First time WaterPark-ers, trying to choose one

[CapnJacksGirl]

In a dozen trips to WDW since our kids were born, we've never done a water park so we decided to give it a go for our upcoming trip the last week of August. We plan to go on that Thursday and be there before they open.

I can't seem to settle on which one to do. My gut tells me Typhoon Lagoon but I know DS13 and DS11 would love Summit Plummet, which makes me waver in my decision.

My question for the veteran WPers is if we did BB, how many trips down Summit Plummet is a realistic exception before we are relegated to the lazy river and wave pool due to the bulk of the crowd arriving? My fear is that if I choose BB, one trip down Summit Plummet will be about all they get and then we would have preferred to be at TL.

Any and all input and opinions about the two WPs is much appreciated!! Thanks in advance for your replies!!

 

[Deanie1]

I haven’t been to a WP at WDW since Oct 2013 (sadly because I enjoy them so much) and I went to both TL and BB. I generally don’t do many slides but from what I know, BB has more slides and it has Summit Plummet. There is a new slide at TL, Mis. Adventure Falls, but I have not been there since then. BB has a smaller wave pool with gentler bobbing waves. Typhoon Lagoon has a big wave pool that has intervals of calm and intervals of big waves. And we love those big waves and so did our kids. Personally, I prefer the tropical vibe of TL over the wintery vibe of BB. Coming from Canada, I get enough winter. Both have a nice lazy river, but again, we all enjoyed the lush tropical foliage of TL and the beach music that was played throughout the park. We travel a long ways to get to WDW, so after 3 days of parks, we would then sleep in a bit but get to the water park for park opening (get a good location in the shade and shorter lines for the slides). We usually stayed until about 4-5pm, then headed back to our resort for supper and an early bedtime so we were refreshed for our next rope drop day. Your kids will love it and you will too. Our kids all really enjoyed the lazy river as much as I did.

 

[GoGoBeans]

We’ve done both a number of times in August. We always say we’re just going to stay a few hours and end up staying all day.

BB has a lot more slides than TL. A lot more. We tend to do BB more often than TL, but like the wave pool at TL better. You can also swim with sharks at TL which was a pull for us one year.

The slides are longer at BB too. Which the more + longer is why we pick BB more often.

I’m an adrenaline junky and I’ve only done summit plummet once. Not a fan of water in my face and it’s a big wedgie maker. DH and a kiddo like it and get in 3-4 runs of it in. We love teamboat springs as a family.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We’ve done both a number of times in August. We always say we’re just going to stay a few hours and end up staying all day.

BB has a lot more slides than TL. A lot more. We tend to do BB more often than TL, but like the wave pool at TL better. You can also swim with sharks at TL which was a pull for us one year.

The slides are longer at BB too. Which the more + longer is why we pick BB more often.

I’m an adrenaline junky and I’ve only done summit plummet once. Not a fan of water in my face and it’s a big wedgie maker. DH and a kiddo like it and get in 3-4 runs of it in. We love teamboat springs as a family.

You can't swim with sharks. That's been removed

 

[Elle :)]

My hubby and I visit both parks on each trip but if we had to pick one, it would be BB. There are a lot more slides! We always go for rope drop and after about two hours, we’ve done every slide (some multiple times). Then we just hit up the wave pool and lazy river.

Overall, the slides at BB are better imo. My only real draw to TL is the water coaster in the back. The wave pool is fun but can be intense, especially since you can’t have a floaty. I much prefer the wave pool at BB.

 

[brockash]

In a dozen trips to WDW since our kids were born, we've never done a water park so we decided to give it a go for our upcoming trip the last week of August. We plan to go on that Thursday and be there before they open.

I can't seem to settle on which one to do. My gut tells me Typhoon Lagoon but I know DS13 and DS11 would love Summit Plummet, which makes me waver in my decision.

My question for the veteran WPers is if we did BB, how many trips down Summit Plummet is a realistic exception before we are relegated to the lazy river and wave pool due to the bulk of the crowd arriving? My fear is that if I choose BB, one trip down Summit Plummet will be about all they get and then we would have preferred to be at TL.

Any and all input and opinions about the two WPs is much appreciated!! Thanks in advance for your replies!!

I 100% prefer Typhoon Lagoon, however there is a good amount more to do at BB and BB is all the kids favorite.

 

[GoGoBeans]

You can't swim with sharks. That's been removed

So glad we did it when it was there then. The kids when they were younger thought it was so cool.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

In a dozen trips to WDW since our kids were born, we've never done a water park so we decided to give it a go for our upcoming trip the last week of August. We plan to go on that Thursday and be there before they open.

I can't seem to settle on which one to do. My gut tells me Typhoon Lagoon but I know DS13 and DS11 would love Summit Plummet, which makes me waver in my decision.

My question for the veteran WPers is if we did BB, how many trips down Summit Plummet is a realistic exception before we are relegated to the lazy river and wave pool due to the bulk of the crowd arriving? My fear is that if I choose BB, one trip down Summit Plummet will be about all they get and then we would have preferred to be at TL.

Any and all input and opinions about the two WPs is much appreciated!! Thanks in advance for your replies!!

My thrill-seeking DS11 greatly prefers BB over TL. I would highly recommend getting there about 30 minutes prior to opening so you can get yourself settled (get a locker if needed, chairs, etc.) and then are in line for the rope right behind the chairlifts. You can then get right in line for Summit Plummet. I think you could get a good 3 or 4 rides in before the line builds too much. I would recommend doing the chairlift once and then climbing the stairs for subsequent rides. Honestly, the crowds will be luck of the draw on the day you go. We've been to the waterparks when they have been packed by noon (though we always go at RD and get all of our slides in before the lines build) and also in March over spring break when there was, surprisingly, virtually no one there, which I found odd because the parks were packed. At BB, I would recommend doing Summit Plummet, Slush Gusher and Teamboat Springs first. Head over to Runoff Rapids (the enclosed slide is the best), then head to Downhill Double Dipper. If the lines aren't too long, head to Toboggan Racers and Snow Stormers, but those are always a pass for us if the lines are too long as they are pretty tame and not very interesting.

