Disney World To Reopen Major Park After Nearly Two Years

Disney Parks has announced that one of Walt Disney World's resorts will reopen after a nearly two year wait. Typhoon Lagoon, one of the two water parks located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, will reopen on January 2, 2022. The park was previously closed down in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic, but did not reopen with other parts of the park in summer of 2020. Walt Disney World's other water park Blizzard Beach reopened in March 2021. As part of the reopening, Typhoon Lagoon will feature several new menu items at its Snack Shack, including several new DOLE Whip treats that come in a Moana-inspired cone. 

Typhoon Lagoon opened in 1989 as Disney World's second water park, following the now defunct River Country. The park's signature landmark is Miss Tilly, a shrimp boat impaled on top of Mount Mayday. Mount Mayday shoots a 50-foot geyser of water every 30 minutes. The park's wave pool is also one of the largest surf pools in the world. At one point, Typhoon Lagoon was the second most visited water park in the world, with over 2.3 million visitors per year. 

The reopening of Typhoon Lagoon is timed with the pending shutdown of Blizzard Beach, which will be closed for its annual refurbishment. Both water parks at Disney receive annual refurbishments that typically take a few weeks. Blizzard Beach was originally set to shutdown this month, but Disney pushed the park's closure so that they'd have at least one water park available for guests to visit. Winter is usually the slow time for both water parks, although Orlando's weather typically means that water parks are still an option for visitors. 

Typhoon Lagoon's reopening is another step in Walt Disney World's full reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic, a process that has taken nearly a year and a half to complete. While the park is now fully reopened, the park is still in the process of bringing back parades, live shows, and other festivities that typically resort in large crowds. Most missing attractions are expected to return to the resort in 2022.