Are Disney’s Water Parks in Trouble?

There is a built in audience for the waterparks at WDW. So long as they maintain them, and they are still considered some of the better ones in the country, they are not in trouble. They are supplements to the theme parks, not really draws in and of themselves for the majority of guests. I believe Disney is just fine with that. Now if Disney feels a significant number of guests are leaving the property to go to Volcano Bay, they may get some increased investment. But so long as Disney customers are happy with Disney waterparks on non park days and for annual pass holders, I suspect WDW is just fine with how things stand.
 
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fo...rlds-top-rival-is-winning-the-water-park.aspx

Interesting article about the water park war in central Florida. Clearly Disney needs to step up and bring something new to the table. It has me wondering whether a whole new park needs to happen or just some serious new slides coming to either of the 2.

I believe that Disney needs to come up with innovative, fresh attractions for their waterparks. Volcano Bay is AMAZING!!!
 
After reading about how early you need to get to VB (7am???) and the issues they have had with their stupid wait system, I have NO desire to go there, even though initially I was super excited about it.

We had amazing days at both Disney water parks earlier this month. Still look forward to future visits. Been visiting both parks since they opened many, many years ago. The new family raft ride at TL is quite fun and innovative. They haven't let the parks stagnate, IMO.
 


we did all 3 parks during this July trip. Truthfully enjoyed Disney's parks more than VB. While VB has better slides, its such a mess that it wasn't worth the hassle in my opinion. We even purchased there Front of the Line pass so we could enjoy the park. They haven't integrated those express tickets with the park tickets on the Tapu Tapu's yet, so when you get to the park you need to wait in line at customer service for them to put a writs band on you...and they ran out of them. Really is like Cheech and Chong opened a water park. If they ever get there s@$# in order, I could see it taking customers from Disney Water parks but as a PP said Disney has those parks as a added benefit to the visitors and not as a draw.
 
There is a built in audience for the waterparks at WDW. So long as they maintain them, and they are still considered some of the better ones in the country, they are not in trouble. They are supplements to the theme parks, not really draws in and of themselves for the majority of guests. I believe Disney is just fine with that. Now if Disney feels a significant number of guests are leaving the property to go to Volcano Bay, they may get some increased investment. But so long as Disney customers are happy with Disney waterparks on non park days and for annual pass holders, I suspect WDW is just fine with how things stand.

I agree totally! They have done a superb job maintaining them; compared to other things on property which are maintained somewhat poorly (i.e. parts of Epcot's Future World & the Monorail).

Since its a wooder park, I don't know if they necessarily have to have things which are new and innovative; just refreshing and well maintained.
 


I think the X factor is Aquatica. It is rarely mentioned and keeps adding new water rides (e.g. Ray Rush). If SeaWorld keeps adding/refreshing it's Orlando water park, given a price point, would lure some guests away from WDW.

That’s a good point. Too many times media wants to put attendance in central Florida as Disney vs Universal as if there are no other offerings. Aquatica is a fantastic water park in the same area and as you said it keeps adding new things. It’s been a while since I’ve been there and it’s bothing short of a fantastic water park. Shame on the Fool for not even bringing it up once.
 
I think it comes down to what does Disney want to get out of their water parks? What to they need them to accomplish? (sort of the same thing with the whole "is Toy Story Land disappointing?" - if we don't know what the bar is that Disney has for them how can we tell if they are above or below the bar?)

While I don't know what Disney wants them to be, I see them as something else on property for guests to do and to keep them on property. No more, no less. I think they are doing that and you don't really need them to be much bigger/better than they are to accomplish that
 
Here's the thing about this waterpark fiasco.

When Universal comes out with a new ride or park, it is advertised ALL OVER. I remember before Volcano Bay opened it was all over the news and they had tons of commercials, I think they even aired their grand opening on the Today show.

Disney on the other hand...

Yes they have amazing waterparks, however, they don't advertise them, like ever. When I went to Typhoon Lagoon a month ago no one in my family knew that Typhoon Lagoon opened a new water slide (Miss Adventure Falls). Instead they were so focused on really selling it for their other. I think Disney does care about their WP's but just not as much as their TP's

So in the end IMO it is how Disney and Universal advertise.

0t5d2tws02iud9z5.png


p07jmt826ggbhx2x.png
 
I see them more as a guest amenity rather an additional attraction. I would guess, that the disney water parks do not get unique users. In that I mean, any disney water park guest has an admission to one of the 4 main gates at disney. These are added value to guests.
I'm very surprised that Disney maintains 2 of these parks. I don't see them adding more to these parks other updates, or replacement when an attraction outlives it's life expectancy.
As a unit, I don't think Disney expects a profit from these parks, but at the very least are hoping they don't lose money. To that end, I think you see them close when the weather looks questionable.
I think in general you are seeing more money being put in to resort pools rather than a central water park.
 
