Water Parks - Tips and Tricks
Water parks can be a great escape from the heat and the hustle of a theme park. Both Disney and Universal properties in Orlando have some great options for a water park day during your visit and I highly recommend you take some time to enjoy them. There are slides, rides and areas for all ages and swim levels. They have food, snacks and shopping on site so you can spend a whole day if you want.
If you choose to visit, I have found some things make a day in a water park a bit more comfortable. Whether you want to brave the water slides where the floor drops out from under you, chase your toddler around a splash pad or just relax in the lazy river, these are the items I would recommend you bring with you for the most comfortable day.
Water Shoes or Socks - Something I forgot once and will never forget again. The ground at these parks can range from hot lava to surface of the sun. I think I actually burned the bottoms of my feet. Wear SOMETHING on your feet. You usually can’t wear hard bottomed shoes or sandals on slides so I recommend a sock-like option with a non slip sole.
A Long Sleeved Rash Guard - I’m not typically a rash guard wearing swimmer, but at a place like a water park it’s a great idea. The sun just hits harder there. This will save you having to apply so much sunblock and your skin will thank you. I swear I walked around in 90 degree sun in all of Disney, and only got burned at Blizzard Beach.
A hat - It’s hard to keep them on for slides and rides but if you can get a water friendly sun hat I would bring it.
Waterproof pouch - All water parks have lockers you can stow your items in. We typically use this for clothes and extras and try to carry as little as possible into the park itself. If you want to keep your phone, tickets, money, or anything else on you, I recommend keeping it in a waterproof pouch of some sort. In a pinch, my husband has even stored things in a Ziploc bag in his pocket with fairly good success.
Waterproof bag - as above, if there are items you want to keep with you, here’s a larger option of the waterproof pouch. Then you don’t have to worry about where you set it down while you splash around in the toddler area. (not that I speak from experience or anything).
Sunblock - Of course regular body sunblock is a no brainer. I would also highly recommend a Lip Balm with SPF and if you are forgoing the sun hat, a hair and scalp SPF spray. Your hair might get a little greasy, but you won’t have the pain of brushing through a sunburn for a week following your trip.
In addition to these items, here are my top tips for a water park day:
Have a meet up time and location. My family tends to split up and if we don’t set a time and place it can be impossible to find each other as these places are pretty large. Kids get hungry and thirsty so a good “snack at 10am" place is a great place to start. Then you can even maybe swap groups until lunch time, or do a few things together before splitting up again.
HYDRATE. You think you are? Drink even more water. Bring your reusable water bottle and fill up with ice water from snack locations if you want to save the money on plastic bottles.
Find some shade. If you can take breaks in the shade you will stay happy. I highly recommend renting a cabana if you have a larger party as that will be a great meet up spot, shade and they are typically stocked with drinks and a safe so you can keep everything you need in one spot. This won’t make sense financially for all groups, but worth looking into.
Go early in the morning or later in the day for lower crowds. mid day is going to be the hottest and the busiest. Try to be taking a break at this time and you’ll avoid crowded times of day. Universal’s Volcano Bay is open until 7 or 8pm and Disney’s water parks typically close around 6 or 7pm. Going late afternoon and staying through into the evening and is a whole different experience and without the hot sun beating down on you.
Get some ice cream. There is something about ice cream at a water park. That or a shaved ice treat of some sort. A cold sweet treat will hit the spot.
Make sure to enjoy yourself! There is so much to be explored at these water parks, and I hope to do some individual reviews in the future.
Any questions? Please reach out. Until our next adventure…
xo, Molly
