Blizzard Beach closing for extended refurbishment this year with enhancements coming

Jul 09, 2019 in "Blizzard Beach"

Posted: Tuesday July 9, 2019 10:46am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park is expected to get some enhancements this winter as the park enters its annual refurbishment.

Blizzard Beach overview

The park will be closed from September 8 2019 to January 4 2020, reopening to guests on January 5 2020. This is about 6 weeks longer than the standard refurbishment, and although Disney is yet to announce anything, some enhancements to the park are expected.

Disney has been facing more water park competition in recent years with the opening of more Central Florida water parks, and has already added Miss Adventure Falls to Disney's Typhoon Lagoon.

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Benjamin_NicholasFeb 01, 2020

The city of New Braunfels wouldn't let them muck up what's existing. It's protected, actually and Cedar wouldn't be able to pour much cement without hitting a political wall. The Henry family worked with the city in that the original park would compliment what was there naturally versus just be typical ugly waterpark. It's what continues to make Schlitterbahn the most unique waterpark in the world. I'm more bummed that they didn't take the South Padre park in the buyout. That was a beautiful design, Jeff Henry's first use of the 'transportainment' river system and has fantastic tropical landscaping. Now, it's this... https://beachparktx.com/

TouchdownFeb 01, 2020

In their theme parks, yes, but every water park of theirs I’ve visited have all been “concrete wastelands” with little theming and some of them have some really bizarre rules (one lap only lazy river) I really hope they don’t mess it up.

Benjamin_NicholasFeb 01, 2020

I agree. Cedar has an eye for detail and care, so I'm hoping they don't take a lot of the charm from the original park.

TouchdownFeb 01, 2020

The greatest water park in the world, I hope Cedar Fair treats it well, although I fear the old section will soon undergo massive changes due to safety fears.

SirwalterraleighFeb 01, 2020

Different place though...I alway feel that the depth of theming more than compensates for newer/bigger slides

Benjamin_NicholasFeb 01, 2020

It's tough for me to get excited about a Disney waterpark when I grew up going to Schlitterbahn.

surfsupdonFeb 01, 2020

What are the enhancements?? Any news??

ELG13Jan 31, 2020

I can agree with this. We went on a whim one year to BB and it was such a nice change of pace. Now every year we plan a day for it and have added a day to our trip for it. That's a pretty decent chunk of change considering we stay at the cabins, there are 5 of us. That's an extra night, meals, an extra stroller rental day and and extra day for the gold car rental.

disneyC97Jan 21, 2020

Universal has no water park, just a third theme park so there should be no issue to close it for refurbishment as long as the other two are open. 😉

Tom P.Jan 20, 2020

Good points. Also, Disney has the luxury of having two water parks where Universal does not. I suspect water park attendance numbers in the winter months do not justify having both parks open, so it makes it more convenient and cost-effective for Disney to close for maintenance instead of doing it while both water parks are open.

DisoneJan 20, 2020

Also keep in mind that Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon both have seasonal closures but volcano Bay does not (yet) and they both out performed volcano Bay in annual attendance. So you are absolutely correct to observe that the numbers do not support that these water parks are dwindling in popularity to a degree that would be alarming or of concern to Disney. I do wonder how much longer they can last but at the same time when I attend them I do not think they look to be in a state of disrepair. The extended down time is not really a reflection of how much effort is needed to keep the Park operational. It's just a bean counter decision.

N2druJan 19, 2020

I think its time Disney added a water coaster to BB. Make this one longer and more detailed than the one at TL. Maybe something themed to bobsleds/tobogganing. That would give the park a shot in the arm that it needs. Its been stagnant for too long.

Tom P.Jan 10, 2020

In 2018, the most recent year for which statistics are currently available, Typhoon Lagoon had 2.27 million visitors and Blizzard Beach had 2 million. On the other hand, Volcano Bay had 1.73 million visitors and Aquatica had 1.56 million. I'm not sure how you arrive at the conclusion that Disney guests "more often than not" are opting to go to Volcano Bay or Aquatica instead of the Disney water parks, but the numbers do not back that up.

Gabe1Jan 10, 2020

I agree. They did ultimately close River Country as they opened new waterparks for multiple claimed reasons but it was obsolete. I raised my now adult kids through our annual vacations at WDW and have great memories of both these parks. They are not only stepping into days gone bye but almost impossible to keep up with the known failure of pools and waterparks at age 25-30 years no matter who built them or where they are located. I feel for the upper tier management of these parks trying to make these 'operational' and failing. Just look at the length of seasonal closed for maintenance. It is a loosing battle. When my kids were small and the water parks operated correctly one park closed in November and came back online in December. The other waterpark closed in January and both were up again in February. Now Disney guest more often than not are opting out and going to Volcano or Aquatica. They are already splitting stays with WDW and Universal so who wouldn't pick Volcano over the 30 year old Disney Waterparks? I feel for those charged with these waterparks, neglected for too long in the same era the other Disney Parks were neglected stateside. Catch-up is hard.