Relaxation

It may not have the tropical foliage of Typhoon Lagoon, but the lazy river at Blizzard Beach has its own greenery and charm. I find the cave better at BB than at TL, personally. More theming is visible!

Aquatic PeopleMover?

Like a good many folks, I enjoy floating down water park lazy rivers for at least one complete loop (usually 2-3).

Why do these rides appeal so much? Presumably because they deliver so much relaxation with minimal, if any, need to wait. Hm, nonexistent lines, a slow ride, and emphasis on relaxation? Sounds a lot like the WEDway PeopleMover to me (minus the cheesy lounge soundtrack from Disneyland's version).

Every park - water or regular theme park - should have such a ride. It really adds to the day.


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Blizzard Beach: Blame the freak snowstorm

The backstory for Blizzard Beach imagines that a freak snowstorm descended on Central Florida and deposited such an amazing amount of snow, it was seemingly logical that an entrepreneur would quickly cobble together a snow skiing operation. Inevitably, however, the Florida sun came out again, and all that snow started to melt.

Melting snow + gentle hillside = amazing water slides!

It's a brilliant theme for the park, easily the equal of Typhoon Lagoon's for imagination. And it gives the Imagineers the chances to leave a bunch of snow-oriented equipment (ski lifts, Sno-cats, snowshoes, snow-making misters, etc) lying around. But somehow, the overall effect is a bit more sterile than Typhoon Lagoon.

While Typhoon Lagoon (TL) is full of lush (organic) vegetation, Blizzard Beach (BB) is populated mostly by artificial snow made of plaster and cement. Even apart from the organic/inorganic contrast, the simple fact that so much of BB is white means that the sun's rays and heat are reflected, rather than absorbed, by the materials on the ground... rendering the park hotter than TL.

Still, for all that, BB has much better thrill rides, and is heavily favored by older kids. So this is very much a Pick Your Poison kind of decision.

Typhoon Lagoon: A tropical paradise, post-storm

Many of you probably hear "Orlando water park" and instantly think of Disney's famous (and famously well-themed) water parks. Pictured here is Typhoon Lagoon, which opened in 1989. At the time, it joined the smaller-scale River Country water park to give Disney a second park. Later, Blizzard Beach would open and River Country would shut down.

Typhoon Lagoon is as much theme park as it is water park. Far from being bare slides accessed by winding staircases, it hides virtually all of its slides from external view. It looks more like a lush mountaintop than anything else, which is entirely by design.

The overarching theme, which we'll see time and time again, is that of a tropical island resort that has recently endured a typhoon (a synonym for hurricane), which has caused all manner of mischief. Buildings lean sideways, debris is strewn about, and even boats have been hurled to land high and dry -- including the highly visible centerpiece of the park, the shrimp boat Miss Tilly stuck atop Mount Mayday.

Four Parks, No Blogs

Orlando is home to four full-sized water parks (Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, Wet & Wild, Aquatica), but there doesn't seem to be a major Web site or blog dedicated to bringing us news, updates, or even just plain old images from those parks.

This blog will try to share my love of these parks, capture their rich theming, and revel in the lush attention paid to them.

Even if your usual visit to an Orlando theme park is limited to a single day - the so-called "break" in the otherwise busy week - you probably appreciate how advanced these parks are. They deserve our attention as much as the regular theme parks!