Going to a Water Park while on your Disney Vacation might not be on your radar, but it should be. Florida heat is no joke, and especially if you’re headed to the most magical place on earth during those hot summer months, a water park could be just the ticket to keeping everyone happy. We love Disney Water Parks, especially Typhoon Lagoon. Today, we’re going to dive into (no pun intended) the ins and outs of the park to see if a water park day is right for your family.
Atmosphere:
The backstory of the park is that a typhoon hit a beach paradise, creating havoc, and leaving wreckage in its wake. What was left behind is a slightly askew tropical paradise, beachy but messy. We love the theming of Typhoon Lagoon, especially since it’s so well carried out throughout the park. From the ships and surfboards you’ll find left in random places, to the sandy walkways – the theming here is on point.
Rides:
Typhoon Lagoon is great for families and couples, because there are a lot of raft rides and gentle body slides. This park also features the Crush ‘N Gusher, which is a water ‘roller coaster’, where water jets propel you. One of our favorite features of Typhoon Lagoon is Shark Reef, where you can snorkel with tropical fish, including (tiny) sharks. And if you just want to relax, there’s a lazy river with free rafts that winds throughout the park.
Food:
Typhoon Lagoon has surprising good food, especially for a Water Park. The highlight of the park is undisputedly (if you want to argue with me, go start your own blog) the mini-donuts. These heavenly-deep-fried bits of dough are some of the best donuts we’ve ever tasted. You can get different dipping sauces to go with them, but we recommend eating them just like they come. You don’t put a bumper sticker on a Ferrari, and you don’t put dipping sauce on these mini-donuts. At Happy Landings Ice-Cream, you can get the ‘Sand Pail’, which is Typhoon Lagoon’s version of the famed Kitchen Sink. It’s in a sand pail, hence the name, full of soft serve ice cream, whip cream, and toppings. We don’t recommend trying to have two people eat it, as one of you will probably get very sick (not that I’m speaking from personal experience or anything…). Typhoon Tilly’s is our favorite quick service restaurant at Typhoon Lagoon, with unique options like a great shrimp salad or the cornbread pulled pork waffle sandwich.
Wave Pool:
Let’s be honest – the wave pool is the real reason you came to Typhoon Lagoon. This is one of the biggest wave pools in the world, with 6 ft tall waves crashing to shore every 90 seconds. Since wave pools are my favorite, we spend most of our time hanging here letting the waves wash over us. You do need to be a strong swimmer, however, as the waves are HUGE.
Admission:
You can add a water park option to your theme park tickets, or pay out of pocket. It will probably be more cost efficient to add the water park option up front. We’re annual passholders, and chose to not add water parks to our annual passes, because we knew that we would only be going to a water park maybe once a year, and it would cost us less to pay out of pocket than to add the option to our passes. Since there are two water parks on Disney property, it can really add some value (and a heat break) to your vacation.
The Disney Water Parks are great, and your family should experience them at least once. If you have to choose between the two, we think you should prioritize Typhoon Lagoon, because it’s our favorite (and we get to share our opinion on here!). No matter which you choose, however, there’s no doubt that you’ll have a great time.
Going to WDW in the summer? Check out our Guide to Summer at WDW.
Have any questions about Typhoon Lagoon or Disney Water Parks? Leave us a comment below!