water park strategy

[lomillerin]

We are going in July. Are there any days better than others for the water parks?
Which park will be more crowded?
I know July can be rainy, but would it be okay to go after lunch until closing which is 7:30 in July?

Any advice?

 

[Donalds_best_pal]

Go before lunch! In the south anything after about 1pm is fair game for thunderstorms to ruin your water park day. When it comes to which would be more crowded, I dont really know as we dont go often in the summer. BB possibly. I would go right when it opens before it turns into a total mad house and the thunderstorms comes. Then you can leave after lunch with getting almost or everything done.

Matt

 

[babybunrab]

I'd also avoid the week-ends, since it's busier then.

 

[Bob P]

If you really want to go to the water parks, I suggest you get there when they open. By about 11--or earlier--the waits for all the big slides will be long.

If you're the kind who can "wing it," then the best thing to do would be to wait for an afternoon storm to clear out the water park and then go right after the sun comes back out. The problem with this strategy is that it doesn't rain every day, or at the same time every day, and sometimes ir rains for several hours the sun doesn't come back out until the water parks are closed!

 

[bwallace]

Go early to mid week and get there for opening time.
Less chance of rain in the am and you can walk right onto the slides.

They are not worth waiting 15-20 minutes, but if you are there at opening time you probably wont face more than a handful of people in the lines.

 

[lovethattink]

Just keep in mind that alot of Central Florida day camps have day trips to DQ or the water parks. These would be Mon-Fri. We have PAP's and go to the waterparks alot. When we go, we either go right when the park opens or a couple hours before it closes. If you choose to go after lunch, be sure to get a locker. Chances are you won't find a seat until late afternoon when the crowds start to leave the park. There have been many times (usually during holiday weeks or summer) where we got there too late in the morning and couldn't find a chair. We put our important stuff in a locker and just put the beach bag on the ground. (Now that we have an addition to our family, we just keep everything in the stroller if we can't find a seat.) If you are at a water park when it rains, stay there! I can't figure out why, but everybody leaves when it rains. Thunderstorms are a different thing. Often during the summer they have to close the water attractions because of lightening. The only "safe" place to wait out the thunderstorm is the store or your car. Generally these storms are late afternoon.

 

[wildernessfamily]

I know we have went to TL in early afternoon(during summer) and it has been closed twice, once we were went to BB and got in. They both are unique in design, TL wave pool has bigger waves if that appeals to your family. Go early, the thunderstorms tend to clear the parks..we try to do week days and then hop to a different park(for evening shows) after going back and showering. Read alot on these sites it might help you decide what is best for your group.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

we've gone to both parks and got there at opening time and stayed until mid-afternoon. We went on Saturday both times we've gone and didn't have too many problems with lines until we left for the days. We were there in May and June.

 

[gshoemate]

We go often and have noticed that BB tend to fill to capacity sooner then TL. When this happens, they will send people over to TL is there is still space. Then they usually wait until 2:00 before reopening the parking lot at BB. I suppose it is better then waiting until 10 people leave and then letting 10 people in, they just reopen at a set time.

We prefer TL and have never had a problem with it being closed due to capacity, even during the summer. But I am sure it does happen. If you go to TL, the best place to have as your home base is by the new ride. It amazes us how many empty seats are over there. And there is a small swimming area there that is nice to cool off in and it's not as crowded as it is over by the wave pool. Just find the locker rental area and across from that is the woman's restroom, head towards the rest room and keep walking past it, the path will lead you right to the new ride.

Have fun.