That iconic “whoosh” sound and low rumble that proceeds screaming swimmers has returned as Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon has reopened at the Walt Disney World Resort..
Today is the day many fans of Walt Disney World have been looking forward to since the parks reopened after the global pandemic shut down the parks in 2020. Typhoon Lagoon, the second water park at the Walt Disney World Resort, and the favorite destination of many Walt Disney World regulars had actually closed PRIOR to the shutdown in January of 2020 for their annual refurbishment (originally scheduled to end March 29th, 2020) and didn’t open again until today, January 2nd, 2022.
We were there at the opening of Typhoon Lagoon this morning to get some looks at the reopened water park and look for anything that has changed substantially at the park since 2020. Of course, one of the first things we noticed are some food and merch items, including a Hei Hei (from Moana) themed soft-serve cone, and a 50th anniversary refillable mug exclusive to the Walt Disney World water parks.
While Typhoon Lagoon reopened today, Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park was actually the first water park at Walt Disney World to reopen after the theme parks did in 2020. However, now that Typhoon Lagoon has reopened, Blizzard Beach has closed for its annual refurbishment. No reopening date for Blizzard Beach is available at this time.
Typhoon Lagoon was once home to a unique attraction in the water park landscape, a large pool known as Shark Reef that was home to live sharks and rays and other sea life where guests could take a short swim and snorkel across the pool to mingle amongst the inhabitants. This attraction did close in 2016, and has since been filled in and now provides more seating and lounging area. Before the park closed in 2020, a portion of this area was also being used as an adults-only seating area, though that does not appear to be the case today.
Originally opened in 1989 alongside Pleasure Island and the Disney-MGM Studios, Typhoon Lagoon is considered by many to be a masterpiece of Walt Disney Imagineering. At opening, the park’s namesake wave pool was the largest in the world and considered an innovative marvel in the way the waves are made. Guests will wait with anticipation for that 90 second marker when a giant “whoosh” sound occurs and everyone starts screaming as a nearly 6 foot wave rushes out and into the pool. The park is the middle child of the Walt Disney World water parks, opening after the original River Country at Fort Wilderness (now closed) and before the opening of Blizzard Beach in 1995. While home to many slides and attractions, including the iconic wave pool and legendary wedgie-machine, Humunga Kowabunga, many consider one of the big draws of the park the endless lazy river, Castaway Creek. The relatively calm ever-flowing 2,000 foot loop goes through rainforests, caves, and past waterfalls through the park and it's not uncommon to look over and find someone asleep drifting downstream on their tube. For more about the history of the park, be sure to check out our look back on the park’s 31st anniversary.
Typhoon Lagoon is located near Disney Springs at the Walt Disney World Resort. Unlike the theme parks, a Disney Park Pass reservation is not needed to access the water park, and guests with valid admission can get in as capacity permits.