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The theme at Blizzard Beach inside Disney is beyond comprehension until you actually go and see it for yourself. When you drive up, you notice everything looks like snow. You notice that there is an alpine ski jump with people actually going down it (kind of of...there's a trick to everything at Disney). Everywhere you look there are indications that you are actually in the alps from icicles hanging down from roof tops to skis and ski polls around the buildings. There is a chair lift, just like at a real ski resort, which takes you to the top of the mountain. There will be more pictures from Blizzard Beach after we have the film developed.
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All rides are fun at Blizzard Beach but the family raft ride is the best. Though all six of us weren't able to fit in a raft, we jumped in together for the picture. Although the waiting line was over 15 minutes, the two minute ride down the slope got us ready for things to come. Preston and Brooklyn had a great time at the wave pool diving into the waves. Brooklyn found that her favorite was actually Preston's favorite from last year. She enjoyed the T-bar drop where Brooklyn would hold onto a handle slide down a cable and drop into a pool. The idea was to let go right before the bar would hit the end of the line but she always held on.
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Leaving Blizzard Beach by 2:00 left us extra time so what else could we do but experience the new sky coaster swing. Lifting you to 300 feet for a free fall was simply too thrilling to resist. Preston was smart enough to say "No way; not me; huh-ah" but Brooklyn, of course, said "yea!" so the three of us were off. Strapped in harnesses and then hooked together, Greg, Susan and Brooklyn--yes, our four year old little Brooklyn--interlocked elbows and were lifted off the ground. Once the platform below us lowered and the three of us were horizontal, Brooklyn said, "I'm not brave anymore" and wasn't sure she wanted to continue, but after being assured mom was hooked to her and would hold on to her she got excited again.
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The trip up was much scarier than the fall down. As we raised up, the view was incredible. Brooklyn kept her eyes open the whole time, Susan kept talking to Brooklyn to make sure she was all right and looking up to see how much farther, and Greg, well Greg wasn't really aware of anyone else as he used words we won't repeat here and refused to look up. Concentrating on the water seemed to help him justify what he was doing up there. Once at the top we could see everything--the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and for miles around. Despite the view, there wasn't much time for looking around because the minute we hit the top, the speaker said, "3, 2, 1, pull" then Susan reached over and pulled the rip cord and the fall began.
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At 60 miles an hour, we swung down, then back up, then back down, then back up, etc. etc. etc. By the third swing, Brooklyn had her hands out and was yelling "hi Preston" down to Preston.
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After getting down when we asked Brooklyn if she wanted to go again, she said no but within about 5 minutes she changed her mind and said yes she wanted to go again. She agreed with dad that the ride up was much worse than the fall down. She felt like a big brave girl and was proud all day.
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To end the day we headed to Epcot with Aunt Jan who obviously took priority with the kids as both Dennis and Grandma lost out, and both kids held hands with Aunt Jan the whole night. Illuminations was great consisting of a combined laser light, water, and fire works show.
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Enjoying the different worlds in the World Showcase, the kids found Sombreros in Mexico. They wanted to take them home, but we figured they might be tough to get on the plane.
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Finally the kids got to their favorite part of Epcot, the jumping water fountains. Always a welcomed kind of wet, they cooled off chasing the holes to see which fountain would come up next. Preston decided to see if he could sit on the large center fountain and keep it down, but it didn't take long for the fountain to win.
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Not being able to resist the fun, even the adults got involved. Greg joined the kids in the fountain with the goal of getting more than just himself wet. Showing the kids how to divert the large, center fountain and get the audience wet was a big hit with the kids as they watched their parents "cool off".
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