Typhoon Lagoon Tips ?

[cinder-ellah]

Typhoon Lagoon Tips / Touring ?

I'm taking my GD's 6 & 8 for their 1st visit to WDW !
I haven't been to Typhoon Lagoon for 5 years and that was with adults.
Is there a "Tips" forum for touring Typhoon Lagoon ?

Such as what to do first thing, what to avoid, besure and do, what not to miss.....
Also, I heard you can "rent / reserve" an area ? Is that necessary and where do you do that ?

Our group will consist of 3 adults and 2 children.
Planning on going at opening on Sunday / May 17th.
Should we plan on being in the parking lot by 9:30am ?
Park opens at 10am.

Mid-afternoon break ......

Then Epcot at 5pm with ADR's and FP+.

Any helpful suggestions or links to threads on this would be great !
Thank you

 

[NavyDad]

You can rent a covered "shack" but IMO it is not necessary if you get there 30 minutes prior to open. Just rent a locker for valuables and find some chairs first thing in some shade and put your towels down. We have never had a problem with this strategy.

We go to Shark Reef first thing. We get the kids life vests and masks. This is a great attraction but a warning that the water is COLD

Next is Crush N Gusher. It is a tube slide that has jets of water that propel you up hills and such. Very fun! You can ride single or double. There is a pool at the end that is not busy where people can take a break to swim.

After a couple of hours we do the lazy river and the waive pool. The other slides there are just OK but they do have a few nice kiddie slides.

 

[cinder-ellah]

Great !
I appreciate the tips.

Thanks for the warning of Sharks Reef being COLD ! ! !
That will be good to warn everyone to be prepared for that.

We'll plan on lockers for valuables.

Do you ever have a problem with people moving your towels ?
Do you wear water socks / shoes ?

 

[Interpol]

Wear water socks/shoes in the wave pool if you don't want your feet torn up. Those waves are strong.

 

[NavyDad]

Great !
I appreciate the tips.

Thanks for the warning of Sharks Reef being COLD ! ! !
That will be good to warn everyone to be prepared for that.

We'll plan on lockers for valuables.

Do you ever have a problem with people moving your towels ?
Do you wear water socks / shoes ?

Another thing with shark reef - they give you snorkels but we don't use them. We just wear the wask and swim with face in the water and watch the fish swim around. When we need a breath just lift our heads and breathe. I mention this because some people think you have to be able to snorkel to enjoy the reef - you don't.

We have never had a problem with our towels or any belongings being moved. We have done this many times without issue.

We don't wear anything on our feet at TL. There is enough shade except in a few places. You cannot wear them in the Shark Reef and it is a pain to have to take them off and then come back to retrieve them.

The waves are very strong in the wave pool but most of the people who have problems stand in the wrong spot. If you stand where the waves break you are going to take a hard tumble. I am over 6 feet tall and over 200 pounds and I can't stand upright where they crash. If you are a good swimmer just go out a little farther and you can jump the waves or swim through them. It's a lot of fun. When our kids were smaller my wife would stay with our little one at the very back where the waves are very gentle. There is also a nice kids slide over to the side in a small "harbor" where the waves won't really bother you at all.

 

[cinder-ellah]

Thank you !
Glad to hear that about the snorkels. My 6 GD was worried about that.

Also, great tips on avoiding taking a tumble. I'll keep a look out for the kids slide.

The water socks for the wave pool sounds like a good idea.
And leave them w the towels while we "Swim with the Sharks".

 

[mickeygirl78]

Typhoon lagoon is my favorite water park. When looking at the wave pool we like to sit all the way to the right. The waves are also much softer on that side. They are too strong in the middle of the pool for my liking. We like to get there at opening and hit all the slides right away. Crush n gusher is our favorite. Then the boys do the shark reef (yes it's cold!). Once it gets busier we enjoy the wave pool and lazy river. We've never had an issue with leaving our stuff at the chairs. I don't wear water shoes but I sometimes wear flip flops when I walk around and just hold them when I go down a slide.

I dont rent a locker, I just use a water neck holder thingy for cash and a card. I bring towels from the hotel rather than renting them as well.

I hope you have a good trip!

 

[kelleybean]

In the wave pool, my son likes to hang out near the wall in the area just outside the children's slides. He gets a bit of the wave but not enough to knock him off of his feet. I hate the family raft ride at TL but love the one at BB. The raft at TL is really unwieldy to get up the steps and the ride is really short, plus last time we hit one of those fake rocks at the bottom and my son banged his wrist hard enough to make him cry. Not sure if those rocks are still there but wanted to warn you just in case. We usually skip the shark reef but most people like it. We go to Crush N Gusher first, then the Storm Slides, then the Humunga Kowabunga. We save the lazy river for when the park gets crowded since there isn't a line.

We get there at opening and have never had an issue getting several chairs so I personally don't think you need any of the packages. You are allowed to bring coolers provided there isn't any alcohol or glass so you can bring lunch if you want.

 

[Kkb0517]

I thought I saw somewhere that the shark reef is now opening later in the day and not at rope drop.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Also, I heard you can "rent / reserve" an area ? Is that necessary and where do you do that ?

