Waterparks: Try it or forget it? 2 young kids!!!

[hygienejean]

My DS will be almost 3 and my DD will be 11 months on my next WDW vacation. My question is: Are they too young to enjoy anything in the waterparks? What are the children's areas like? My DH and I LOVE the waterparks but of course the last few times we didn't have kids so this should be a whole new experience.....Should we try it for a few hours or forget it?? If any of you have had any experience with this I would love to hear about it! Thanks so much!!
Jean

 

[BrerMom]

Our son was almost three on our last trip. He's a brave little guy that tries desperately to keep up with his big brother and sister. I think he had the best time of all. That says a lot considering the day was really cold & rainy and the other two loved it - they were lobbying to forgo a day at MK to go back again.

Same advice holds true as the rest of the parks: if they get tired, it's time to go.

As an aside, we splurged and bought the kids cover-ups at Blizzard Beach. I'm so glad we did. They always get cute comments when they wear them to the YMCA or the lake.

 

[tazdeb]

The best thing about the water parks for kids your ages, is the zero entry pools (that only get about 2 feet deep) with the sponge bottoms. These kid areas are great and have squirters and slides,although you cannot go down holding them. we took out kids to both blizzard beach and typhoon lagoon 5 years ago when they were 2 and they loved splashing. There are also lifeguards wading in the water so you can relax from shore and just watch the 3 year old frolick. That said most resort pools these days have zero entry pools with squirters but no slides (which you will hardly use anyways). Among these are HIFS, the YC Dolphin, Gaylord palms, The new Royal Pacific Resort at US, etc... For what your kids will use these pools will be all you need free of charge, if your husbands a big kid he may need more....have fun....TAZ

 

[tazdeb]

The best thing about the water parks for kids your ages, is the zero entry pools (that only get about 2 feet deep) with the sponge bottoms. These kid areas are great and have squirters and slides,although you cannot go down holding them. we took out kids to both blizzard beach and typhoon lagoon 5 years ago when they were 2 and they loved splashing. There are also lifeguards wading in the water so you can relax from shore and just watch the 3 year old frolick. That said most resort pools these days have zero entry pools with squirters but no slides (which you will hardly use anyways). Among these are HIFS, the YC Dolphin, Gaylord palms, The new Royal Pacific Resort at US, etc... For what your kids will use these pools will be all you need free of charge, if your husbands a big kid he may need more....have fun....TAZ

 

[MrsPete]

If your kids are like mine, the water parks will be their favorite part of the trip!

If you've never visited with kids before, you may not have noticed just how nice the kiddie sections really are -- especially Typhoon Lagoon. I think they all have zero-degree entry pools and "scaled down" sized attractions for small kids.

Just use common sense: make sure they're well rested, well hydrated, and slathered in sunscreen . . . you'll have fun. In fact, since you won't be waiting in lines, you'll probably have more fun than you will at the Magic Kingdom.

 

[waltandjulie]

My kids will be the sameages as yours (DD-3 & DS-11mo) when we travel in September. We decided to go for it!!!

Last year, we skipped the water parks (mainly due to cold weather), and really regretted it. This year we put DD in swim class, and have done a bit of checking into the parks. The Kiddie areas do sound wonderful. There was a post a month or two ago re which one to choose - I believe that the consensus was Blizzard Beach.

 

[hygienejean]

Thanks everyone!!! Brermom, we went in Sept. 4 years ago (no kids then!) and it was major love bug season! They were all over the waterparks! Kids won't care at all though.
One more question....Would an Ultimate park hopper be a waste of money(The one that includes the smaller parks) or would you buy a regular hopper ticket and pay for water park separatly???
Thanks again!
Jean