Water parks worth the time?

[Sara L.]

Just wondering if going to the water parks during our stay is worth the time we could be spending at the parks. We are going to be in Disney for a week in October. We have large water parks not far from our home, is there anything spectacular about the ones in Disney to make them worth it?

 

[Aliceacc]

My sister and her family love them.

We've never gone; there's a big water park 45 minutes from my home that we've never been to.

We stay Deluxe at WDW, and the Deluxe pools are more than enough for us.

If you're on the fence, take a look at Stormalong Bay at the Beach Club.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

We really love the waterparks but if this is your first visit I would skip them this time and just spend time in the parks.

 

[Shellyb84]

They are not worth the time for us. We just enjoy the resort pool

 

[mco65]

Never done but its on my list.
The way I figure, in order to justify the cost, I would want to set aside 2 days for water parks.. (1 might suffice. ?)
We typically spend 2 days at MK, 1 day at the rest of the parks.. no parks on arrival or departure day.. so if I threw in 2 days for water parks, that would work out to be a 9 day vacation.. and we simply have not been able to get away from work for that long a period. I think I could get away for that long but not my wife, she is a workaholic.. She often brings her laptop with her on vacation and is never far away from her cell phone working.. or telling others HOW to work.. Don't ya hate those kinda bosses!

I did schedule a trip for May of 2015 that included water parks but we ended up having to cancel eventually going in Dec (no water parks).

Personally, I think it is something we have to do at least once... but so far, no luck!

 

[Klayfish]

That depends on your desires and how long you're staying. We're big fans of the water parks, have been to each one at least 7 or 8 times. But we've also spent a lot of time in the main parks, so for us it's a fun break...and my kids love water activities. At its' core, they're water parks like most others, but they're done Disney style. Good theming, much cleaner and better quality than a traditional water park. If you're a first time WDW visitor and only staying 3 or 4 days, I'd say skip it this time and go to the theme parks. If you're staying 7+ days and/or have been to WDW before, then I say absolutely go. We're heading down to WDW very shortly for a 2+ week trip. It's in our plans to visit each water park at least twice. If you do, get there for rope drop (i.e. as soon as they open). There is no FastPass (FP) and the big slides get long lines. But if you're there at rope drop, you can hit them all with no wait.

Each park offers something different. Typhoon Lagoon has more "thrill" slides and has a wave pool like nothing you've ever seen. It does have plenty of more tame slides, but it's the thrill ride water park. Blizzard Beach has thrill rides, but overall the rides are more relaxed. It also has a tiny bit more for younger kids ages 3-9 (young kids will love Typhoon Lagoon too). Personally, if I was only going to pick one, I'd do Typhoon Lagoon. It offers the best mix of things for young and young at heart.

 

[Puffin]

We were in doubt about it, finally chose to throw in a day at Blizzard Beach and we had a wonderful time. Loved the theming, the slides and the atmosphere. The waterparks close at 5 pm, so you still can go to a theme park afterwards.

 

[bovioask1]

Debating if I want to invest in the platinum pass which includes the water parks, thinking of going to a theme park or water park at least twice a month

 

[Keyser]

We've been to each Disney water park once. My kids asked to go back to one this year, so we're planning another visit (it helps that we still have days on some non-expiring tickets from many years ago). For us at home, the "good" water parks are about 2.5 hours away (and there's a lower-end one about 1.5 hours away; we do have some water-park-like city pools, though). So, our kids see a water park as about as much of an "event" as the main parks.

We've treated the water park day as a "break" day in a week long (8-9 days with weekends) trip. Water parks tend to open later so we can sleep in a little longer and still be there at opening, and we just leave when we're ready and then don't plan anything for the evening, besides eating at or very near our hotel. It's worked well in the past to help us not get too worn down during a long trip. If this is your first trip to Disney, I'd really recommend some sort of break day (if not two) during your trip, or at least planning on some late mornings/early evenings. It is easy to get worn down if you go-go-go for days on end. For us, a water park day is a good break day option (others have been: DisneyQuest (what is now) Disney Springs, one of the many many tourist-oriented things on either 192 or International Drive) - mixing 2 break days in with about 6 park days has usually worked well for us.

In terms of uniqueness, I think the Typhoon Lagoon park has some pretty unique features. The wave pool is not like any I've seen before (but maybe I am unaware of another?) - they sometimes generate one large (~6 foot I think) wave rather than regular smaller ones. Some people like it, some don't, but it does seem unique. Typhoon Lagoon also has the snorkeling with sharks lagoon, which is kind of cool (and again, not something you usually see at a water park). It has a water coaster, also (which are at lots of places, now, but still not at most water parks). So, if you are wanting to justify a water park visit as something unique, Typhoon Lagoon will probably fit the bill. Our family is actually planning on going to Blizzard Beach this year, though. It has some unique theming and some interesting things like the chairlift, but the actual water slides are more in line with a traditional water park (and those are what our kids are interested in).

