When I starting planning our recent trip to Disney World, I was excited about using the Park Hoppers to bounce from Magic Kingdom to Epcot to Hollywood Studios to Animal Kingdom. You know, the four biggies. Since it was our first family trip to Disney, I didn’t want to visit the water parks for fear of missing out on as much non-water-park fun as possible.
After a few days though, I realized that my kids (and us parents) needed a break from the heat, the constant walking and the stroller pushing. We wanted to RELAX. And so we set our sights on Blizzard Beach.
From the pictures online, Blizzard Beach looked like SO MUCH FUN! After all, the water park looks like a snowy ski lodge. Boy, was I right! This water park turned out being one of our favorite parts of the entire trip.
True to the Disney way, every bit of the water park decor made it look like we were at a ski lodge. The decor gave off an icy feel that made you feel cooler just by the sight of “snow,” even if it was 80 degrees outside.
Once we got settled after getting our locker and putting on sunscreen, we took the chair lift up to the top of the park to ride Teamboat Springs, a raft ride in which we could all ride together in one raft! That’s a way to kick off, isn’t it? The kids screamed and giggled the entire way down.
The park has something for everyone: Tike’s Peak (for those 48 inches and shorter), Ski Patrol Training Camp (kids and tweens), the Melt Away Bay wave pool and Summit Plummet (one of the tallest freefall slides in the world- just click that link to see that drop and you’ll believe it).
I actually thought we’d spend time at Tike’s Peak but it was too small for our kids (6 and 3). Well, our youngest liked it but our oldest wanted more. If you have younger kids, the slides in that area are PERFECT for little ones and some are even small enough for older babies.
We spent a LOT of time in the Training Camp area. In the pictures below you see some of the attractions. Both of my kids did the tubes by themselves and went down the straight slide called Snow Falls a bunch of times.
After days of Big Roo being a little scared of the rides at the other parks (How fast is this ride? Is it like Space Mountain?), his fear actually melted away (melted- hahaha) at this park. He beamed with pride at every ride he did and left trepidation at the water park entrance.
Big Roo even tried the Thin Ice Training Course… and he didn’t even fall in! He was barely tall enough to hold the ropes though so next time I bet he’ll whizz through it.
It’s hard to get a lot of pictures at this park because you just don’t want to risk your phone or camera getting soaked (note to self: next time bring a water camera). But I had a “my boys are growing up” moment at Blizzard Beach.
Two of the slides, Toboggan Racers and Snow Stormers, involve laying stomach-down on a sled-type mat. Think purple yoga mat curled in the front with two handles (click on the Toboggan link to see what I mean since I didn’t get a picture). Both kids were interested in going down the slides. But my little guy? He’s so tiny! He’s three years old but weighs less than 30 lbs. As we waited in line, I got nervous for the first time all week! I asked TWO cast members if he was tall enough and they ensured me he was.
Begrudgingly, I stood at the top and helped Little Roo get on his belly into position.
“Are you sure, little man?”
“Yeah!”
And with a little push, off he went!
I couldn’t believe how little fear he had. After I got down myself, I helped him up. It did scare him a little afterwards but not enough to do the other slide similar to this! He kept talking about doing them again and again.
I would totally, completely, absolutely recommend visiting Blizzard Beach! We got there early morning and stayed until mid-afternoon, giving us plenty of time to rest then hit another park for dinner, more rides and fireworks. Just remember to bring your own towels unless you want to rent them ($2 a piece).
I can tell you that Blizzard Beach will be on our must-do list next time we visit Disney World. With so much variety from the relaxing to the adventurous, you can find something all members of your family will love. (And if you go down Summit Plummet, let me know how it was. I totally wanted to but ran out of time.)
Have you ever been to Blizzard Beach?
Disclosure: I attended the Disney Social Media Moms Conference and received discounted rates and tickets to various events and attractions. Any opinions are entirely my own.
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