Blizzard Beach Celebrating 30th Anniversary Before Closing & Typhoon Lagoon Reopening
Walt Disney World has announced that Typhoon Lagoon will reopen in time for Summer 2025 and Blizzard Beach will close for its annual “refurbishment” (air quotes). This post covers dates & details about what to expect from anniversary celebration, likelihood of both water parks being open simultaneously, and potential return of H2O Glow After Hours.
Let’s start with the fun news: it’s Blizzard Beach’s 30th Anniversary in April! Walt Disney World is planning to celebrate the water park’s milestone starting April 1, 2025. That special day will pay tribute to three decades of Blizzard Beach history of creating relaxing days and cool thrills for Walt Disney World guests. Grab your swimsuit, leave your coat at home and come on out for an anniversary celebration you won’t soon forget.
The celebration will feature a high-energy DJ spinning some toe-tapping tunes on the deck near the Polar Pub. There’s going to be snowman bowling and character-themed tubes for floating down Cross Country Creek. Plus, fun interactions with Mickey and Minnie decked out in their winter attire.
Blizzard Beach’s 30th Anniversary celebration will continue throughout April 2025 with dance parties, special anniversary food & beverage items and more frosted fun than ever (whatever that means). There will also be some family-friendly games with cool prizes such as snowflake tattoos, wintery-themed rubber ducks and snowy bubbles.
This all sounds fun, and I appreciate that Walt Disney World is actually celebrating a major park-specific anniversary, as that doesn’t always happen. However, I really wish that Ice Gator were being emphasized. I love the original characters created for the water parks (see Top 10 Park IP Characters at Disney World and Top 10 Rare Characters We Wish Disney World Would Bring Back), and this would be the perfect opportunity to reintroduce Ice Gator and feature the character more prominently at Blizzard Beach.
And not just to pay tribute to the history of the park, but because Walt Disney World has reached a point where the fandom appreciates these longtime park characters. See the revival of Orange Bird and ongoing popularity of that character’s festival merchandise at EPCOT. Bring back Ice Gator’s long-lost meet & greet, and feature the character on anniversary merchandise, Walt Disney World!
With this announcement, Walt Disney World has revealed that Typhoon Lagoon will reopen on May 1, 2025. This is over a full month later than it opened last year, after the end of Spring Break season, during the midst of shoulder season and right before summer.
As soon as I saw the announcement without a corresponding mention of Blizzard Beach closing, I was ecstatic. The logical inference was that, for the first time since 2019, Walt Disney World would operate both water parks simultaneously for Summer 2025! Nature is healing!!! Not so fast.
Walt Disney World has since followed up on this news, confirming that Blizzard Beach will have its last day of seasonal operations on April 30, and be closed as of May 1, 2025. This means that, once again, both water parks will not operate simultaneously for Summer 2025. Walt Disney World is continuing its post-pandemic practice of only operating one of the two water parks at a time.
Disappointing as that might be, it’s not a huge surprise. Walt Disney World has started offering the free water park on arrival day as an on-site guest perk in 2025, and the verbiage of that benefit indicated it’s valid at whichever of the two water parks is operating. We had hoped this was just boilerplate language, but it has kept appearing in more recent updates on the water parks.
If pent-up demand wasn’t enough to justify both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon operating simultaneously in summer and now this free water park day isn’t enough…we can’t help but wonder whether anything will ever be enough? Maybe once Villains Land opens and Walt Disney World sees renewed interest? Perhaps a better free water park perk will be unveiled for 2026? Otherwise, it seems like Walt Disney World’s trajectory is lower attendance, especially during peak water park season.
Staffing both parks is expensive and Walt Disney World did well-enough with only one water park even during the period of pent-up demand and high heat during the last couple of summers. It’s possible that Volcano Bay at Universal Orlando plus an assortment of hotels with bona fide mini water parks have cut into Walt Disney World’s water park business, and they no longer need both. (I’m skeptical of this and doubt it’s the case.) Another possibility is that the cost of lifeguards and other labor has increased to the point that it doesn’t make sense to run both. It could be a mix of the above considerations.
Conversely, it’s possible that both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon are viable, especially with a full assortment of Annual Passes and special ticket promotions for Florida residents. And that it will make sense to staff both at some point if Walt Disney World can find the sweet spot on staffing and pulling the right promotional levers to entice enough demand (for example, the free water park day is a good but not great perk that could use some tweaking if Disney really expects more guests to take advantage).
