many Blizzard Beach questions

[McGoofy]

I am trying to figure out what day to add Blizzard Beach to our WDW trip. I need to do it on one of these three days Friday, May 30 - Sunday, June 1. Friday BB has morning EMH, so that would benefit me. Are the water parks extra crowded from locals on Saturdays and Sundays or does that even make a difference? That is a big concern of mine for having to do it on Saturday or Sunday. Realistically, how much time do I need to devote to spending a day at BB? Is it do-able in a half day or should I expect to be there all day to take everything in? On that Friday I have Hoop Dee Doo reservations for 7:15pm. And we all know what a hassle and how much time it takes to get to that dinner. So we need to go back to the resort to clean up by that afternoon. We also plan to be out at MK until 2am on Friday for evening EMH, so now the extra early hour at BB doesn't sound so appealing to me. On the Saturday we have a 6:35 reservation at Ohanas, and on Sunday we will not be tied down by any ADR's. Based on the situation, what day do you think would be best for BB?

Thanks in advance!

[GrumpyFan]

I've never been to any of the water parks on the weekends, one site I saw says they are busy, and another says they're not, so I'm not sure what to tell you. I would think doing the EMH might be best, since you can get in early.

When we go to the water parks, we usually only stay about 4 hours at the most. The Florida sun is very hot, and can burn you pretty quick, as well as physically drain you.

I would suggest doing the EMH on Friday, and leaving around 1 or so. Go back to your hotel, cleanup and then maybe take a nap. Then head out early for Hoop dee Doo. If real early, you might even be able to squeeze in an hour or two at MK.

That's my :twocents: I hope you have a great time regardless of your choice. Let us know what you decide though.

[PirateLover]

I've only done each water park once so I can't speak to all of your questions, but I think I would take advantage of EMH. We did Typhoon Lagoon with morning EMH and there was hardly any crowds. By the time we were leaving it started to get fairly busy. On the flipside, we went to Blizzard Beach in the afternoon on an overcast say in early may and it was very crowded. So I think getting there as early as you can on an EMH day would be your best bet. Even though it was crowded, we were done in a 1/2 day. We didn't do Summit Plummet though.

[gerald72]

[QUOTE=McGoofy;1628486]I am trying to figure out what day to add Blizzard Beach to our WDW trip. I need to do it on one of these three days Friday, May 31 - Sunday, June 1.

Saturday, May 32nd would be perfect.

But seriously, I would consider Sunday under your situation just so you aren't rushed to go to a ADR.

[McGoofy]

[QUOTE=McGoofy;1628486]I am trying to figure out what day to add Blizzard Beach to our WDW trip. I need to do it on one of these three days Friday, May 31 - Sunday, June 1.

Saturday, May 32nd would be perfect.

But seriously, I would consider Sunday under your situation just so you aren't rushed to go to a ADR.

Ahhh...great catch there...see what happens when you type fast! My bad. Hey...but maybe if there is a May 32nd, it won't be so crowded that day since it won't be on too many people's calendars. Now, let me go edit my original post! Thanks!;)

Thanks to everybody else also for your opinions!

Anymore thoughts about weekend crowds at BB at that time of year?

[Young@Heart]

This year will be the first time we've done the waterparks since 2001. Not because we don't love them, but we hadn't decided to spend the extra money until this trip.

I'm sure things have changed to some extent in the last 7 years, but back then we went to BB after spending the morning at AK. We were only at BB for about 3 hours, but we managed to do most of the slides/etc. And that was in the afternoon! I bet you could get a lot done if you take advantage of EMH's, plus, I think the AM is usually less crowded. :thumbsup:

[Goofy Texan]

I just checked the EMH schedule and Intercot has Blizzard Beach's EMH set for May 29th - a Thursday, not Friday.

I went looking because we're planning on doing that EMH when we're there in June, and I thought it odd they were switching from Friday to Thursday - or scared I had the day wrong and would have to tear up my itinerary and start again.

Even if you still go on Friday, as long as you're there at opening, you'll have plenty of fun before the crowds come. Those parks are engineered to handle large volumes of people and it takes quite a bit of time for enough people to funnel through the turnstiles to cause a crowd.

[joonyer]

You can easily do everything you want to do at BB in half a day. it will hot when you are going even early in the morning, so that would be a good time to go. (Be sure to ride Teamboat Springs, the family raft ride, It's great)
I agree that you should then head back to your hotel to cool off, have lunch and then take a nap. Then you'll be recharged to stay up until 2am at the MK.
WE have done something similar many times, where we hit a theme park at opening on an EMH day, then head to BB for lunch and 2-3 hours after the day gets hot. The lazy river is really good for cooling off. Then we go back to the hotel, rest, and then have dinner and a late night at whatever park is open late.

[McGoofy]

I just checked the EMH schedule and Intercot has Blizzard Beach's EMH set for May 29th - a Thursday, not Friday.

I went looking because we're planning on doing that EMH when we're there in June, and I thought it odd they were switching from Friday to Thursday - or scared I had the day wrong and would have to tear up my itinerary and start again.

Even if you still go on Friday, as long as you're there at opening, you'll have plenty of fun before the crowds come. Those parks are engineered to handle large volumes of people and it takes quite a bit of time for enough people to funnel through the turnstiles to cause a crowd.

Sorry to mess you up like that. I had the dates wrong when I first posted. On the EMH postings, there is only the date and not the day listed, so I think when I looked at EMH listings, I was still going by the wrong date, which would explain why I was off by a day. It looks like we are going to go on Saturday just because of the way our other plans fell. I just hope that it is not too crowded.

[jans2kids]

We went to both BB and TL last summer on days with the EMH. We had done all the slides by 10am most more than once and then spent the rest of the time in the Surf and Wave pools. We would eat lunch around 11 and stay maybe until 1. It would be really crowded by then. Once we left BB and walker over to play minin golf then back for a quick dip in the pool before heading back to the room.