22/09/2017 Walt Disney World Typhoon Lagoon
After spending a full on 15 hours at the Magic Kingdom the day before, both Luke and myself were looking forward to a slightly more chilled out day at Typhoon Lagoon. I never count a water park as one of my rest days because going up and down steps all day can easily take your step count to way over 10,000 and usually means you’ve done a good 3 or 4 miles!!
What is Typhoon Lagoon?
Typhoon Lagoon is my favourite water park at WDW, I like the layout, the theme and the rides they have here! Typhoon Lagoon have an impressive 12 rides including the new attraction for 2017 ‘Misadventure falls’. As well as the 11 rides they also boast an impressive wave pool which features a 6th foot wave every 90 seconds!! So much fun as you can imagine.
Booking a cabana
Luke and I are big fans of booking a cabana when visiting Typhoon Lagoon. We first booked one back in 2016 and found it extremely beneficial to us, it’s great to have a place to chill out in after a packed morning on and off rides. Yes there are a number of sun loungers dotted around throughout the park but these get snapped up VERY quickly! And then of course you need to go off and find a locker to store your valuables in. Hiring a cabana comes equipped with 6 sun loungers, bottled water, Refillable mugs which allow you free drink refills, locker, towels and your own Disney cast member too!! Your Disney cast member will check in on you from time to time and take any food orders that you have and bring the prepared food right back to your cabana!! Booking a Cabana at Typhoon Lagoon also means that you get into the park 30 minutes before other park guests! Giving you plenty of time to settle in, lock everything away and be ready for the 10am opening, unlike the other park guests who are finding there spot and only just settling in!!!
Is a Cabana worth it?
As with anything there is always pro’s and cons!! Yes the Cabana is totally worth the $319 (including tax) price tag if like Luke and I you want to hit the all the rides in the morning and spend the afternoon chilling out. We were the first couple on Miss-adventure Falls, and did Crush “N” Gusher 3 times without queuing! They are 2 of the parks most popular rides!! As there was also only 2 of us this year I also found the cabana a nice base point for us, and it was nice not having to walk around trying to find somewhere to sit. It’s also great shelter from the afternoon downpour, which we experienced whist at Typhoon Lagoon! As for having a cast member assigned to our Cabana, I have to say that ours wasn’t very attentive and checked in on us maybe 3 times in the 7 hours that we were there. She was also very quick to point out that unlike the previous year (2016) cast members now don’t get any food that isn’t on the menu, so if myself or Luke fancied something a bit different we would have to get it ourselves. I found the menu that comes with the cabana very limited, and I had to ask several times for a vegetarian menu, as the main menu didn’t list vegetarian options. For us as a couple we like to get into the parks early and have somewhere to relax in the afternoon which is why we will always pick the cabana (it’s personal choice) but it’s not as magical as it may seem, and definitely is not worth the $319 price that goes with it.
Getting Typhoon Lagoon done in the Morning and relaxing in the afternoon
Disney vacations as we know can be hard going, and as I previously mentioned I don’t ever count a water park as a “rest day”, but I do know if I plan it just right then I can have an afternoon of chilling out and enjoying the Florida sunshine! My best advice for doing this is getting there early (30 minutes before opening time early!) When the rides are open I recommend skipping the lazy river (for some reason a lot of people seem to do this first) and heading straight to Miss-adventure falls, after that it’s crush “n” gusher and if your lucky you will be able to do all 3 of the rides whilst your there. After that do the rest of the rides and finish off on the lazy river! This method should get you done by if not just before lunchtime. You then have time for lunch, time to chill and time to go have a huge amount of fun in the wave pool. Late afternoon if you feel up to it you can go back to your favourite rides and have another go on them!!! Or just stay and work on the tan, of course everyones vacation is different, but this is how we do ours.
