Looking for Typhoon Lagoon suggestions

[DinDavie 37]

It been many years since I've been with my kids and now I am going to take my grandkids to TL in the middle of July.  Not my most favorite time of the year.  Just wondering, how early do I have to get there to get a lounge chair and can you bring your own?  Do they ban coolers?  Anything else I need to know?  I live in Florida so I know about the thunderstorms in the late afternoon.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[LONE-STAR 370]

Well if you get there about 1:30 most people are leaving and on Monday the place is empty. The past 2 summers we spent a week just doing TL and BB. Make sure you get the Pail of ice cream. 

[dblr....Rennie 224]

6 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

 Make sure you get the Pail of ice cream. 

My youngest wanted that once, swear I got sick helping him eat all that ice cream and he only wanted the bucket to play in the sand!!!!! Been cheaper & easier to just buy a bucket but a memory from one of our trips so priceless.

[LONE-STAR 370]

14 hours ago, dblr....Rennie said:

My youngest wanted that once, swear I got sick helping him eat all that ice cream and he only wanted the bucket to play in the sand!!!!! Been cheaper & easier to just buy a bucket but a memory from one of our trips so priceless.

3 of us ate on it and it was plenty. So it's a pretty good deal at $9.00

[Travisma 1,317]

And a LOT cheaper than The Kitchen Sink.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I just stumbled across this thread.

How old are the grandchildren?  The Crush 'N' Gusher at Typhoon Lagoon is a blast, but it has a 48" minimum height requirement.  Also, the wave pool there is much rougher than the one at Blizzard Beach.  If the grandchildren are not big enough to enjoy those two features, I would choose Blizzard Beach instead.  Also, the family raft ride and lazy river are better at Blizzard Beach.  If the grandkids are big enough, and if you want to do Crush 'N' Gusher, I recommend being at Typhoon Lagoon right when it opens and heading straight there.  There are three separate slides in that attraction, and you should have time to try all three with little or no wait if you're there first thing.  If not, the waits can be 30+ minutes per slide or worse, and that's no fun.  You can go in the wave pool and lazy river any time, and most of the lines for the other slides there aren't too bad. 

Also- if you go to Typhoon Lagoon- make sure to do Shark Reef.  If you can, teach the grandkids how to use a mask and snorkel before you get there- you'll be amazed to see how many guests have trouble with this, or how some kids freak out before they ever get to see a shark because they're not comfortable with a mask and snorkel. They just have you kick across the surface of the water here- so the kids don't even need to know how to clear their snorkels- but that's a skill they should know just in case their snorkel tip dips under the water.

As for lounge chairs-there are lots of chairs at the waterparks.  The chairs around the wave pools seem to be claimed early in the day, but there are other areas of the park where you can find open chairs-it's never been a problem for me.

Yes, you can bring a cooler, but no glass or alcohol is allowed to be brought in.

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

48 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

I just stumbled across this thread.

 

Yes, you can bring a cooler, but no glass or alcohol is allowed to be brought in.

TCD

I find this rule to be a little on the funny side and mostly unenforceable.

Since refillable type bottles (as long as they aren't glass) are allowed in all the Disney Parks, it's really just the honor system that the 32 oz. insulated Thermos water bottle indeed has only ice water in it and not a quart of Margaritas!

I hope it doesn't get to the point like airline security, that no liquids are allowed into the parks, just empty bottles that have to be filled once you're inside the gates.

[LONE-STAR 370]

4 hours ago, Travisma said:

I find this rule to be a little on the funny side and mostly unenforceable.

Since refillable type bottles (as long as they aren't glass) are allowed in all the Disney Parks, it's really just the honor system that the 32 oz. insulated Thermos water bottle indeed has only ice water in it and not a quart of Margaritas!

I hope it doesn't get to the point like airline security, that no liquids are allowed into the parks, just empty bottles that have to be filled once you're inside the gates.

There is always the smell test.

[Travisma 1,317]

1 hour ago, LONE-STAR said:

There is always the smell test.

True, but they have never opened any of our drink bottles ( 2 to 4 ) or really looked that closely at our food stuffs.

 

[DinDavie 37]

Thanks for the reply s.  My grand kids are 12 and 10.  I did n't even think about Blizzard Beach.  Maybe we will do that instead.  What ever park we go to it will be early and we will be exiting in the afternoon.  As my grand kids and I are not morning drinkers, we can wait until we get back to camp to pop some cans of Bud.  Just kidding.