Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park

Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park Tips 1

Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park opened at Walt Disney World on June 1st, 1989. When it opened this was Disney’s second water park the first being River Country located on Bay Lake. Now that the fabled River Country no longer exists, Typhoon Lagoon remains to be Disney World’s oldest water park still in operation. This park opened just one month after Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened, as well as Pleasure Island over at what is now called Disney Springs.

Typhoon Lagoon definitely embodies the style and history associated with Disney during its major growth spurt in the 1990s. This park is also only 61 acres large making it slightly smaller than Blizzard Beach.

However, the layout of Typhoon Lagoon makes it seem as though it’s more spread out than its sister waterpark. This park is also home to one of the largest wave pools in the world measuring at over a hundred and nine thousand square feet holding more than three million gallons of water.

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Typhoon Lagoon Tickets and Hours

Quite often I get asked what the hours are for Typhoon Lagoon and how the heck to get tickets. Well, if you happen to be visiting in the colder months, it’s standard to have short days of 10 AM to 5 PM. Longer days of 10 AM to 8 PM usually happen during the summer months.

To get tickets to Typhoon Lagoon you actually have a few options.

1 Day Tickets To Typhoon Lagoon

Cost: $69.23 adult/$62.84 child (tax included)

Park Hopper Plus and Typhoon Lagoon

Park Hopper Plus tickets will allow you to park hop between the 4 main theme parks, but they also give you extra entry into venues outside of the main parks. If you want the water park Plus option, you have to also add the Park Hopper option.

The number of extra entries you receive equals the number of days on your ticket, and you can use them in any combination at the following locations:

  • Typhoon Lagoon
  • Blizzard Beach
  • ESPN Wide World of Sports (unless it’s a special event)
  • Fantasia Gardens or Winterland Summerland (free round of mini-golf before 4:00 pm)
  • Free round of golf at Oak Trail (my husband’s favorite)

Annual Passes at Typhoon Lagoon

You can purchase an Annual Pass to just the water parks for $138.45, also the Platinum Plus Annual Pass gives water park entries included in its price.

Typhoon Lagoon Map

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Typhoon Lagoon Refurbishment and Closings

Tons of people ask me about the refurbishment schedule for Typhoon Lagoon. Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach are open year-round. However, there are times throughout the year that refurbishments are needed. Both are never closed at the same time.

If you would like to find out what the refurbishment dates are going to be for Typhoon Lagoon, you can check the current and upcoming dates for refurbishment or closing here.

Food and Beverage at Typhoon Lagoon

Typhoon Lagoon is meant to be a place where a massive storm hit a hidden resort town and left a complete wreckage of boats and water slides in its wake. The tropical setting is very relaxing and the food served here reflects some of the items you would find in the Caribbean or Southeast Asia; so dining at this type of lagoon is right up my alley. Keep in mind that all of the different places to eat here are on the Disney Dining Plan as well, so you can make full use of your credits.

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Typhoon Tilly’s

Typhoon Tilly’s has a great menu and is one of my favorite places to grab lunch. I LOVE the coconut shrimp, and I can’t think of a better food to enjoy especially at this water park. Now I normally don’t like seafood but this is something I definitely do enjoy. The coconut shrimp basket is moderately priced at $10.99. You get a nice sampling of shrimp that is perfectly fried but what I love most about this is that it comes with a side of curried honey mustard which pairs beautifully with that coconut flavor and offers a flavorful edge.

Funnell Cake Stand

You’ll find a simple funnel cake stand in between the wave pool and the lazy river. You can, of course, enjoy a traditional funnel cake among other sweet treats, but this is where you’ll find the fried ice cream dish. Which, if you aren’t familiar with Fried Ice Cream, it is a bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with a crunchy fried dough topping.  I’ve highlighted it today simply because it’s something you won’t find anywhere else on Disney property. The fried ice cream is priced at $5.50 and qualifies as a snack credit on the Dining Plan.

disney water park food

Snack Shack

The Snack Shack is connected to Typhoon Tilly’s but offers a slightly different menu and this is where you’ll find the guacamole flight. If you love guacamole as I do, then this is a must-do. You can order these individually, but I love a sampling of different flavors. First, you have the guacamole topped with spicy shrimp, which is very similar to a shrimp cocktail, just add guac and a nice wedge of lemon on the side. Then there is the veggie guac dip, topped with a mixture of corn, peppers, cheese, tomatoes, and chopped scallions. Then there’s the guacamole dip with pineapple bacon, which is rich in flavor. The guacamole fight is priced at $7.99 and served with the side of tortilla chips. I highly recommend you give it a try.

Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park Tips 2

Lowtide Lou’s

Behind the wave pool and near the entrance to Mayday Falls is Lowtide Lou’s. it goes very unnoticed and serves a decent variety of snacks and alcoholic beverages. It’s not a full bar like the other but it does feature Lou’s wavy mango wine slushy. It’s on the small side but the perfect way to cool down with a little kick.

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Leaning Palms

Leaning Palms is Typhoon Lagoons’ main quick-service restaurant where you can enjoy full plates of food for lunch or an early dinner at the end of the day. This restaurant is a pretty good departure from your typical theme park food. There are, of course, some pizza options, burgers, and hot dogs; but leaning palms also specializes in several rice bowls. This is a hefty bowl of pulled jerk chicken topped with roasted corn, red peppers, pineapple salsa, and plantains. I love this dish because it’s packed with refreshing tropical flavors, a very small hint of spice, and it’s a very good size. The jerk chicken rice bowl is an excellent deal, priced at $9.99.

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Let’s Go Slurpin’

A popular place to grab a drink is Let’s Go Slurping. it’s not far from the funnel cake stand and popular because it sits at the shoreline of the wave pool.

Happy Landings Ice Cream

Happy Landings offers up some really nice frozen options, including their signature “Sand Pail”. Which is a sundae served in a pail…with a shovel… so you can shovel it right out into your mouth. (LOL!)

Typhoon Lagoon Water Slides and Rides

Like Blizzard Beach, this place is divided up into sections, which group the water slides together, based on their intensity. There are less than 10 slides and they are grouped together near the kid’s play area and the park’s newest additions are conveniently located near a quieter lounge area that the adults will enjoy.

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Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool

Let’s begin with the star attraction at Typhoon Lagoon, the wave pool. Typhoon Lagoon is the largest wave pool in North America and throughout the day it pumps out massive waves from the back of the pool that comes crashing to the shoreline. It’s a thrilling experience but also very intense!

Something to note here is that the pool alternates from the big surf waves to the more mellow bopping waves. When you first enter the park take note of this surf schedule. You’ll see that the day will usually begin with a 90-minute session of these big waves then rotate to the calm ones and then continues to rotate until park closing.

If you’re looking for an extra thrill at the wave pool then Typhoon Lagoon also offers private surf lessons before the park opens to regular day guests.

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Castaway Creek Lazy River

But if the waves are too much for you, you can always take a relaxing ride on Castaway Creek. This lazy river wraps around the entire park and cuts right through the middle of Mount Mayday. It stretches over 2,000 feet long and it’s about a 20-minute round-trip experience.

Along the way, you’ll see some of the parks’ best theming, from a misty tropical rainforest to some fun scenes of wreckage left behind by the storm that created the lagoon. I’d have to see that out of the two water parks Castaway Creek is the far superior one of the two, in my humble opinion, just for this great theming.

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Humunga Kowabunga

Now let’s jump into some more exciting attractions at the water slides. Like I said the slides at Typhoon Lagoon are grouped together by their intensity very similar to the slopes that Blizzard Beach. On the right side of Mount Mayday, you’ll find three storm slides and Humunga Kowabunga. These are the park’s body speed slides and my personal favorite, of course, is Humunga Kowabunga, which is a drop slide that sends guests down a 50-foot tunnel reaching speeds up to 30 miles per hour.

There is a height requirement here and that guests must be at least 48 inches to ride. But you’ll be happy to know that there’s only one other slide queue at this park that has a height requirement. Humunga Kowabunga is definitely the park’s most thrilling slide and a must-do.

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Storm Slides

In the same area you have storm slides, a trio of body slides that are a little less intense but still send you down with some good speed. These three slides are some of my favorite milder slides at Typhoon Lagoon. You’ll find yourself zig-zagging down the mountain through some tunnels and some big turns and each one is slightly different.

The Jib Jammer is the tamest of the three but not by much, the Rudder Buster features a lot more turns, and The Stern Burner has the most tunnels. What I like about these is that there is no height restriction and it’s easy to do multiple times. If your kids are under 48 inches these are the slides where they’ll experience the most thrills and speed. Just be warned there’s a lot of stairs for this slide.