 

[Duffywannabe]

Debating if I want to invest in the platinum pass which includes the water parks, thinking of going to a theme park or water park at least twice a month

You need the platinum plus to get the water parks included.

As a fl resident I am looking at the prices and it is cheaper to just buy a water park pass than upgrade from gold to platinum plus. I may do that or get the after 2 pass. I don't golf and there is nothing really at ESPN, I don't stay at the hotels. There really is no benefit to upgrade the pass for me.

 

[Sara L.]

Thanks for the input everyone. I upgraded our park hopper passes to include the water parks since it wasn't that big of a price difference anyway. We are going to be there for 7 days so it will probably be nice to have at least one day to do something a little more relaxing

 

[bovioask1]

You need the platinum plus to get the water parks included.

As a fl resident I am looking at the prices and it is cheaper to just buy a water park pass than upgrade from gold to platinum plus. I may do that or get the after 2 pass. I don't golf and there is nothing really at ESPN, I don't stay at the hotels. There really is no benefit to upgrade the pass for me.

I didnt even think about that! And now that im looking at it, we are moving to melbourne fl only about an hour away. Dont plan on going to the parks during the summer time, way too crazy...so silver might be the best way to go for us....but on the other hand the gold > silver just by having the photopass downloads thats a pretty sweet extra to have. Anyone have experience of just one family member having gold and taking advantage of that?

 

[warrenz1963]

Just wondering if going to the water parks during our stay is worth the time we could be spending at the parks. We are going to be in Disney for a week in October. We have large water parks not far from our home, is there anything spectacular about the ones in Disney to make them worth it?

The thing that sets the Disney water parks apart from most others is the theming, and how nicely landscaped they are; nothing about the slides and pools in and of themselves is unique. Typhoon Lagoon is especially lush with beautiful landscaping, and I think it has a better lazy river and wave pool than Blizzard Beach.

 

[coley444]

Typhoon Lagoon has more "thrill" slides and has a wave pool like nothing you've ever seen. It does have plenty of more tame slides, but it's the thrill ride water park. Blizzard Beach has thrill rides, but overall the rides are more relaxed. It also has a tiny bit more for younger kids ages 3-9 (young kids will love Typhoon Lagoon too). Personally, if I was only going to pick one, I'd do Typhoon Lagoon. It offers the best mix of things for young and young at heart.

Hi @Klayfish, could you elaborate on TL having more "thrill" slides? When I was comparing the parks online it seemed BB had more thrill slides. I haven't been to BB since I was about 10 and I've never been to TL. I was looking for the WP with more "thrill" slides. So do you reco TL in that case? If you can let me know a few more details that lead you to consider TL more thrilling that would be great! Slide names would be helpful if you can recall. Thanks!

 

[Shanti]

Just wondering if going to the water parks during our stay is worth the time we could be spending at the parks. We are going to be in Disney for a week in October. We have large water parks not far from our home, is there anything spectacular about the ones in Disney to make them worth it?

We love them, but I don't recommend them for a first-timer's weeklong visit in October. Focus on the dry parks this trip, & you can save the water parks for another trip, ideally for a summer trip.

 

[Shanti]

Hi @Klayfish, could you elaborate on TL having more "thrill" slides? When I was comparing the parks online it seemed BB had more thrill slides. I haven't been to BB since I was about 10 and I've never been to TL. I was looking for the WP with more "thrill" slides. So do you reco TL in that case? If you can let me know a few more details that lead you to consider TL more thrilling that would be great! Slide names would be helpful if you can recall. Thanks!

BB has the most extreme thrill slide, Summit Plummet, the scariest ride in all of WDW. I admit that's not saying a lot...

 

[mel&me]

Another here that loves the water parks but as others stated, if its your fist visit, I'd pass.

 

[April J]

We have never been to BB only to TL. this next trip we plan to hit both. I feel like adding it is totally worth it.

 

[jrt1176]

We've never been and we're not into water parks, so I can't say if it's worth it...

But, I guess we prefer to spend our time in the parks.

They look fun, but I'm sure most water parks are! To me WDW is about the parks.

Just wondering if going to the water parks during our stay is worth the time we could be spending at the parks. We are going to be in Disney for a week in October. We have large water parks not far from our home, is there anything spectacular about the ones in Disney to make them worth it?

 

[John Byers]

I have been trying to talk the wife into extending out trip a day and put a water park day in the middle. I think it would be fun as TL looks awesome.