1st time for Water Parks & Disney Quest - Need advice

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

Hi,

Ok, we've been to WDW 7 times in the past 14 years. I have a decent handle on ADRs, FP's, touring plans, etc.... But this trip, since the kids are older (DS 12, DD 13 & DD 15), we will be going to a water park (still undecided which one...) and to Disney Quest this trip, and I need help! I'll take any advice for our trip this month (8/19 - 8/29)...

Also wondering things like:

DISNEY QUEST
How many hours should be plan on visiting?
Any certain time/days better than others?
Is this a mad crowded scene where it's hard to enjoy the activities?

WATER PARK ????
How many hours should we plan on for a water park?
Do we need to get there early?
Can we do after lunch until whenever for a water park?
Which water park?
Anything I need to know about hitting a water park?

Thanks again! Newbie to this territory!!

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Big congrats on your celebrations!!

I would definitely recommend BB. We love TL also, but I would say BB has more for families with kids your ages.

We always get the water parks early, pre-opening. When we've been there, they have selected a family of the day that gets to open the park. If you are so inclined, I would get there and not be shy about asking if your family can open the park and tell them why you are celebrating.

We like to spend all day there, but when we normally go, in November, they are open from like 9-5. The one time we were there in June, it got pretty crowded and we did not stay the entire day. MANY people here say they spend a couple of hours or half a day and then leave.

We bring towels from the resort pool so that we don't have to take the time to stop into the shack and get them. Heck, I think they may even charge for them, but I can't remember. All I know is I was glad we brought towels along with us.

When we were there, they had Photo Pass photographers and we got some very fun shots of us in the wave pool, in the lazy river, and the kids on the iceberg rope thingings.

I can tell you some of the very best days we've had at DW have been at BB and TL. It is such a nice break from watching the clock for FPs and ADRs. We LOVE both water parks and could not imagine a trip without visiting at least one!

Good luck! I hope you love your day at BB or TL!

 

[wdw4rfam]

DQ is great for kids that age. I'd plan on spending quite a bit of time, like at least 3-4 hours, probably more. The evenings and weekends are busiest. We have found mid week afternoons are better.

BB seems to be teenagers pick, but I personally liked TL better. The snorkeling with sharks is awesome, other than the water being way colder than I expected both are great, can't go wrong with either. We usually spend 5-6 hours.

 

[zippermom]

My teens enjoy DQ and can spend 3 hours there easy. More if they have to wait in line for activities. The adults usually burn out way before the kids. Btw, one year I decided I was going to have chocolate cake from all over Disney and choose the best one. Unexpectedly, the winner was from the snack bar at DQ! I'm pretty sure it was a Cheesecake factory cake. That was a long time ago, and I don't know what it's like now, but that's something to note if you like desserts!

 

[Order66]

It looks like you are going to be there for 10 days. I assume you are adding the "and more" option to your tickets, so you will have the same number of "more" entries as you have park days. We've never used all of ours in one trip.

So my advise....why choose? My teens enjoy the water parks as much (if not more) than the parks, so we always make room in our trips for both. Depending on the trip length....it's nice to have a "down day" or two where you don't have to plan things to the minute. No ride times, no meal times. A water park is the perfect place to do that. We sleep in and arrive whenever and we leave whenever....no rushing. On a shorter trip we might do a water park early, leave in the afternoon and do a park for the evening. The upside to the FP+ is you can make your ride times for later evening, not worrying that you will have to stand in line for everything. A longer trip we might stay til evening and just go to DTD or have a later dinner ADR somewhere, and be refreshed for a park the next day.

I will add that I do find it totally worth the $ to reserve an umbrella table. It's not fancy, just 4 chairs, a small table, an umbrella for guaranteed shade and 4 towels. It was in the $60 range and you can wander in the park whenever you want and know you have a place for your things. If you don't reserve a spot....then I would suggest early arrival to find a good spot with some shade.

Blizzard Beach has more "thrill slides". The lazy river is better (IMHO). My family actually like Typhoon Lagoon better though. The wave pool is unlike anything anywhere. It's big and it's strong. They also have the water coasters, which my kids like better than the slides. And as others have mentioned, the shark reef.

As to Disney Quest...how into gaming are your kids? Mine could (and have LOL) play video games for hours without sleep or food. We usually pick a weekday evening for DQ. As mentioned, kids can generally stay entertained there for hours, while adults not so much....unless you are also gamers. They do have some interactive games/rides that are fun. But I lose interest there pretty fast. Now that my kids are teens, I turn them loose and do something else. One trip my mother came along and we did some shopping and had a nice relaxing drink by the lagoon one evening. Once when it was just me and my boys....I stayed at the resort and did laundry while they took the bus to DQ. I met them later in the evening for dinner.

regards