Orlando Villas Blog by Perfect Florida Villas Orlando Villas Blog. Packed with information about Orlando and Florida including theme parks, shopping and beaches.

The very popular Typhoon Lagoon is a water park located within the Walt Disney World Resort Orlando, Florida. The water park opened on June 1, 1989 and is home to the world's largest outdoor wave pool. Legend has it that a typhoon wreaked havoc upon a beautiful tropical paradise. The centre piece of the park is "Miss Tilly," a shrimp boat impaled upon a mountain named "Mount Mayday" that erupts a 50-foot column of water every 30 minutes. Typhoon Lagoon's mascot is "Lagoona Gator" who is related to Blizzard Beach´s mascot Ice Gator.

The tropical feel to this water park is done very well and it is my favourite water park in Orlando. The music is set back in the 50’s – 60’s with old Beach Boys hits and others from that era. There is plenty for the kids to do with all the water slides such as “Humunga Kowabunga” Three enclosed "speed slide" flumes that hurl riders’ downward five stories in seconds (Height Restriction: 48” or taller) and “Storm Slides” Three enclosed water slides called Jib Jammer, Stern Burner and Rudder
Buster, that send riders’ through twists and turns from a height of three stories, amongst others.

The lazy river encircles the water park, you just float around it at a leisurely pace. Definitely an ideal place to cool off. It can get busy at times and you may have to wait for a tube. There are stops along the way if you want to get off at another part of the water park.

Typhoon Lagoon’s latest addition, Hideaway Bay, was once known as "Out of the Way Cay" and is a sandy beach area located behind the changing rooms and lockers. It is in the most hidden part of the park and features the newest attraction at Typhoon Lagoon. Crush ´n´ Gusher: Water "coaster" where two to three person rafts are propelled by water jets through sharp turns and drops. (Height Restriction: 48" or taller). You can fall out of these tubes, take it from me! Great fun though.

The wave pool is probably the main attraction here and you can hear the screams and see the “panic” on kids faces as each wave erupts from the rear of the pool surging forward and knocking those waiting off of their feet. This happens every 30 seconds when this phase is on and the phase lasts about a hour. Then it changes to bobbing waves for about 30 minutes before reverting back to the tidal waves.

There are a couple of fast food places to eat, “Leaning Palms” the main counter service restaurant. Surrounded by shaded seating areas. Located near the main entrance and “Typhoon Tilly’s” Located near the “Shark Reef”. There are other snack service carts for hot dogs etc. There is an Ice Cream hut and a place where you can get mini doughnuts with dipping sauce.

When you enter the park you pass some merchandise stalls here, you can buy a Typhoon Lagoon souvenir mug and for a little extra you can have a sticker with a barcode that allows you to fill up all day long from the soda fountains and the quick service food outlets.

Definitely a must visit place!!

Have you ever wondered how ‘Blizzard Beach’ got its name? Well, this most popular water park was, according to legend, created when a freak winter storm dropped snow over the western side of Walt Disney World. Plans were immediately made to build Florida’s first snow ski-resort.

But unfortunately, Florida weather soon improved, and as temperatures climbed the snow and ice began to swiftly melt. Just as the ski-resort operators were about to close the park they spotted a mischievous alligator sliding down one of the ski slopes which had become liquid. They quickly realised that the melting snow had produced some of the tallest, fastest and most thrilling water filled toboggan and ski slopes in the world. And it was thus that ‘Blizzard Beach’ was born, and that playful alligator became the mascot of the park, being named ‘Ice Gator’ (an amusing pun on ice skater!).

Ski slalom courses and bobsled and sledding runs became downhill water slides, and even the chairlifts were re-used to transport swimmers to the top of the slides. As for the ski jump, well that became the tallest and fastest water slide.  When the snow melted it revealed a fantastic beach area, with lots of activities.

‘Blizzard Beach’ covers 66 acres, and opened on April 1st, 1995 – maybe the joke of it being April Fools Day was not lost on the organisers.  It was the third of the water parks to open at Walt Disney World, following the success of ‘Typhoon Lagoon’ and ‘River Country,’ which closed in 2001.   With nearly 1.9 million guests visiting the park in 2008, it ranks as the second most visited water park in the world, behind ‘Typhoon Lagoon.’

Central to the park is ‘Mount Gushmore’ (Mount Rushmore!) which is an artificial mountain 90 ft tall. It is one of the highest points in a rather flat Florida, and is split into three coloured sloped – Red, Green and Purple. Most people don’t realise that the mountain serves another purpose – that of hiding all the parks numerous pipes.  The water in this park is heated to approximately 80 degrees Fahrenheit, apart from the ice cave of ‘Cross County Creek.’

There is plenty for the whole family to do – if you want a thrill ride then try ‘Summit Plummet,’ which has you plunging down a sheer 120 ft slope at 60 mph – not for the faint hearted – but make sure you wear a one-piece swimsuit if you don’t want to lose your modesty! It was the world’s tallest and fastest free fall slide in the world until ‘Insano’ was built in Brazil. ‘Teamboat Springs’ is a great ride for the whole family. As the world’s longest family white water raft ride it takes between three and five people down a twisting 1,200 ft series of rushing waterfalls.

