Blizzard Beach's wave pool isn't as severe as Typhoon Lagoon's but the family raft rides and water chutes are superb.

Blizzard Beach's answer to Typhoon Lagoon's "Ketchakiddie Creek" is the "Children's Ski Patrol". A very enjoyable and challenging area for youngsters in which they negotiate ice flows which are breaking up.

The ultimate water chute of WDW is located here. "Summit Plummet" is 120 feet long and exits the rider at 60mph (so they tell me!)

Transport to the top of Mount Gushmore exists in the form of a chair lift. Stairs, cut into the artificial mountain are also available and certainly help to keep the heart rate elevated. From the top various raft rides and chutes are available but note that some require you to descend the other side again to collect your inflatable tubes. These can be one, two or three "man" affairs. The black hole (central to the three flumes) is a single occupancy only ride and therefore usually has the longest queue - but well worth the wait. The family raft ride is the best in WDW being long and exhilarating. Competitive toboggan runs and bobsled courses complete the choice of descents from the top.

One other advantage of reaching the summit of Mount Gushmore is the view obtained from the top. This is the one place to put Walt Disney World in perspective. From here you can see the All Star Resorts, Disney-MGM's "Tower of Terror", EPCOT's "Spaceship Earth" and to the north (almost on the horizon) the A-framed architecture of the Contemporary Hotel and the spires of "Cinderella's Castle". Oh yes, and mile after mile of lush, green forest.

* The third water park to open, however Disney's first water park - River Country - is now closed.