Episode 6: Summit vs. Surf

In this episode of Chasing Disney Dreams, we take a closer look at the Disney Water Parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach!  We tell you about the slides, the wave pool, the lazy river and the food, all before giving you our opinion on the best water park.  And there's no better time to listen since Disney announced free water park admission on your check in date (reach out to us/Olivia to get more details)!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Come on, everybody. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Welcome back to Chasing Disney Dreams. I am Olivia Allward and I'm joined, as always, by Andrea Tolino. Today we are settling the ultimate Orlando debate. Are you Team Tropical or Team Tundra?

SPEAKER_02 0:31

That's right. We are diving deep into Disney's Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. It's spring of 2026, which means Blizzard Beach is officially back open for the spring season. While Typhoon Lagoon is getting its beauty sleeping refurbishment and is expected to be opened by May 12th, 2026.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

In today's episode, we're breaking down the big rocks of the Lazy Rivers and the 2026 curves, which you can book with me.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

So grab your sunscreen and your beach shells because we're heading to the wettest places on earth. The show is about to begin.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

So today we're diving deep into Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, and we just wanted to start off by kind of giving you an idea of what each park looked like. So today we're digging deep into Typhoon Lagoon and Disney's Blizzard Beach. We are going to talk about the themes, the key attractions, some of the food, and maybe even what they look like. We're gonna start by kind of diving deep into the theming and what they're looking like and talk about why they're named Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park is themed as a tropical paradise that was recently ravaged by a massive, legendary storm. The park's backstory tells us of a furious storm that swept through the resort of a village called Placid Palms, leaving surfboards flung into palm trees, ships marooned on mountaintops, and a landscape reclaimed by nature. The park's centerpiece is Miss Tilly, a shrimp boat perched atop Mount Mayday. Every 30 minutes, a 50-foot geisher of water erupts from the mountain as the volcano beneath attempts to dislodge the ship. The park is famous for offering a mix of high adrenaline thrills and lush relaxing environments like Typhoon Lagoon Surfpool, Crush and Gusher, Misadventure Falls, Castaway Creek, and Humonga Kawabunga, all of which we'll talk a little bit more about soon.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

So maybe Tropical isn't up your alley, but Tundra Town is. Disney's Blizzard Beach Waterpark is themed as a former ski resort that melted into a water park after a freak Florida storm. The story goes that when ice began to thaw, a playful alligator was seen sliding down the slushy slopes, inspiring the creation of the park. One of the things that Disney's Blizzard Beach Waterpark is known for is Mount Gushmore. The park skyline is dominated by it, a 90-foot peak covered in snow that houses the park's most intense slides. To reach the top of Mount Gushmore, you can take the chairlift. It's a slow-moving transport ride that offers a great view of the entire park. The key attractions of Disney's Blizzard Beach are Summit Plummet, Teamboat Springs, Cross Country Creek, Tobalgan Racers, and and the last one is Tyke's Peak. Which we again will get into all of those very soon. So now that you know the backstories on each park, we're gonna get into some dining because we all need to eat during a long water park day.

SPEAKER_02 3:49

When you're visiting Typhoon Lagoon, the atmosphere and food options are very tropical and fresh. The food leans heavily into the island atmosphere with plenty of seafood, citrus flavors, and plant-based bowls. The primary dining location for Typhoon Lagoon is Leaning Palms. It's widely recognized for its tropical salad with chicken, which features mango, pineapple, and a tropical vinaigrette. A great choice if you're looking for a low-calorie chicken-based meal.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

On to Blizzard Beach. The menu here is designed to match the melting ski resort vibe, focusing on savory flatbreads, hearty sandwiches, and worn desserts. Lotta Wada Lodge is the largest dining spot in the park. It is often recommended for the white cap flatbread, which is topped with chicken breast, bacon, and white sauce. It also offers a roasted veggie wrap for those wanting a little bit of a lighter option. The warming hut is considered the best place to eat in the park. It serves nachos with pork and a honey butter chicken sandwich. For a healthier chicken-focused option, the winter harvest chicken salad includes kale, quinoa, and a pear vinaigrette. And then lastly, maybe you want a sweet treat. Mini Donut Stand is the best place to go. These are small fried donuts served by half dozen or a dozen, and it can be paired with chocolate, raspberry, or white chocolate dipping sauces.

