Walt Disney World is once again reopening one of its water parks just as another goes down for an annual refurbishment.
Disney announced Friday that Blizzard Beach will reopen to guests on Nov. 6. Typhoon Lagoon’s last scheduled day of operations is on Nov. 5, with the water park expected to undergo annual maintenance common for water parks thereafter.
This swap is nothing new for Disney. Ever since River Country — Disney World’s original water park — closed in 2001, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon have always alternated maintenance schedules so that one of the two is always open. Between 2017 and 2019, Blizzard Beach would generally close between late October and early January, with Typhoon Lagoon subsequently closing between early January and mid-March.
However, that pattern changed with COVID-19. Neither water park operated until Blizzard Beach reopened in March 2021, while Typhoon Lagoon didn’t welcome back guests until Jan. 2, 2022 — the last of Disney’s parks to reopen during the pandemic. Ever since, Disney has operated only one of its water parks at a time.
According to WDWMagic.com’s history of Disney refurbishments, the last day that the two operated simultaneously was Sept. 7, 2019.