Water Park and AK/HS in one day...possible while still being enjoyable?

[FiveofusNL]

Hi All! This will be our third trip to Disney since 2011, but we have never visited the water parks before. This time I really wanted to so I bought the water parks and more tickets. Unfortunately, we plan on going to Universal/IOA and Kennedy Space Center as well, so our Disney time is limited to four days . My hope was to go to Blizzard Beach at rope drop on July 3rd, stay until around 1:00 and go back to our rental for a couple of hours. Then go to Hollywood Studios around 5:00pm for the evening. Likewise, I planned on going to Typhoon Lagoon at ropedrop on July 4th and then go to Animal Kingdom around 2:00. That day we would not be going back to our rental house in between. Will we get to spend enough time in the water parks if we do this? Are we better off doing the "regular" parks in the morning and the water parks in the afterrnoon? We normally hit the parks at rope drop and leave around 2:30 or 3:00 for the day (without returning in the evening), so this will be very different for us. I would love to do it all but not if we end up missing out at the water parks. Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. BTW, we are kind of stuck on visting these parks on the 3rd and 4th as MK will be the 5th and Epcot the 6th (based on crowd calendars). Many Thanks!!!

 

[LSUfan4444]

Personally, I don't think that is enough time in the water parks. I think 4 hours would be the minimum I would consider doing if I was trying a water park, not the maximum.

 

[Alesia]

We only spent about 3 hours in the waterparks, but that was the first week in June and there were no lines. I think you're probably going to want more time there.

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

I did rope drop at Typhoon Lagoon last August. We parked by 8:45 and leave the park at 10:30 with shower and change. No line at all.

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

3-4 hours in the water parks was plenty for us. We did rope drop and ran around like crazy for 3 hours till crowds started to build. Then we grabbed lunch and a nap and went to a park. When we do it we only schedule 1 water park per trip, those stairs are a lot of work.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Depends on the stamina of your family. I am generally wiped out after a water park, and could not go straight to another park.

 

[cakebaker]

We rarely do a full day at a water park. We always do park first, then water park. We try to get out of the morning park by 11 or so. We head back to our resort and change out, grab a bus to the water park and usually get lunch there. We've never tried the water park first- the water parks generally wear us out so better to do them later and avoid the heat of the day in the other parks.

 

[FiveofusNL]

Thanks everyone. I want to make sure that we spend enough time at the waterparks to really enjoy them as we have never been to one. If we need to miss out on AK and HS in order to do so, that is all we can do. Given that I have read the waterparks get very busy as the day progresses, I think I will go to the water park in the morning and play it by ear. If everyone feels they have spent enough time at the park, and also feel up for it, we can head to a regular park later in the day.

 

[DisneyFive]

Those are the two earliest closing parks, HS and especially AK. I'm struggling with the same question for late September. I know AK is out, since it closes around 5pm in late September. Still debating if HS will be doable closing at 8pm or so.

Dan

 

[abouley]

From some of the touring plan websites I have read it sort of sounds like after 2 pm things start to lighten up again. Does anyone have experience with that? We are thinking of going later say around 3 pm and staying later (water parks close at 8p I think during the summer). I figured that might be a good option for us instead of trying to get changed and showered and to a park after doing the water park. I agree, we tend to be wiped out and I honestly don't think my kids will want to leave! We could spend hours in the wave pool and lazy river alone! We are going mid August and with the heat I want to plan plenty of water park time!

 

[capegirl]

From some of the touring plan websites I have read it sort of sounds like after 2 pm things start to lighten up again. Does anyone have experience with that? We are thinking of going later say around 3 pm and staying later (water parks close at 8p I think during the summer). I figured that might be a good option for us instead of trying to get changed and showered and to a park after doing the water park. I agree, we tend to be wiped out and I honestly don't think my kids will want to leave! We could spend hours in the wave pool and lazy river alone! We are going mid August and with the heat I want to plan plenty of water park time!

Yes the water parks do tend to quiet down in the afternoon, but I would imagine many locals will be visiting the water parks on the July 4th holiday, so this needs to be considered. Also keep in mind that during the summer months you can pretty much count on an afternoon thunderstorm; granted these storms are usually short lived, but this is not always the case.

 

[georgina]

I like to hit the water parks when they open for the short lines on the slides, then do the lazy river/wave pool when it gets more crowded. Those afternoon thundershowers do clear the park out though, so an evening might not be too bad. AK is only open until 5 PM on July 3 and 4 (currently) so it would be hard to do much there after the water park. DHS is open until 8:30 on the third and midnight on the 4th, I don't know if it has reached capacity in years past on the 4th. The other thing about the water parks in the summer is that they can also close if they get full, so you may not be able to get in mid-afternoon until some people leave. (Disclaimer - I haven't been to a water park in the summer since 2003, but we definitely saw some closings there).

 

[FiveofusNL]

Georgina, I like your strategy of hitting the water parks early to avoid the long lines and then relaxing in the lazy river/wave pool while everyone else is lining up at the rides. I also never thought about the fact that the parks may reach maximum capacity. I cannot imagine going to a regular park first and then heading to Typhoon Lagoon just to get turned away. My kids would never forgive me!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

On your AK/TL day, I would rope drop AK and then finish the day at TL. You should get multiple rides on Crushin Gusher & Shark Reef the last couple hours of the night

 

[FiveofusNL]

Looking at both parks, it seems Typhoon Lagoon is the better one for our family (only 2/5 family members like the fast rides), so I want to make sure that we get to spend a lot of time there. It would be nice to get to Blizzard Beach as well, but I am happy just doing one wp if we need to. As a result, I am looking at mixing two of the strategies suggested above now. Goint to Typhoon Lagoon at rope drop on the 3rd for most of the day and then back to HS later in the evening. On the 4th, going to AK at rope drop and then heading to Blizzard Beach later in the day. I know it is crazy to be at the parks on the July 4th weekend, but we had no choice this year. I am hoping most people will be headed to parks that have fireworks instead of AK and the water park.

 

[FiveofusNL]

Okay, I have been assuming that I have to use the 4 fun pass parts of my water parks and more ticket on the same days that I go to the major parks. In other words, I only have the 4 days to use my passes and have to fit in the 4 parks (MK,AK,Epcot, HS) and the four fun passes (water parks, disney quest, golf) on the same days. However, I just read elsewhere on DIS that I do not have to use them on the same day. Meaning that I can go to the four parks on days 1-4 and go to a water park on day 5. Does anyone know if this is accurate? If it is, then I can hit TL on its own day and pair up BB/HS. With our schedule, I can move things around so I get 5 days at Disney if we can use the passes on different days. Fingers crossed!!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Yes, you could potentially spread those tickets out to as many as 8 full days of fun. We had the same 4-day tickets & used them up over the course of 7 days as follows:

AK
TL
MK
BB
EP
DHS
BB/TL

 

[FiveofusNL]

Yes, you could potentially spread those tickets out to as many as 8 full days of fun. We had the same 4-day tickets & used them up over the course of 7 days as follows:

AK
TL
MK
BB
EP
DHS
BB/TL

Awesome! Thanks Gumbo4x4. This changes everything.