.
You can call to book a tee time the day before.

 

[olive]

Unless it's been changed- they used to have a bus from Animal Kingdom to Blizzard Beach. Since AK is the park you generally hit earliest and such, can be out quicker- we generally once each trip will go to AK, have an early lunch- then go right to BB for a few hours before returning to the hotel. I also generally do a few early days at BB, where we are hitting one of the 4 parks from dinner until close.
Of note- the water parks tend to be easier if you have a car as sometimes it's quite a wait to get a bus to them- its hit or miss.
We also continue to have mini golf on our schedule every time but never manage to do it.
You can call to book a tee time the day before.

Our kids are obsessed with animals, and we tend to do multiple AK days so this is a little tricky. I can see us maybe hopping to BB and then going back to AK if we can make it not gross to tote around our wet bathing suits somehow. The other issue is having to swipe into your reserved park first before going to any other park. Since we are staying at CR, I can imagine us doing a morning at MK, then heading back to the Contemporary and changing for BB and taking a bus to AK to catch the BB bus. It just seems like they do NOT make it easy to get to the water parks!! Definitely easier if you have a car. We had a car the last couple of trips. We will miss it this time for sure. On our offsite days we can take the offsite hotel shuttle to AK and then grab the AK bus to BB, I suppose.

I am sorry that Winter Summerland isn't open right now. It would be much more convenient since we are planning to be at BB at least a couple of times.

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

Are you sure there is no bus? In 2019 we took buses to and from Pop Century and the water parks. I don't know if covid affected water park buses. We usually started our day at the water park, went back to the hotel in the afternoon to shower, then went to a theme park in the evening.