1997: Disney Water Parks

For the adventurous and those who never get enough of the tropical beaches, WDW has three very distinct water parks. Although we visited then just to see what they looked like, Orlando's high-30s to low-70s temperatures during most of our Christmas time visit were just a bit too cold for us to even think about going into the water.

River Country

The oldest of the three water parks is River Country, which is located near the Fort Wilderness Lodge and Campgrounds. It takes on the character of a country swimmin' hole and includes two winding Slippery Slide Falls, a White Water Rapids tube ride, two corkscrew Whoop 'n' Holler Hollow slides, the Bay Cove swimming hole, and the Cypress Point Nature Trail.

Whoop it up on River Country's
water slides

Typhoon Lagoon

The main attraction at Typhoon Lagoon is the Surf Pool, where the wave action can go from mild to wild in just a few minutes. Climb to the top of Mt. Mayday (where the shrimp boat Miss Tilly is stranded) and you can ride either the 50-foot drop of the Humunga Kawabunga speed slides, three winding Storm Slides, or three White Water Raft Rides. For a more leisurely trip, you can try the relaxing tube ride on Castaway Creek There's also a Shark Reef, where you can snorkel along a coral reef with live sharks, and Ketchakiddie Creek, a tame pool with slides for the little ones.

Get ready for the big surf at Typhoon Lagoon

Blizzard Beach

The newest WDW water park is also the most unusual. Set in the middle of balmy Florida is what, at first glance, appears to be a ski resort. At the top of Mt. Gushmore (you get there by ski lift) is Summit Plummet, a ski jump turned 60 mph, 120-foot high slide! Other winding slides, with names like Slusher Gusher, Toboggan Racers, Snow Stormers, and Cool Runnings are placed in the setting of slalom ski slopes, toboggan runs, and bobsled tracks. For the less adventurous, there's the calm-watered Melt-Away Bay, leisurely Cross Country Creek tube ride, and kids only Tike's Peak.

Fly down the 120-foot Summit Plummet

| Home | Intro | Ventures | Sea | Air | Space | SciFi | Racing | Movies | Art | Travel | Exit |

| Intro | Magic Kingdom | Epcot Center | Disney Studios | Animal Kingdom |
| Water Parks | Downtown Disney | Resorts | All the Rest |

Last Updated: January 1, 2003