After Disney World reopened last year, its water parks remained closed.

Last fall, though, Disney announced that it would reopen one of its water parks in 2021. We later learned that this park would be Blizzard Beach, and we’re only a few days away from its official reopening on March 7th. And we were able to head into the water park a few days early to give you the scoop on what it will be like!

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve been here, and as with the parks when they reopened, a lot has changed.

The park map will lay out some guidelines.

And it will, of course, tell you which locations are open around the park.

Mask Requirements

For starters, face coverings are required in designated areas for guests age 2 and up. These areas include — and are not limited to — the park entrance and exit, retail shops, and food and beverage ordering areas.

However, face coverings are not allowed while guests are on the water slides or in the water. 

Guests can also remove their masks when they’re actively eating or drinking while stationary and socially distanced, according to Disney’s latest policies. And, you won’t be able to miss the memo because signage is spread throughout the park near eating areas.

Markers have also been added throughout the park to maintain appropriate social distancing. You’ll spot them on benches…

…around stores…

…and near food locations.

Dining

Speaking of food, all of the food locations will reopen with the water park, two of which got brand new menus. And, we got to check out a few on our visit today! The Warming Hut is one of the two locations reopening with a new menu. You’ll no longer find the Shrimp Louie Wrap, but instead, you can try the Chilled Shrimp Salad served with Thousand Island Dressing!

Plus, a new sandwich has joined the menu called the Honey Butter Chicken Sandwich With Pickles and it costs $10.49.

The Funnel Cakes kiosk has also reopened to serve up fried clusters of dough and even fried ice cream!

The Cooling Hut is a great place to stop if you’re looking for a quick snack…

…and Lottawatta Lodge is back to serve up meals, beer specials, and milkshakes. The beer specials are a little less special than they claim to be — it’s Bud Light and Yuengling — but they are served in a Blizzard Beach-themed cup!

The Mini Donuts Cart wasn’t open when we were there to preview but we made sure to stop and stare longingly. This little kiosk serves up miniature donuts by the half dozen with three different sauces on the side. Needless to say, we’re pretty excited for it to return!

We also stopped by the reopening Frostbite Freddy’s where they’re serving four different types of slushies, each one more mouth-watering than the other.

The boozy selection includes Margarita, Pina Colada, and Strawberry Margarita, and the non-alcoholic option is Blue Raspberry.

They will not be serving food at this time. Instead, you will be able to pick up lifejackets and towels on that side of the counter. Do note that lifejackets will no longer be hanging out on racks. Instead, you will find them at locations like this one so Disney can make sure they are cleaned and disinfected. If you’re looking at the bar, towels will be on the right and lifejackets will be available on the left.

Like other quick-service locations around Walt Disney World, all of the dining locations are using the Mobile Order system through the My Disney Experience app. So, you’ll want to be sure that you bring your phone with you or stop at the lockers before going to grab some food.

If you fancy yourself a drink, you can grab one at the reopened Polar Pub. This location isn’t using Mobile Order, so you can walk right up and order where there is plexiglass on the counter.

We gave two of their drinks a try when we visited. There was the Blue Blizzard Margarita, which is the signature drink for the park. It is made with Herradura Reposado Tequila, blue curaçao, sweet and sour mix and it was almost too photogenic to drink! …we said almost… .

And, we gave the Banana Cabana a try as well which has Cruzan Mango Rum, Parrot Bay Coconut Rum, Bols Creme de Banana, with orange and pineapple juice, and a float of grenadine. Spoiler! They were both sweet and very refreshing!

The All-Day Refillable Mugs seem to be back at the park, but Disney removed the language stating that they are self-service. We’re still not entirely sure what the new process will be for the refillable mugs, but the refill stations looked like they would be available at quick-service spots in the water park when we visited. And, the refill mugs are available for $11.99.

Lounging

One of the things that we were most interested to learn more about in the parks was how the lounge chair situation would work. And, Blizzard Beach was more than prepared to answer our questions! Now, anywhere that you can find a lounge chair, you’ll also find a health and safety sign stating “Please do not move chairs. They have been positioned to keep a minimum of 6 feet between you and other parties.”

The chairs are already out in clusters so you can choose which one fits your party size the best.

Lockers/Towels

And, no need to worry about where you’re going to store all your items while you take to the water slides! Locker rentals will still be available when Blizzard Beach reopens, you’ll just find some additional safety signage and hand sanitizer.

You’ll also be able to rent towels for the day and purchase other beach day essentials you may have forgotten!

Merchandise

And, you won’t have to go a whole day without setting foot in a Disney souvenir store. Beach Haus is reopening with lots of new merchandise — it has been an ENTIRE year, after all!

You’ll find towels, flip flops, t-shirts, key chains, hats, and even a spirit jersey to show off your love for the (water)ski resort that is Blizzard Beach!

We even spotted some shirts from Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon.

Tickets

If you’re planning on visiting Blizzard Beach, Disney has posted the water park’s daily hours. One-Day Water Park Tickets (without blackout dates) are available for $69 + tax for Adults and $63 + tax for kids ages 3–9.

One-Day Water Park Tickets with Blockout dates are also available. These are priced at$64 + tax for adults and $58 + tax for kids ages 3-9. These tickets note that they are blocked out from May 29th to October 3rd, 2021.

If you want to buy park tickets combined with water park tickets, you can get the Water Park and Sports Option when purchasing your Disney World theme park tickets. These tickets allow you to pick a different Disney theme park every day, as well as enjoy a certain number of visits to a water park or other Disney World sports-related activity.

Reservations

Unlike the Disney World theme parks, reservations are not required to enter the water park, but there is limited capacity.

Stay tuned because we’re keeping an eye on all reopenings at Disney World! We will be back on opening day to report what it’s like in terms of crowds, how it is to wear a mask at a waterpark, and more. If you are interested in anything or have any questions about the reopening, please let us know!

NEWS: Disney World Announces Blizzard Beach Hours For March!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Disney World to attend their media preview of Blizzard Beach. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ

Are you planning on going to Blizzard Beach soon? Let us know in the comments!