water park question

[tinyrip]

I asked this in the families board but didnt get any bites so i thought i'd try here. I'm headed for the world in september with my mom. and she's been wanting to take my niece for ever. well, my brother finally agreed to let her go, so now its trip planning time well i've been wanting to go to the water parks for like the last 3 trips and its just hasnt happened yet. The problem is that my neice, she's 5, cant swim. she'll tell you that she can, but the truth is that without her little water wings she kinda sinks. so which water park would be best. I know they both have little play ground type areas. and i'm not letting her go into either wave pool. I'd like to do blizzard beach since i havent been before, my mom doesnt care because all she'll do is the lazy river or watch my neice. But i want my neice to have fun and not be sad because I got to do all the fun slides and such. so does someone have tips, or should i just stick with the pool at my hotel.

 

[littleladykaty]

I believe you can wear flotation vests at the parks? I'm not sure on this, but I'd just tell my neice that if she wants to go to the water parks she MUST wear a life vest. Tell her all kids under 6 have to wear them if they want to go on certain slides! If you can't wear vests at the park, I'd just tell her before hand that there are certain slides she can't go on b/c she isn't tall enough...also I would only do slides and pools that she can do so that everyone is together and no one feels badly!

have fun and wear sunscreen...and reapply often!!!

 

[kimjordan]

I just got back from Disney on Tuesday (yes, I'm sad to be home!!), and I also have a 5 year old who can't swim. We went to Typhoon Lagoon, and she thought it was great. They have a kids area that is really fun for the kids, and it has no deep water. They also have a small "lagoon" type area near the huge wave pool that has a small slide that ends in pretty shallow water, all of the kids loved that area. I would definitely stay away from the wave pool, that was scary!! And the lazy river is great! Lot's of places to get in, and it's so relaxing. Also, they have life vests that they let you use for FREE! Have a great time!

 

[TreslovesWDW]

We went this past September and we went to both,I can't remember if the childs slides were at both or just BB.Anyway the kids loved it.I also had the 5 year old and 3 year old go down the big slides and waited at the bottom to catch them,meaning the ones with tubs and mats.Although my children can swim I was still there to catch them if they needed help.The lazy river was great we all loved that. Most of the time I stayed with them at the kid area while dh,ds 12 and dd 8 all went to bigger slides. They had lots of fun in the sand and kiddie pool.

 

[tinyrip]

Can she wear the life vests on the slides? i doubt she'd have a problem with that. she pretty used to rules safety and either follow the safety rules or you dont get to go. and while i'm a very good swimmer, and life guard trained, i used to do work for a local camp. she wont be going into the wave pool. I dont want to find out how good i am at. I know she's pretty fearless about everything. so I think she'd want to do the slides. but I want to make sure she's safe, and has fun and doest get upset if I get to do things she doesnt do. And she smart enough that the whole not tall enough thing doesnt work. we tried that on a ride at kings island we didnt want her on. she walked up to the measuring poll, put her hand up on it and told us she was to tall enough to ride. I wont lie to her, and she gets that parents do things because they know things she doesnt. The truth is that she cant swim, so she's going to have to wear a life vest. and its going to probably mean that she cant do certain things.

 

[TXGIRL1226]

I have a similar dilemma to you, but my step-granddaughter can swim but she isn't a strong swimmer. She really wants to go to Blizzard Beach. She didn't learn to swim until we took her last year at the age of 7 and she saw all of the kids seimming without floaties and was embarassed to wear hers so she learned to swim underwater.

My point is maybe her swimming skill will improve a little more before next year.

 

[tinyrip]

well we're going in about 4 months, and she does spend alot of time at the pool. like close to daily. i'm really surpised that she cant swim on her own. at least a little bit. but she told her other aunt that she could swim, so the aunt didnt put the swimmies on her. and well you can imagine what happened next. luckily there was proper supervision and all she ended up with was swallowing alot of pool water and freaking out a bit. so now her parents are kind of upset as you can imagine. and i need to have all the bases covered. since my brother keeps asking me all these what if questions. like my mother wont be there and like she hasnt raised 3 kids. and she never lost any of us.