SPEAKER_02 5:25

And as a dining tip, both of these parks offer an all-day refillable mug option, which costs around $14 and allows for unlimited soda and tea refills throughout the day. It's a cost-effective choice if you plan on staying for the full day to stay hydrated between the slides. We've covered the backstory, we've covered the food. Now let's jump into the water park face-off. Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

We're gonna talk about what slides they have, what attractions they have, and maybe even some of the pools that they have to offer.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

The High Thrill water slide at Typhoon Lagoon is Humonga Kawabunga. These are three side-by-side enclosed body slides that drop you five stories in the dark. It's classic, fast, and a great for racing. At Blizzard Beach, the top throw attraction is Summit Plummet, one of the tallest, fastest, free-falling body slides in the world. You're dropping 12 stories at speeds up to 60 miles per hour. Have you ever rode Summit Plummet?

SPEAKER_00 6:30

Yeah, and maybe that story is a huh.

SPEAKER_02 6:35

It's not for the G-rated audience we're geared toward.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

Yeah. But it is something that you only ride once, and once you do it, you check it off your bucket list and you are done.

SPEAKER_02 6:45

You are done. It is, it is. It is tall. It is fast. And it is painful. It really hurts. But it's really cool because you know, when I think of Blizzard Beach, I actually think of Summit Plummet because when you look at it, you you see where you get on the slide at the very top, and you obviously slide all the way down, but halfway down it looks like a ski slope. And it's themed to where once you hit a certain part on that big drop, water shoots out of the ski slope in a design to make it look like you have just launched right on off that slope. Obviously, you don't, you end up at the very bottom, but but it's it's really cool. So anytime I actually think of Blizzard Beach, that's exactly what I think of.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Yeah. And Typhon Lagoon also, so a lot of the things that you'll see is these water perks both have a lot of things in common, but they're themed differently, and they have some things that are special for their water park or the other water park, but it's going to be certain things like this where it looks like you're jumping off a ski slope for Blizzard Beach. Right.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

And if you're gonna compare these two, depending on how you compare them, depending upon how you compare them, completely depending upon how you compare them. If you want the most pain. If you want the most pain, actually, if you really want the biggest adrenaline rush, to be honest, it's it's definitely the ski jump and summit plummet. Yeah. It's it's just intense. I'm glad I did it.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

I won't do it again. Well, at least until my child says, Oh mom, I want to do that, and then I'll probably do it again for her.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

But so it does, like if we're talking about the winner, so a lot of this is what we're gonna be doing is we're gonna be comparing the two. Kind of because I said that that yes, they have a lot of comparable things, we're gonna be comparing them and just kind of giving our opinion on what's the winner of each.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

I actually don't know if I've ever rode I don't know if I've ever rode humanga cow monga Typhoon Lagoon. It's been a long time since I've been to the water park.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

I um actually went last year because they were doing the free water park day on your check-in day, and I we actually went to Typhoon Lagoon and rode it. I think that if you're wanting the high thrill, you're not including pain for this topic, and you're just kind of moving past that and just really looking at what the actual slide is offering. I think you have to go with Blizzard Beach. It's just that's what it's known for. That's kind of the main they put a lot of like theming and stuff like that into that, and so I feel like that one is kind of your winner.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

Yeah, I would agree. I would agree with you. So for round two, let's talk a little bit about the wave pool experience. Typhoon Lagoon has surf pull, which it's the quote unquote north shore of wave pools. Every 90 seconds, a massive six-foot sonic boom wave crashes through. The waves are legendary, they're intense. They're at one time I don't know if they still do it, but they you used to actually be able to take surfing lessons.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

I think they still do, but I think it's like in the morning before it actually opens.

