WATERPARKS! Which one for a 5, 6&11 yr old

[Candy30]

I wondered if anyone has any input on the waterparks. Which one is the best Blizzard or Typhoon for the age of kids I have. Don't forget its also for two Big kids too!!! Whats the difference between the two and which do you perfer and why? We will only have time for one and I wanted input on which would be the best.

 

[Chess]

We like BB when we have the kids with us. They have a preteen area that my then 4 and 6 DD's loved. If your kids are comfortable in the water and okay swimmers this would probably be the area where you would stay most of the day. It has icebergs to walk across, a tube slide, one of those rope slide thingy's that you hang onto and drop into the water before it hits the end, a fairly fast body slide, and a small regular pool area. It has the lazy river, a better family raft ride then TL, and a few other body slides and raft rides that I think the 11 year old would love but that the younger two may be two small for. Also there are some tube rides that you can use a double tube on so that you could go down with the younger kids.

There is also an area called Tyke's Peak for the younger ones that the 4 and 6 year could do if they are nervous about the preteen area. We started with this area but when my kids found the preteen that was where they wanted to be.

 

[Candy30]

I read on here about Typhoon Lagoon having an area wher you could scuba and look at fish and sharks. Has anyone done this? Do you have to be experienced and what type of sharks are in there? I have an adventureous son and just want to check it out.

 

[bobcat]

It depends on what you are looking for. BB has lots of slides, fast slides, and a great family raft ride. The kids area is pretty cool as well. It is also very white and bright. More of an action water park. TL has a tropical feel, shaded, more laid back. The wave pool is amazing and the slides are a little tamer. The familt raft ride can't compare to BB. The shark reef is really neat and one of my favorite parts of the park. You wear water vests so you only need to be able to glide across the pool. The water is very cool and is salt water. It is pretty easy to get the hang of snorkeling. My 9yo DD liked it but my 7yo DS wouldn't try it.

 

[hockey mom]

My vote is for BB. Both parks are great but the wave pool at TL is very strong. I have seen many scraped knees. Shark reef is excellent, but I find that kids need to get the concept of breathing through a snorkel or they freak out.

 

[sha_lyn]

here is what I've posted in the past

Skip TL ... the place is boring, boring, boring Zzzzzzzzz.......
The kids areas in BB are great and very tame. One is for preteens/young teens, the other for the younger kids. then there are several family slides that everyone in the family can do.

just to compare to see which has more tame rides. I've listed the tame and slightly agressive slides together, with an explination of the slightly agressive ones. Agressive slides are listed at the end

bold= slightly agressive

Blizzard Beach....

Melt A way Bay (wave pool)
Cross Crountry Creek (lazy river)
Slush Gusher (48in+)
Teamboat springs
Toboggan racers
Snow stormers
Runoff rapids
Downhill double dipper (48in+, 25 miles per hour)
Ski patrol camp (contains at least 4 slides/activities)
Tikes Peak, several slides and a play area

and one very agressive slide ... summit plummet



Typhoon Lagoon ....
Surf Pool ( wave pool)
Castaway Creek (lazy river)
Gang Plank falls
Keelhaul falls
Mayday falls
Storm sliders (30+miles per hour )
Shark reef (must be a good swimmer, and be able to snorkel across constantly moving without kicking)
Ketchakiddee creek ... several small childrens activities (bored my DD silly at 2 1/2)

one very agressive slide ... humunga Kowabunga (30+ miles per hour, 48+ in to ride)

Correct. also the kiddie area at TL wouldn't entertain an older child, say over 6 or so depending on the child. DD even at 2 1/2 was bored because it was much tamer than what she is use to at the local water park. She however loved BB's Tikes Peak at 4 1/2 and said it was her favoirte thing to do at WDW, jsut a few days ago (and this is 10 months after our trip)

We found a nice covered picnic table and a few trees at the top of tikes peak. all the chairs, tables etc at the bottow were packed. However there was no one at the top. The top also gave "granny" (my mother) a birds eye view of all of tikes peak. DD was able to ride all the slides, play in the water etc as long as she checked in with Granny each time she came up. usually the checkin was just a quick wave, but it insured that they both kept track of each other


all the lazy rivers seem to be running together in my mind. The TL seemed to be more shady and longer I think.

 

[Kerlynne]

I think if your kids like fast rides, then they will like BB better. The slides are better at BB. Plus, if you are from the south, you may get a kick out of the theme(being all snow). My Ds10 is afraid of sharks, so we won't be using that feature at TL. However, this trip down, i think we will do TL first, and if can squeeze in BB we will.

 

[Candy30]

Great suggestions and overviews from everyone. Thank you! Can anyone tell me what type of sharks are in TL ...reef? Nurse? I think I want to make room for both parks. TL just to check out the reef area and BB for the fun rides.