UK Visitors' Guide to a Disney Water Park Day: Everything You Need to Know
Updated: Sep 23
Our Guide to a Disney Water Park Day
UK Visitors' Guide to a Disney Water Park Day: Everything You Need to Know
Water park days hit different to a regular theme park day, don’t they?
There’s less rushing around trying to tick off attractions and more just floating about, soaking up the Florida sunshine and trying not to lose a flip-flop down a waterslide.
After quite a few trips to Orlando, we’ve learnt that a Disney water park day does need a little bit of planning — just not the kind of planning you need for a full day at Magic Kingdom.
We’ve done Disney water park days at different stages with our boys, and they’re very different experiences depending on the ages of your children. What worked when we had one little one was completely different once our eldest was old enough to want to try the bigger slides. After a few visits, we’ve definitely worked out what makes the day easier — and what we wouldn’t bother doing again.
Whether you’re heading to Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach, there are a few things we’ve learnt along the way that make a family water park day much easier.
From what to pack and when to arrive, to lockers, sun cream, food and keeping the kids happy in the Florida heat, here’s everything we’d recommend for your next Disney water park day.
Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach?
Disney has two water parks — Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach — although they don’t always both operate at the same time.
Typhoon Lagoon is the tropical one, built around the story of a huge storm that has turned the park upside down. Blizzard Beach has a completely different theme, based around an old ski resort that has melted into a water park.
Both have waterslides, a lazy river, children’s play areas, pools, lockers and places to grab something to eat, so you really can’t go too far wrong.
Our boys aren’t actually big on slides or water rides, so we’re not a family that spends the day trying to tick off every big attraction. We tend to spend most of our time in the children’s areas, which actually makes the water parks feel much more relaxed for us.
If your children are anything like ours and aren’t particularly bothered about the bigger slides, don’t feel like you’re missing out. The kids’ areas are a huge part of what makes a water park day enjoyable, and you can still have a brilliant day without going anywhere near the biggest attractions.
For younger children, Typhoon Lagoon has Ketchakiddee Creek, while Blizzard Beach has Tike’s Peak. Both are designed specifically for little ones, with smaller slides and plenty of water play.
For families with older children or anyone who loves the bigger slides, Blizzard Beach has some fantastic attractions too.
One thing to remember is that Disney rotates the water parks for seasonal refurbishment, so don’t assume both will be open during your trip. Always check the park calendar before planning your day.
Check the height requirements before you go
If you’re travelling with younger children, it’s worth checking the height requirements before you arrive.
Some of the bigger slides have minimum heights of 48 inches, including Summit Plummet and Slush Gusher at Blizzard Beach, and Crush ‘n’ Gusher and Humunga Kowabunga at Typhoon Lagoon.
This is definitely something I’d check before mentioning particular slides to the kids — there’s nothing worse than getting them excited about something only to find out they’re not quite tall enough!
Typhoon Lagoon’s Bay Slides are aimed at smaller guests and have a maximum height of 60 inches, so they’re one of those attractions that the adults will have to sit out.
Get there early
I know what you’re thinking.
“It’s a water park day — surely this is the one day we don’t need to get up early?”
And honestly, I completely understand.
But we still like to get there for opening.
It’s not necessarily because we’re desperate to get on every waterslide before the queues build. It’s mainly because the parks can get busy and we like having a good choice of loungers.
Once you’ve found somewhere you like, you’ve got a base for the day where you can leave your towels and head off to explore.
The bigger slides can also build up queues as the morning goes on, so getting a few rides done early can be worthwhile before settling into the more relaxed part of the day.
Sort your locker as soon as you arrive
This is one we’ve learnt from experience.
Don’t wait until you’ve already been in the pool, you’re soaking wet and you’re trying to work out what to do with everyone’s phones, keys and other valuables.
Get the locker sorted while you’re still dry and organised.
At the moment, Disney’s water park lockers are $10 for a standard locker or $15 for a large locker for the day. The lockers are available at the water parks for a one-time daily charge.
If you’re travelling as a family and have a few bags to stash away, the large one can be worth the extra few dollars.
And if you’re travelling with children, remember that you don’t necessarily need everyone to have their own things with them all day.
One adult can stay with the bags while the other takes turns going on the bigger slides.
Prices can change, so we’d always recommend checking the current Disney price when planning your trip.
Sun cream becomes a full-time job
This is probably one of the least exciting parts of a Florida water park day, but it’s so important.
