Water Park Cabanas vs Reserved Chairs

[RRZJ]

We rented a cabana at Typhoon Lagoon years ago, but can't recall whether it was truly worth it. That was before they offered the reserved chairs. If you've done either, at TL or BB, could you please tell me what you think the pros and cons of each? In case helpful, it'll be me, DH, DS (8), and DS (5) in August (yikes, I know!). Thanks!

 

[momtwoboys]

wondering the same for April

 

[goodgodmrsmolly]

I just can't see it being worth it at all, for me at least. $350 for 6 people is doubling the admission to the park, just to have a place to sit that is reserved. Seems crazy to me. If they had a cooled area or a tv I could see the value but this only gives you a small locker and a few bottles of water. To each their own though.

 

[Indio]

I can't imagine how the cabanas would be worth it either. Will you really be spending that much time sitting there? My family is constantly on the go, so definitely not worth it for us.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Not worth it at all IMO. If I wanted to sit in a chair all day in the shade, I could do that at my resort pool. Chairs are easy enough to come by and I think the money is better spend somewhere else.

 

[RyMacJ]

We had a polar patio at Blizzard Beach in 2013, and we loved it. It was worth it to us, and we are booking one again for June.

It was definitely a splurge for us. It was a lot of money--we aren't well to do, we're an average middle class family.

The thing for us was, we are very frugal during the year. We don't eat out a lot, we don't buy a lot of clothes, I don't wear expensive make-up, etc. When we're on vacation, we like to feel like we're on vacation, and have a little bit of that feeling of being pampered. That's kind of hard to come by at Disney, but with a Polar Patio, we got exactly that.

We had a very nice, shaded patio that had six chairs. There was a cooler that stayed restocked with water the entire time, plus a locker, towels that were restocked so we always had dry ones, and an attendant who took our lunch order and brought it back to us. After we ate lunch we were too full for dessert (we were on DDP), so she told us to let her know when we were ready for dessert and she would get it then. We were able to enjoy Mickey ice cream bars about two hours later. She was very sweet and not overbearing at all, but always there when we needed her or had a question. We were in a great location in the park, near restrooms and right at the entrance to a lazy river. The shade was a big deal, as we had a 3 and a 5 year old at the time.

My DH deals with my Disney obsession, but he doesn't love the parks as much as I do. The water parks are a different story. They, especially Blizzard Beach, are his favorite. We spent the entire day there and had such a relaxing time. It was one of our favorite days of our trip.

Like I said, we are doing it again this summer, but I do agree that it's a lot of money.

 

[nkereina]

The reserved chairs may be a more viable option, but do keep in mind it's only two lounge chairs. Four of you will be permitted, but there's only two chairs if you do one reservation. It includes the two chairs, umbrella, small table, and two towls for $40. I suppose you could do two reservations for $80and four chairs/towels, but I don't know how many are available and if you could get the four seats together - I think they are first come first served.

IMO, the Cabanas are only worth it if you have several adults you are splitting the cost between. They come with servers and refillable mugs for waterpark use but considering the cost, you don't get much more than that when comparing to the chairs.

 

[focusondisney]

The reserved chairs may be a more viable option, but do keep in mind it's only two lounge chairs. Four of you will be permitted, but there's only two chairs if you do one reservation. It includes the two chairs, umbrella, small table, and two towls for $40. I suppose you could do two reservations for $80and four chairs/towels, but I don't know how many are available and if you could get the four seats together - I think they are first come first served.

IMO, the Cabanas are only worth it if you have several adults you are splitting the cost between. They come with servers and refillable mugs for waterpark use but considering the cost, you don't get much more than that when comparing to the chairs.

We did the reserved chairs @ TL this past May. You actually get 2 lounge chairs & 2 regular straight back sand chairs plus 4 towels. So there is seating & towels for 4 people. We enjoyed not having to worry about finding/ deciding on seats. The only draw back I found was having to shift the seats around as the sun & shade moved thru out the day. There are only 2 of us so we had the sand chairs stacked up behind us & only used the loungers. It might get a little crowded if all 4 were in the shaded area at once tho. We'll definitely do this again on our next trip to TL.