SPEAKER_02 9:52

Typhoon Lagoon at one time, I don't know if you knew this. Typhoon Lagoon at one time had some really cool things. They actually had a place where you could swim with sharks.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

I did because I actually did it when I was young. Did you? Yeah. It was sad. We um me and my mom, well actually my whole family did, but me and my mom did it, and she we were swimming across and they were because I think they're below the glass at that point. Like they had like a kind of a section off, if that makes sense. And so obviously we were swimming with them technically, but they were under glass, so it was much safer, I guess you could say, but yeah. It was fun.

SPEAKER_02 10:28

Yeah, nope, I never got the chance to do that. They have that same kind of thing, not at one of the water parks, but at Alani out in out in Hawaii. I could have done it out there and I didn't, and I'm sad I didn't.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

I've gone in a Disney cruise and we went to the water park in the Bahamas. I don't know why I'm spacing, but I forgot what it's called. Atlantis, maybe? Oh yeah. So we went to Atlantis on a Disney cruise. We went to the Bahamas, it was part of like the stops on the way, and we went to Atlantis, and they have a water slide where you can go, it's like a tube slide, and then the ending is you're swimming through you're moving through, I guess I should say, the shark tank, and these are massive sharks. Like these are like full, like size sharks. Really? Yeah, it was actually kind of terrifying but fun-ish. It was just like kind of scary. Very cool. Yeah, very cool.

SPEAKER_02 11:22

That's not anything to do with the That's got n those two stories have absolutely nothing to do with the water parks. With the water parks, but we I wanted to talk about them anyway.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Yeah. So compared to Typhon Lagoon Surf Pool, Blizzard Beach has what's called Meltaway Bay. It's a much gentler experience. It's not going to be your high, it's intense waves. It features constant bobbing, short period waves, and they're just perfect for a relaxing tube just to sit there and kind of enjoy. Just like almost like a wave pool, but kiddie pool, if you could say that. Yeah. Yeah. So first round we gave to Blizzard Beach, and now we're talking about the second round and comparing the wave pools, and I feel like Typhoon Lagoon is known for the wave pool. You go there and that's something that you have to do. So I would personally say that Typhoon Lagoon wins just because I think that that's what it's known for.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Yeah, I think you make a valid point when you said that it really depends on what you're looking for. Yeah. I have a toddler. She's two and a half. Yeah. And if I were going to a wave pool, I'm not a hundred percent sure Typhoon Lagoon would be the wave pool we'd be going to just because she's not quite there yet. I remember going to Typhoon Lagoon when I was younger, and those waves all but knocking me over. Yeah. You know, so it's it's if you're the adrenaline junkie, if you want something just kind of more intense, I completely agree. Typhoon Lagoon is your is your.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

And I think if you're comparing like what a wave pool is, like if you're thinking, like, okay, we're not taking kids into it, we're thinking just a wave pool. I just think Typhoon Lagoon has the wave pool. And so like that one's just kind of the winner for that.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

Yeah. And both water parks have family raft rides. So they're the larger rafts that sit usually. It's like three to four people that you can do, can you you can do as a family. So Typhoon Lagoon has Gangplank Falls, which is a short, choppy, four-person raft ride that feels like a real shipwreck adventure, real almost whitewater rafting with a lot of jerky movements and high sides and back and forth. It's it's pretty intense, it's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

And then Blizzard Beach has teamboat springs. It's one of the longest family raft rides in the world. Not just Disney World, the actual world. It fits up to six people, and it is a hilarious winding journey down the mountain. So it just kind of more it's longer, it's more relaxed, it's not necessarily something that you have to be worried your kid's gonna fall out of the raft, but it's something that you guys can enjoy. And again, it's the longest ride in the world. So for this one, I'm thinking Blizzard Beach.

