Blizzard Beach Overview

Blizzard Beach is one of two Disney Water parks and is home to the world’s longest family white-water raft ride. Opened on April 1st 1995 the park’s theme is the “Disney Legend” of a freak snowstorm hitting the area, leading to the construction of a ski resort in Florida. The snow didn’t last too long and left behind a collection of waterlogged but snow-less ski jumps and chair lifts. The failed resort was about to close, when an alligator was seen sliding down a flume and splashing into a pool of water, screaming “Yahoo!”. The “ski resort” was then reborn as a water park, with the alligator taken on as park mascot “Ice Gator”.

The park’s centerpiece, “Mount Gushmore” is surrounded by most of the parks attractions. With an elevation of 90 feet it is the fifth highest point in Florida (you can see pretty much the whole of Disney World from the top, so take that waterproof camera up there with you!).

The park closes for a period of about 2 months each year. This gives enough time to refurbish the park. During its closed period Disney’s other water park, Blizzard Beach remains open.

The park boasts 12 attractions, including Summit Plummet, a 120 foot vertical free-falling body slide and Slush Gusher, a snow-banked mountain gully speed slide.