With so much happening at Walt Disney World and so many new things under construction, it’s easy to overlook Disney’s water parks (Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach). Even as these parks approach 30 and 25 years of age, they remain among the top 5 performing water parks in the world, according to the Themed Entertainment Association’s Theme Index.
This summer, Typhoon Lagoon has added a new after-hours hard ticket event, H2O Glow Nights. Disney invited MiceChat to the park to check out this new offering and Dusty designated me to wear the official MiceChat wetsuit.
Our day began on a Saturday morning as we (and quite a lot of other guests) made our way to Typhoon Lagoon to visit the park during its normal daytime operations. The parking lot was completely full, as was the Cast lot, so we were parked in a grass field near the Team Disney Orlando building. That’s Busy!
As we approached the park, long lines snaked from the ticket booths.
That all sounds bad, but the Cast Members were well prepared to handle the crowds. Parking didn’t take long, the walk to the gate was fairly short, and the long lines at the ticket booths dissipated within about 15 minutes.
The reason for all the crowds wasn’t hard to guess – it was a hot and humid Saturday in July, a perfect day for Water Park-ing, and clearly many resort guests and locals were ready to take advance of the wave pool and lazy river.
Disney set up a preview of the new food and beverage offerings created for H2O Glow Nights. During the day the park offers a menu of staples like burgers, chicken, and salads, along with an impressive array of vegetarian and vegan options.
For H2O Glow Nights, Head Chef Hal has taken things to a whole new level, with offerings such as the vegetarian Impossible Burger, which is plant-based but cooks and tastes like a real hamburger, and fresh Alaskan Salmon. Chef Hal emphasized the quality and freshness of the ingredients, and how everything is prepared on-site the day of the event.
The most popular menu item is the Chicken Ride Bowl, which features Adobo Chicken, Steamed Rice, Black Beans, Corn, Sweet Plantains, and Pico de Gallo.
Alongside all that food are an array of fun drinks, both with and without alcohol, which of course feature glow cubes. Even the food dishes are served on translucent dayglow plates.
Next we were greeted by Mark Dukes, General Manager of both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. Of course, the question on everyone’s mind was whether H2O Glow Nights would be returning next summer for the 2019 season. No decision has been made yet, but Mark and his team will be figuring that out within the next month or two once H2O Glow Nights has wrapped for the 2018 season.
My question was, with guests now able to experience both Water Parks in one day on a single ticket, and the hard ticket event now extending Typhoon’s hours late into the evening, is Disney aiming to make the water parks a full day experience? Mark felt that whether you came for a few hours in the morning, for a whole day, or for the nighttime event, there wasn’t a wrong way to visit the water parks. He did note that a lot of guests are finding out about H20 Glow Nights for the first time while visiting the park during the day, and many decide to extend their visit by buying tickets for that night’s event.
We talked about encouraging more guests to visit the Water Parks, and Mark noted that at recent Disney Vacation Club exclusive Moonlight Magic events, he’d seen many longtime DVC members who were visiting the water parks for the very first time, and were surprised at what they’d been missing all these years. He also noted that many guests don’t know that the water parks truly have something for all ages, including kid-friendly areas like Blizzard Beach’s Tike’s Peak (built especially for toddlers).
We went off to float in the lazy river and ride the waves of the gigantic wave pool. Late in the afternoon, as it so often does, Florida weather struck with pouring rain and lightning, which forced the water attractions to close temporarily. We decided to take this opportunity to dry off, change, and await the start of H2O Glow Nights.
The event begins at 8pm, but guests with a party ticket can enter as early as 7pm to experience the park while it’s still light outside. Upon entry, you’re given a wristband which will be familiar to guests who have visited Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Many guests also accessorized themselves with a Typhoon Lagoon glowstick, the kind that illuminates via chemical reaction, which are available for purchase at Singapore Sal’s.
At the main stage, a DJ spins familiar dance tunes, which play throughout the park, along with colorful party lighting and a giant statue of Partysaurus Rex from the Pixar Toy Story short of the same name.
The Toy Story theme doesn’t stop there, as Woody, Jessie and Buzz are also available for photos throughout the night.
In the lazy river, the normal Typhoon Lagoon innertubes are joined by a fun assortment of special float, including ones with flashing lights and a number of fun shapes such as rubber ducks, penguins, dragons, and eagles. These were definitely fun, and I found the animal shapes particularly comfortable to float on.
Leaning Palms and Typhoon Tilly’s offered up the specialty food and drink items we saw earlier. I tried the Impossible Burger and really liked it- hopefully it’ll be more widely available throughout Walt Disney World in the future.
Glowing cocktails and more fun lighting can also be found at Let’s Go Slurpin, and at the bar over by the former Shark Reef, which also featured live steel drum performance.
Otherwise, the park offerings are just as you’d find during the day- every single attraction remains open during the event- except without the blazing sun and without the large crowds. Instead of the thousands of guests we’d seen earlier in the day, the party had only a few hundred guests, and no attraction had any wait whatsoever.
While it wasn’t night, the temperature was in the 80s, but we were a little concerned that without the sunshine the water might seem cold. However, it felt like the water was heated to a warmer temperature than it had been during the day, and it was very enjoyable.
So, is H20 Glow Nights worth it? At $55, the cost of the event is $10 less than a daytime ticket. The party runs for 3 hours, from 8-11pm, with an additional hour of “mix in” during normal park operations from 7-8pm. The event offers superior food and beverage options, fun lighting and music, and NO CROWDS! This is not dissimilar from holiday hard ticket events at the Magic Kingdom, which during peak season can cost nearly as much as a day ticket to the park.
That said, I think most guests only spend a few hours in the water parks, and for many trying to squeeze a water park visit in around theme park hours can be tricky. Many folks avoid the water parks for fear of the sun or the crowds or both. If this sounds like you, then H2O Glow Nights might be a fun and enjoyable way to experience the water parks, without lines or sunburns.
If you’re a local who has seen it all and done it all, the opportunity to see Typhoon Lagoon at night is a truly unique experience, and like all of Disney’s parks, Typhoon looks especially beautiful at night. Until now there have been very few opportunities for guests to see the park at night, and rarely have such events been open to the public.
The Disney water parks are gorgeous pieces of themed entertainment, and truly a must-see for any theme park fan in my opinion. With H2O Glow Nights, Disney is allowing guests to experience Typhoon Lagoon in a new way. Tickets are still available for party nights every Thursday and Saturday until August 11, and it remains to be seen if this event will return in the future.
Have you been able to experience H2O Glow Nights? If you have, what did you think? If you haven’t, what are your thoughts about these after-hours hard-ticket events? Let us know in the comments below!