Your best tips for Blizzard Beach...

[WebmasterPete]

Hey folks:

We're updating various areas of the site, and would like your best tips on BB to include.

Thanks for your help!
Pete

 

[LurkerLisa]

Here are my best. Hope that someone finds them useful

1. If you want a chance to "open" the park you have to have a person willing to go down summit plummit and you should get up to the rope and interact with the CM. Humorous banter is what they are looking for. They usually, in the expected Disney fashion, choose a family.

2. Stay to the right at the entrance. Stay to the right again when they let you in to the bridge. Locker rental and loaner life vests are on the right. You'll need a drivers license to leave as a deposit for the life vest.

3. Send 1 person to get a locker and/or life vests.

4. Send other person to secure chairs.

5. Arrange, in advance where you want to sit.

6. Do not be afraid to move the chairs under the pavillions or wherever you want them to be.

7. Remember what is shaded in the morning will be in the sun in the afternoon. For those who lose their sense of direction - the sun moves from the "front" of Mt. Gushmore around the left side of the park and ends up in the "back" of Mt. Gushmore in the afternoon. Keep that in mind when setting up your chairs.

8. Do big slides early in the day before the lines get too long.

9. Try and sit close to a lazy river entrance.

10. If the line is long at the ski lift - it is usually quicker to take the 8 gazillion steps up the mountain.

11. Our favorite place to sit is on the right side between Tikes Peak and Ski Patrol on the raised area under the pavillion. There are several smaller, but really fun slides that even older teens will like in the ski patrol area, there is a slushy stand not too far, a bathroom and an entrance to the lazy river.

Lisa

 

[snuggles]

Just a tiny bump.

 

[cressy]

LurkerLisa-
AWEsome, awesome, awesome , perfect tips.Thank you a million. My kids REALLY have wanted to try BB, but I just didn't think I could deal with fighting the crowds in August.Thanks to your tips, I think we can do it!
Should we get the loaner vests later if we just want them for the lazy river?
Where's the best food?Is it reasonable to stay til it gets crowded, and then come back later, like at the parks?
Thanks again!

 

[elemusing]

My best tip is GET THERE EARLY GET THERE EARLY GET THERE EARLY!

My other thing that we found helpful was don't stress over chairs if you have a youngster. Just find any chair close to kids area and park your stuff. You will never use them.

My last tip which was so helpful is if you have a child old enough to make his way back up the walkway to the top of the kiddie slides, one parents stays at the bottom and watches for the child to come down and then the other hangs out at the top and watches for the kid to come up. This way, DH and I could relax and get some sun without having to walk back and forth a million times from bottom to top of slide.

The big slides, including the family slide, get crowded as soon as an hour into the day, so I can't stress enough how important it is to get there early and do those as many times as you can before heading back down to do the kid area and the wave pool.

Angie

 

[jimmybop]

oh, the steps @ bb....
the leset steep are the set near down hill dubble dipper, middle steepest are the set just to the right of SP behind Ski patrol, and the most steep are the set next to the run off raipds on the back of the moutain.

let see... life vests are free w/ a deposit of a type of ID.

the refillable "sports bottle" can be used at either BB or TL. you can bring either back to either park and buy a sticker for half the price and get all day free refills

thats all i can think of now..

 

[slp87]

I agree that you have to get there early! 30 minutes before opening. We were surprised how much we got done in the first hour.

My second bit of advice is to bring an old colorful beach towel. That was the only way we could find our chair in the sea of white towels.

Unless you plan to actually lay out, you won't need a chair for every member of your party. We've started to just save 1 because we usually stop by to snack for a minute then head back to the water.

 

[Pryncess'mom]

We found that most of our family needed aqua shoes to walk around on the side walks. While I am ok, some peoples feet are not as callused, and the sidewalks can get very hot in the summer! We also found only a couple chairs to park our stuff on, you don't really sit there that long.

As elemusing said, get there early, Or go late!!

We like to have someone in the party with one of the floating money holders you can wear around your neck, or tuck in a bathing suit pocket. We don't like having wet money and even though we usually have tickets on our room key, we don't want that getting wet or leaving it at the chairs.


Deb

 

[BabyMo]

Does anyone know about crowds at BB (or TL for that matter) in September? I can imagine there will be slightly more people at the parks because of FTP, but we missed out on water parks on our last trip because of crowds and I really want to go to BB in September.

 

[grinningghost]

If you're in a big hurry to ride the big slides, skip the chairlift unless there's no line. It's quicker to walk up yourself.

 

[loriandmatt]

how about bringing in food? can you bring in a cooler? (even a small soft sided one that can be put in a locker?

can you get your hand stamped for readmission so you can go out to your car?

- lori

 

[LurkerLisa]

Cressy,

Here are some answers to your questions.

