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Disney's Blizzard Beach
Water Park Makes Fun of Winter Sports Adventures

By Dawn Henthorn, About.com

Blizzard BeachCompliments of Walt Disney Company
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.

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