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

OP here....thanks for all the input! I guess I hadn't learned yet that BB has more slides than TL so that might be the tipping point for my kids. I definitely prefer the tropical theme at TL over BB since we live in Minnesota and see more than enough snow, but I might have to just deal with it! After five days in the Florida heat, I might be looking forward to snow!

 

[cmarsh31]

We're doing one for the first time this summer but the tipping point for me was being able to reserve an umbrella and chairs at TL. I know we're not going to make RD because we're doing DAH the night before so this guarantees that my paper-white DH has a place to sit & read all day!

 

[1GoldenSun]

My family much prefers BB. The theming is cute, but it's the slides that to us are so much preferable to those at TL. And for some reason I like the layout of the park better. I also prefer the lazy river at BB. I might slightly prefer the wave pool at TL but only by a little.

I honestly don't have any idea how crowded Summit Plummet would get, but we had "After 2:00pm" APs last year and late in the afternoon it was rarely very busy (which is why I think they sell "After 2:00" passes). Also, keep in mind that it's an experience like Space Mountain or Tower of Terror--sure it would be wonderful to ride it over and over, but even just once is exciting and memorable! Although we went often while we had the APs, I never rode Summit Plummet more than once a visit--that was quite enough for me!

I do advise girls/women to wear board shorts (or some kind of shorts) on Summit Plummet.

 

[jerseygal]

We used to do BB and TL with the boys when they were teenagers, they loved both, but preferred BB! Looking forward to going back to BB this August with youngest DS, will be there about half hour before opening to make the most of it!

 

[DizneyLizzy]

I’ve been to both parks in the past 14 months, and hadnt been to either since 2001 before this past year. I liked typhoon lagoon better overall (maybe bc it brought me back to 90s Disney), but I thought blizzard beach had more slides, and my 5 year old son prefers BB bc of the kid/tween areas.

Lines at BB can be nasty, but if you are in decent shape, then no matter what time it is, you can do the tube slides in the back of the park at BB (forget what they’re called) as many times as you want any time of the day. We found that not a lot of people made it all the way back there, and if they did, they couldn’t handle the trek up the mountain with tubes more than once. We did those slides until we couldn’t walk anymore and never had to wait.

If you like lazy rivers, I thought the one at TL was a lot better. I also liked the new slide at TL - Miss Adventure Falls - a lot. It was my family’s overall favorite ride amongst both parks.

I don’t think you can go wrong either way. We had wonderful days at both parks. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of available shade at both parks, the food options at both, and the ease of parking at both.

 

[Klayfish]

You can ride Summit Plummet as many times as you can run back up the stairs in the first hour the park is open. We've done it 3 or 4 times in a row at park open. Don't bother with the chair lift, it's slow and stops frequently.

On the bigger picture, I think TL and BB are nearly 50/50. Both have tons of great slides.

The wave pool at TL is far superior, so that's the tipping point for me.

 

[ElTrollio]

I prefer TL over BB. I waited for Summit one year and after waiting awhile I was like, “The whole reason I came to the water park was to cool off, not bake in the sun waiting in another line.”

I also prefer the lazy river at TL and the wave pool is much more of a draw for me.

 

[captaindavidhook]

I have done both recently and found I love TL more then BB. They are both great but I found TL to be a little more fun and I thought the staff at TL were much nicer too. BB to me seems a bit outdated too.

 

[goodeats]

We did BB last trip and we all loved it. It's definitely bigger than TL.

I found that at opening Summit Plummet had a short line, but it built fast. By lunch time it got short again. Water slides can be slow loaders!

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

OP here again.....so, I'm thinking we will do BB, with the potential option in the back of my mind to do TL also if the kids want. I'm not a huge water park person so I'm not offering that up front but if they have a blast, I'll keep it in mind.

So that I'm sure I understand the ticket options, if we have 7-day Park Hopper Plus tickets, we conceivably have 7 visits (Lord protect us) to the water parks, yes? Do they have to be on different days? If I was crazy enough to want to knock it all out in one day, could we go to BB from, say 10-1, and then hop over to TL from 2-5? Or would we need to do it on separate days?

My current plan is to do BB on Thursday morning, be done there by around 2, head back to the resort to rest a little and change, then head to AK for the evening. The next day, we'll be at MK but maybe we bring our water park stuff and put it in a locker then go to TL from there in the afternoon.

What say you, wise water park-ers? Do them both in one day, if that's an option, or do a morning at one and an afternoon at the other? (Yes, I realize weather may affect that plan.)

 

[elaine amj]

You can do both in one day. It will use up two options. You can also do them on two different days to mix it up with the parks.

I personally prefer BB because I just think the theme is crazy cool and Summit Plummit is awesome (although we never seem to do it more than once).

BUT....TL's wave pool is really something completely unique. My DS loves that over everything else!

 

[PinkMagnolia]

As someone who lives in Canada, I'm sick of snow. I hate BB for this reason LOL. We've had about 6 months of snow on the ground this year, so the last thing I want to see is snowmen.

I'm TL all the way. That tropical theme makes me so happy. That said - they are both amazing and I love them both.

As far as your touring schedule, I'd plan to go to a waterpark in the morning (on a day where you were out late the night before). Go until around 1:30 (or when it starts to thunderstorm). Head back to the resort, and then spend the evening at a Theme Park.

I would probably do a waterpark on day 3 and 6 of your trip.