Mayday Falls, Gangplank Falls, and Keelhaul Falls

On the opposite side of Mount Mayday, the left side if you’re looking at Miss Tilly is where you’ll find the more mellow raft rides. Again you have three slides here and they’re similar to each other but there are some distinct differences between them. Both Mayday Falls and Keelhaul Falls are raft rides where you’ll sit solo.

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Mayday Falls

I think younger guests who are a little intimidated by the body slides, will really enjoy these two. But I must admit I don’t find these very comfortable for the adults either, specifically Mayday Falls.

There are several large bumps along the way meant to slow you down a bit and they prevent you from going too fast. I also find the shape of this slide a little odd I found that it’s not quite wide enough to fit and I had a few close calls along the way.

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Keelhaul Falls

Out of these two slides, I definitely prefer Keelhaul Falls as it’s a lot smoother and not so bumpy. The other downside to these two slides is that you’ll have to carry the rafts up the mountain yourself and like I said before Typhoon Lagoon has a lot of stairs. Sometimes the stairs even go down, just so they can go back up again, and I can’t make sense of it.

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Gangplank Falls

The same goes for the third slide in this area Gangplank Falls, which is one of two family raft rides in the park. Before Miss Adventure Falls opened, this was the only way a group of friends could enjoy a slide down together because each raft can accommodate up to four people. You’ll be sent down a 300-foot slide, twisting and turning all the way down which is probably about a medium on the intensity level out of these three.

Mayday Falls is definitely the bumpiest slide, but Gangplank Falls is a good warm-up for the little ones before getting on Miss Adventure Falls; which is a lot faster and bigger. Just note that like the previous two you’ll have to carry the rafts up the stairs yourself.

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Ketchakiddee Creek

The good thing about these three slides being located on this side of the park is that it’s also adjacent to Ketchakiddee Creek. This is Typhoon Lagoon’s play area for the toddlers who are still too small to swim. The shipwreck theming here is really cute and there are plenty of places for little ones to jump and play in this giant splash pad. I specifically love the waterfalls at the back of the area, which are very pretty. For those ready for their first slide, there is a very mellow one here that they can enjoy.

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Miss Adventure Falls

Let’s also not forget to talk about the parks’ new additions. Typhoon Lagoon has added two different water slides in the last 15 years; Crush ‘n’ Gusher and the parks newest slide Miss Adventure Falls. It is a fantastic slide and it’s the park’s longest slide as well. For those who don’t like carrying their own rafts, you’ll be happy to know that this attraction features a conveyor belt that takes you and your family up the slide, which is a first for a Disney waterpark.

Some people say this is Disney’s best waterslide and it’s a great thrill for the whole family. I must say that this is Typhoon Lagoon’s most popular attraction and something you should prioritize first thing on your trip to the park. I’ll have more tips for you though, so keep reading.

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Crush ‘n’ Gusher

Finally, I get to talk about my favorite slide at this park called Crush ‘n’ Gusher. This is Disney’s first and so far only water coaster and something that you must do on a day a Typhoon Lagoon. Like a lot of the other attractions here, this is actually a set of three different slides The Pineapple Plunger the Coconut Crusher and The Banana Blaster.

Guests can experience all three slides in pairs; you’ll pick up your raft at the hideaway pool and take them up the tower yourself. If you’re riding solo you can only experience Coconut Crusher so make sure you bring a friend. Like the other slides, these three are somewhat similar with some subtle differences. Personally, I think the Coconut Crusher is the most thrilling of the three in that it has an extra bunny hill.

While this slide is one of the newer attractions at Typhoon Lagoon it doesn’t always seem to have long wait times and that could be because it has a height restriction. But after Miss Adventure Falls I would prioritize this one next on your list. It’s a great attraction and one that’s fun to do over and over.

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Typhoon Lagoon Tips

As promised I do have a few tips to best experience Typhoon Lagoon at Walt Disney World. These are helpful especially for those of you who have never been here before.

Beware Of Waves

Please be very careful at the wave pool, specifically with toddlers and infants. The only place where I found a mention of the schedule of the big waves versus the calm waves was right after the entry path into the park. So fair warning, if you have a little one who can’t swim I would consider avoiding this area when the big waves hit. I even found it intimidating myself and think it’s actually the scariest thing at this park it looks like a wall of water and people just coming right at you.

