Stormalong Bay with little ones?? Worth it??

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Hi there! On our next trip our kids will be 2yrs and 3.5yrs. Are they too young to really enjoy SAB? (I couldn't get the search feature to work today!)

We are trying to choose between BWV and BCV, and this seems to be the deciding factor!

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

 

[surfgirl]

What time of year is it ? (Those who made a SAB decision recently couldn't even use it )

With children that small, I think I would not do SAB - they seem to get 'lost' more easily and many bigger kids are there that always scare me a little (many just stronger swimmers, etc.)

I would save it for another trip when they are older

 

[Newcastle]

We went this past May when our youngest had just turned 3. She abolutely loved SAB! While she wasn't able to take advantage of the lazy river, the bigger pools and the pirate ship water slide, there is a section that is zero entry with a sandy bottom pool that she loved to play in. In fact, we spent A LOT of time there because this was bascially the only place in all of WDW where she didn't act cranky! There is an area of sand essentially in the middle of the zero entry pool where the kids can dig in the sand and parents can sit and relax while still keeping a very close eye on the little ones. My daughter is a little timid when it comes to fully submersing herself in the water so she wouldn't go in any of the larger pools even though we got a life jacket for her. There is also a small slide behind the pirate ship that I think a lot of little ones would enjoy (not mine though!). It's funny because my 7-year-old is quite fond of swimming and water slides but even she spent all of her time in the sandy bottom pool! In my opinion, the zero entry is great for little ones because it gives them a bit more freedom to move around and play. We are seriously contemplating going back to BC this year because SAB was such a hit with the kids!

 

[DISNEYFOS]

They will definitely love the sand-bottom pool...Its shallow enough for them to sit down and play in the water and sand.

We took a life vest for my 4 year old and it was the first time she did the lazy river..With us of course, but she thought that was a blast as well.

The BW if I remember correctly have a neat kids play area near the pool so you probably can't go wrong with either spot..but our preference is SAB

 

[bellebud]

To break it down...

SAB for little kids - huge sandy bottom kids pool w/ tons of sand to dig in, small round kiddie pool, playset, pirate ship w/ kiddie slide and kiddie pool.

BW for little kids - small round kiddie pool, playset.

i've been to both w/ my kids who are now 8 and 6yo. we did sab when they were about 4 and 2, which was wonderful! The sandy bottom kids pool is really, really, really great! there's also a small playset and a little round kiddie pool right there too. the food counter and table and chairs are there too. we spent full days there. my kids also enjoyed the pirate ship slide/kiddie pool at sab.

When they were around 6 and 4 or maybe 7 and 5, sab didn't work as well. The sandy bottom part was too shallow for real swimming, and the other parts are fairly deep in spots. the real slide was too big, the pirate slide was too small. The boardwalk was our fav. for this age... they went on the clown slide constantly (i really enjoyed the clown slide too!) and swam in the regular pool.

The boardwalk does have a really cute kiddie area w/ a small round kiddie pool and playset, but i think for your kids ages, i'd do sab. The small round pool at bw is the same as the one at bc, plus at bc you get the sandy bottom huge pool. The digging keeps them busy for hours! AND the sandy bottom pool is great for mom and dad to sit in w/ them... not so much w/ those small round kiddie pools (ewwww!)... I feel like the huge sandy bottom pool has more water to disperse anything that might need dispersing.

I'd definitely do sab for now w/ your kids ages. you can do boardwalk when they're a little older.


enjoy whatever you decide!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Thanks to everyone for your input. I think we're definitely leaning toward BCV (the sand-bottom pool sounds like a lot of fun, and I think they could play in the sand for hours!). Since we're going to try to book 7 months out for a late August stay, I'll just keep my fingers crossed and have BWV and VWL as 2nd and 3rd choices.

Thanks again for the input!!

 

[llmurphy17]

We did BW in Dec. and my 3 children loved it. They didn't do the slide but loved the playground near the pool.

We are going to try SAB this summer. My oldest is a good swimmer, and my plan for my other two is that my middle child will stay with me and my youngest will stay with his dad.

I love the water so I know I'll stay with my oldest two as long as they want to swim.