H2O Glow After Hours at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon has totally renewed our love of the water parks.
We’ve picked up on a few things on our visits to this popular event, and we thought it’d be helpful to share some tips and insights from our visits to help you plan your time if you decide to check one out, too.
Ready to learn why we love it? Let’s get into it!
What is H20 Glow After Hours?
Over the past several years, Disney has begun offering specially ticketed events that start after the park closes. They call them “After Hours” and, in general, we’ve really loved our experiences at them.
H20 Glow is the water park version of an After Hours event. Like the ones at Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios, your H20 Glow After Hours at Typhoon Lagoon ticket lets you stay far past the official closing time to experience the park and attractions with fewer crowds.
Plus, guests also get free snacks, drinks, and shorter lines on all the popular attractions. More on all of that below.
H20 Glow After Hours dates & times
H20 Glow is held on select nights from May 25 to August 31, 2024.
Ticket prices range from $75-$85 each:
Although the official time for the event runs from 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm, you can actually enter the park at 6:00 pm, which would give you a full 5 hours of fun.
How much does H20 Glow After Hours cost?
Prices for H20 Glow are:
- Adult (ages 10 and up): $75-$85 plus tax (depending on date)
- Child (ages 3 to 9): $75-$85 plus tax (depending on date)
Note: Child prices are the same as adult
Compare that to a regular water park ticket, which runs $74 plus tax for adults and $68 plus tax for kids.
H20 Glow Discounts
Annual Passholders and DVC (Disney Vacation Club) members can save $15 per ticket:
- Adult (ages 10 and up): $60-$70 plus tax
- Child (ages 3 to 9): $60-$70 plus tax
Note: Child prices are the same as adult
How to buy tickets
When tickets are first announced, onsite guests get first access and can purchase tickets by phone.
But now, all other guests (including those staying onsite who didn’t buy their tickets during the pre-sale) can purchase H20 Glow Tickets online.
What can I expect at H20 Glow After Hours?
All After Hours events have a few things in common:
- Reduced crowds
- Attractions
- Entertainment
- Free snacks (typically popcorn and assorted pre-packaged frozen treats, including Mickey Ice Cream Bars)
- Free drinks (for After Hours events in the theme parks, you usually get bottled beverages, but at H20 Glow, you get unlimited fountain beverages)
Capacity limits/reduced crowds
The capacity limit at H20 Glow After Hours is a huge selling point for most people, including us.
Unfortunately, Disney doesn’t disclose exactly how many (or how few) tickets are sold to any of their After Hours events. But after attending several different ones, we can confirm that in nearly every instance that the parks are definitely less busy than what you’d see during regular park hours.
And, those capacity limits mean that you’ll spend less time waiting in lines, and more time having fun.
At H20 Glow, the capacity limits also made it easy to find a chair/place to lounge, which is also nice.
Attractions and slides
Most people attend the After Hours events for the easy access to attractions, and that is true for H20 Glow, too.
Disney doesn’t ever guarantee which attractions will be open, but you can nearly always guarantee the most popular ones will be.
In fact, on our visit we found nearly everything open, including:
- Bay Slides
- Castaway Creek
- Crush ‘n’ Gusher
- Gangplank Falls
- Humunga Kowabunga
- Mayday Falls
- Miss Adventure Falls
- Storm Slides
- Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool
Entertainment
What would an After Hours event be without some entertainment?
In all honesty, it is kind of tricky to provide “entertainment” at a water park. There aren’t any fireworks or parades at H20 Glow, BUT there are DJs playing music. Chip and Dale alternate with Goofy out on the stage near the clock tower. They come out into the crowd, too, for dancing and a few selfies.
Phineas and his brother, Ferb, alternate in a more traditional character meet in the seating area near Leaning Palms.
Free snacks & drinks
What is it about swimming that always makes you so darn hungry?!
Thankfully, just like the other After Hours events in the theme parks, you can also get free drinks and snacks (ice cream bars and popcorn) at H20 Glow.
You need to look for the giant, inflatable neon/glowing pillars to find the snack stands.
The treat locations are spread out in the park. Signs throughout the park remind guests where they can find the complementary snacks.
Usually, you’d grab both drinks and snacks in 1 spot. But at H20 Glow, you have access to fountain beverages, and we found that Disney just left stacks of cups close to nearly all the dispensers.
Tip: If you know you’ll want to hit up the free snacks a couple of times, it may make sense to pick your chairs near one of the free snack stands. Doing that will keep you from having to carry melting ice cream long distances.