SPEAKER_02 14:02

Yeah, I would agree. The length, the capacity, how many people can actually sit on it. I mean, that's insane. Being able to sit a six-person family on a float. How many, how many rides can you say, water rides especially? Can you say my entire family of six could sit on one raft and enjoy this together?

SPEAKER_00 14:21

Because a lot of families, like your normal family, is usually a family of four, but as soon as you have more than one, you know.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Yeah, you've talked about taking trips with larger groups. I've taken trips with larger groups.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

My grandparents have come with us, and then they have to take a ride by themselves, and it's just better when you have your entire family there. I agree.

SPEAKER_02 14:38

I agree. So I think we can agree. Blizzard Beach. Blizzard Beach and Team Boat Springs is the winner for that round. Each of these water parks has a kid zone, a great kid zone at that. Typhoon Lagoons is Kitchikitty Creek, which features some smaller slides, a leaky tugboat to kind of tie in with that boat themed, shipwreck theme. Yeah. And sand play areas. It's very tropical, it's very contained, it's a it's a great place to get away with your younger kiddos.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

Yeah, and then Blizzard Beach has what's called Tyke's Peak. It includes the frozen snow-capped slides and a polar bear theme. It's actually new for 2026 and it expanded its seating for parents and upgraded to a soft surface splash pad. So it's great for young kids, especially because it's not gonna be something that if the kids are playing running, especially in water, because you know your feet get heavier when it feels like they're going through water, if they fall, it's soft instead of being like a hard surface. So if we're looking at this based on like kids and kid friendly of all ages that are usually going to be in a splash area, not your older kids. I personally think Blizzard Beach is just a great option because they do have the frozen theme Olaf, and that's such a great kids' movie, as well as it gives a way for toddlers and young kids to play. It's the splash pad, and it has a lot of seating for families.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

Yeah, I agree. With the frozen elements being added more recently, and frozen being a big deal amongst kids, especially toddlers and young and young kids. Yeah, I think Blizzard Beach wins out the kid fun zone.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

And especially it just being like completely surrounding kids. It's focused on kids and like especially now that they're changing it to the soft surface. I just think it's a great option.

SPEAKER_02 16:28

Rounding out the face-off between our two water parks is the lazy factor. I'm a huge fan of a lazy river. Stick me in a tube and I will float until the cows come home. Yeah. Love it. Typhoon Lagoon has Castaway Creek, which is a 2,000-foot loop through rainforests, mists, and caves, and it feels like a true island escape.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

And then Blizzard Beach has cross country creek. It's a slightly longer loop that takes you through the ice caves, but beware, there is a leaky ice water bucket in the cave that might wake you up if you're going through there. So the lazy factor, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

Yeah, it's not. Blizzard Beach was the most recent water park I went to, and I was not. You weren't. That did not make me feel lazy in the slightest. That made me feel anti-lazy.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

Yeah, I personally don't like to be um under a leaky water bucket that would wake me up. So my pick? Typhoon lagoon.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

Yeah, if I want to if I'm on a lazy river, I am like lazy. Like stick me in an inner tube. I'm not moving.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

I also think like lazy in my eyes is tropical. And so I think that the theming of that too, it just makes it feel more like calm. And so I just think that Typhon Lagoon for that.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

You know what's really cool? Again, has nothing to do with our two water parks we're talking about. But Volcano Bay over at Universal. Have you ever been to Volcano Bay? No. Okay. They have a really intense. It's not a lazy river in the slightest. It's a real intense river, if you will. And I mean you have to wear a life vest in it because you are going through riptides and it's insane. Now, in my opinion, if I'm going to be getting wet, well, I'm in a pool, so I'm gonna be wet anyway. If you're gonna be putting like dropping water on my head or anything like that, stick me in something pretty, pretty rush-worthy. Yeah. None of this, let's mix lazy and and not lazy stuff. So I would agree. Typhon Lagoon is it would be would be my uh would be my choice on that one as well. The only thing I think that would make it better would be if they had a um option to float around with an adult beverage in hand.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:41

