Day 13 - Time to tackle the Snowfields
Today was spent at Blizzard Beach which is one of the 2 water parks. The good thing about the water parks in Disney World is that they are not just concrete jungles like on the Gold Coast, they are surrounded by lots of trees, shrubs and greenery which makes for a pleasant day out.
As we are staying at a Disney Resort we get access to extra hours we were able to access Blizzard Beach before the general public which means being able to hit all the big rides before they get busy. Blizzard Beach is set up like a winter wonderland and all the water rides are set up like a ski resort with the major attraction being the Summit Plummet. This is a 120ft vertical free-falling body slide where you lay down with arms and legs crossed and slide straight down. It is amazing to come down from such a height and at a very high speed. This was an awesome ride with the only downside being a bruised bum as you are hitting the water at high speed. Think of coming off an water ski’s whilst doing a whip and you will know what I mean.
After conquering the Summit Plummet we then attacked the Slush Gusher which is smaller in height however has two jumps (or like jumps because at times you can get airborne) in it which make for a thrilling ride down. After Zac, Talia and I attacked the big 2 rides, Jacqui joined us and we then went back down the mountain on a raft on a slalom course which was pretty cool.
The remainder of the day was spent attacking rides such as the Runoff Rapids where you go down on a tube in a dark, enclosed water slide, Toboggan Racers where you race each other on mats, Snow Stormers which is a switchback slalom course and then finished on the Downhill Double Dipper which was a timed race to the bottom of a downhill ski type water slide.
The water park had a really cool feature being a continuous flowing creek that ran around the outside of all the rides. This meant that rather than having to walk to all the different water slides, you could just jump into the creek, find a free tube and float your way around. We ended the day by all grabbing a tube and taking a relaxing, floating circumnavigation of the park before hopping out, drying off and getting ready to head back to the resort. As it turned out, this was a stroke of genius as a thunderstorm rolled in and everyone was requested to exit all rides and the water and make their way back to the main area for safety.
The other exciting part was the chance to have a meet, greet and photo opportunity with Goofy. This was the first chance we had to get close to one of the characters and I know who was the most excited (no not Zac, it was me....).
As we had an early start, we decided to make our way back to the Disney Downtown area where we checked out the marketplace full of more merchandise shops. This is where I discovered heaven: the ESPN shop. The even cooler thing about this discovery was the ability for me to get my own hand made Stephen Milverton signature Rawlings wood Baseball Bat. Whilst waiting for it to be ready, we were able to watch a guy by the name of Larry turn a square piece of wood into a beautiful hand turned wood baseball baton a lathe. After this had taken place, Larry then started to turn 2 smaller size baseball bats from some waste timber. He then came out of his work area (which had windows for viewing) and handed the small bats to Talia and Zac who had been patiently watching. As it turns out, Larry has been making Baseball bats for 41 years with some of his clients being Sammy Sosa and even Michael Jordan when he played minor leagues.
After taking ownership of the 1 only, unique Stephen MIlverton signature bat, we headed to Planey Hollywood for dinner and then home for an early night in order to attack the Magical Kingdom tomorrow.
As we are staying at a Disney Resort we get access to extra hours we were able to access Blizzard Beach before the general public which means being able to hit all the big rides before they get busy. Blizzard Beach is set up like a winter wonderland and all the water rides are set up like a ski resort with the major attraction being the Summit Plummet. This is a 120ft vertical free-falling body slide where you lay down with arms and legs crossed and slide straight down. It is amazing to come down from such a height and at a very high speed. This was an awesome ride with the only downside being a bruised bum as you are hitting the water at high speed. Think of coming off an water ski’s whilst doing a whip and you will know what I mean.
After conquering the Summit Plummet we then attacked the Slush Gusher which is smaller in height however has two jumps (or like jumps because at times you can get airborne) in it which make for a thrilling ride down. After Zac, Talia and I attacked the big 2 rides, Jacqui joined us and we then went back down the mountain on a raft on a slalom course which was pretty cool.
The remainder of the day was spent attacking rides such as the Runoff Rapids where you go down on a tube in a dark, enclosed water slide, Toboggan Racers where you race each other on mats, Snow Stormers which is a switchback slalom course and then finished on the Downhill Double Dipper which was a timed race to the bottom of a downhill ski type water slide.
The water park had a really cool feature being a continuous flowing creek that ran around the outside of all the rides. This meant that rather than having to walk to all the different water slides, you could just jump into the creek, find a free tube and float your way around. We ended the day by all grabbing a tube and taking a relaxing, floating circumnavigation of the park before hopping out, drying off and getting ready to head back to the resort. As it turned out, this was a stroke of genius as a thunderstorm rolled in and everyone was requested to exit all rides and the water and make their way back to the main area for safety.
The other exciting part was the chance to have a meet, greet and photo opportunity with Goofy. This was the first chance we had to get close to one of the characters and I know who was the most excited (no not Zac, it was me....).
As we had an early start, we decided to make our way back to the Disney Downtown area where we checked out the marketplace full of more merchandise shops. This is where I discovered heaven: the ESPN shop. The even cooler thing about this discovery was the ability for me to get my own hand made Stephen Milverton signature Rawlings wood Baseball Bat. Whilst waiting for it to be ready, we were able to watch a guy by the name of Larry turn a square piece of wood into a beautiful hand turned wood baseball baton a lathe. After this had taken place, Larry then started to turn 2 smaller size baseball bats from some waste timber. He then came out of his work area (which had windows for viewing) and handed the small bats to Talia and Zac who had been patiently watching. As it turns out, Larry has been making Baseball bats for 41 years with some of his clients being Sammy Sosa and even Michael Jordan when he played minor leagues.
After taking ownership of the 1 only, unique Stephen MIlverton signature bat, we headed to Planey Hollywood for dinner and then home for an early night in order to attack the Magical Kingdom tomorrow.
