AP free 3 hours at typhoon lagoon from 5-8 pm

[snoopy352]

Hi - we were lucky enough to have an AP free event coincide with our planned trip for the first time, and we were lucky enough to score tickets. It is at TL from 5-8 pm. We have never been to a DIS water park nor to an event like this? Does anyone have any insights they can share? We plan to wear our bathing suits under our clothing and go to AK for our FP+ (including FoP!) in the early-mid afternoon and take a bus to TL and arrive there around 4:30.

Does anyone know how crowded this event will be? Any other tips? TIA!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/vipassholder-is-back.3732261/

Read the last couple of pages for reviews

 

[Mr. Drauer]

It was extremely crowded. We arrived at Disney Springs at 4:00, waited in a huge line for a bus (got on a bus at 4:35), arrived at Typhoon at 4:40, waited in a huge line to check in and get wrist band, got in the park at 4:55 and found seats. Line for Crush and Gusher was 25 minutes at 5:00, MisAdventure Falls was 40 minutes, wave pool was closed to get day guests out until almost 6:00. Lines for food and drinks were long, bar only had a single bartender working. We have had water park passes for a number of years - this is not the way to do the water park. You want to get there early when it opens and you have free run of the place for the first hour at least.

 

[snoopy352]

It was extremely crowded. We arrived at Disney Springs at 4:00, waited in a huge line for a bus (got on a bus at 4:35), arrived at Typhoon at 4:40, waited in a huge line to check in and get wrist band, got in the park at 4:55 and found seats. Line for Crush and Gusher was 25 minutes at 5:00, MisAdventure Falls was 40 minutes, wave pool was closed to get day guests out until almost 6:00. Lines for food and drinks were long, bar only had a single bartender working. We have had water park passes for a number of years - this is not the way to do the water park. You want to get there early when it opens and you have free run of the place for the first hour at least.

Yuck - sorry to hear this but thank you. If we get there during registration (between 4 and 5), do they actually let you in early?

 

[kiford]

We were there on May 21. We were told that you cannot park at TL but to park at Disney Springs and take the bus. We were staying at CR so we took the bus from there instead of heading to DS. We got there around 4:15 or so and there was no line to enter. It was a little difficult to find a spot to leave our stuff since day guests were still there but we got something on the other side of the wave pool. We did the lazy river first which was a bit crowded but not too bad, then did one of the family raft rides (we were there with local friends so we had 4 people). Waited maybe 15 minutes. Then we got in line for food just shortly after the day guests left at 5 pm. There were only a few people ahead of us. The lines for food did get longer after we were finished. By then, all day guests were gone. The lines for the other family raft ride did get to about 30 minutes by mid-evening so we skipped that and just did the lazy river a couple of more times and DH and my friend's DH did the wave pool while we took pictures of them. My friend can't submerge her head due to ear issues and I wear glasses and don't like trying to swim without them as I can see very little so we didn't go in ourselves. We could have gone to the very shallow end of the wave pool but then we wouldn't have been able to take pictures or watch people try to body surf. We also skipped all of the water slides partly because of the length of lines (about 20-30 minutes) and our other issues. We finally left about 7:45 pm.

They had streams and streams of buses back to DS and the lineup was crazy. Initially we were told to go to the left at the exit for the bus back to CR but that was incorrect. We had to go right but that's where all of the people where waiting to get on the buses to DS. We had to cross the road, cut through the parking lot and walk in front of one of the buses to get to the stop for CR. One of the CM's there went back to the person who'd given us the wrong information to let them know that there would be a bus to CR from that spot. But they did have to hold back a DS bus to let our bus in so we ended up waiting about 15 minutes for it to come. Still, I'm very glad we did not park at DS. Buses for other resorts seemed to be more frequent because they were on the other side of the hordes waiting for the DS buses. My advice is to take a resort bus if you are staying onsite and don't bother with DS parking.

We didn't realize that we had to pay for towel rental or we would have brought some from the resort ourselves. Lesson learned. We enjoyed ourselves - it was the first time we'd been to one of the water parks. We are thinking now about upgrading our AP to include the water parks next time. We'll just go a couple of times in the morning until it gets crowded and too hot/sunny and then leave. I'm glad we had this opportunity to test it out.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

Yuck - sorry to hear this but thank you. If we get there during registration (between 4 and 5), do they actually let you in early?

yes - as soon as they check you in, you are free to enter and enjoy the park. I suggest getting there at 4:00 if possible, as the line to enter build quickly once the busses start arriving.

 

[mmeb144]

We didn't realize that we had to pay for towel rental or we would have brought some from the resort ourselves. Lesson learned.

Be sure to mention that you are staying onsite when you go to the towel place. The last few times that we have stayed onsite, we were able to get a towel for free at the water parks. We are AP Water Park pass folks. Love having all the park access!

 

[kiford]

Be sure to mention that you are staying onsite when you go to the towel place. The last few times that we have stayed onsite, we were able to get a towel for free at the water parks. We are AP Water Park pass folks. Love having all the park access!

We tried that but no luck. Maybe it's different if you have the AP pass with water park but even complaining that this was a passholder event and that we hadn't been told that we'd have to pay for towels didn't help. My advice is to bring a towel with you if it's at all possible and just avoid the issue. Also one less line to stand in (although there was only two people ahead of us, I could see it getting busy right when everyone is arriving).

 

[snoopy352]

Thanks for all the help everyone - i forgot to ask - my wife will have a scooter - will she be able to park it easily enough at a water park?

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I’m stunned that towels weren’t included. How much is rental?

 

[goofygal531]

I’m stunned that towels weren’t included. How much is rental?

$2 each but I’m surprised they weren’t complimentary for resort guests. I was handed a stack of 4 during the H2O Glow Party. Didn’t need to show any proof, just mentioned I was a resort guest.

Are the buses still from DS? Are thought they were now direct from the resorts.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

For whatever reason, they told people driving to park at DS not TL.