Typhoon Lagoon 101- what can I expect?

[AJ Springfield]

Despite our numerous WDW trips in the past, we have NEVER been to a water park-- this is our first time! I have a map and have been reading posts and reviews, but I still wonder-- what can I expect?
I assume we will get there early. Does everyone get a locker? How safe are our belongings while we go on the rides? Do we just find chairs, put down towels and make it our home base? How long do most people stay at the park? Where is the best place to sit so that we aren't too far away from the action or too close so that we feel like we are being trampled?
What is your advice??

[Aurora]

I saw from another post that you are going in June -- beginning, middle or end? It might make a slight difference in crowds and the weather; beginning of June has a little fewer people and a little less rain, end of June has more people and more chance of thunderstorms during the day.

Get there early to get a locker; they do run out. If you don't use a locker, don't bring anything valuable or anything you would miss if someone "accidentally" walked away with it. I definitely would not leave a cell phone at a poolside chair, even in a bag. Disney isn't theft-proof -- it's just like any other place. There are plenty of lounge chairs, but don't expect them to be available if you don't get there early. Use a few towels to stake out spots on a couple of chairs and put your shoes next to them or underneath; in general, people respect the "stake-outs" and you'll be able to use this as your home base.

Another reason to get there early -- on hot and high-crowd days, the water parks do close due to capacity, and visitors usually make a day of it.

If lightning is spotted, they will close all the water areas of the park until the storm passes and there is no more danger of lightning. You are welcome to wait in sheltered areas until the storm passes. This could be anywhere from 1/2 hour, to a couple of hours, to the rest of the day, depending on the weather. What usually happens is if there's a long delay, people will leave, and if they open the park again, there are very few people there, and it's a treat. We once waited two hours for the storm to pass, and afterwards had the park almost to ourselves.

I absolutely LOVE Typhoon Lagoon. We have leftover water park days from old tickets and I would consider a trip down to Florida just to visit Typhoon Lagoon. My favorite is the lazy river -- it is just so peaceful and beautiful.

Have a great time!

[buzznwoodysmom]

In (early) June 2010 we did both water parks during our vacation. We rented a locker at each park. I'd say we got to the water parks between 10-11, and there were plenty of lockers still available. We stayed at the water parks till around 2-3ish, so about a half day.

We did not make ourselves a home base, mainly because most, if not all, of the chairs were already taken by the time we got there. We put on sunscreen before putting our belongings in a locker. Went back to the locker once during our day to reapply sunscreen. We were so busy on the slides and wave pools that we really didn't need chairs. Plus it was really nice to not have to worry about our stuff laying out on a chair somewhere. We found that we really didn't need anything in our locker. DH had a pocket that zipped on his swimming trunks. We put the locker key as well as one of our room keys in that pocket incase we needed to purchase anything.

DH and I did find available chairs in the kiddie section at Blizzard Beach one afternoon. We had played in that area with our kids already that day, and when they wanted to go back to it we found chairs and relaxed while the kids played for a bit. I also found a chair one afternoon at Typhoon Lagoon. We had played in the wave pool for hours, and I'd had enough. I was lucky enough to score a chair right by the wave pool and was able to watch DH and the boys continue having fun. Other than that we never used lounge chairs at the waterparks.

We waited many years before trying the waterparks as well. My kids were like "why haven't we done this yet???". We really enjoyed our days at the waterparks. I think you'll have fun!

[buzznwoodysmom]

I absolutely LOVE Typhoon Lagoon. We have leftover water park days from old tickets and I would consider a trip down to Florida just to visit Typhoon Lagoon. My favorite is the lazy river -- it is just so peaceful and beautiful.

Have a great time!

We have leftover water park days too, and have said the very same thing. We wouldn't mind taking a trip just to use those tickets and eat at Ohana's!!!

These tickets have been burning a hole in my pocket since last summer. We had military tickets last March and didn't use any of our WaterPark and More options. We talked about using them last summer and never did it. The tickets were supposed to expire last Oct. then Disney extended the deal and those tickets are still good till this Oct. Boy would I love to head down there for a long weekend this summer to use them! Glad to see I'm not the only one willing to take a trip for the waterparks!!!

[LudwigVonDrake]

Make sure you ride Crush n' Gusher at Typhoon Lagoon. Great ride!!!

[Kenny1113]

Like a previous poster said, we do not use chairs either. We just get a locker and leave everything in it. DH usually hold on to our cards. The water parks are a lot of fun! I'm not sure which my kids like better-the theme parks or the water parks.

[LVT]

Leave WDW resort with key cards, $20-30 in small bills, towels, sun screen, books and changes of clothing (depends on weather).
Pile stuff and shoes in a couple of chairs in shady area that looks find-able.

Do family raft and a few tube rides together

Split up into tame/scary/ surf wave groups.

Keep drinks and snacks in small cooler with stuff. Resters or reader can go by the stuff. We have not lost any things yet. The Key cards go into plastic swimsuit pockets or among stuff.

We enjoy both WDW water parks.

We tend to go early. Just like the parks, we get the main attractions over fast that way.
With the Options on the ticket, we tend to go for a few hours often, rather than whole days.