Water Parks - Full Capacity Closing Times

[LM0601]

Hi Everyone,

We are arriving in Disney on Sunday, July 15th and plan to head to a water park after we check in around noon. Since it is a Sunday in the summer, does anyone know what time they close the parks when they reach full capacity? I heard they reopen later in the day. Does anyone have any experience with them closing the water parks? We usually hit the water parks early in the morning one day during our stay, but this time our schedule is different so I thought I would ask about going later in the day. We have also been there when they closed completely for the day because of the weather and lightening storms. It is very disappointing.

Thanks so much!

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

i want to know this myself.i'm going in oct.

 

[usfantoo]

My family will be in Disney the on the 15th too! The waterparks are open from 9 A.M. to 8 P.M. for the month of July (at least that is what Disney's site shows). Extra evening hours for TL are scheduled for July 9, 16 (they may have a few more dates but I can't remember them since we will be leaving on the 17th). Extra morning hours are scheduled daily at both TL and BB.
Now to answer your question about going later in the day......my family always goes later in the day (Hey we are on vacation and always sleep in!) and we have a blast! Sometimes we wait until 3:00, (so we miss a bit of the most intense sunburn time), to go and we have never had a huge problem finding a seat for our "stuff." Usually by that time a lot of people are leaving or tired from being in the water all day and most attraction lines are fine. If we go later in the day we usually stay until close to closing (it really clears out in the evening).
Sometimes we will go around 1:00 and it is harder to find a place for our "stuff" and the lines are a bit longer. I prefer later in the afternoon to go to the waterparks. If you are going to a waterpark and it is closed because of too many people just try the other waterpark or wait until later in the afternoon/evening and try again.

 

[asta]

I was there a few years ago during July. We tried to go to the water parks around 11:00 AM and were turned away from both TL and BB because they were at capacity. We were driving our car and the part that was so frustrating was that while they were turning us away, bus after bus was allowed to enter. Not all of the buses were even Disney buses, some were from local churches or schools. The point is that just like the other parks, the first thing to close is the parking lot to cars. We even watched as some savvy locals at BB parked on the shoulder of the road and walked across the parking lot. We could have gone back to our hotel and caught one of the buses and been admitted.

The main point is if you are going midday during the summer, you might want to catch the resort bus in order to make sure that you can get in. Another question to first ask yourself is do you really want to swim when it is that crowded.

 

[seashoreCM]

I usually go to the water parks later in the day when the sun is not so intense. Also I prefer to make multiple short visits to the water park rather than one long visit.

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[LM0601]

Thanks for your replies. I never thought to take the bus into TL or BB. We drive down to FL so we always have our car and usually take it to the parks. We may give the bus a try. Great idea!

We do not want to go when it is too crowed, I agree. However, my Father In-Law sort of invited himself along with us to Disney for a day or two and he does NOT do water parks. (He lives in FL and is meeting us there.) We are only going to be there for 4 nights as it is so we are cramming in all that we can in the few days we will be there. I did not want to go the a water park on the first day, however, that is the only day we can do it because of my FIL. I had to revamp our entire trip and change some Priority Seatings too.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The turnstile master computer at each park keeps track of both entries and exits. When a park capacity closes (which is done in stages) there has to be a certain number of people exiting, with the total "in park" below a certain number, before they start allowing people in again.

I am low enough on the totem pole that I have no idea what these numbers are.

There are four stages to park closing:

Stage 1 - The parking lot entrance is closed. You can only access the park if you are using Disney Transportation.

Stage 2 - The ticket windows are all closed (and the automated Ticket Vending Machines are turned off). Unless you already have a ticket you cannot get in.

Stage 3 - Only people with Annual Passes or current Resort IDs will be allowed in.

Stage 4 - Nobody is allowed in.

Last year at TL I only remember one day that we reached Stage 4, but several days when I know the parking lot was closed for a while. I've seen the lot closed as early as 10:30, and the one Stage 4 we closed about 11:00 but started letting people back in around noon.