1. You might as well get the loaner vests at the same time as the locker because if you set up in our fav spot the lazy river is the fastest way to get to the tube rides (except the family tube) and and the racing mats.

2. The main eating place is the Lottawatta Lodge. It is to the left of the main entrance and serves the typical Disney fare of burgers, dogs and salads. There are several smaller food stands scattered about the park most of which have a limited menu. There are no four star dining experiences to be had, but the food is pretty good for what it is.

3. We have never left, but I don't see why you couldn't. However, I wouldn't try it unless I had my own car. Busses don't seem to want to go from the hotels to the water parks in the afternoon.

4. Also, I can't believe that I didn't specifically state "Arrive Early." I made the assumption that all Disney crazed people knew that it goes without saying that you must arrive early. We usually arrive an hour early, so that we can get tickets and get towards the front of the herd.

5. Another thing I forgot. Try and go on a weekday - many locals have season passes and like to hit BB on the weekends.

If you have any other questions - just ask


Lisa

 

[MamaKate]

Are people allowed to wear the life vests & water shoes on the slides?? Or do you have to take them off before going on??

Thanks for the help!
,
Katherine

 

[jimmybop]

Originally posted by MamaKate
Are people allowed to wear the life vests & water shoes on the slides?? Or do you have to take them off before going on??

Thanks for the help!
,
Katherine

I believe (from what i remember) Life vest can be woarn on all rides except for Summit Plumit and Slush Gusher (they are body slides, but there is only 3-4 inches of water at the bottom anyways). For water shoes... the only two slides i'm sure u cant wear them are SP and SG, but the Ride Operators at the top of the slide will let u know before you get on

 

[donna in Oz]

Anyone have a link for an on-line map of BB ??

 

[Claudia1]

I like the idea of going late in the day.

What times you think are considered late enough to come so that some of the AM crowds have gone?

 

[CWIPPERMAN]

Here is a link to my "Blizzard Beach" section on my website.....
http://www.10-7.com/disney/pages/BB/blizzardbeach.htm
From there you can read my review of the park, see some photos, and access a full size downloadable map.

Someone asked about crowds in September.....

Last year, I went by myself one morning (I think it was Sept. 12th - My girlfriend wanted to do some shopping in Downtown Disney). I was there at park opening. I agree with the statement about getting your family there early to "open" the park. It looked like a lot of fun (they selected one member of the family to go down Summit Plummet & make sure it was working OK - then he got to 'declare that the park was open'"). I was there at least 30 minutes before opening - and at the front of the line. I went straight in - got a locker - and I actually used the first 1/2 hour of the morning to walk around and take pictures of the park (you'll notice from my pictures that it's not very crowded). I then spent about 2 1/2 hours getting my fill of the various rides & slides. By the time I left (around 1:00 PM) there was a pretty decent sized line for the chair lift. Most slides that had been "walk-on" most of the morning were a 5-10 minute wait. It was far from crowded - but it seemed the later in the day - the busier it got.

A quick note about water parks. If there is any good advice I can give someone about WDW it's this. We did "Commando" Disney last year (and will be working at a more relaxed pace this year). The BEST day we had was when we spend a few hours at a park in the morning - and then went to Typhoon Lagoon and floated around the park in the lazy river for an hour or so. It was sooooo relaxing - and the perfect "refresher" after running wild for several days. Definately make some time to relax at a water park. It will be worth it.

 

[auntkelly]

My tip would be to bring a disposable waterproof camera. (You can buy one at BB but they are pricey.) There are many great photo opportunities at BB.

 

[Camping Disney]

Are either of the water parks friendly users for Handicapped people? I am in a wheelchair and would love to go to the water parks with my kids.....but I don't want to bake in the sun all day if there is nothing I will be able to do.

Does anyone have any help for this??

Thanks a lot!!!

Michele

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by Camping Disney
Are either of the water parks friendly users for Handicapped people? I am in a wheelchair and would love to go to the water parks with my kids.....but I don't want to bake in the sun all day if there is nothing I will be able to do.

Does anyone have any help for this??

Thanks a lot!!!

Michele

Your best bet might be to email Disney and ask. I have not ever seen any good information about accessibility of the water parks (and Disney doesn't have anything on their official website). Blizzard Beach is the newer of the water parks, so it's likely to be more accessible. I have read that there are some elevators up to the slides, but whether the slides themselves are really accessibel or not, I don't have a clue. I also know that there are wheelchair accesible entry points to the lazy river - we were at one of the parks (I think it was Typhoon Lagoon) quite a few years ago and used the access points to get DD into the lazy river. You should be aware that there are paved paths, but lots of sand (which likes to migrate to bad places like the wheelchair brakes and the grease on the axels).