Exclusive Snacks and Treats
In addition to the free treats and drinks, there are also plenty of food you can buy, too:
Leaning Palms
- Jalapeño Popper Burger: Angus bacon cheeseburger topped with pepper jam, cream cheese spread, an onion ring, and two jalapeño popper
- Foot-long Loaded Hot Dog: Foot-long hot dog topped with tomatoes, onions, relish, mustard, and sport peppers
- DOLE Whip Pineapple Hard Cider Float at Leaning Palms: DOLE Whip float served with Caribé Pineapple Tropical Hard Cider
Typhoon Tilly’s
- Spiced Chicken Strip Waffle Wrap: sriracha and maple-spiced chicken strips with bacon and coleslaw wrapped in a specialty waffle
Snack Shack
- Bathtub Float: DOLE Whip and DOLE Whip strawberry, green matcha tea soft-serve, and Sprite topped with whipped cream, popping boba pearls, cherries, and blue simple syrup in a souvenir bathtub
- Large Strawberry-Green Matcha Swirl Cone: Waffle cone with DOLE Whip strawberry and green matcha tea soft-serve topped with assorted candy
H20 Glow FAQs
Are the restaurants open?
Yes! The app says that they are closed, but lots of the Quick Service spots were open and serving their full menu, plus several of the bars. Mobile order isn’t available during the event, but we never saw more than a couple of people in line.
Are towels provided?
Yes. Complimentary towels are available at Singapore Sal’s.
Towels can be rented during normal park operating hours, but they are included in the cost of the After Hours event.
Are there lockers available?
Yes! There is a small fee, but there are lockers available.
What happens if it rains?
As you know, lightning and water don’t mix. Disney is very strict about keeping guests safe, and they will close the attractions/slides if lightning has been detected nearby.
Because most nights don’t typically sell out, we’d recommend waiting until your trip dates get closer before you purchase a ticket. That way, you can check the forecast for the evening of your event and potentially avoid having your evening be interrupted by storms.
But even if your visit is months away, you should still keep an eye on the ticket sales. If you do see a bunch of events selling out, it may be worth it to go ahead and grab your tickets.
Which should I do – a regular water park ticket, or attend H20 Glow?
It depends. If you prefer to spend all day at the water park, then you’ll definitely just want to purchase a regular park ticket and go during the day.
BUT, if you are like us and 5 hours is plenty, and you can stay awake long enough to make it to 11 pm, we think H20 is a good value. With shorter lines, you can get a lot done – and free snacks are a nice bonus (especially if you have hungry teens). The vibe was fun and celebratory. We find After Hours to be a more relaxed waterpark experience.
All in all, we had a blast and were very happy we went!
H20 Glow After Hours Review
Below is our review from 2024.
We had a very positive experience at H20 Glow in 2022, so we were excited to return for the opening night of the 2024 After Hours park experience at Typhoon Lagoon.
Our ticket allowed us to arrive at 6 pm, but we waited out a rainstorm in our hotel room and delayed our entry until official event start time of 8 pm. At that time, there wasn’t any line to tap in.
After tapping in, we collected our wristbands and complimentary Stitch light up necklace. The glow stick necklace was a fun addition, and we saw most other guests wearing them, too.
Several other guests wore their own glow stick creations and many cast members wore light up accessories. We thought that really contributed to the fun party vibe.
After making our way inside, we stopped by the Singapore Sal’s to grab our towels. There wasn’t any line at that point, and towels are free for this event (during normal park operating hours they aren’t.
The lockers nearby are also available to rent, if you’d like. We decided to risk it and left our stuff “hidden” under our towels. And by hidden, I just mean we draped our towels over our stuff and crossed our fingers that everything would be there when we got back. (Spoiler – it was!)
Even though we weren’t the first people in, there were still lots and lots of chairs available towards the back of the park. We were honestly surprised at how busy the wave pool and the area in front of the clock tower were.
But we weren’t braving the busy wave pool. We hadn’t had dinner yet, so we headed to Leaning Palms. The app said this quick service restaurant was closed, but it was fully open. The only caveat was that mobile order wasn’t available, but it wasn’t necessary.
Their full menu was available, so we ordered Pork Elote nachos from the regular menu and the specialty event-exclusive Jalapeno Popper Cheeseburger. Both were tasty and filling.
After checking out the snack stand locations, we circled back to Leaning Palms seating area to meet Phineas. It was great to catch him at the beginning of his 104 days of summer vacation.
He and his brother, Ferb, alternate meeting with guests in a traditional meet-and-greet style. We only had a few minutes to wait and a cast member offered to take our photo (we took some selfies, too!).
Next it was time to relax at our favorite attraction – the lazy river.
We floated and floated (and got drenched passing through the waterfall!).
Special character themed floats and glittering tubes were added to the river just for H2O Glow.
We could hear the DJ from part of the lazy river, and the music was fun.
The event was winding down and the crowds were thinning out, but Chip and Dale were still dancing with the enthusiastic DJ. We spent the last bit of our time hanging out with them and celebrating a fun and relaxing water park experience.
We grabbed our stuff, dropped off our towels, and headed out.
What we liked (and didn’t like)
We honestly had a really fun evening. We wouldn’t spend a full day at a water park anyway. The crowds were busier than we expected, but still manageable. The fact that we didn’t have to worry about getting a sunburn or frying our feet on hot concrete was amazing.
Would we do it again?
Definitely! It was a fun way to spend the evening, and with our AP discounts, we felt like we got a good value for our money.
Team RP
Saturday 4th of June 2022
Thank you for all the detailed info! Where in the park are the free snack stands?