I think if Disney really cared about keeping the attendance at the water parks up, they wouldn't have changed the "water parks and more" ticket option to require a hopper. My guess is far more of the attendance drop is due to ticket changes than VB.

I haven't been to VB, but both WDW parks are top notch compared to the rest of the country.

They are also more enjoyable compared to most other water parks because they are ran well. Most parks nowadays run slides so slowly, I can't take it.
 
We have never set foot in a Disney water park. In my eyes they are just like the mini-golf - something to else to do if you don't want to go to theme parks. :) We only go every few years, we don't want to waste a day at a water park, we'll just relax at the hotel pool if we want.

So no, I don't think they need to invest more in their water parks. Fix Future World instead please.
 
We have never set foot in a Disney water park. In my eyes they are just like the mini-golf - something to else to do if you don't want to go to theme parks. :) We only go every few years, we don't want to waste a day at a water park, we'll just relax at the hotel pool if we want.

So no, I don't think they need to invest more in their water parks. Fix Future World instead please.


That's a good point - let's get all 4 actual theme parks updated as needed and fully realized before we bother with the water parks ... unless they thought something would be a big draw in and of itself, which I don't see happening
 
Attach a resort to one of them ... probably all they would need to do to boost attendance or make them "more relevant". As Great Wolf Lodge's can attest to -- some people like a "waterpark" vacation.

The issue is that the "shine" on waterparks is past. The country is flooded with them. Every major tourist spot or big city/suburb has them locally or within a few hour drive. Even most theme parks have attached huge water parks to them (included with admission!). I am shocked Universal invested as much as they did on a giant, separate waterpark.

Water Parks aren't anything special anymore due to this flood, so like the miniature golf (as someone above posted), why waste time on an already expensive vacation doing something you can do "back home" or on another vacation for a fraction of the cost. Spend the time doing things you can't do back home -- like going to the Theme Parks.

I personally have never had interest in going to them, but even at their current levels, I am sure they help spread out the crowds.
 
Attach a resort to one of them ... probably all they would need to do to boost attendance or make them "more relevant". As Great Wolf Lodge's can attest to -- some people like a "waterpark" vacation.


I like this idea, except it becomes something of a seasonal resort. Given the winter shut downs and the general hit and miss weather, I doubt the resort would be real popular November through beginning of March. I think if you did build a resort here, you'd almost have to Grey Wolf it and build a smaller indoor water park as well just for those months. I doubt Disney wants to go that route. But I think, given BB and TL are generally ranked inside the top 30 water parks in the country by U.S. News, that this would be a reasonable idea. River Country was certainly a perk of Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge for a lot of years. Wandering over after a long summer park day for a few hours was a huge amount of fun.
 
I like this idea, except it becomes something of a seasonal resort. Given the winter shut downs and the general hit and miss weather, I doubt the resort would be real popular November through beginning of March. I think if you did build a resort here, you'd almost have to Grey Wolf it and build a smaller indoor water park as well just for those months. I doubt Disney wants to go that route. But I think, given BB and TL are generally ranked inside the top 30 water parks in the country by U.S. News, that this would be a reasonable idea. River Country was certainly a perk of Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge for a lot of years. Wandering over after a long summer park day for a few hours was a huge amount of fun.


having Stormalong Bay seems to help with the popularity of Beach and Yacht club (obviously not only reason they are popular) but I think you could do another resort (or two) that shared something like that and it would be popular
 
having Stormalong Bay seems to help with the popularity of Beach and Yacht club (obviously not only reason they are popular) but I think you could do another resort (or two) that shared something like that and it would be popular
Yeah. I'm thinking Stormalong Bay isn't a significant driver as much as it is a way to differentiate between the EPCOT area resorts. If you like pools, or have kids, you may prefer B&Y because it has Stormalong, but you are probably already deciding between B&Y and Boardwalk. I'm not sure Stormalong is that big of a decision factor if it is at, say, Saratoga Springs. Would it really drive traffic to a less convenient location?

But, if you were to build a resort at TL or BB, I think you are trying something else. Instead of people looking for a nice pool when they are done with the Theme Park or have a resort day on tap, you are looking for people who want to do 2 of the top 30 waterparks in the country and also want to share some time with the Theme Parks. I don't know if the audience is big enough, especially since I think it's a 9 month resort, but it is an interesting idea.
 
I do have to question what Disney wants out of their water parks. By far, we love Typhoon Lagoon. But, we were disappointed with the loss of the shark reef. The addition of the new ride, Miss Adventure Falls, is nice but comes nowhere close to that loss. Last summer, we went to Blizzard Beach and there wasn't enough water pressure to run most of the slides. We left after 3 hours and only got to do their Lazy river and the chair lift.

We're at Schilterbaun now but would easily have gone to Florida had we been able to get a better water park experience. Disney can do better.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top