From Dawn Henthorn,
Your Guide to Florida Travel.
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Where in Florida can you see snow everywhere, but the only ice is in the soft drinks? At Blizzard Beach, of course!

The 66-acre Blizzard Beach water adventure park located in Florida's Walt Disney World Resort is strictly tropical, but the combination of water park with the atmosphere and excitement of a major ski resort in the midst of a tropical lagoon is... well, zany.

As legend has it, Blizzard Beach was created by a freak winter storm which dropped snow over the western side of the Walt Disney World property and Florida's first snow-ski resort was planned immediately.

However, the plan was short-lived. Temperatures soared and the ice and snow rapidly began to melt. Dismayed ski-resort operators, ready to close, spotted a playful alligator sliding down the "liquid ice" slopes and realized the melting snow created the tallest, fastest and most exhilarating water-filled ski and toboggan runs in the world. As a result, the ski resort/water adventure park was born. It is located just north of Disney's All-Star Resorts.

As guests enter the park, they are greeted by the busy view of "skiers" sliding down the face of the 90-foot snow-capped mountain, Mt. Gushmore. It is home to the newest waterslide, Downhill Double Dipper, the only side-by-side racing water slides that stand 50 feet high and 200 feet long. Guests will travel up to 25 mph, twisting and turning before shooting out through a curtain of water. Mt. Gushmore also features slalom courses, toboggan and water sled runs and the awesome, 120-foot-high Summit Plummet – the nation's tallest, fastest free-fall speed slide, visible from almost anywhere in the park.

Mt. Gushmore's other attractions include:

• Teamboat Springs – the world's longest family white-water raft ride takes six-passenger rafts down a twisting 1,200 foot series of rushing water falls.
  
• Toboggan Racer – an 8-lane water slide that sends guests racing over exhilarating dips as they descend the "snowy" slope.
  
• Snow Stormers – three flumes descending from the top of the mountain and following a switchback course through ski-type slalom gates.
  
• Runoff Rapids – an inner tube run, where guests can careen down three different twisting, turning flumes.
  
• Chair Lift – wooden-bench chair lifts sporting colorful overhead umbrellas and snow skis on their underside, converted from ski-resort to beach-resort use. These functional chairs carry guests over the craggy face of Mt. Gushmore, from its base at the beach, to its summit.

The sandy beach below Mt. Gushmore offers a large wave pool, a lazy river, two snack bars, a polar pub lodge and a pre-teen and children's play area. Among its adventures:

• Tike's Peak – a kid-size version of Blizzard Beach, including scaled-down elements of Mt. Gushmore. In addition, this area features a snow-castle fountain play area.
  
• Melt-Away Bay – a one-acre pool, nestled against the base of Mt. Gushmore, that is constantly fed by "melting snow" waterfalls.
  
• Cross Country Creek – a lazy creek circling the entire park, carrying floating guests through a bone-chilling ice cave. Once inside the mysterious cave, guests will be splashed with the "melting" ice from overhead.
  
• Blizzard Beach Ski Patrol Training Camp – designed for pre-teens with a T-bar drop, culvert slides and a challenging ice-flow walk along slippery, floating icebergs. Cool Runners is the camp's twin inner tube slide.
  
• Avalunch and The Warming Hut – snack bars.

The Village at the Blizzard Beach entrance houses guest services such as a tube pick-up area, towel rentals, lockers, first aid, merchandise and a restaurant.

Within the Village is the Beach Haus, a specialty shop offering souvenirs, towels, bathing suits, sunglasses and other essentials for a day on the slopes... err, in the water. Ski equipment and cold weather furnishings such as pot-belly stoves are used to display merchandise.