Some people choose to hover at the very back of the pool to catch the wave all the way into the shoreline. In some ways, this is actually a little less scary because you’ll be ahead of the pack but you’ll have to be a very good swimmer to tread in this deep end of the pool. In the middle is where the most danger is in my opinion because that’s where the waves start crashing.

Even from a big distance back you’ll be surprised how strong that current will push you. If you have little ones stick to Ketchakiddee Creek or even The Hideaway Pool by Crush ‘n’ Gusher; this is a much safer and wiser area to hang out in. This goes hand-in-hand with my next tip.

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Prime Lounging

Prime spots to claim your beach chairs. I find that scoring a good lounge chair much easier typhoon Magoon over Blizzard Beach simply because there are more good options. My personal favorite spot is tucked away by the old shark reef area and near the storm slides. Even if you arrive halfway through the day you’ll easily score a chair in the shade. You’re also close to one of my favorite food stops, Typhoon Tilly’s.

I like this spot because you’re an equal distance to Humunga Kowabunga and the storm slides as well as Miss Adventure Falls and Crush ‘n’ Gusher. I also noticed that there’s a second set of lockers in this area that is less crowded than the main one by the gift shop. Just note that you’ll have to pay to rent these lockers at Singapore Sal’s, so don’t walk all the way over there before you get that taken care of.

I think that this area is best for access and it’s really quiet. The hideaway pool that I just mentioned is also a very good spot because of that proximity to the more popular water slides. You’re also very close to the changing rooms but this one will fill up more quickly. This is a good spot if you’re the type of person to rope drop. If you have very little ones and perhaps not prioritizing the speed slides plant yourselves on the opposite side of the mountain by Ketchakiddee Creek.

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Beachcomber Cabana Rentals

Like I mentioned in my article about Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon offers some VIP sections that come with some extra amenities. If you don’t want to stress about arriving early to snag a good spot then you can rent a Beachcomber shack that can accommodate up to six people. These come with cushioned chairs, a private attendant that can bring food to you, a locker, refillable mugs for everyone, and a cooler to keep your drinks cold. Obviously these can get pretty pricey ranging from $200 a day up to $350 per day. If you’d like to prebook this call 407-WDW-PLAY or you can do same-day reservations at the main gift shop.

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Getaway Glen Umbrellas Rentals

Alternatively, you can reserve a set of lounge chairs that come with an umbrella. The Getaway Glen umbrellas can hold up to four people and come with towels and a drinks table. It’s a little less expensive and is usually around $40 to $60 dollars a day. If you’re worried about shade at Typhoon Lagoon, just know that there are plenty of other shaded lounge chairs for free, just as long as you arrive early.

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Typhoon Lagoon Strategy

I love the water parks because it reminds me of simpler times when Genie and FastPass Plus didn’t exist. However, you can still get caught in some long lines here so there’s a general order I recommend doing to make sure you experience all the slides and even get to do your favorites one more time.

No matter what you do, you should definitely start your day by riding Miss Adventure Falls, this is truly the one slide that gets really backed up later in the day, around 1:00 p.m. Don’t be surprised if the wait here is up to 30 minutes. After this, go immediately to Crush ‘n’ Gusher and you’ll have enough time to do at least two of the three slides.

Then work your way through the three storm slides, and round out this first go with Humunga Kowabunga. If you arrive before 10:00 a.m., get your lockers, and set up your base camp, you can easily do all of these in the first hour or so. Which basically leaves the rest of the day to come and go as you please. You’ll have plenty of time to experience both the wave pool and the Lazy River. If you want a second round of Miss Adventure Falls or Crush ‘n’ Gusher save it for the last two hours of the day.

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Characters You Can Meet

If you’re really lucky you may catch Lilo and Stitch on a visit to Typhoon Lagoon. They don’t have any set appearance times listed but I found that you can meet at least one of them on your way out of the park towards the end of the day; they’ll usually be positioned right by the main gift shop.

Conclusion

So there you have it my friends a complete tour exploring Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park at Walt Disney World. This has some fantastic Disney theming and is a great relaxing place to unwind. The tropical setting will be a nice escape for many of you coming from outside the Sunshine State and you’ll love the Disney details dotted everywhere in this park. I do enjoy the slides at Blizzard Beach a little bit more, but for a more fun-filled day that the whole family can enjoy definitely go to Typhoon Lagoon.

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