Blizzard Beach
Florida Guide > Disney General
I’ve been visiting Orlando for longer than I care to remember and honestly believed I’d find nothing much to do at a water park. When I finally visited my first one last year I learned how wrong I could be! The whole family, who I must admit enjoy swimming, laughed and had so much fun together that we all became totally hooked!
We visited Disney’s newest water park, Blizzard Beach. This area of Disney is rumoured to have had a freak storm covering the area with snow, thus becoming Florida’s first ski resort! And there’s something for everyone here.
If water and swimming is not your thing there are beaches to sit on, or shady areas amongst the lush sub-tropical gardens with tall trees providing shade. Many guests choose to take larger coolers (no alcohol permitted) to picnic, whilst others are into trying the attractions and prefer to purchase food in the eating areas without having to worry about their belongings. Blizzard Beach’s eating stations are very aptly named, for example, Lottawatta Lodge and The Warming Hut. Lockers and towels are also available to rent as well as changing rooms to use.
If you prefer a sedate ride there is Cross Country Creek. Here you will find tubes floating around waiting for you to take so you can sit back, float and relax as you travel around the perimeter of the park. You can ride around and around or just use it to get to another part of Blizzard Beach in a leisurely fashion. What ever you decide, it is so relaxing, just drifting along….
Alternatively, take the chair lift, which seats three, up to the top of Mount Gushmore and then for those brave enough choose to ride the Summit Plummet a steep 120 foot vertical free falling body slide. If you are not quite ready for this try Gusher a speed slide or Toboggan Racers where you race downhill with others, Snow Stormers a switch back salom using mats or take the whole family on Teamboat Springs.
Our favourite was Teamboat Springs. Groups of three to six riders share a large raft and travel down the world’s longest raft ride. Its twelve hundred feet long, twisting and turning but it is so smooth. We laughed and were thrilled by this journey – well worth trying out. Such good family fun for all ages!
I must own up that I didn’t do Summit Plumit – maybe in my younger days - or the Tobaggan Racers – my daughter’s did the race and had much fun seeing who could win. Trying to watch them both I was very diplomatic and could not see who the winner was!
There’s Downhill Double Dipper to try! Sitting on a tube you shoot down slopes side by side, travelling through a tunnel before remerging at the end and falling into the pool at the end. I was told by one of the Disney staff that you can travel up to 25 miles per hour – I am not sure I would have been so brave if I had known this before I rode it! !
Another ride our family loved was Runoff Rapids. You can choose to use open or closed tubes to ride down the course. I think the hardest part of this ride was collecting the tube at the bottom and having to carry it to the top – especially on a very warm day! !
For younger guests there is a kid’s area to slide and splash in the ‘snow’. There are fountains to surprise and splash in a non-threatening, calm manner. Mums and dads can relax and sit close by on the sand.
If that’s not enough – and you want more - there is Melt Away Bay, a large one acre bobbing wave pool.
Blizzard Beach has lifeguards and stations for lost children and for safety reasons some rides do have height restrictions and their own guidelines.
I am totally hooked now and can’t wait to return to Blizzard Beach – if I’m having a bad day I just sit back and remember bobbing around the rapids and laughing so much with my family as we came down Teamspring Rapids!
If you would like to visit Blizzard Beach it is open most days, depending on daylight hours and the weather.
For up-to-date information call (407) 560 3400.
Tickets can be purchased through the Orlando Villas website.
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