Waterparks--do you need a full day?

[Albertan mom]

We had planned on going to BB and TL for a full day, open to almost close.

Which is 930-630 for BB, then we were going to get on a bus, and go eat at Maya Grill at 5:45.

TL is open 10-6, then we were going to eat at Planet Hollywood at 5:15.

Do you need that long to 'do' the whole waterpark? Is that too long of days? Kids are 8 and 11. (and very excited about the waterparks!!) I thought we would go directly from the waterpark to the eating place. Will Disney Transportation do that?

I thought I was so smart in picking restaurants closest to the waterpark....but maybe I should have planned on just going back to ASMovies and eating at the food court there?

Any suggestions/ideas/comments would be great!

 

[Mich Mouse]

It depends on how you want to "do" the park. If you want to relax in a lounge chair and enjoy the warm breezes with a cold drink, you'll want to spend more time there. If you just want to hit all the slides and attractions, a half day at each park is more than enough.

We find the water parks to become extremely crowded by around noon. We have traveled during the last week of August for the past seven years to WDW, and it is very slow in the theme parks, but since the weather is so warm, the water parks fill up fast! By noon you can expect at least thirty minute waits for evertyhing, even longer for the premier slides!

Whatever you decide to do, get there early! We make sure to be waiting for them to open, and hit every attraction in the entire park at least once within two and a half hours, max.

If the crowds were not as bad, we would defintiely stay much longer, but in our experience, the water parks get gridlocked, and that is not fun.

I am not sure about your transportation options since we find it much more convenient to rent a car...(This is not a bad idea if you plan on visiting a lot of different resorts for dining/recreation, and renting a car is cheaper in Orlando than anywhere else in the world due to the large amount of companies and the competiton that exists between them)

While I know the WDW transportation system is excellent, it is still always faster to drive there yourself. TL is really close to DD, but I think you may have to go to a theme park first to get to DD. I am sure that someone will come along and know what to do transportation wise.


Have fun planning!

 

[GIOny]

I think it really depends on the family and how much they enjoy the water parks . If your kids are that excited about the water parks then you probably made the right decision . A day at the water park can go fast . Don't forget you have to allow for wait times , travel times, lunch time and shower/change times. I think it would be more fun also to eat at Maya Grill and Planet Hollywood then the food court (IMHO) . Plan on spending the day at the first water park you go to and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out the way you planned then you can adjust your schedule for the second one.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

If you are going in August, check to see if those parks are doing EMH. Both parks did morning EMH every day last month. We got to TL before 8AM and as a result got to do crush n gusher, humunga kowabunga, storm slides and shark reef before the non-resort guests came in, then did the lazy river once before it got too crowded. We spent the rest of the day doing the lazy river 2 more times and then every other minute in the wave pool, except for lunch at leaning palms. We left at 3:30 and we were exhausted! I would call that a full day, and I don't know if we could have stood much more--after a dinner at concourse steakhouse we all were in bed by 9:30, at WDW, can you imagine!
Robin M.

 

[Albertan mom]

It says on the Disney calendar that there is extra morning hours. But it doesn't tell you what time it opens then. It still says 930 for BB and 10 for TL.
How do I know what time they open with EMH??
thanks

 

[Mich Mouse]

I think it is one hour prior to park opening for the morning extra magic hour.

 

[fac]

I agreed with everyone that you should go before the park opens and if possible get a rental car. We were never able to stay for the actual full day but my kids are only 5 and 7, there are a number of rides that they cannot take.

One thing I can add is the weather. If you were to go in Aug, sometimes it rains in the afternoon and they will stop the rides until the storm passes. Many people would leave at that time.

 

[PA Princess]

We did both water parks last trip with four kids and we are big water activity pool people, but we did not find that we needed a full day at the water parks to feel very satisfied and to do all we wanted. The sun and heat are intense in FL in the summer, so just a full day in that can be exhasuting (in other parks you do get inside for periods of air conditioning usually). Also, I would not want to worry about being dressed appropriately for dinner at a TS restaurant leaving directly from a water park...I would personally go back to the room, shower and dress and then head out. We did not use Disney transportation to the water parks, we had a rental car. A factor in our rental car decision was the planned multiple trips to water parks, since I have read over and over how long it can take to travel to and from water parks. We stayed at CBR and it was a 5 minute drive tops to both water parks.