The Ultimate Guide to Disney Water Parks

What Are The Disney Water Parks?

 

Both Disney water parks are fantastic: we’re going to look at them both, in depth, side by side so you can decide which your winner is in the great Typhoon Lagoon vs Blizzard Beach debate!

 

One of the first things to note is that both Disney water parks have free parking – you don’t often hear free when it comes to Disney, so be sure to plan to make the most of this!

 

 

We’re going to compare rides, lazy rivers and pools later on, but both of the water parks at Disney have a similar number of attractions and are a similar size, but their layouts are different and it’s surprisingly easy to become disorientated in each of them! 

 

We recommend you familiarise yourself a little with the Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon map before you go (or both, if you plan to visit both of the Disney World water parks!) as one Disney water park is very different to the other.

 

 

Typhoon Lagoon Map

Typhoon Lagoon is one of the most unique waterparks in the world and is the most visited water park in North America.   It has an amazing surf pool and a water roller coaster – very different from Blizzard Beach, this Disney water park has unique theming and a completely different range of attractions and food.

 

Best Time To Visit The Waterparks At Disney

The Disney water parks are open daily from 10am to 5pm.  Occasionally, at the weekend they will stay open until 6pm.   During peak season, weekends can get really busy with everyone wanting to escape the crowds and cool down, but we’re going to tell you shortly how to avoid the lines and give you our tips to really enjoy the water parks.

 

If you’re a Disney water park lover, keep an eye open for special after hours events, which could let you go on all the rides without waiting in line at all and having some great fun!

 

If you’re able to plan your visit accordingly, Disney World water parks tend to be less crowded earlier in the week (Monday- Wednesday); weekends are busier, as are school vacations and, it probably goes without saying, holidays can be pretty busy, too.   However, it can still be worth a trip to one of the Disney water parks, so read on to find out how to reduce waiting in lines.

 

Each winter, one of the Disney World water parks will be closed for refurbishment, so the question of Blizzard Beach vs Typhoon Lagoon may not be one that you have to consider.   Check the schedules before you go – generally, from late October to late March, either Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon will be closed.  Disney usually switches around, so one will close first one winter and second the next (so people who vacation, say, every February get to try both parks).

 

If you’re wondering whether it’s worth a visit to Disney water parks in the winter, be assured that the pools are heated (to 82 degrees).  You may feel cooler on slides and when moving between pools, but we have been happily in the water while the lifeguards are wrapped up!   However, if the temperatures get too low, they will close the water parks at Disney.

 

Buying Disney Water Park Tickets

Disney water park tickets (including tax) when bought at the gate are $73.50 for guests over 10 years old.   Disney water park tickets are valid for Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon and there’s nothing to stop you visiting both in one day, if you want to experience both to lend your weight to the Blizzard Beach vs Typhoon Lagoon debate!  

 

If you consider a Park Hopper Plus ticket, it will give you a certain number of visits (based on the number of days in your park hopper) to the Disney water parks (in addition to the mini golf and other listed attractions).  For example, a 4-day park hopper is valid for 8 days from your chosen start date for 4 days in the theme park (with hopping in between parks, if you wish). 

 

A 4-day hopper plus gives you exactly this, with 4 ‘plus visits’.  The Disney water parks are included as ‘plus visits’.

 

 

What To Pack For The Waterpark

How To Reduce Wait Times At The Disney Water Parks

You can’t use FastPass+ at either Disney water park (but if you want to read more about FastPass+, look no further than this guide) and there isn’t rope drop in the same way as the Parks (which you’ll read about in the Touring Plans strategies), but there are a few things you can do to cut down on time spent waiting in lines in Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon.

 

Getting to the park 30 minutes before opening will mean you can get changed; get your towels; lockers and anything else you may need from the shops and be ready for the first ride as soon as the park opens.  You should head for any thrill rides you want to do first, as this is generally where the lines build.

 

If there is an afternoon storm and you’re asked to leave the water, wait it out for a bit – many people will leave the water park at this point and you may be able to take advantage of rides with far fewer people.  The water has to stay empty for 30 minutes after the last lightning bolt is seen, but this could be the time when you want to grab some refreshments, rather than leaving.

 

Many people suggest arriving to the Disney water parks in the afternoon, particularly in the summer, because many local guests with Annual Passes visit in the morning but leave before lunch.  After 2pm is best.  

 

Blizzard Beach Vs Typhoon Lagoon

 

BUT we’re not going to tell you which Disney water park you should visit – as we’ve said, we think they’re both worthy of some of your vacation time.  We are going to break down the water park features into categories and give you the low down on each, to help you make your decision about whether your winning park is Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon. 

 

In some sections, there are clear winners in the Typhoon Lagoon vs Blizzard Beach competition in terms of popularity, but once we’ve give you a little more detail, you may decide that the popular choice isn’t going to be the right choice for your party.

 

Best Disney Water Park For Kids

Blizzard Beach for kids

There are 2 areas for kids at Blizzard Beach: Ski Patrol Training Camp and Tike’s Peak. 

