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 Typhoon Lagoon
is Walt Disney World’s 56-acre water park that includes a man-made watershed mountain and eight twisting, turning water slides and roaring streams. It is also home to a two-and-a-half-acre wave pool, one of the world’s largest (where the waves are as big as six feet and come at you every 1-½ minutes.) The park also features a water playground for children, a white sand beach and a lazy stream that surrounds the 95-foot Mt. May Day. Sitting atop Mt. May Day is Miss Tilly, and old shrimp boat that “erupts” every half-hour, causing a 50-foot flume of water to spray out the boats’ smokestack. The park has a tropical setting with beautiful landscaping throughout, including palm trees and colorful tropical flowers. Typhoon Lagoon is located off Buena Vista Drive between the Downtown Disney Marketplace and the Disney-MGM Studios. The park’s normal hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with extended hours during some holidays and summer. A one-day ticket is $34.00 for adults and $28.00 for children. Beach towels and lockers can be rented, and “light fare” is available at two eateries inside the park. Picnic areas are also available. Guests are not permitted to bring their own flotation devices to Typhoon Lagoon and glass bottles are also prohibited. Another helpful hint is to arrive no later than 9:00 a.m. during summer because the park is often filled to capacity by 10:00 a.m.
Typhoon Lagoon Address and Phone Number
Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon
P.O. Box 10,000
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
407-56-4141
Typhoon Lagoon Rides and Attractions
As guests enter Typhoon Lagoon, they find themselves in an “island village,” with exotic tropical landscaping and “marine wreckage” left behind by the legendary storm that created the water park. Towering behind the lagoon is Mt. Mayday, the 95-foot volcano on top of which is perched a shipwrecked shrimp boat (Miss Tilly from Safen Sound, Florida.) This is where the fun begins. At the summit of Mt. Mayday, guests can choose from several exciting water slides. At the base of the mountain is one of the world’s largest wave pools, complete with a white sandy beach and some of the most powerful artificial waves in Orlando. Also bordering the Lagoon is Castaway Creek, a 2,100-foot river that carries guests leisurely around the perimeter of the park. You can even go snorkeling amid tropical fish and other exotic marine life.
Typhoon Lagoon is the main wave pool that is two-and-a-half- acres, and holds 2.75 million gallons of water. There are two sets of waves that are produced in this pool. The first set are gentle bobbing waves that come on a continuous basis, like a normal wave pool. However, every half-hour a loud horn will sound and that means that the waves will be changing. At this point, get ready for waves as large as four feet that come at you with alot of speed and force, every 90 seconds. You can also choose to relax onshore on the beautiful white sandy beach.
Castaway Creek is the lazy river that travels around the park. Grab an inner tube and float along. The river is only 3-4 feet deep and runs on a slow current. As you float down the river on this 2,000-foot journey, you will see banana trees, palm trees, tropical birds and flowers. You will slowly drift through caves, under waterfalls and cool mists, and through tropical forests, and around all the other attractions at the park. If you choose, you can get off Castaway Creek at one of the many stops along the way.
Disney’s first ever water coaster, the Crush n’ Gusher is a thrilling experience that defies gravity as powerful jets propel passengers on rafts through every surprise filled turn until they splash land in the pool below. Three water slides await you at Humunga Kowabunga, which sends you zooming through enclosed tubes at 30 mph to a splashing surprise ending. Storm Slides is another set of three slides where you’ll twist and swirl through caves and tunnels, and Mayday Falls is the longest waterslide in the Park, that takes guests aboard their own personal inner tube down the side of the mountain in the shadow of the famed shrimp boat.
One of the most dramatic attractions at Typhoon Lagoon is Shark Reef, a massive saltwater pool and manmade coral reef, where guests can snorkel among swarms of exotic marine life. For those who don’t want to get wet, there is a sunken tanker with portholes that provide stunning views of the underwater activity.
Ketchakiddie Creek is Typhoon Lagoon’s play area, especially for children ages two to five. There is a small pool and water slide, fountain and bubblers, interactive water boats, and even a pint-sized white water rafting adventure. An adult must accompany all children.
There are two restaurants located within Typhoon Lagoon, and a dive shop that sells wet suits, masks, snorkels, etc.
Typhoon Lagoon History
Typhoon Lagoon opened to the public on Jun 1, 1989 as the world’s largest outdoor wave pool. Like many other Walt Disney World attractions, it has a “made up” history. According to legend, Typhoon Lagoon was once a beautiful tropical resort, until a furious storm roared through the area, destroying everything in its path. A fleet of boats from the nearby fishing village were picked up by the winds and left strewn about like toys. One amazing piece of damage was a shrimp boat that landed atop the opening of Mt. Mayday, the community’s scenic volcano. After the storm the landscape was changed forever. Left behind were roaring rapids, twisting tides, gushing waterways and relaxing rivers. Locals soon realized they had a possible tourist attraction, so they built slides and bridges and the largest wave pool in North America, and the Typhoon Lagoon Water Park was born.
Typhoon Lagoon Park Map (click on map for larger view)
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