Toddler at Water Parks ?

[eellis88]

I have a DS who is 4 years old and almost 40 inches tall. Looking at the literature there doesn't seem to be much available for him at Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon. For anyone who has been to either do you think it was worth the money or for a toddler I'd be better off staying at the pools, etc. ?
I'd like to hear your opinions. Thanks !

 

[momsully]

I would say it depends on the child.

During our April trip I took DS 6 and DS 3.5 to Blizzard Beach. Both my son's are strong swimmers and love the pool and don't mind if water gets in their face. My 3.5 ear old found the kiddie area at Blizzard Beach boring and did most of the big slides with his brother. I put a life jacket on him as I was alone with the two boys and this gave me some extra security.

We had a great day and if your son likes water I would recommend it. If he won't even do the slide at the hotel pool I would probably wait until he is a little older.

 

[crisi]

We found the same at BB with our just turned four year old daughter and five year old son. The kiddie area was "too small" and they enjoyed some of the bigger slides - wearing life vests which are provided.

They had a great time and it was worth a few hours. But it depends on the kid.

 

[bornandraised]

I would definitely take a kid if they were kind of strong swimmers, even if they aren't I would suggest Typhoon cause they have the better of the two Lazy River and also you could swim beside em in the reef. They have tons of beautiful fish that I'm sure they'd enjoy and even some of the fish like Dory from Finding Nemo!

 

[Sumac]

We took our kids to TL when they were 5 & 2 1/2 and they both loved it. The younger one enjoyed the sand and the 5 year old did some of the slides. Give it a shot.

 

[Schmeck]

Blizzard Beach has the 'Ski Patrol' area with medium sized water slides. Typhoon Lagoon has a bigger wave pool, and three medium sized body slides too.

 

[DisneyArk]

We went to Typhoon Lagoon when my boys were 3 and 5. They really loved the kiddie area! There are a lot of water guns and areas to play in.

There were quite a few "body" slides where the lifeguards let them run and throw themselves down the slide (like a slip and slide that goes downhill).

The medium slides there did scare me a little. They are located right beside the HUGE wave pool and the current from the wave pool really grabs the kids as they come off the slide. It was difficult for us (parents) to stand there and wait for the kids because of the current.

We LOVED doing the family slide together! You sit inside of a giant raft and it goes back and forth down the hill.

My sons have great memories from TL, but they also loved the pool and slide at the Wilderness Lodge. Does your hotel have a pool with a water slide? Does your son LOVE playing in the water? (my boys do). And how much time do you have to devote to a water park? We spent an entire day at TL and the boys had a great time! If we had only had a few hours then I probably would have just stayed at the hotel pool. It takes time to ride the bus or drive to TL and then to get situated there.

You probably already know this, but the kids meals are served in a bucket that has a shovel. The kids all enjoyed playing in the sand.

 

[the kabuki]

My DD3 LOVED Blizzard Beach. The toddler area was terrific. Depends on how comfortable he is around water. Can he swim pretty good or just likes to play in the water? DD isn't a swimmer so the toddler area worked out great.

 

[soccermom5]

we just returned from tl and my kids 4 7 8 9 12 all loved it the wave pool is awesome the older ones went out and trhe 2 little ones stayed back and felt like they were in the waves i put a life vest on the 4 and she was able to do the big slides by helself if your child likes the water then its great

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

The year (1998) we took our older son and daughter to Disney, we had no plans on hitting any water parks. DD was 5 and DS was 4 at the time. We met up with a family the first night at OKW pool with children the same age who highly recommended TL's kiddie area. Since our tickets had the plus options we decided to try it. The children loved it. We really never left the kiddie area except for a float around the park in the tubes. My adventorous (sp) son enjoyed all the slides in the kiddie area. My daughter who is much less adventorous (sp) enjoyed playing in the sand. We ended up spending a second day later in the week. We were down there in May. Two years ago we went in July, but only my son (now 8) and husband went to TL. It was sooo packed, they did not enjoy it at all and because of the crowds there was so much clorine in the water that his shirt turned a different color.

Lisa

 

[patrenoe]

We brought our grandneice(4) last Febuary to BB and she really enjoyed herself. Now having said that I will say that she loved just going to the pool area at our resort. I think she would have been just as happy at the resort. JMO

 

[swilshire]

Both BB and TL have great kiddy areas. DS (now six) has been going for some time and always has a wonderful time. It's a lot of work for the parents, but the smiles are priceless.

For example, there is a little tube ride at TL that DS went down at least 100 times. I put him in the tube, watched him go down, then got him out of the "catch pool" at the end. I was exhausted from running back and forth!

At Blizzard Beach you almost need two adults because the distances are longer. The kids did spend a great deal of time on the little statues that shoot water, where the parents could just sit and watch.

We also like TL better because there is more shade.

Sheila

 

[KristinU]

My DS is a very bold and brave nearly 16 month old. He loves water and he loves slides so I'm hoping there might be something the right size for him to try later on this month, we have PAP's so if it is a bust we won't be out anything. For those of you who mentioned life vests, did you check them out at the water parks or did you bring them from home?

Thanks!

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We belong to a large swim club with a wave pool, slides, etc. at home, so my kids (almost 13, almost 5, and 2) have no fear when it comes to the water parks. The younger ones especially love the wave pools and kiddie-play areas. It helps that the 2 enjoy playing together.

 

[Nora94]

We did Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon both and LOVED them. If you could do just one I would go with Typhoon Lagoon. Our girls are almost 6 and 2 1/2 and non swimmers. At Typhoon Lagoon my older one loved the wave pool the most, my younger one the lazy river (even rode in a raft by herself). We all liked the family raft at both places. But the main attraction at TL was the sand and zero depth pools. I liked that they had the cool water slides ending into an area where there were pools for the little ones. I also loved snorkeling at TL. They had enough cool water slides for little guys at both places to make a day of it easily.

Nora