Ski Patrol Training Camp is geared towards older kids – the water here is deep (over 6 foot), so your kids need to be able to swim or wearing life vests.   There’s a floating iceberg course; a zip line for kids under 60 inches tall (which ends, as you probably guessed, with them dropping into a pool!). 

In addition, there’s also some inner tube slides and smaller waterslides – which they may enjoy as a build up to the bigger ones; to ‘test’ whether they enjoy slides or even as well as the bigger slides.   I took my 8 year old, who was very water confident – she loved the Training Camp; it’s slides (which she enjoyed doing with her 3 year old sister) AND some of the bigger slides Blizzard Beach has to offer.

Tike’s Peak has some great kid sized slides; ‘bubble fountains’; pop up water jets and cool ice-animal theming.  There’s a lovely, shallow area – too shallow to be called a pool – with zero entry, so can be enjoyed by even the really little ones.  Tike’s Peak is aimed at kids under 48 inches tall; but that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy other parts of this Disney water park, but these are the areas that are exclusively for youngsters!

Typhoon Lagoon has Ketchakiddee Creek, this area has some small slides; a mini rapids run (with tube rings) and a fun play area with waterfalls; fountains; crawl tubes etc.    Just the other side of the bridge from Ketchakiddee Creek are Bay Slides – for those under 60 inches only – these are gentle slides for kiddies.

 

When thinking about Typhoon Lagoon vs Blizzard Beach for kids, I would say that there are great features for kids in both these Disney water parks, but that your personal choice may well need to take into account your kids’ (and maybe your) water confidence.   Some kids love to be in the water, but hate to ‘fall in’ – Ski Patrol training camp may be less fun for them.

 

In all honesty, I don’t have a favorite Disney water park for kids – my daughter felt completely overwhelmed aged 6 by the Wave pool in Typhoon Lagoon, which was a shocker to me!  She preferred the family rides at Typhoon Lagoon but other aspects of Blizzard Beach.   I do know other people’s kids have a clear preference, but – for kids – I’m not going to claim a clear winner from Typhoon Lagoon vs Blizzard Beach!

 

Best Water Park At Disney For Thrill Rides

There are more thrill rides for the daring guest at Blizzard Beach, compared to Typhoon Lagoon, but we’re going to cover them all to let you make your own decision.

Thrill rides at Blizzard Beach

When you think of Disney World water parks, a couple of iconic attractions probably come to mind, and the first that comes to our mind is the showstopping slide at Blizzard Beach:  Summit Plummet.  Showstopping or heartstopping?!   Well, this is one that I wouldn’t ride, but my 10 year old did and loved it!  

 

Summit Plummet has a 12 storey drop and has you achieving incredible speeds which will be documented by the stop clock at the bottom.  If you’re wearing watershoes, you will need to take them off for this slide.  This ride has a 48 inch minimum height requirement.  

 

Slush Gusher is a less intense variation of Summit Plummet – designed to have the appearance of the luge it’s not as steep, not as fast and has several dips.   Expect to get splashed on this ride!   Slush Gusher also has a 48 inch height requirement.

 

Snow Stormers feature (for me) on the thrill rides because it’s not necessarily a family ride – it’s one person at a time down one of 3 flume type slides -none of them enclosed.  It’s also not a tube ride (more on tube rides next).  What makes this thrilling is the fact that you ride the slide face first on a mat.   Disney water parks provide the mats, they have 2 hand holds at the front and the mat loops over on itself – from the side, the mat and hand hold looks like a ‘D’.   This is plenty of fun and without a height restriction!

 

 

Best Disney Water Park Wave Pool

 

Tubes aren’t necessary, however, people can and do swim among the waves and this can be great fun – but it’s a lot less relaxing than the tube option.

 

The protective floor coating means that you should be wary of bashing or scraping your knees on the ground – easily done when you’re drifting around in the shallows.

Don’t forget, the floor of this pool has the same abrasive coating which can be very sore if you’re being pushed around or knocked off your feet by the waves.   Not something to stop you from having fun in this amazing Surf pool, but just to be aware of.

Best Inner Tube Rides At Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon

 

Inner tubes can also be great for the less water confident as your ‘landing’ is usually not quite as dramatic.   Reader caution:  inner tube rides don’t guarantee that you’ll stay in the tube when you exit the ride, but watch for a while and you’ll see which ones you may need to be prepared to get wet(ter) on!

Crush’n’Gusher seems as much of a coaster as it is a slide!   You and another rider sit one in front of the other and head down these semi-enclosed slides – there are lots of uphill climbs and sudden drops.  There 3 slides in total – 2 require 2 riders; one is appropriate for single riders. Riders must be at least 48inches. 

Keelhaul Falls is a fun ride – not too scary and fast and lasts a good length of time, too (much longer than some of the other rides!).   There’s no height requirement for Keelhaul Falls.

 

This really is a family ride – suitable for (almost) all ages – my youngest first rode it when she was 11 months old and loved it!  Obviously, for the little ones, a responsible adult is required to put an arm around and hold them, but the Cast Members had no worries or raised eyebrows when we presented ourselves to ride.