We rented an umbrella and chairs on both of our visits to Typhoon Lagoon (August 2013 and August 2014). We really liked having a private space, and thought the price was bearable (about $55).





While we were disappointed with the food in 2013, we discovered the waffle sandwiches at Lowtide Lou's in 2014.....and they were excellent. I would highly recommend them! (DH raved about the chicken and waffle sandwich, while I had the fruit and waffle version):

 

[Jadyreen1282]

The snorkeling is a blast:

 

[Rosebud123]

Two tips!
For Shark Reef, make sure you rinse out the mask/snorkel before putting it on. Otherwise the harsh cleaning chemicals burn your eyes. Even more importantly, wear a life vest regardless of your swimming ability. It's so much easier to slowly float across the top when you're wearing a vest. Makes it easier to see the sharks and fish!

 

[NavyDad]

Thank you !
Glad to hear that about the snorkels. My 6 GD was worried about that.

Also, great tips on avoiding taking a tumble. I'll keep a look out for the kids slide.

The water socks for the wave pool sounds like a good idea.
And leave them w the towels while we "Swim with the Sharks".

My best advice for your DGD's if they want to do the Shark Reef:

Make sure you get them a life jacket! They have them right at the entrance to the reef area where you get the snorkel/masks. Even if they are good swimmers I would say still get one. Our DD's have always been very independent and insist they can swim from an early age. Our first trip our youngest DD was 3 and could swim on her own. We didn't get her the life jacket and regretted it because my wife ended up having to help her swim across. The next trip DD was 5 and we insisted she get a life jacket. Well DD and DW had a much better time because they could each swim across at their leisure....

Another good tip:

There are 2-3 covered areas right in front of the Shark reef area (directly across the paved walkway). They are cabanas but are free on a first come first serve basis. We like to head right there to grab chairs and set up a home base. We then do shark reef (usually first family in line) and it is easy to return to our home base and apply sun-screen(not supposed to wear sun-screen in the reef as it is salt water with live animals) and such before heading to the rest of the park. The reef is a good landmark that is away from the craziness of the wave pool. That area has easy access to the reef, Crush N Gusher and there is an entrance to the lazy river very close by.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

The family raft ride frankly sucks, and the tube slides aren't much better. Don't bother with any of these unless the line is REALLY short.

The body slides are better, and Crushin Gusher is EXCELLENT!!

Shark Reef & the wave pool are an aquired taste. Many love them, while others tire of them quickly. I wasn't able to accurately predict our reactions, so I won't guess on yours.

 

[cinder-ellah]

Wow !!!!
Thank you for all the great tips, strategy and advice !
I really appreciate it.

 

[cinder-ellah]

Great pictures !

 

[Jennifer Brown]

The other slides there are just OK but they do have a few nice kiddie slides.

 

[coolbrook]

Thanks for all the great info everyone! I am getting excited to go back this August for my DD11's first visit to TL.

 

[cinder-ellah]

We'll definitely check out Lowtide Lou's and their Waffle Sandwiches.
Looks delicious !

 

[DisneyMaleficent50]

We just went to typhoon Lagoon this weekend. I recommend arriving 30 minutes before opening. There is no parking fees or bag check. People had full size hard coolers even.
If renting a locker get that done first and you should still be lined up with 5-10 minutes before park opening. We did not bother with a locker and no one bothered any of our bags.
Half our group waited in the main line to go left to the kid area. The rest headed down the path by the locker rental/Changing rooms to enter near Crushin Gusher.
Make sure to stake out a spot that will remain in the shade as this is very important later in the day. Our Kid group took care of this task.
We started with Crush N Gusher and rode it twice. I would go ahead and do all 3 slides while there.
We then rode the storm slides-no shoes or glasses (mush hold them). This one was a little uncomfortable so we just rode 1 of the 3.
Next we did Humunga Kowabunga-This ride really hurt. I have a bruise the size of my fist on my butt from this one. Everyone in our group agreed-Never again. Also no shoes or loose items.
We then headed over to Mayday Falls where we had our first wait of the day at 5 minutes.
Next was Keelhaul Falls with about the same wait. (my 4 year old loved it-yet she doesn't like 7 dwarfs mine ride. It beat out Gangplank-the only other one she tried outside of the kid area)
The shark reef did not open till noon and the Gangplank Falls was down. It was only 10:15am.
So it back over to crush n gusher to ride the third slide. wait time said 15 minuted but it only took us about 10. We then took the lazy river back to the kid area and met back up at 10:45.
we took everyone on the Keelhaul Falls about 10 minute wait then over to Gangplank Falls as it had reopened 20 min wait and back to Keelhaul.
It was about 11:30 am so we did another circuit on the lazy river but it was getting very crowded so we grabbed some shaved ice -A great deal at $4 and definitely share between two people. We headed to the front for the 12:30pm teen beach party but it was way too hot in the sun so we decided to go back to the resort.

Overall for the young kids Keehaul and Gangplank are great. For older, Crushin Gusher and Gangplank were our favorites.