Our uh here in in central Ohio, we have Zimbezi Bay and they have an adult-only Lazy River. Oh. Did you know this? It's amazing. Where you can. I haven't been there since I was a kid. Oh my gosh. I, before we had Evie, I would go every Saturday morning I would go from like I don't know. It opened at 10, and I was there when it opened, and I'd stay from like 10 to noon. I would, I got my iPad, a like a a waterproof case, I would take it, I would get myself on my inner tube, I would have my adult beverage, and I would read. And I'd just float and for because it would be it wasn't Saturday, I'd go on a Sunday morning. So before church was let out and people would actually get there, I mean I'd be the only one floating in that thing for a while, and it was it was perfect, it was glorious. So, did you also know? Side note, you're there. This is still talking somewhat about Disney water parks. There was a third water park at Disney called River Country, and it closed. I only went to it once, and it closed probably back in the late 90s or early 2000s. And it was over in Fort, like near Fort Wilderness in the Wilderness Lodge. And actually, if you take the boat from Fort Wilderness or Wilderness Lodge over to Magic Kingdom, you will still go by where River Country was. It's it's it's abandoned now. However, because I I know about this and I tend to talk to people, the last time I went by it, because it still sits there, the last time I went by it, the cast member that was driving the boat told me, and you could see because it was dark, they keep the lights on it at night and they actually still pipe in the music, so it doesn't look like it was an abandoned water park, which is exactly what it is. It was insane. They had, I remember a water slide that you came down and all of a sudden you dropped like six foot off that end of the water slide. It was intense. And the water was piped in, was brought in from the lagoon, and because of that, the water was actually green. It was so disgusting. And being someone that did not grow up camping or anything like that, I did not fare well with said green water.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

Rumor has it, it was closed due to some sort of bacteria that had been in the lagoon and that was then ending up into River Country.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

Yeah, I didn't know about that.

SPEAKER_02 20:59

I went once. I only remember going once, but it was one that opened. I mean, it opened shortly after, I believe it opened shortly after Disney World actually opened, and it was around for a long time. And like I said, I only remember going it to the one going to it the one time and the green water and saying, I think I'm good and I don't need to go back anymore.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

I did want to add this really quick. So there is something at Blizzard Beach for what we would say tweens. They have ski patrol training camp. And if your kids have outgrown like your tight peak, but they're not exactly ready for the summit plummet, ski patrol training camp is like kind of your middle ground for kid zones. They have what's a thin ice training, and it's walk across the ice floats with the overhead rope. They have what is cool runners, and it's a zippy inner tube slide, and then they have a T bar drop, and it's a kid friendly zip line that drops you right into the water. So, those are just some fun things. For your tweens, your teens, just to do that, maybe they don't want to do the kids up, but they also are not ready for the summit fund. Yeah, I'm glad they offer that. Yeah, and it's they actually don't have anything comparable at Typhoon Lagoon, so it's just something to keep in mind. If maybe you have kids at that age, that would be a great thing for them to do. The next thing that we kind of wanted to talk about is some perks with the summer of 2026 for your Disney resorts, and one of the biggest ones is check-in day. So from May 26th to September 8th of 2026, you can get into the park for free. The water park. Yes, the water park. And it is for check-in of a Disney resort. So you have to be checking into a Disney resort. Me and my family usually plan to have our flights early, so then we can do the water park that day. But it's just something that maybe you can keep in mind. It does not, it is not valid for any of the other days. So even if you check in at 8 p.m., it is it's up at that point, unless you decide to do like a split stay and check into two resorts.

