Water parks - rope drop or later in evening?

erin1715

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
We plan at least 2 days for the water parks and I know that we will definitely rope drop one of those days. We've never been to a water park in the evening and I'm wondering if the parks empty out at all, say around 4pm to close? We will be there during the summer so the hours are 10am-8pm.
 
Yes, they empty out closer to closing. The last hour crowd is very similar to the first hour.

Also, another great time to go is during a t-storm. It clears a lot of people out, so once the storm passes, the crowd is much lower...that's assuming the storm doesn't pass through within an hour or two of park close. If it does, they just close the park for the day and kick everyone out.
 
Yes, they empty out closer to closing. The last hour crowd is very similar to the first hour.

Also, another great time to go is during a t-storm. It clears a lot of people out, so once the storm passes, the crowd is much lower...that's assuming the storm doesn't pass through within an hour or two of park close. If it does, they just close the park for the day and kick everyone out.

That also assumes the storm actually passes, lol. We went to BB a few years ago, in June, and no sooner had we arrived than a storm rolled in. We decided to wait it out, and the kids had a blast playing with a couple of CMs under one of the pavilions (and we witnessed an entire family, dad & son included, taking shelter in the ladies' room, even eating in there - yuck). But, after over an hour, there was no sign of clearing. We stopped at guest relations and, since we had only just arrived when the storm hit, they gave us comp tickets to replace the water park passes we had used for admission.
 
I definitely enjoyed rope drop. We got in and had done so many rides in the first hour. Got fab seats, chilled out and then by lunch time when it was starting to get very hot (pale Scottish people are not used to the heat) we headed to DS for lunch.

Great fun!
 


That also assumes the storm actually passes, lol. We went to BB a few years ago, in June, and no sooner had we arrived than a storm rolled in. We decided to wait it out, and the kids had a blast playing with a couple of CMs under one of the pavilions (and we witnessed an entire family, dad & son included, taking shelter in the ladies' room, even eating in there - yuck). But, after over an hour, there was no sign of clearing. We stopped at guest relations and, since we had only just arrived when the storm hit, they gave us comp tickets to replace the water park passes we had used for admission.

LOL, yes, absolutely. Summer t-storms usually do pass over, but sometimes you just get one of those days. We usually check the forecast and/or radar before we go. If we see an isolated storm coming, fine. But if it's a long line, we pass. Even if you check, sometimes storms materialize quickly, but that's Florida.

It's even more fun if the storm is just rain, no lightning. Everything stays open. Something about swimming in the pouring rain is really fun.
 
LOL, yes, absolutely. Summer t-storms usually do pass over, but sometimes you just get one of those days. We usually check the forecast and/or radar before we go. If we see an isolated storm coming, fine. But if it's a long line, we pass. Even if you check, sometimes storms materialize quickly, but that's Florida.

It's even more fun if the storm is just rain, no lightning. Everything stays open. Something about swimming in the pouring rain is really fun.

Oh, we totally would have stayed and enjoyed the park in the rain if we could have - that sounds like a blast! Unfortunately, it was a thunder storm so everything was closed.
 
The water parks clear out big time for sure the last couple of hours.

We have done rope drop, late arrival and all day sessions at the water parks.

If there is stuff you absolutely want to do I would go with rope drop, establish a home base somewhere in the shade and hit all the good stuff the first hour. That way you knock out the must do stuff. After the first couple of hours you can chill out in your shady spot, hit the lazy river or whatever and who knows... you may decide to stay long enough to find the park clears out again at the end of the day.

The afternoon may work out great but it is also a bit riskier just due to storms as some PP's mentioned above. You may get there 2+ hours before close and not be able to do much at all if some Florida afternoon T storms pass through...
 



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