typhoon lagoon ride questions

[mchhp]

I have a few questions regarding the slides at typhoon lagoon. i am a little confused by the disney website.

for example keelhaul falls: on the website it says any height as a requirement. So, I take that to be anyone can ride? But, would you send your young one down alone because it also says single rider tube.

My dd is 5 and can't swim alone yet. i plan on either using a life vest from TL or seeing if I can bring her puddle jumper life vest (like this: http://www.amazon.com/Stearns-Puddl...8OQY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333332121&sr=8-1) for the larger rides. But, I am not comfortable with her going alone. Can we ride together? or should the reccomendation really be any height once he/she can swim?

The question also stands for mayday falls and the 3 storm slides.

I basically want to get a grasp of what she is going to be able to do there. An my 3 year old as well. I know we can do gang plank falls together and i can let them have a blast at Ketchakiddee Creek, also the wave pool and lazy river thing. I just wondered if there would be much more they can do.


While I am here, Can i bring our puddle jumper type life jackets in the park?

 

[stevenpensacola]

There is a "kiddie" area your little ones should really enjoy...complete with slides into very shallow (a few inches) deep water.

IMO...with the exception of Crush'n Gusher water coaster, which I think they had to install to try and stay relevant, the water slide "technology" at TL is very dated, especially when compared to any modern water park. The slides are basically painted/coated concrete, and are very slow and boring.

Be very careful taking your little ones into the TL wave pool...the waves can be pretty violent in there.

Again...there is a nice "kiddie" area your kids will enjoy...as well as a nice lazy river. We went there when our oldest daughter was about 5...she had a great time in this "kiddie" area...and we enjoyed watching her play.

If you like thrill rides, you'll be disappointed.

TL is a beautiful park though.

 

[mjp12831]

With kids that young I'd go to Blizzard Beach rather than TL.

The best parts of TL are the crush n gusher, the wave pool and the swim with sharks - all of which will not be able to be done by you with a 5yo who can't swim.

BB wave pool is much more gentle. BB also has a far superior small kids area.

I agree with PP, TL is pretty dated outside of the 3 things I mentioned above. The traditional slides there are not really a ton of fun.

I'm pretty liberal in what I'd allow our kids to do, so I'd probably be ok sending them down the TL slides with floatation devices on even if they can't "swim".

 

[mchhp]

There is a "kiddie" area your little ones should really enjoy...complete with slides into very shallow (a few inches) deep water.

IMO...with the exception of Crush'n Gusher water coaster, which I think they had to install to try and stay relevant, the water slide "technology" at TL is very dated, especially when compared to any modern water park. The slides are basically painted/coated concrete, and are very slow and boring.

Be very careful taking your little ones into the TL wave pool...the waves can be pretty violent in there.

Again...there is a nice "kiddie" area your kids will enjoy...as well as a nice lazy river. We went there when our oldest daughter was about 5...she had a great time in this "kiddie" area...and we enjoyed watching her play.

If you like thrill rides, you'll be disappointed.

TL is a beautiful park though.

It has been a very long time since I have been to TL. I was a pre-teen (if not mistaken). I am not quite the "water park" person, so easing back into is what I am looking for. I do remember how much I loved the theming of TL.

How often do the waves come on in the wave pool? i figured we would be in it when it was "off" and then go really shallow when it turns on.

So, they are indeed single rider rides? Should it really be more like any height once comfortable with swimming?

 

[stm61]

It has been a very long time since I have been to TL. I was a pre-teen (if not mistaken). I am not quite the "water park" person, so easing back into is what I am looking for. I do remember how much I loved the theming of TL.

How often do the waves come on in the wave pool? i figured we would be in it when it was "off" and then go really shallow when it turns on.

So, they are indeed single rider rides? Should it really be more like any height once comfortable with swimming?

While your 3 yr old will probably be happy with TL's kiddie area, I'm not sure your 6 yr old will be. My oldest daughters were 4 when they informed me that the kiddie area was for babies, and my younger kids felt the same way at 5 and 4. They loved the Ski Patrol area of BB, which is the kid area mentioned in another post. It's aimed for kids from maybe 4-12, but that's my guess on the right ages based on my own kids. They have plenty of kid sized rides/slides and other fun stuff. The only thing I'd be a little worried about with a non-swimmer is the zip-line, they drop into deep water. If Ski Patrol is to much for your younger kid, Tyke's Peak is right across the way from it, though they do have a "to-tall" restriction there which I can't remember off-hand.

I wouldn't plan on being safe in the shallow area of the wave pool at TL. I had the same thought on our first trip and it just doesn't work. The bottom of the pool is very rough and my kids were getting knocked down by adults, who were knocked down by waves and kind of washed up into the shallow end. I don't remember how frequently the waves came, but it seemed like it was pretty frequently.

I was never to worried about my kids on the bigger slides. As long as they made the height restriction and were brave enough to go alone, I let them go. Usually an older sibling or adult would go first, then another would go after the last small kid, so that no one got lost. I stopped going on the slides several years ago, but I don't remember the water being all that deep at the bottom.

 

[stevenpensacola]

Here's a few more thoughts on the wave pool at TL from a perspective from someone who has lived their whole life a 30 minute drive from the BEAUTIFUL, Snow White, beaches of Pensacola Beach (shameless plug)...and someone who loves playing in the surf and body surfing...

1. The waves at TL are continuous if I recall correctly...seems like about once a minute a big one rolls through. I don't recall there being a "still period" with no waves (but I could be mistaken).

2. The waves are quite powerful. There are some folks (I assume locals) who have mastered the art of catching the wave from way out in the pool, and come roaring in with the wave. My fear was getting speared by one of these folks who are basically human torpedoes.

3. If the pool is crowded, which it usually is, chances are you'll be bumping into folks when the waves are crashing.

4. The bottom of the pool is made of a very rough texture (for foot traction I'm sure) and you or your little ones can get scraped up if knocked under the water.

I've made the following comments before on this boards...not always popular since you can't criticize anything Disney...but TL has been around a while...when it was built, it was probably state of the art. The Themeing was (and is) amazing. But compared to a modern waterpark (Whitewater Atlanta, Schlitterbahn, Busch Gardens, Holiday World, new park at Sea World, Wet n Wild) the slide "technology" is really dated.

The slides at TL are very short, rough, and slow...as they appear to be nothing more than concrete troughs painted with a coating. The family raft ride lasts about 30 seconds, and barely obtains enough speed to even climb the wall during the few turns you go around. When we reached the bottom, my kids looked at me and exclaimed "that's IT?!"

The Crush'n Gusher Coaster IS a good ride...which is made from technology leased/bought from Schlitterbahn if my info is correct. I think WDW installed this to try and keep this park relevant and up-to-date...and hopefully keep folks coming.

Another problem with TL is that the core of the park will be hard to update/upgrade without major expense as most of the old slides are built into the themeing of the volcano.

Again, this is a very beautiful water park...the swim with the sharks thing is pretty cool (cold actually) and is a unique attraction...but if it's thrills (even minor) and I'd go so far as to say "fun" you're looking for, you're in the wrong place.

Just some honest thoughts from someone who has spent a lot of time at the beach and many waterparks.