Disney’s Blizzard Beach Review

Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach? This is the question that many Disney water park aficionados debate on a regular basis- and for a good reason! Both venues have tons of water slides, both have a lazy river that circles the entire park and both have a giant pool in the middle which creates really, really big waves. In this article, we explore the Blizzard Beach side of the equation- basically, what we liked and didn’t like (we were there yesterday so this information is fresh). Later, we review Typhoon Lagoon. In our final article out next week, we come to a conclusion/recommendation about where to spend your valuable time and hard-earned money.

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About Blizzard Beach

What do you get when you combine two vacation themes: a Swiss ski vacation and a Florida water park? Blizzard Beach. This park, built in 1995, is decorated in true Swiss chalet fashion. Dark brown buildings (called Haus’s), with “icicles” hanging off the red roofs, dot the landscape everywhere. A little known fact – according to legend, Blizzard Beach was kept top secret almost until opening day (imagine trying to keep 100+ construction workers quiet!), suddenly Disney rumors started popping up in newspapers and on this new thing called “the internet” about the existence of a new, secret “Disney park.” Once the news was out, Disney did not hold back; they made the announcement immediately and neutralized the rumor mill. The rest, as they say, is history.

Blizzard Beach Rides

Skier-style water attractions encompass the park. Water slide “slaloms” (called “Snow Stormers”), an ultra-high-speed toboggan-style 90 foot long water slide, “Slush Gusher” and a luge-style multi-person water race called “Toboggan Racers” are a few of the more frequented attractions. There is even a chair lift to get you to the top of the “Summit Plummet”, a faux jump which ostensibly shoots the rider hundreds of feet into the air onto what would be a fairly hard landing. Don’t worry, it’s an illusion – you come out safely at the bottom, none the worse for wear. There is also a lazy river called “Cross Country Creek” where you can float slowly around the waterpark as you chat with family and friends.

“Melt-Away Bay” is the main attraction, though. This two-acre wide pool creates giant six foot waves everywhere – tons of fun for those in rafts in the pool. There is a shallow end for little riders and a deeper end for adults. Surrounding Melt-Away Bay is a sandy tanning area for those who are interested. There are also six-person raft rides, two-person water slide racers and many other water slide attractions – twelve in total.

The best part is that the lines are also quite manageable, even during the peak “Spring Break” week, which is when we went.

Overall Rating: Very Good

Like all Disney properties, Blizzard Beach is well-maintained and clean. We rate the overall park experience as very good. We would have rated it excellent but the fact is, any park built in 1995, even one that has been meticulously maintained, will not flow as well as newer designs, and Blizzard Beach is no exception. Still, we were hard pressed to find anything wrong with the beach waterpark. Our main complaint was that some of the sandy sitting areas away from the Melt-Away Bay were overcrowded, leading to folks sitting in the entry points, but they were far away from the action and far less important than the impressive 12-water slides featured in the center of the park. We rate Disney’s Blizzard Beach as very good.

See the Blizzard Beach map for more on the park layout.