Water parks!! Best strategy?

[CarolinaDD1997]

Hey guys,

Just wondering whats your strategy for those parks?

We're going to both water parks with a group of adults. If its true that the water parks open 10 am, we will have to leave Typhoon around 2 pm and Blizzard around 4 pm.
We will try to get there very early, we will have Chef Mickey and Kona reservations those days at 8 am, so will try to get to the parks just before they open - so we can enjoy them before the crowds get there!

What slides should we do first? We like the extreme ones! Also a must is the shark tank in TL!

 

[Isabel]

DH and I loved Crush n Gusher (water-roller coasters) at Typhoon. It's certainly not as extreme as Summit Plummet at Blizzard, but lots of fun.

 

[heybravo626]

We love the water parks. We probably did 15 trips with the kids before we started going to the water parks. Now we never miss them as long as it’s not too cold. Like everything, the first tip is to be there early before opening. They typically will let people in around 15 minutes early (9:45) and then hold them inside a multiple spots until 10:00. First thing to do is get good seats (after locker if u need it). We usually go for something in first row off of water but you might want shade. When we sit on the water line, we pull the seats up as close as we can to water line without getting wet. Otherwise, people will put chairs in front of you when you are gone. If you are going for the extreme slides, you should go there first. At BB, that would mean heading for the chair lift first although you can hike the hill too. We don’t ride the extremes slides all the time. When we do not, we go to family slide and solo mat slides first. They can be knocked out pretty fast before lots of people show up. Next we focus on body slides and coaster slides. Then the shark tank if at TL (may open later anyways). We save the wave pool and lazy river for last (although we use the lazy river at times to get from one area to another while touring slides -- learn the maps to see what works).


That is my two cents at a top level without getting into slide name details. Search the net for good maps and touring strategies for both water parks. Like anything at WDW, it is to your advantage to have a plan and be ready to execute it. Enjoy!!!

 

[Klayfish]

As said above, be there early. Get your seat, preferably in the shade. Then hustle on over to the thrill slides. The initial crush isn't as bad as Soarin or TSMM, but within an hour the line will easily be 30-45 minutes. If you get there right away, at either park, you can go right up and get right on. At BB, you can use the chair lift, but in our experience the darn thing shuts down a lot so we play it safe and use the stairs. It's a lot of stairs, so you'll work up a good sweat getting up. Summit Plummet is the one you want. There are one or two others in that same area that are pretty good too. At TL, you'll want to head for Humunga Kowabunga. Crush-n-gusher is awesome too, but doesn't get as crowded as quickly. If you hustle, in the first hour you should be able to ride all the big thrill slides multiple times. You'll be rather tired from running back up the stairs, but that's part of the fun. Then go chill out in the lazy river or get tossed around in the wave pool at TL.

 

[lovethattink]

We use to have PAP that included water parks. Where ever we found a spot in the morning, we'd hop the lazy river to to the next stop, get out and do whatever was in that area, then hopped back in the river to the next stop and so on til we covered the whole park.

If I knew the park was going to be particularly crowded, like Easter weekend, we'd go to the most popular slides first. Then we'd hop to the lazy river to all the areas once finished with those.

If you are using Disney's transportation, be sure to check about transportation to and from the water parks as it recently changed. Be sure to allow extra time for bus transfers if you are at a resort that transfers water park guests to AK or DS.

 

[holden]

We did TL in March (Spring Break - around Easter). Our cruise ship docked in Port Canaveral at 6am. We got a rental car and drove to TL for opening. There were pretty much no lines all day. I was shocked.

We rented a cabana which was wonderful! The server took drink/food orders. They provided towels, water bottles in a cooler and a safe for valuables. If you are thinking about a cabana I highly recommend it!