My money is on this. I’d probably go a step further and say it will not happen until there’s new leadership at Walt Disney World that’s more motivated. Finding a way to operate both water parks from April through September would be the smart move, especially after how brutally hot the last few summers have been. Walt Disney World having the capacity to push more people towards the water parks would be a welcome reprieve from the high heat and humidity–and probably help with guest satisfaction.
It’s really unfortunate that it isn’t happening in Summer 2025. Between the free water park perk and debut of Disney Starlight Night Parade, we had hoped that Walt Disney World finally had a winning recipe for both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon operating simultaneously.
In the last few years, Walt Disney World has announced the reopening of Typhoon Lagoon alongside dates and details about the specially-ticketed event, H2O Glow After Hours. Usually, tickets for H2O Glow After Hours at Typhoon Lagoon go on sale shortly thereafter, and the event itself starts around Memorial Day weekend.
Walt Disney World has not yet announced anything about the 2025 H2O Glow After Hours, or whether they’ll happen at all. Nevertheless, our expectation is that they happen, and fairly consistent with last year’s schedule. Then again, it’s possible Walt Disney World will want to push guests towards the theme parks at night, with longer hours at Magic Kingdom and beyond. (That’s our sincere hope!)
See our Guide to H2O Glow After Hours at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon: Dates, Details, Tips & Review for relevant details from last year–expect ~90% of them to be accurate for 2025. For those unfamiliar with it, H2O Glow After Hours allows families to spend time at Typhoon Lagoon for several hours after it closes, with short waits at popular attractions throughout the illuminated park. This special event also features an electric DJ dance party, complimentary ice cream treats, popcorn and select beverages, a ‘glow’-rious atmosphere and beyond.
Ultimately, we are disappointed by the closure of Blizzard Beach for the summer season. However, we’re looking forward to the water park’s 30th Anniversary in April and excited for the reopening of Typhoon Lagoon. We highly recommend that you visit one of the water parks on a “down day” during your Walt Disney World vacation. While we love both, my personal favorite is Typhoon Lagoon.
I’ve gushed about it over the years, imploring Walt Disney World fans to give Typhoon Lagoon a chance, as it’s criminally underrated. On the surface, Typhoon Lagoon seems like a pretty “safe” concept for a water park. It’s tropical, laid back and is conducive to sitting on the beach, swimming, and other water activities. That’s true. But, there’s more to it than that.
Typhoon Lagoon tells the tale of a rogue storm and its ensuing tidal wave that wreaked havoc on a formerly pristine waterside paradise. From topsy-turvy architecture and storm-strewn nautical gear to the stranded shrimping ship, Miss Tilly, impaled upon the summit of Mount Mayday, each detail brings the legend to life.
In addition to the laid back tropical beach vibe, there’s rich theming throughout Typhoon Lagoon, and the Imagineered tropical environment has the added elements of a tropical resort and the huge storm that decimated it layered on top. This is all easily conveyed through the park’s details, and it coalesces really well. Everything about it is exceptional, from the atmosphere to the details to its underutilized mascot, Lagoona Gator. As a result, Typhoon Lagoon has a great sense of place, and it’s great to just be there.
This is far and away the biggest reason why I think Typhoon Lagoon is a must-do for Walt Disney World fans. It’s a masterclass of cohesive design and one of the few parks at Walt Disney World that maintains full thematic integrity so long after its opening. Typhoon Lagoon actually is what so many fans wanted World Celebration at EPCOT to be (or still pretend that it is). Don’t let the fact that it’s a water park discourage you—even if you don’t care about water slides or anything else, Typhoon Lagoon is a great place to waste a morning…or evening…at Walt Disney World!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Are you excited that Typhoon Lagoon is reopening on May 1, 2025? Or disappointed that Blizzard Beach will be closed as of that same date, and both water parks once again will not be operating for summer simultaneously? Looking forward to Blizzard Beach’s 30th Anniversary celebration in April 2025? Eager to return to Typhoon Lagoon, or are you not a water park person? Will you be doing H2O Glow After Hours if offered at Typhoon Lagoon in 2025? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Perhaps with the increase in tickets over the years, less folks are opting for the water park add-on. Back before Covid, we visited the water parks frequently – some of our visits to Florida were only water park days! Other times, I loved doing the water parks early all morning, having lunch, resting for a bit, and then going to a theme park. I hope they continue investing in the attractions and maintenance/upkeep of the two water parks. I haven’t heard of anything new in years.
We have been to Disneyworld twice now in the summer over the last few years and it’s a shame we have never been able to experience Blizzard Beach as our kids love a waterpark.