Coming from the UK, I don’t think you ever quite appreciate how strong the Florida sun is until you’ve spent several hours around a pool. We’ve definitely learnt that feeling cool because you’re in the water doesn’t mean you’re not getting a lot of sun.
We make sure the children are covered in high-factor sunscreen before we head into the park, then keep reapplying throughout the day. Water can wash sunscreen off, and when you’re busy swimming and playing it’s very easy to forget how long you’ve actually been outside.
Make reapplying part of your normal water park routine rather than something you only think about once someone’s already gone pink!
This is our favourite sun cream for our boys.
Water shoes are worth packing
Florida gets HOT.
And the pathways around the water parks can get seriously hot under your feet.
If you’ve got little ones, water shoes can make a huge difference. They also give you a bit more protection from rough surfaces.
We tend to find them particularly useful when you’re walking between different areas of the park.
Personally, I love my Crocs for a water park day. They’re easy to get on and off, dry quickly and I can wear them around the park without needing to think about changing footwear.
If you’re putting together your Florida packing list, water shoes are definitely something I’d add.
Pic of my crocs in action…
Order your food before everyone gets hungry
This is another one of those little things that makes a surprisingly big difference.
If you’re using mobile ordering, order your food before the entire family reaches the “I’m starving” stage.
Because once you’ve got hungry children, a queue and everyone dripping wet, things can go downhill pretty quickly!
We’d much rather decide what we’re having while everyone’s still happy, place the order and then collect it when we’re ready.
It’s not exactly revolutionary advice, but sometimes it’s the little things that make a family day out easier.
Here we break down mobile ordering for you.
Keep everyone drinking and take shade breaks
It’s really easy to forget about drinking when you’re spending the day in and around water.
You’re swimming, playing and walking around in the Florida heat, so we make a conscious effort to keep everyone drinking throughout the day rather than waiting until somebody says they’re thirsty.
There are water fountains around the parks, so take advantage of them and keep your water topped up.
We also make sure we have proper breaks in the shade. Sometimes that means sitting down with a drink, having something to eat or just letting the kids have a bit of downtime.
It’s a simple thing, but those little breaks make a huge difference to everyone’s mood later in the day. There’s no point trying to squeeze every last attraction out of the day if everyone is exhausted and grumpy by 3pm!
Take a waterproof bag for your phone
If you’re anything like us, you’ll still want your phone with you.
There’s always a photo to take, something the kids are doing that you want to capture or a quick check of the Disney app.
A small waterproof dry bag is really handy for keeping your phone and other small essentials dry when you’re moving around the park.
We wouldn’t rely on a normal bag being waterproof — once you’ve spent the money on a phone, the last thing you want is to find out the hard way that it isn’t!
Let the day be a little bit unplanned
And this is probably our biggest tip.
Don’t treat a water park day like a theme park day.
You don’t need a huge list of attractions that you have to tick off.
Our boys are a good example of this. Because they’re not particularly bothered about the bigger slides, we don’t feel any pressure to rush around trying to do them all. We can spend ages in the children’s areas, go round the lazy river or simply sit and watch them play.
Let the kids decide what they want to do. Go round the lazy river again. Spend longer than planned in the children’s area. Sit by the pool for half an hour doing absolutely nothing.
Some of our favourite water park memories haven’t involved the biggest slides at all.
They’ve been the simple things — floating around together, watching the boys have fun and enjoying a slower day in the middle of a busy Orlando holiday.
And after several days of theme parks, sometimes that’s exactly what everyone needs.
Our perfect Disney water park day
For us, the perfect water park day looks something like this:
Arrive early → find a good spot → sort the locker → get the sun cream on → let the kids play → enjoy the children’s areas → have lunch → take a proper shade break → more swimming and lazy river time → plenty of drinks → and absolutely no worrying about what time we’re supposed to be doing the next thing.
Because that’s what we love about a water park day.
It’s still a Disney day, but it feels completely different.
There’s no rushing from one attraction to the next and no feeling like you need to get your money’s worth by being constantly on the move.
Sometimes, on an Orlando holiday, the best day is the one where you don’t have a plan at all.
Planning your Orlando holiday?
If you’re still planning the rest of your Orlando holiday, don’t forget to check out our Ultimate Orlando Holiday Planning Guide, where we’ve brought together our tips for planning your trip from the UK.
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