 

[littleladykaty]

if you think that you going on slides she can't go on will upset her, just don't go on them...she's not tagging along is she? I mean you are specifically taking her for a day at the water parks right? I'd just skip the things she can't do and hang out with her. She'll have a great time and won't feel left out if everyone is hanging out together.

have fun!

 

[dwtootles]

Can she wear the life vests on the slides? i doubt she'd have a problem with that. she pretty used to rules safety and either follow the safety rules or you dont get to go. and while i'm a very good swimmer, and life guard trained, i used to do work for a local camp. she wont be going into the wave pool. I dont want to find out how good i am at. I know she's pretty fearless about everything. so I think she'd want to do the slides. but I want to make sure she's safe, and has fun and doest get upset if I get to do things she doesnt do. And she smart enough that the whole not tall enough thing doesnt work. we tried that on a ride at kings island we didnt want her on. she walked up to the measuring poll, put her hand up on it and told us she was to tall enough to ride. I wont lie to her, and she gets that parents do things because they know things she doesnt. The truth is that she cant swim, so she's going to have to wear a life vest. and its going to probably mean that she cant do certain things.

Yes she can wear a lifejacket on the slides. The only ones she can't (the body slides-Summit Plummit and Slush Gusher) she probably doesn't meet the height restrictions anyway.

There is also a ride that has double tubes (Runoff Rapids) where you can ride with her on the slide and have her wear a vest.

Also Disney provides lifejackets for free as long as you leave a form of ID at the rental shop.

As a lifeguard who has worked at both Disney waterparks I know lifeguards appreciate children who can't swim well that wear lifejackets. It makes our job so much easier!!

 

[MinMouse]

With the summer months coming before your trip and her access to "daily swimming" maybe you could encourage your brother to provide her with some swimming lessons so she can enjoy more of the activities at the water park. Five is a great age . . . she'll pick up a lot and have all summer to practice.

Have fun!

 

[momimouse27]

I would definitely go for Blizzard Beach. They have a great kids area which has little slides, a shallow play area and some seating where you can just sit and watch your kids. She would love it!

 

[tinyrip]

well. we'll see how this summer goes with swimming. but as of now, we're going with getting her a life jacket. I'm going to hit the bigger slides that she isnt tall enough for or wouldnt ride, while she hits the play area with my mom. she doesnt ride any of that stuff. if it isnt the lazy river or something sedate like that she doesnt do it.

now which area has the better kids area? i've heard alot about blizzard beach, which i havent done yet. no one does typhoon lagoon?

 

[ThunderMTexpert]

floaties and circle rings aren't permitted, tho-

 

[aes74]

We are going to Typhoon Lagoon tomorrow. First, my daughter is 5 and not a strong swimmer. We were at Stormalong Bay today (Yacht and Beach Club) and she wore a lifejacket and had a great time on the slides. She just had to sit more on her bottom than lean on her back so she could slide better. She had a lot of fun and was not frustrated at all. And yes, you can use floaties at the pools, the water wing types on your arms.

 

[sjcmi]

We have had my son at the water parks since he was 3, we have never had a problem, and I have never worried about him, we never left his side at that age either though. I was going through the photo book from when he was 3 the other night, and there was a picture of him standing on the ledge at the shallow end of the wave pool. He would stand there and wait for the wave to break around his ankles. As soon as he would hear the "whoosh" from the wave machine he would laugh and jump untill it got to him. He absolutely loved it. The thought that he might have missed that much pleasure makes me glad that we took him there.

On the water slides I would go down first to catch him at the bottom, the lifegaurds usually didn't have a problem with this. Just don't stand right in the flow of the water coming out, stand off to the side. My wife would stay at the top with him to make sure he got on OK. And then she would follow him down. We have been to the water parks every two years since then and they are the high points of our trip. We do like Typhoon Lagoon best, mostly for the wave, You don't have to go out deep to enjoy it.

My wife and I are very protective of our Son, We often have to recondsider a decision to see if we are being over protective, we have ALWAYS felt safe with anything we have done at WDW. I know that if something ever did go wrong what better place to be. The Disney Cast Members are very well trained for anything that might come up.

So, go to the water parks, don't worry, and enjoy your vacation!