Which water park for my kids?

[onceuponadream]

They are 11 (does not like thrill rides or "fast" slides), 8, 7 and 4. Interested in the water park with the tamest slides for kids over 4 ft tall. Do they both have this? Thanks

 

[hockey mom]

We like Blizzard beach. The little tykes area and pre teen area are great for kids that age. The 8 lane toboggan racer slide is very tame and fun, the family raft ride is way better than TL's, and the main pool is not as rough. We do both every trip but prefer BB.

 

[bobcat]

I would sugggest TL. It is a little tamer and the wave pool is great! They also have the swim with the sharks which is pretty cool. Bring an underwater camera. The familt raft ride is too short and not as fun as BB but still ok. The lazy river is great and I love relaxing on it.

 

[bscs]

I've only been to TL (Feb.03). But my kids are 5 and 10 and they loved it. My oldest daughter got picked to be the big Kahuna. They picked out of the line while we were waiting for the park to open. They let us in 1st, gave us a reserved seating area, free towels, free large locker rental, free mug for free refills all day, a beautiful medal for my daughter and they treated us like stars. It was great. I'm asuming they usually pick around this age group so being that you have an11 and 8yr old I would go early and hope to get picked. And even if you aren't it's still a great water park.

 

[princessmomma]

What is the cost of towel and locker rental at TL or BB? Are these not part of your admission?

Are people allowed to bring their own towels? Is locker rental necessary? What other things do I need to know about our water park experience?

 

[bscs]

As for the prices I'm not sure cause as I wrote in my previous post we got it all free. I think it was around $1-2 per towel but yes you can bring your own. The locker rental I strongly suggest one large one per family is fine. I'm not sure the cost but I do remember they give $2 back when you return the key. As for other things I suggest purchasing one of those refillable mugs. Especially if your family is like us and two or more of you don't mind drinking from the same mug. You pay I think it's like $10 and you get as many refills as you want all day. Also the mug makes a great souvenier for when you leave.

 

[helenabear]

Personally I would pick TL. I think it has a better selection of "tamer" rides and I think the layout and overall look is much better than BB.

princessmomma, towel rental is $1 and it is non-refundable. I have always brought my own towel though. Locker rentals are $5 for a small size and $7 for a larger size. $2 is refundable when you turn your key back in. You can also opt for a refillable mug in lieu of your deposit. The larger size to me looked much larger and the one I got when with my whole family.

 

[sha_lyn]

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)

 

[onceuponadream]

Thanks for all the great replies . Wow, it seems that there are lots of differing opinions kind of like asking what your favorite resort is . It looks like Blizzard Beach has a "pre teen" area and TL just a kiddy area. Is this correct? That would be great for us as we have both little ones and a pre teen. I think we'll do BB and then if time allows later in the week do TL. Is there any shade at all at BB?? I've read that all the concrete snow seems to make it a "hotter" park. Also, which has the longer, more fun lazy river? Thanks!

 

[disneyrunner]

I agree with bscs get one of the mugs!!!! It's a great way to save $ and I rate it as one of the best souveniers we picked up on our last trip. I use the mug almost every day. We went to BB and evryone had a ball. I have two DD that were 5 and 10 at the time. We used the preteen area almost all day. It was Dec and we had the place almost to ourselves. Awesome time

 

[sha_lyn]

It looks like Blizzard Beach has a "pre teen" area and TL just a kiddy area. Is this correct?

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.

 

[Gillian]

Maybe it's just me, but I thought the wave pool at TL looked scary! I don't mind waves in the ocean, but these were giant waves crashing down on a zillion people. I don't know if the waves or the crowds looked worse, but it just didn't seem fun to me. From what I remember, BB had a much calmer wave area.

Maybe if the parks weren't crowded, it would be better. We were there 1st week of march, and BB was closed.

We haven't been to BB or TL with kids your age, but I don't like big slides much myself. DH & I enjoyed BB more than TL when we went to both in the same week (a couple of years ago).

 

[sha_lyn]

the waves at TL are stronger/more intense, it does have a couple of areas that are less effected by the waves, but IMHO BB wave pool is more family friendly.