Advice pls - 3 day+water vs 5 day

MyAdventure

Earning My Ears
Joined
Mar 17, 2015
Hoping someone here can help me decide. This will be our second trip to World, but we do Land annually (we were there in Jan, going again in October). We brought my MIL with us to Land in January and she loved it so much, we have decided to go visit them at their winter condo in Florida and take her to World while she is still healthy enough to enjoy it with our kids (10 and 9 at the time of our trip)

Going in March during our spring break so crowds will be an issue. Prioritizing rides and experiences that we can't do in Land + their fave rides, not worried about doing everything but also don't want to feel like we wasted money because we barely got anything done.

My initial plan was

arrive at CBR, enjoy the pool and Disney Springs for dinner
Friday and Saturday we are going to Universal Orlando (I've debated doing a single day since we did Universal Hollywood in Jan but I love Universal Orlando SO MUCH)
Sunday MK
Monday HS
Tuesday AK
Wednesday Typhoon/blizzard

however when I was playing around with pricing, the cost of a 5 day 1 ppd is about the same as a 3 day plus water park admission. Will we regret skipping the water parks? We didn't have time to do them our first trip either but my kids also don't know they exist. We don't really care if we do Epcot, but if we get the 5 day we would do on arrival day and eat dinner there instead.

I have no idea how much value the water park experience holds since we have never seen the parks so im hoping someone with kids of a similar age can help me decide if the experience there would be better than having more in park time.

Thanks!
 
I've never gone to a water park and I don't feel like I've missed out on anything....but January might be too cold for the water parks. I'd be inclined to do the 4 day park hopper and then upgrade to water parks and more if the weather is warm enough.
 
We've been to WDW 5 times since 2010 and never gone to a water park. I don't miss it at all. There's so much to do in the four major WDW parks that I don't want to take time out from them to do a water park. But also we are not big on water parks in general.
 
We went in August and upgraded to the Parkhopper Plus tickets so we could try the waterparks ... Honestly don't think we'll ever do that again. While they were fun, we weren't overly impressed.

You're not missing out. You'll get way more out of the two extra park days!
 


We've been to WDW 5 times since 2010 and never gone to a water park. I don't miss it at all. There's so much to do in the four major WDW parks that I don't want to take time out from them to do a water park. But also we are not big on water parks in general.

We’ve done a water park once with two teens and it’s not something we care to do again. I’d take a day at EPCOT over BB or TL any day! Your MIL might enjoy EPCOT as well. Also, the Space 220 Restaurant should be open by then and the boys might like that.
 
We've been to WDW 5 times since 2010 and never gone to a water park. I don't miss it at all. There's so much to do in the four major WDW parks that I don't want to take time out from them to do a water park. But also we are not big on water parks in general.

I agree.
 
In March a couple of years ago, we decided that we were going to do a "waterparks only" trip to Disney.. The cold weather unfortunately closed the parks for the majority of the days we were there. We went to the Orlando Science Center and a few other things. (Disney really stepped up and gave us tickets to Disney Quest for 1 day after hearing of our disappointing waterparks trip.) I wouldn't buy the Waterparks tickets for a March trip in advance due to the risks of the waterparks being closed due to cooler weather. If you absolutely want to take in the waterparks one day, you could pay for a 1 day ticket.

(We ultimately DID have a waterparks vacation - twice. We bought annual waterparks tickets in August of 2018, and went to the waterparks for 4 days. We went back in August of 2019 and got some more use out of the passes before they expired... The waterparks ARE fun. The theme parks though are more fun :) )
 


I would buy the 5 day ticket and skip the water parks. We enjoy BB, but it’s a half day experience for us. If this is your second visit to WDW, I would focus on the theme parks.
 
Water Parks and more is only cost effective if you do 2 days at the water parks. IMHO, the WDW waterparks are the best of any we've been to. We prefer Blizzard Beach. Both will be uncrowded when you are there but yes, might also be closed. It's a day-to-day decision based on weather. I would leave the last day open. You can always add the last day to your park ticket at a substantial discount the morning of (just go to the CB concierge) or do the waterparks which you don't get a discount on anyway. Don't forget to check the coupons in the package you get from Disney with your magic bands. We left that home the last time we went and, sure enough, we would have gotten a big discount on one of the things we did.
 
Depends on your kids! At that age - my brother and I were both half fish - and would have LOVED the water parks. River Country (I think that's what it was called) existed during our second trip as kids - and yep - still water lovers - we were perfectly happy there for a day - and I think we requested to go back a second time.

But - not all kids are like that......

In March - you can get a cooler day or two - which might decrease the appeal. And you are only taking about a 5 day trip overall. So - unless you know your kids are fish and would love it - it could be a risky choice.
 
In over 14 years we have never used the waterparks, even when the passes were included in our package. Given a choice between 3 days in the parks, or 5 days, we would choose 5 days every time. My family enjoyed a break at the pool.
 
Did Typhoon Lagoon last year and loved it. It was halfway through a 5-day ticket + 1-day Universal.
It was definitely the break we needed and allowed us to still do something Disney without having to walk 30,000 steps. The slides are great, the lazy river is relaxing, the wave pool is fun for everyone. Definitely felt like a relaxing escape so we could continue the next day refreshed and ready to explore the parks again.

With that said, I wouldn’t do a water park on a shorter trip, just because there is so much to do at the 4 parks. If I had to choose I would choose Epcot over the water parks. World Showcase is awesome (although tons of construction will be happening all over Epcot while you’re there, so be wary of that).
 
Thanks everyone for the insight! We are going to plan for a 5 day ticket, and im going to purchase a one day hopper for Universal, and decide the day we are there if we want to do a second day and upgrade if so. We did the park in Hollywood in January so we are hoping to just do the unique to Orlando rides/areas. If we don't need the second day at Universal, we will get a water park ticket and save some money in the end vs a second day at UO.

My kids have never done a waterpark before, so while I know they would love it, they also don't even know it is there, ha!
 
We did an arrival-day ticket for the first time this summer, and the extra 3 Fast Passes are a big bonus!
 
We would definitely skip the water park in favor of another park day. Even if you spend just a couple hours on your arrival day, you can take advantage of the 3 FPs. Also, many, many places have water parks, but there is only one Disney!
 
We have had 5 water park admissions on old non-expiring tickets for over a decade. We just never seem to make it to the water parks when we are at Disney!
 

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