Another great ride is ‘Snow Stormers,’ where three flumes descend from top of the mountain and you zip down the switchback course on a toboggan. Smaller children are not forgotten either, with ‘Tike’s Peak,’ a child-sized version of ‘Mount Gushmore,’ with a snow castle, a squirting ice pond, a fountain play area, rideable creatures, and short water slides. I really enjoy the ‘Ski Lift,’ which has wooden bench chairs with overhead umbrellas and snow skis, which carry you to the summit of ‘Mount Gushmore. ‘ Single riders can join a quicker queue. ‘Downhill Double Dipper’ stands 50 ft high and is 200 ft long, and is the only side-by-side racing water slide. Guests travel at speeds of up to 25 mph before shooting out through a curtain of water.

The naming of the various attractions and even the food outlets is quite amusing – take’ Avalunch,’ for example, which is the name of a snack bar. You can either bring your own towels or hire them, and lockers are available for hire, as are life vests for children. Only ‘Blizzard Beach’s’ own flotation devices are allowed to be used, but they are provided free of charge on payment of a refundable deposit. Be careful not to wear swimming costumes which have buckles, exposed metal or rivets as these are not allowed for safety reasons, and for many of the rides a one-piece costume for the ladies will protect their modesty.

For your own safety, and the safety of the staff who work at ‘Blizzard Beach,’ the park closes during inclement weather. Particularly in the summer, when tropical storms may occur in the late afternoon, the park will suspend activity during thunderstorms. If the storm is of short duration the park may re-open, but if the storm is going to last then unfortunately the attractions are closed and guests are requested to leave promptly.
Situated just

north of Disney’s All Stars Resort, this fun filled water park is a great way to spend a hot day in Orlando. Article submitted by 'ellie' Q4B9V8NHHH9J

During these days of some pretty high temperatures Aquatica provided some relief for some of it’s visitors. Albeit for a few hours, these ice seats were a hit with this family. Each section of seating weighed over a ton.

(Photo by Sea World)

By Steve Sewell

What better place to be during this warm spell than soaking up some sun in one of the water parks in Orlando.

Disney have just increased the daily admission price to $45 for adults and $39 for kids for Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. One way to take advantage of these increases is to buy a Water park Annual Pass, currently $106 for adults and $85.73 for kids.

These tickets are great if you do not intend on visiting the regular parks that much during your trip. 3 admissions and you are in pocket.

It appears that Sea Worlds Aquatica Water Park has been a victim of its own success. Many days now the park has closed its gates at 11am once it is full. They have received another 1000 sun loungers and have more on order after people complaining of not being able to find one.

This may still be the "Honeymoon Period" for the park and no doubt it will settle down a bit once visitors to Orlando have seen what it is all about. So the advice here is get there early!

Typhoon Lagoon is a gem in Orlando's treasure chest. It allows you to escape the concrete jungle of conventional theme parks and other attractions. It has a lush, tropical atmosphere with many sandy areas to sunbathe and plenty of shade for those that don't want too much Sun.
 
Without a doubt the most popular part of Typhoon Lagoon is the wave pool. It has two modes one is a choppy water effect and the other is a tidal wave effect. The latter of the Two is the most popular and you can hear the bathers chanting "We want the waves, We want the waves" They normally run the Tidal Wave for 30 minutes every hour with a 90 second break in between waves. The waves are about 6 ft tall at their highest and people try to "body surf" their way inshore on them. It's not that easy though! The force from the waves will knock you off your feet so watch out!
The wave pool is used to teach people to surf before the park opens to the general public. There are several videos on YouTube showing that.
 
There are sun loungers and chairs for your use but make sure you get there early in the busy times as they soon disappear, especially the ones close to the water.  The park opens at 10:00am but allows people to go through the turnstiles at about 09:45am where you queue on the bridges before getting to the actual water areas. This gives time for people to sort out towel and locker rental if they need it. You can also get free life preservers for kids too.
Throughout the day the music playing is playing is 50's and 60's "Surfer type" songs. There are several places to eat and get snacks but mostly it is fast food.
 
Other attractions there are the new slush 'n' gusher ride which is a water based rollercoaster type of thing, only you are on a 2 or 3 person tube. You go downhill and uphill on jets of water, through twisting enclosed tunnels to be finally dumped into a large pool at the end. A word of caution, though not often, they do tip over and I can vouch for that. If you do tip over the ride shuts down immediately, where you can either shimmy your way out of the ride or they open up the rope areas covering the tube runs to let you walk down the steps. Great fun though!
 
Tip: You can buy a souvenier mug for around 9 dollars and fill it all day long at the various soda fountains and eating places. If you visit again take your mug with you and get a new sticker with that days barcode for 7 Dollars and drink all day. If you want to read some more about it visit our Orlando Guide or Perfect Florida Guide.