Typhoon Lagoon Beach Bash Report

It was well past 9:30 p.m. at this point, so the Typhoon Lagoon Beach Bash was officially underway. There were a reasonable number of people in the lazy river, but there was sufficient breathing room so it didn’t feel too crowded. Most of the time, I just floated around, gazing up at the stars. It was serene, and totally justified bearing the heat and humidity to visit Walt Disney World in July.

The only lapses in that serenity were when ice cold water trickled down from various waterfalls or sprayed from various “leaky things” along Castaway Creek. Perhaps this is the ornery “get off my lawn” curmudgeon in me shining through, but I don’t know why lazy rivers have stuff like this. Even in the summer, it’s unpleasant and most people try to avoid this stray, cold water. It’s unpleasant, and contrary to the whole relaxing experience of a lazy river. But I digress.

We’ll change gears now and instead of sounding like I’m 85 years old, I’ll probably sound like I’m 8 or 5. That’s because it was wave pool time, and nothing makes me giddy like a small child on Christmas like the wave pool. I like to do the wave pool right. This means swimming out as far as you’re allowed, and then alternating among three things: riding the wave, fighting it, or swimming under it.

Slightly amused by my wave pool enthusiasm, Sarah opted to watch me in the wave pool rather than engaging in any of this nonsense herself. She captured all 3 of my wave pool antics in our new “silent” vlog from the DVC Beach Bash:

We wandered around a bit more and soaked up some of the ambiance of Typhoon Lagoon at night, but by this point it was getting sort of late. Sarah decided to head home, and I focused on photos.

A photo posted by Sarah Bricker (@sarahbricker) on Jul 15, 2016 at 2:32pm PDT

Here’s one of Sarah with Goofy and Donald on her way out of Typhoon Lagoon.

Throughout the party, Mickey & Minnie and Goofy & Donald were meeting in swim attire. After around 11 p.m., their waits were minimal.

Wanting a good view of Miss Tilly, I decided to climb up the “Mountain Trail” which runs alongside the queues for the popular slides. Once every 3 minutes or so, a guest (who probably took this path instead of the queues they meant to enter) would stumble upon me in the dark up here, which would scare the bejesus out of them.

That aside, the Mountain Trail was the perfect spot. It was mostly secluded from other guests, and a pleasant experience with the night sky above and energy of the party below.

After a decent amount of time up there, I headed down and wandered around the rest of the park. I had originally told Sarah I would head back to the hotel “about 20 minutes” after she left, but it was at least an hour later at this point, and the party was almost over. In my defense, I think she’s realized by now that “punctuality” and “photography” are mutually exclusive.

All things considered, I had an absolute blast at Disney Vacation Club’s Beach Bash. If I had my way, Typhoon Lagoon would be open this late every night, and I’d visit exclusively in the evenings. It was so much more pleasant than during the day, when the pavement is scalding and sunscreen has to be constantly reapplied. A water park is definitely a good place to visit to fight humidity, but like everywhere else at Walt Disney World in the summer, Typhoon Lagoon is more enjoyable at night.

Special events like this always run the risk of having problems, so I’m always a bit apprehensive going in that crowds/lines will be awful, or the event will just underwhelm. I guess years of being a D23 member have pushed this to the front of my mind (and maybe also lowered expectations?).

This event went flawlessly. Despite DVC Members grabbing year supplies of ice cream and potato chips, the snack stations never ran out. There were plenty of Cast Members and Disney Vacation Club reps all over, and the event was just really well-managed. It was a bit crowded early on, but never to the point of being uncomfortable (or even 75% of the level of an average summer day).

This was our first event for Disney Vacation Club’s 25th Anniversary, and now I’m kicking myself that we missed the Magic Kingdom ’25 and Beyond Bash’ earlier this year.

I’m excited for future events, though. We’re signed up for the Disney Vacation Club Safari Spectacular at Animal Kingdom, as well as the 25th Anniversary Bash at Disney California Adventure. If both are as good as the Beach Bash, I’ll be very pleased.

While these are being advertised as special events for Disney Vacation Club’s 25th Anniversary, I wouldn’t be surprised to see DVC get more aggressive with perks and events like these. Given the recent resale restrictions, more Member events makes sense.

These events are not just a nice perk–they’re a potential selling point for those who are leaning towards saving significant money on the resale market. Events aside, the only perk that really matters is the Annual Pass discounts, and that doesn’t matter if you’re not buying an Annual Pass.

I guess we shall see what the future holds, but for now I’m enjoying what Disney Vacation Club has been doing for its 25th Anniversary. From the Imagination Lounge in Epcot to this Beach Bash and beyond, it has been–and will be–a good year.

My only request if someone from DVC is reading this? Please make some retro-inspired 25th Anniversary merchandise–particularly some stuff featuring the old mountains & Mickey sun logo. The new logo is not “bold,” it’s bland.

That wraps up our report from the Disney Vacation Club Beach Bash at Typhoon Lagoon. Hope you enjoyed reading and…KOWABUNGA DUUUUDE!

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Your Thoughts

Did you attend the Typhoon Lagoon Beach Bash? What did you think of the event? Have you ever done Typhoon Lagoon at night? Are you planning on doing another Disney Vacation Club 25th Anniversary party? Please share any questions, tips, or additional thoughts you have in the comments!