SPEAKER_02 23:08

Oh, I didn't realize you could check into two resorts and get it a second time. Yeah, that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

If you do a split stay, which means that you're staying at two resorts for one trip, um, your check-in day of the second resort counts as a check-in day, so then you can go and do the water park that day. Oh, that's pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah, I had no idea. They do have some like on-property guest amenities, they have complimentary towels. While if you are an off-site guest, so if you're just coming in and you live in Orlando, you do have to pay per towel, but a Disney resort guest gets them for free. And you just scan your magic ban or your phone at the towel station, and it usually you should have no problems say you do, there's always cast members around. There is free parking and transportation for resort guests, and that's a great offer because parking can add, you know what, $10 per day, whatever it is. I only think parking at like Magic Kingdom now is like 35 bucks.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

That's insane.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Yeah, so you never know how much you're actually going to have to pay. And then the last one, we kind of went over the refillable mug, so that is something to keep in mind. But the last one is they have what's called H2O Glow, and it's in after hours. It's the summer of 2026 from June 2nd to September 5th. It includes snacks because that's included into your ticket price. It is a ticketed event that is something to include, but it has unlimited ice cream bars, popcorn, and fountain beverages. I don't know about you, but I could eat thousands.

SPEAKER_02 24:39

I could eat enough ice cream bars to cover the cost of my tickets. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:43

Yeah. They should not have any long waits. A lot of the parks don't have long waits because Disney water parks aren't even comparable to Disney's parks in general when it comes to wait times, but it does limit the weights. And then they just have a whole different vibe there. Neon lights, DJ dance party. You can meet some characters also while you're there. So it's just something that you can keep in mind.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

Yeah, that's super fun.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

Not done in a glow night. Yeah. I've seen I've seen about them, but I've never done them.

unknown 25:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:17

But again, I've never I've not done the the water parks in which yeah. I I got a feeling that's gonna change as Evie's getting older, but it was not something, you know, that you really cared to do. Yeah. No, when I was younger, we weren't a we weren't a big a big swimming kind of family when I was growing up. I am now as an adult. Like I'd please give me a pool day, please send me to the water parks. Yeah. My husband not so much. So it might just be me and my little one when we do that kind of thing. But yeah, it's it's we didn't do a whole lot of it when I was growing up. The other really cool thing about Blizzard Beach, just kind of thinking outside the box here, which you don't have to go to Blizzard Beach to do this, they also have a really fun pop-hop course right up front. It's Winter Summerland, which is very holiday themed. On the one side, you have Santa in the North Pole, and the other side you have Santa on the beach. So he is really choosing his tropical temper as well.

SPEAKER_00 26:19

Yeah. With all of the deals and discounts being said, I again am a travel agent and ready to book whenever you are ready to book your most magical vacation. And you can always reach out through our podcast. We're gonna have social medias and emails listed, and so I can book all of those things for you and let you know what fits your trip and your times for booking.

SPEAKER_01 26:40

And she's good at it. She's been helping, like I said a couple episodes ago, she's been helping with our lasting cruise.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Yeah, the Which has been fun. Um, and something that is just it's Disney is a beast as it is, and I think we've said that in our other episode. But if I can help you with all the deals, all the discounts, all the money off, I'm going to, and so I really am out here to like help you as much as possible, make your trip as magical as possible, and really you don't have to worry about anything, and I'm fee-free, so it's great because you don't pay me a single penny.

SPEAKER_02 27:11

Uh yeah, you get to start your like stress-free vacation early. Yeah. By by hiring uh Olivia over here to book your trips, so it's something you really need to consider doing. I I highly encourage it. So there you have it. If you're looking for high-speed thrills in that ski resort charm, Blizzard Beach is your mountain.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

But if you want to lose yourself in a tropical shipwreck with the world's most intense wave pool, Tyson Lagoon is calling your name. I'm Andrew Telino, and I'm Olivia Howard. We want to know which one are you hitting first in 2026? Check out all of our social medias and tag us in your park photos at Chasing Disney Dreams. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you in the flash of the house.