We do absolutely love Typhoon Lagoon though. Ahead of our trip last year which was also included universal everyone we spoke to said we wouldn’t want to bother with Typhoon Lagoon after experiencing Volcano Bay, but I will be honest and say as much as we enjoyed Volcano Bay, we still prefer Typhoon Lagoon. As Tom has alluded to the overall theming and layout of Typhoon is brilliant and I found it to be a much more chilled out experience. I also wasn’t a fan of the whole ‘magic band’ style ride system at volcano bay.
I don’t see the connection between the new Villains Land and the Disney water parks. The main 4 Disney parks are crowded enough. And the water parks have lost their appeal due to Volcano Bay being so much better. If this promo will be so popular that they draw plenty of extra crowds to the Disney hotels and the water parks, they might open both. But I don’t see that happening.
I fear it’s too early still but do we know if there is any data on how much the check-in perk is being utilized? We are arriving on a red eye so we are going to be taking advantage for sure but have no idea what crowds are like. In fact we are so out of the waterparks loop that we are doing our first split stay and considered doing both waterparks on the check-in days, not realizing one is open at a time nowadays! We have not been to the waterparks in a couple of decades and our top choice was Typhoon Lagoon, so at least that worked out.
Of course the hack for the water park perk is the split stay since your switch to another hotel in the middle of your visit is a check in day. And if you are a DVC fan with more than one account, you can actually “split” your stay at the same resort and the same room – just book your trips using your separate accounts and then have the reservations linked so you can stay in the same room.
Such a shame both won’t be open! Our 14 day ticket coming from the UK includes waterparks and it would have been great to visit both. I visited in 1997 and loved them both, went with hubby and our two children in summer 2022 for their first visit and just Typhoon Lagoon was open so would have been great for this summer to have been Blizzard Beach but even better – both!! Seems such a waste leaving one closed! Having both open all summer would have been the perfect Blizzard Beach anniversary treat!
Gah! My free water park day is May 1. I was hoping Blizzard Beach would stay open.
I think it’s great that Disney is celebrating a water park anniversary, even if the cynic in me thinks that it’s being done only to drive merch sales. But at the same time it’s sad that it’s only going to be open for a month to celebrate. I wouldn’t expect some 18-month celebration, but not even the whole summer?
I certainly hope that the free water park perk helps drive attendance to the point both parks could be open for at least a portion of the summer, but I’m afraid that Disney won’t mind if a single park is just stuffed to capacity and continues their new normal of sacrificing guest satisfaction just to save money.
We only are able to travel in the summer (first trip in 2022, and now going each year since) to WDW and were hoping for a chance to try out Blizzard Beach for once… bummer!
I saw the Disney Parks Blog post announcing Typhoon Lagoon opening – and not explicitly Blizzard Beach closing – and thought for a second, maybe it’s happening! I was really hoping that both would be open since we’re doing a split stay, and it would’ve been so fun to potentially do both water parks for “free.” (Potentially being the key word, as that perk is dependent on flights, weather, AND my kids’ exhaustion levels working in harmony. I get that Disney is mainly trying to prevent people from wanting to check in early and not just providing the perk out of the goodness of their hearts, but it’d be nice if the free admission was valid any day of the trip…) But I’m not surprised either, as I realized it was probably a long shot.
Your parenthetical really hits the nail on the head with the free perk.
I’m not naive enough to think Walt Disney World’s approach to the perk wasn’t deliberate and with ulterior motives, but I hoped that it was also motivated by a desire to have both water parks operational for summer. And maybe it was at one point, but they’ve quickly realized that uptake on the free water park tickets is far lower than expected? (Seems like they’d have no way of knowing that now–it’s been a really cold winter.)
My hope is that Typhoon Lagoon is slammed this summer to the point that Walt Disney World revisits this decision next year. But that, too, is probably a long shot/wishful thinking.
I agree it’s a perk that is hard to use, our plane lands at 7pm. But we are doing a split stay, can you kinda game it that way? Because Disney treats split stays as two reservations?
Yes, part of our family is in the same situation. We asked when making reservations and were told that you do get it for both check-in days on a split stay.
Yes-definitely. Look at your MDE page it should actually list the water park perk twice- once before each reservation
When does the switch back to Blizzard Beach typically happen? we will be there late September and plan on taking advantage of the free Waterpark option. Never thought buying a water park ticket was worth it (kids always were fine with pool) but excited to finally try it!
It usually happens in early November, ahead of Veterans Day weekend. I could see that shifting slightly later this year given that Typhoon Lagoon is opening later.
But it seems like your question is: which water park will be open in late September? Typhoon Lagoon.