Typhoon Lagoon on Arrival Day… relaxing?

[tigertides]

We are arriving on a Wednesday in July, should be checked in to grand Floridian by 1 PM.

We are going with family members who have never visited Disney World, and we personally have never been to a waterpark before.

We do not want to spend our arrival day going to the park. Is this a good choice our tickets come with a free day.

I am leery of the 45 minutes it will take to get there, long wait times 2-5pm, potential bad weather, and the poor dining options there. I know the grand Floridian itself has a very nice pool, which is what we did the last time we were there.


If we don’t do Typhoon Lagoon, we would do a very enjoyable dinner either at the Polynesian, Boma, or Disney Springs.

It seems like it is not worth the headache of traveling out there, and then potentially taking a cold shower at the waterpark, staying out late, and being cranky for our early wake up the next day to go to magic Kingdom.

Thoughts???
Thank you!!

 

[NileNellie]

I personally love Typhoon Lagoon, but a nice relaxing afternoon at the GF pool sounds great to me. Plus you'll be nice and rested for hitting the parks in the AM!

 

[Disneylover99]

Any of your own suggestions sound way more relaxing than visiting a water park mid afternoon in July.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Just a note, if you are asking about the, 'Free WP Day on Arrival Day' please note this does not happen until 2025. You would need to pay for water park entrance in 2024.

 

[tigertides]

Just a note, if you are asking about the, 'Free WP Day on Arrival Day' please note this does not happen until 2025. You would need to pay for water park entrance in 2024.

Thanks, but this is for the free added day that comes along with our convention tickets.

Appreciate all the suggestions.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks, but this is for the free added day that comes along with our convention tickets.

Appreciate all the suggestions.

Thanks. I'm not familiar with convention tickets. Does you ticket specify that it includes water parks?

 

[Smugpugmug]

Will you have a car? The overall process to get to the water parks from your hotel is a hassle, to say the least. The last time I went to Typhoon Lagoon was early May and it cleared out crowd wise around 2:30-3pm.

IMO in your situation I would hang out at your hotel pool. The food at Typhoon is for survival + sustenance and not enjoyment. You'll get better food at your resort.

 

[kylenne]

I would just hang out at the GF. The pools there are lovely, it will be more relaxing, and as pp said the food will be far superior. I enjoyed the offerings at the main pool bar a lot.

 

[tigertides]

Will you have a car? The overall process to get to the water parks from your hotel is a hassle, to say the least. The last time I went to Typhoon Lagoon was early May and it cleared out crowd wise around 2:30-3pm.

IMO in your situation I would hang out at your hotel pool. The food at Typhoon is for survival + sustenance and not enjoyment. You'll get better food at your resort.

No car.

 

[Smugpugmug]

No car.

Then I would say swim at your resort. To get to Typhoon, you'd have to take a bus to DS and then transfer from there. It's really annoying and takes up so much time.

 

[bluezy]

I agree with the others. I think it would be a hassle and huge time suck to go to a water park for a few hours on arrival day. And my always overthinking brain would be worried that: A) It will be raining; B) Someone will get sunburned from being around all that reflective water and not reapply sunscreen frequently enough; and C) Everyone would be cranky the next day because they were exhausted from swimming (I always need a a good nap after swimming in the summer heat in FL ).

I know you said you didn't want to go to a park on that first day, but we've found that spending a few hours in a park on arrival day is a great way to ease into vacation and to knock out a few attractions. We typically go to EP for a few hours and have dinner there. Nothing crazy, just a nice relaxing visit. I don't know how the convention tickets work, but we always get at least a 6-day ticket anyway, so adding that 7th day is super cheap.

If going to a park is definitely not an option, I'd hang out at the hotel and swim, ride the monorail loops, maybe ride the boats, visit the other monorail resorts, and have dinner at one of of those resorts. That can easily take up 6 or 7 hours if you want it to.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Poly has a beautiful pool!! I’d be tempted to save the travel time and enjoy that.

 

[tigertides]

Thanks. I'm not familiar with convention tickets. Does you ticket specify that it includes water parks?

Yes- includes either one round of Mini golf

Or one day at water park