Blizzard Beach

Blizzard Beach is a water park located at the Walt Disney World Resort.

The park opened on April 1, 1995 and was the third Walt Disney World water park. The theme of the park is the "Disney legend" of a freak snowstorm in the area, leading to the construction of Florida's first ski resort. Naturally, the snow didn't last long, leaving behind a collection of waterlogged but snow-less ski jumps and chair lifts. The failed resort was in the process of closing for good when an alligator was seen sliding down a flume and splashing into a pool of water, screaming "Yahoo!" Thus the "ski resort" was reborn as a water park, with the alligator (named "Ice Gator") as mascot.

In 2009, the park hosted approximately 1.89 million guests, ranking it the second-most visited water park in the world, behind its sister park, Typhoon Lagoon.

The majority of the major attractions at the park are hosted atop of Mount Gushmore, an artificial hill with an elevation of 90 feet (27.4 m), making it the fifth highest point in Florida. Mount Gushmore is split into three colored slopes to aid guests navigating around the park: Green, Red and Purple.