Disney4me Posted Sunday at 09:00 PM Report Share Posted Sunday at 09:00 PM There are two water parks in Disney World, and they’re VERY different. Typhoon Lagoon Water Park They’ve got different themes, different rides, different eats, and sometimes they’ve even been open on different schedules. But if you’re only coming to Disney World for a few days and you have to pick one park to go to, which should you choose? We’re breaking down Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon so you know exactly where you should spend your time! Theming Blizzard Beach Water Park To start this showdown, let’s cover the theming and backstory of each of the water parks! Blizzard Beach tells the fictional story of when a freak snowstorm traveled through Florida back in the 70s, which led to the construction of the state’s first ski resort. Blizzard Beach Well, as you might guess, the snow didn’t last long in that Florida heat! However, the melting water running down the ski slopes made for great water slides, and the water park was born. Thus, you’ll find that the whole park is winter-themed with faux melted snow and details like ski equipment hanging around the property. How fun! Typhoon Lagoon Water Park Disney’s backstory for Typhoon Lagoon goes like this: “A furious storm once roared ‘cross the sea, catching ships in its path, helpless to flee. Instead of a certain and watery doom, the winds swept them here to Typhoon Lagoon.” Typhoon Lagoon This storm wreaked havoc on a former tropical paradise, flinging ships, fishing gear, and even surfboards all around the area. The Typhoon Tilly ship was even impaled on top of Mount Mayday, and it has now become the centerpiece of the water park. What a disaster! Attractions Blizzard Beach Water Park At Blizzard Beach, there are 12 different attractions you can check out during your day. They are as follows: Chair Lift — Takes riders on a scenic journey to the top of Mount Gushmore. 32″ height requirement. Cross Country Creek — A 3000-ft long lazy river through a “polar paradise.” No height requirement. Downhill Double Dipper — Side-by-side slides where you can race against your friends and family. 48″ height requirement. Melt-Away Bay — A heated, 1-acre wave pool where you can swim or float in a tube. No height requirement. Melt-Away Bay Runoff Rapids — A group of 3 different inner tube water slides. No height requirement. Ski Patrol Training Camp — A “camp” area with various water activities and obstacles designed for kids and tweens. No height requirement. Slush Gusher — A 90-ft high-speed water slide down the side of Mount Gushmore. 48″ height requirement. Snow Stormers — A group of 3 water slides with toboggan-style mats. No height requirement. Summit Plummet — The biggest water slide in the park with a near-vertical, 12-story drop. 48″ height requirement. Summit Plummet at Blizzard Beach Teamboat Springs — A 1200-ft waterslide white water raft adventure, with tube room for up to 5 people. No height requirement. Tike’s Peak — A Frozen-themed play area for little ones with small water slides and wading spaces. 48″ height MAXIMUM. Toboggan Racers — An 8-lane downhill slalom waterslide. No height requirement. Blizzard Beach That’s everything in Blizzard Beach — there’s quite a bit for the whole family. Typhoon Lagoon Water Park Ready for the full list of attractions at Typhoon Lagoon? This park is home to 11 attractions: Bay Slides — Child-sized twin body slides. 60″ height MAXIMUM. Castaway Creek — A scenic lazy river that flows around the whole park. No height requirement. Crush ‘n’ Gusher — A 400-ft long tube slide that provides a coaster-like raft ride. 48″ height requirement. Gangplank Falls — A 300-ft waterslide ride through the mountain on an oversized inner tube. No height requirement. Castaway Creek Humunga Kowabunga — 3 side-by-side enclosed body slides that plummet down Mount Mayday for a near-vertical drop. 48″ height requirement. Keelhaul Falls — A single-person whitewater rapids tube ride down Mount Mayday. No height requirement. Ketchakiddee Creek — Water play area with elements designed for small children. 48″ height MAXIMUM. Surf Pool at Typhoon Lagoon Mayday Falls — The highest and longest water slide in the park — ridden with a single-rider tube. No height requirement. Miss Adventure Falls — A 4-person white water raft voyage surrounded by park backstory and artifacts. No height requirement. Storm Slides — A series of 3 different body slides. No height requirement. Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool — A wave pool with occasional 6-foot-tall waves. No height requirement. Signage Hope you’re prepared to get wet on these attractions! Dining Blizzard Beach Water Park When it comes to eats, there are 9 different dining options at Blizzard Beach. Starting the list are two different snowmobile-themed spots. Arctic Expeditions is a specialty bar with craft beer, specialty churros, roasted nuts, and other snacks. I.C. Expeditions is your go-to spot for frozen treats, from cones to sundaes to floats. I.C. Expeditions Near those spots, you’ll also find Avalunch, which serves specialty hot dogs, draft beer, and soft drinks. For a full bar experience, you’ll want to head over to the Polar Pub, where they serve cocktails, frozen drinks, and draft beer. Polar Pub The Cooling Hut is home to basic Disney snacks like popcorn, Mickey bars, and Mickey pretzels. Its counterpart, The Warming Hut, is a great spot for more substantial eats like nachos, sandwiches, Dole Whip, and more. The Warming Hut Other places where you can find beverages include Frostbite Freddy’s Frozen Freshments (another bar-type situation) and Joffrey’s Mini Donuts, which has a variety of Joffrey’s beverages as well as (you guessed it!) mini donuts in a few different flavors. Mini Donuts Finally, the big quick service option at Blizzard Beach is Lottawatta Lodge. This is where you’ll go for the largest menu — everything from burgers to pizza to nachos to rice bowls. White Cap Flatbread Menus change pretty frequently at the water parks (we’ve seen several overhauls in the past few years) so items may vary during your visit. Typhoon Lagoon Water Park Typhoon Lagoon is home to 7 different dining locations with a variety of menu items. For that ice cream craving, you’ll want to hit up Happy Landings Ice Cream. Here they have floats, soft serve, and of course, the famous Sand Pail Sundae. Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Treat Nearby at Leaning Palms, you can get a large variety of quick service eats. They serve rice bowls, flatbreads, burgers, nachos, salads, and more. Typhoon Tilly’s is also a good stop for more substantial fare. It offers salads, fish platters, sandwiches, and chicken strips. Leaning Palms For drinks, you may want to visit Let’s Go Slurpin’, which is your more traditional bar, or Lowtide Lou’s, which is home to drinks and a few basic snacks. Let’s Go Slurpin’ The Snack Shack is your stop for fun specialty drinks and Dole Whip. They even have boba tea on the menu! And if you just want a basic hot dog or Mickey pretzel with your beer? Head over to Surf Doggies. Snack Shack Sounds like some yummy snacks are available! Family Offerings When it comes to families, both parks have something to offer you and your little ones. Both places have kids-only areas, wave pools, lazy rivers, and family raft slides. So you can definitely all spend quality time together! Blizzard Beach However, Blizzard Beach seems to have a bit of the edge here. Ski Patrol Training Camp is a really unique area that doesn’t have a Typhoon Lagoon equivalent for kids and teens. And even though Typhoon Lagoon has fewer attractions with height requirements than Blizzard Beach, it seems as though more of Blizzard Beach’s offerings are designed for you and your family and friends to spend time together. Thrill Factor Now, the thrill factor of the parks depends a bit on your personal preference. If you’re looking for big drops, body slides, and major heights, then Blizzard Beach is your best bet. Typhoon Lagoon However, if you find your thrills from fast rapids, single-person tube slides, and big waves, then you’re going to probably enjoy the attractions more at Typhoon Lagoon. Both parks have body slides, tube slides, and a few offerings with big drops or sharp angles. You certainly won’t miss out on thrills at either location! Special Offerings Blizzard Beach Water Park One thing that Blizzard Beach offers that Typhoon Lagoon does not is the Chair Lift, which can be a huge perk if you don’t want to climb all the stairs to the top of Mount Gushmore. Because seriously, who wants to climb stairs when you’re dripping in a swimsuit?! Blizzard Beach Also, the Tike’s Peak play area was renovated a few years ago to feature some of your favorite friends from Frozen, so that could be a huge perk for your kiddos. Outside of that retheme, you don’t see a lot of Disney characters and theming in the water parks. Typhoon Lagoon Water Park At Typhoon Lagoon, one of the standout offerings is the wave pool. Instead of a traditional wave pool, it’s a SURF pool, which means that it gets waves of up to 6 feet tall. Disney even sometimes offers specialty surf lessons in this pool, which are an add-on offering that you have to book separately. Typhoon Lagoon And of course, we have to mention the little-known and supremely underrated H2O Glow Nights event at Typhoon Lagoon! This After Hours extra-ticket event typically runs on select nights during the summer. This event features glow-in-the-dark fun with shorter wait times for the park’s waterslides, a DJ dance party, exclusive menu items, Disney character appearances, and more. H2O Glow After Hours And, much like the After Hours events in the other parks, you’ll receive complimentary snacks such as ice cream treats, popcorn, and fountain drinks throughout the evening at H2O Glow Nights. That’s a great perk! So Which One Should You Choose? Well, now that we’ve broken it all down…which should you choose? If you’re traveling with your family with little children or kids who aren’t yet into all the slides, you might want to go for Blizzard Beach. It has more to offer outside of just the slide/rapids attractions and seems to be a better fit for families overall. Blizzard Beach parking lot For groups with members who are a little bit older (think teen and up), Typhoon Lagoon may be more your speed. There are several single-person attractions here, and even the group raft rides offer some thrill. Add in that surf pool, and you’ll all be having a heart-racing day! Both parks have incredible themes, though one might personally appeal to you more then the other — go with your gut! Also, the food is pretty comparable between the two parks. Several snacks are available at both places and many of the quick service eats are similar. Typhoon Lagoon eats One other thing you need to know about traveling to the parks is that neither location has transportation directly from your Disney World hotel. For Typhoon Lagoon, you’ll need to transfer buses at Disney Springs, and for Blizzard Beach, you’ll transfer buses at Animal Kingdom. If you’d like to drive, both water parks have parking lots. Bus schedule So no matter which water park you choose for your next Disney World trip, you’re probably going to have a great (and very wet!) time. To learn more about the water parks, check out our ultimate guide on YouTube! Stay tuned to DFB for more news and updates from Disney World. Click Here to See Our Ultimate Guide to Planning a Walt Disney World Vacation! Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! WE KNOW DISNEY. YOU CAN, TOO. Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation. Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever! GET YOUR GUIDE NOW Have you ever been to one of Disney World’s water parks? Tell us in the comments!The post Typhoon Lagoon vs. Blizzard Beach -- Disney World Water Parks Showdown first appeared on the disney food blog.View the full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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