Is the Disney Water Park Fun & More Upgrade Worth the Cost?

• Prices updated February 25, 2014
  
• Ticket upgrade policy updated August 2, 2011.  See: https://www.easywdw.com/news/new-disney-world-ticket-policy-going-into-effect-august-3-2011/ for a full explanation.

What is the Water Park Fun & More Upgrade?

The Water Park Fun & More upgrade can be added to the Magic Your Way Base Ticket, along with the No Expiration or Park Hopper upgrades.  If you decide to add Water Park Fun & More to your ticket, you will be given an allotment of entrances to the following “minor parks” in Disney World: Typhoon Lagoon water park, Blizzard Beach water park, Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex, DisneyQuest, one round of golf at Oak Trail, Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf (before 4:00 pm), or Disney’s Winter Summerland Mini Golf (before 4:00 pm).  The number of entrances you will receive to the minor parks is based on the number of days your Magic Your Way Base Ticket is valid.  The following chart illustrates this:

For example, if your ticket is good for five days, then you will receive five entrances to any of the minor parks.

How Much Does It Cost?

With tax, the cost to add the Water Park Fun & More upgrade is $63.90 regardless of how many days the ticket is valid for admission. The cost is the same for adults and children.

Adding Water Parks & Fun and Park Hopper for a Discount

Adding both ticket upgrades results in a discount of $36.21 versus adding each upgrade individually.  The cost to add both upgrades is $91.59 with tax.

When Can I Add the Upgrade?

You may add the Water Park Fun & More upgrade when you purchase your ticket or at any time within 14 days of the first use of the ticket, provided there is still entitlement value on the ticket.  See this explanation of entitlement value and the new ticket policy regarding upgrades: https://www.easywdw.com/news/new-disney-world-ticket-policy-going-into-effect-august-3-2011/. Basically, you can add the Water Park Fun & More upgrade provided your Magic Your Way ticket is still valid.  If you have used up all of your theme park days, you may not be able to add Water Park Fun and More.

If you visit a water park or one of the other “minor parks” listed, you can apply the price of that ticket towards the Water Park Fun & More upgrade.  For example, if you purchase just a Magic Your Way Base Ticket and pay for admission to a water park separately, you can apply the cost of the water park ticket towards the cost of the Water Park Fun & More upgrade anywhere that tickets can be upgraded (such as any ticket window).  Note that you can only apply the value of one ticket towards an upgrade.  If you purchased admission to Blizzard Beach and ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, you would want to apply the cost of the Blizzard Beach ticket because it has a higher value and the additional cost to upgrade to Water Park Fun & More would be less expensive.

Is It Worth the Cost to Upgrade to Water Park Fun & More?

Here are the costs (with tax) of a one-day ticket to the minor parks that you can gain entrance to with the Water Parks Fun & More upgrade:

DisneyQuest: $47.93 Adult, $41.54 Child (age 3-9)

Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon: $56.45 Adult, $47.93 Child (age 3-9)

Disney’s Wide World of Sports: $17.57 Adult, $12.25 Child (age 3-9)

Round of Golf at Oak Trail: $40.49 Adult, $21.32 Junior (17 and under)

Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf: $14.91 Adult, $12.78 Child (age 3 – 9)

Winter Summerland Mini Golf: $14.91 Adult, $12.78 Child (age 3 – 9)

As you can see, the cost of a one-day ticket to Disney Quest, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, or Oak Trail are just a little less expensive than adding the Water Park Fun & More upgrade.  The upgrade becomes cost effective if you’re planning to visit two or more of the more expensive minor parks.  If you’re unsure of whether you will visit one or more of the minor parks then you can wait until you do visit them to add the upgrade.  Remember, you can apply the cost of a one-day admission to the cost of the Water Park Fun upgrade as long as you do so within 14 days of the ticket’s first use and the ticket is still valid for admission.  So if the weather is dicey or you’re not sure you’ll make it to a water park a second time, you can simply purchase one-day admission and then apply the cost if you do end up visiting for a second time.

Some Thing to Keep in Mind:

If you don’t add No Expiration, your Magic Your Way ticket is good for 14 days, including the first day of use (or the first day of use plus 13 additional days).  You can visit the major theme parks and minor theme parks in any order over those 14 days, including skipping days as needed.  You could visit Animal Kingdom on day one, Typhoon Lagoon on day three, DisneyQuest on day four, and Epcot on day six and you would have used two theme park admissions and two Water Park Fun & More admissions.  You may visit more than one minor theme park on the same day and you will have used two admissions.  For example, you could visit Blizzard Beach in the morning and DisneyQuest in the evening  and you would have used two admissions.  However, you can enter, exit, and return to the same minor park as often as you like during a single day and you will have only used one admission.  In other words, every time you enter a new minor park (Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, DisneyQuest, etc.) you will have used one admission.  You can’t “hop” between two different minor parks during the same day and use only one admission, even if you have added Park Hopper for the major parks (Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios).

There are also Annual Passes Just for the Water Parks and DisneyQuest

You can also purchase an Annual Pass for the water parks, DisneyQuest, or one that is good for both.  The prices are as follows (including tax):

Water Park Annual Pass (good for unlimited admissions to both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach) – $110.76 Adult (10+), $90.53 Child (3-9)

DisneyQuest Annual Pass – $95.85 Adult (10+), $76.68 Child (3-9)

Annual Pass to Water Parks and DisneyQuest: $140.58 Adult (10+), $108.68 Child (3-9)

These tickets won’t be cost effective to most Disney World visitors, but they do exist if you have a need for them.

Conclusion

The Water Park Fun & More ticket upgrade is potentially a fantastic value if you plan to visit any of the following more than once: Oak Trails golf course, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, or DisneyQuest.  The ticket is also good for Disney’s Wide World of Sports or Mini Golf, but those tickets are only about $12 – $17 per admission, so you’ll want to take that into consideration as well.  Also consider adding the Upgrade if you plan to add No Expiration because the Water Park Fun and More entitlements will not expire and will still be valid even after you use up your theme park entitlements.