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Credit: Inside The MagicA park at Walt Disney World is officially shuttering its gates next month, after months of closures.
The Walt Disney World Resort boasts four theme parks and two water parks, including Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon, and Blizzard Beach. Throughout most of the year, guests can enjoy each park daily, with the exception of the water parks.
For the last several years, Disney World has been operating their water parks on opposite schedules, ensuring that one park is always open while the other closes for scheduled maintenance. However, this also ensures that guests are unable to experience both water parks at the same time, which can be disappointing for guests upon arrival and has caused frustration for annual passholders.
Blizzard Beach has been the park currently open for guests, opening on November 6, 2023. However, it was just recently announced that Typhoon Lagoon would be reopening for the spring and summer season starting March 17, 2024, meaning that Blizzard Beach will be shuttering its gates on March 16. With the news of this reopening, it raises a strange issue that Disney World doesn’t often encounter – Blizzard Beach has been off-limits to guests more in the last few months than it’s been available.
Due to inclement weather including heavy rainfall and cold snaps, Blizzard Beach has announced several closures over the last few months, making its sudden seasonal closure feel much earlier than normal. The park closed due to rain back in November, just a handful of weeks after its seasonal opening. It was also closed for several consecutive days during Christmas and New Year’s Eve due to cold temperatures the whole week.
Beyond the busy holiday weekend, the ironically themed winter water park closed on and off throughout December for chilly weather. Back in January, we reported that in its 60 days of operation at that time, it had spent roughly 25% (14 days) of that time closed to guests for various reasons. Since that report, the park has been closed for at least another nine days, with its most recent closure just ending on February 8, and although it isn’t that much in the grand scheme of things, it certainly feels as though Blizzard Beach has been closed more than its been open so far this season.
It’s certainly disappointing for guests to not only not be able to experience both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach simultaneously but also for guests to be completely unable to enjoy either water park at all. With Typhoon Lagoon opening after 133 days, guests are preparing to say goodbye to the snow-capped slides, despite barely having just said hello. While it may make sense to Disney to cycle their water parks’ refurbishment schedules, it’s unclear why this has become a more recent development within the last few years or whether it will be a permanent routine for the parks.
Were you able to enjoy Blizzard Beach this season? Which water park is your favorite? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!