 

[momtwoboys]

We were wondering just that about the umbrella reserved spots... I see pics of only 2 lounge chairs but read that some people also get 2 straight back chairs... hmmm that option is more affordable for sure, but only if there comes 4 chairs to that reserved spot. I am looking to call about the current pricing on both options... any Visa discounts?

 

[goofyintoronto]

There are always tons of lounge chairs available, and we go every August. We've been many times, and rarely ever do we sit much anyway. We're always doing something...wave pool, lazy river, swim with sharks.

 

[kelleybean]

This is the first I've heard about the reserved chair thing! We have AP's to the water parks so go quite often during the summer and have never had any trouble finding chairs, even on crowded days. We always go at opening though.

I'm trying to figure out what you get with the reserved chairs that's "extra." Towels? Drinks?

 

[focusondisney]

This is the first I've heard about the reserved chair thing! We have AP's to the water parks so go quite often during the summer and have never had any trouble finding chairs, even on crowded days. We always go at opening though.

I'm trying to figure out what you get with the reserved chairs that's "extra." Towels? Drinks?

Our reserved chair rental included 4 towels & a locker. No water or attendant to wait on us.

 

[shaneray]

Never done it but we do have reservations for the chairs. I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to leave things to chance so I'll spend a few bucks and know whatever time I decide to arrive, my spot will be there waiting on me. I also did a bit of research and at least at TL the spot with the reserved chairs is in a little area of its own next to the cabana's. The restricted foot traffic is another thing the sold me. We shall see I guess.

 

[mm1971]

While worth is always an individual choice, if we were planning to be there all day from open to close, it would be worth it for us. Having a shaded, private area to relax, having our food brought over and at $4 a bottle for water anyway sounds great. I'm guessing our family of 4 in a day in the heat would consume 24 bottles of water minimum. Thats already $100. It would be a good way to pamper yourself a little while there. We typically only spend a few hours on any trip so it would not make sense the way we do the water parks.

If you have the extra $$, I would say it's a nice add on. If you have to struggle to afford it, I would say no.

 

[Cshel85]

How do you reserve them?

 

[nkereina]

The two straight chairs in the $40 reserved seating area must be a new thing? We did this in 2012 and it was not included at the time, and I'm having trouble finding info online that says this is included. So must be new or maybe available by request?

The extras it includes are merely the fact that you have reserved seats -you can stroll up at any time during the day and check in for it, and be guaranteed two loungers together in a place that's not so quiet. You're also guaranteed an umbrella and small table, and they give you towels which you normally have to pay for or lug from your hotel. You're paying for the luxury of reserving it, along with the convenience.

 

[shaneray]

How do you reserve them?

have to call. 800 WDW PLAY I believe?

 

[RyMacJ]

How do you reserve them?

I don't know the exact number, I just call the general Disney number and asked to be transferred to recreation. You can't add them to your trip balance--they must be paid for on the day you book.

 

[wrighter]

While worth is always an individual choice, if we were planning to be there all day from open to close, it would be worth it for us. Having a shaded, private area to relax, having our food brought over and at $4 a bottle for water anyway sounds great. I'm guessing our family of 4 in a day in the heat would consume 24 bottles of water minimum. Thats already $100. It would be a good way to pamper yourself a little while there. We typically only spend a few hours on any trip so it would not make sense the way we do the water parks.

If you have the extra $$, I would say it's a nice add on. If you have to struggle to afford it, I would say no.

Hmmm - As we are going to TL for the first time in April, this post got me wondering: Are you allowed to bring your own water in with you? We usually bring a few bottles into the parks with us in our backpack, just to help defray some of the cost. Is this allowed at the water parks?

Also - I just looked up no less than six descriptions of the private chair area, and every single one of them lists only TWO chairs. So why only give two chairs for four people? Makes no sense.

 

[DebbieW]

Unless something has changed over the winter, at Typhoon you get 2 lounge chairs, 2 sand chairs, a small table and an umbrella, plus towels. You can reserve by calling 407-WDW-PLAY.