 

It is a LOT of fun and I particularly love that the whole family can ride it together.  It is fast, but enjoyable!

 

Next I’m listing Toboggan Racers – this may be a controversial choice and it may not suit your family – but for me it doesn’t meet the ‘thrill’ ride status, although it is lots of fun!  This is an 8 track toboggan run – each rider has a mat (same as Snow Stormers) and is a straight ‘course’ – no bends, no twists, just some dips (relatively gentle ones) – which you ride head first.   We rode it as a family and the Cast Members had a lot of fun letting the little ones have a bit of a head start (because the heavier adults will normally travel much faster!).  

 

Both are really enjoyable but we definitely think Miss Adventure Falls has the edge!

 

Best Lazy River At The Disney Water Parks

Most of the time, you do this in inner tubes (single or double) but often the kids (and sometimes the grown up kids!) love to bounce around ‘by foot’ – as with the wave pools, be aware of knee scrapes (usually only a problem for the grown up kids!).   

 

Food At The Disney Water Parks

There is, as you’d expect, a broad range of food, drink and snack options at the Disney water parks – some people don’t rate the quality of the food: while the quality of food is not among the standout quick service offerings at Disney, we think that they stand up well to the average quick service quality, with some surprisingly different options.  

It’s not all burgers and hot dogs, which we find refreshing, particularly for water parks.   In terms of Blizzard Beach vs Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach wins in terms of number of locations, but there are plenty of offerings at both.

Food at Blizzard Beach

There are 7 counter service food locations at Blizzard Beach

• Lottawatta Lodge has a diverse menu with a really pleasing range of plant-based options.
• Warming Hut mainly sells salads, sandwiches and wraps
• Avalunch has a relatively small menu with hot dogs and sandwiches
• Cooling Hut has a relatively small menu with sandwiches, snacks and frozen treats
• Frostbite Freddy’s Frozen Freshments has a very small menu with nachos, quesadillas and a swirl cone
• I.C. Expeditions serves floats, sundaes and frozen treats – including the Sand Pail (read on to Typhoon Lagoon to find out more!)
• Finally, there’s a small hut selling Mini Donuts

There’s a bar called Arctic Expeditions and Polar Pub; all of the other food services (apart from I.C. Expeditions and the Mini Donut hut) also sell alcoholic beverages, although some locations’ offerings are limited to beer and sangria.

 

Frostbite Freddy’s, I.C. Expeditions and Mini Donuts do not accept the Dining Plan.

 

There are 5 counter service food locations at Typhoon Lagoon – fans of the dole whip will be delighted to know you can get dole whip at this Disney water park:

* Happy Landings does not accept the Dining Plan – the other locations do, but not for all items (like the Sand Pail at the Snack Shack, for example).

 

There’s also a bar called Let’s Go Slurpin’; all of the food services apart from Happy Landings also sell alcoholic beverages – most locations offer a range of cocktails.

 

Which Is Better Blizzard Beach Vs Typhoon Lagoon

 

We really hope that this article has illustrated the best of both Disney water parks and helped you prepare for your trip – whether you decide to visit Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon, we know you’ll have a great time. 

 

If you can, you should honestly visit both, but depending on the time of year you visit, you may not have the choice and therefore we also hope that we’ve shown you the best that each park offers, so you will have a magical time if you don’t have the difficult decision to make.

 

Quick Tips For Visiting The Disney Water Parks

PhotoPass – do take advantage of the PhotoPass photographers, if you can.  Also be aware that there are photographers stationed near the end of some of the rides – Miss Adventure Falls and Summit Plummet – to help you get great ‘action’ shots.

Lazy river tubes – if there aren’t any tubes available at your entry point, you can either wait, or – our tip – is to hop along to the next entry/exit point.  Some of these are much quieter than others and often have a stack of tubes waiting for you to grab.

Annual Refurbishment – remember to check the schedule when you start planning your trip, to avoid disappointment.  If you’re travelling between April and October, you should find both Disney water parks open.

 

Footwear – in case you missed it in the packing section, do take waterproof shoes to the water parks at Disney.  The walkways can get very hot (and there are a lot of steps to climb to Teamboat Springs!) but also the rough surface in the pools and lazy river can be painful on the soles of your feet.

 

Sunblock – remember that the sun can burn you through the water and the rays also reflect off the water surface – reapply your suncream, often.

 

Secure your glasses – you don’t want to lose your sunglasses in the Surf pool or your regular glasses going down one of the slides – in fact, anything you’re taking into the water, like your underwater camera – consider securing to yourself with a strap.

 

Consider a locker – lockers are $10 or $15 depending on the size.   Think about what you’re taking with you; it may well be safest to get a locker.   Honestly, I’ve never got a locker at a Disney Water park- I tend to travel light with my magic band and cellphone – I don’t take wallet or other valuables with me.  I may have been lucky, I know plenty of people who choose not to use lockers, but it would be entirely at your own risk.