34.1 Disney World Water Parks (Magic Version)

[00:00:00] Hey there M&Ms, welcome to a Magic Version episode where we revisit content that helped build this podcast. The conversations our listeners still reference, the advice you still message us about, and the moments that created the community we have today. This isn't a replay, this is a reimagining. The same heart with more experience and yes, still the same opinions. Hey there everyone, welcome back. I am your host Allie and I'm here today with Becky and Katie. Good morning.

[00:00:29] Good morning. Hi, it's the most wonderful time of the year. It's so funny because here where we live, actually where everybody lives, it's November and we are heading into fall season officially, well more so than we were. And we're gearing up for everything that's to come because now it's like the mad dash to the end of everything, right? We talked a lot about Christmas already on this episode, we celebrate Christmas.

[00:00:57] And if you heard me say, we do like a Magic Kingdom flip. We're like Halloween to Christmas in the day. But we were in a wedding this year and so we couldn't do our single day flip. Our wedding was out of town and it was really awesome. It's a great weekend, but it really messed up our Magic Kingdom flip. So now we're just kind of slowly doing it and it's trickling in. We've got a couple of the trees up and I'm really excited about it, but I don't want to overshadow Thanksgiving.

[00:01:23] Like I'm a Thanksgiving person. Are you guys Thanksgiving people? Thanksgiving is actually my favorite holiday. I don't know why. I think it's the lack of the hustle and bustle, like not having to stress about gifts, not having to stress about candy, not having to stress about anything. It's just the best of the best when it comes to spending time together as a family. I agree with that. I think we might be going to see Moana too this year on Thanksgiving. We were debating picking up that tradition there, Becky, that your family has of going to a movie.

[00:01:53] I love that so much. My kids are in a hot debate right now because is it Wicked or is it Moana too? And I think we've decided we're seeing Wicked the week before because it comes out a little earlier and then Moana too on Thanksgiving Day. They are both going to be amazing. My favorite thing about Thanksgiving, I grew up in a really big family. So anytime we were getting together for like a family dinner, it was like 40 cousins, right? Like that's just, that's the tone.

[00:02:18] But my favorite thing now that it's just me and my family and having that time together is the food. I am so fixated on how do I make the perfect turkey? What side dishes am I going to make? Ever since we moved to Florida, I know that you guys know that food has been a pain point in my life. And so for one day of the year, I'm going to make all the food that I want to eat.

[00:02:44] We used to do the movie thing, going back to that, on Christmas when I was growing up. This year though, and I think I've mentioned it already, we're going to be on the Disney Dream. We're going to be on a cruise leading up to Thanksgiving, not Thanksgiving Day because I, like you, Becky, it's one of my favorite days. Because when my family gets together, it's always amazing, but we're really busy people. So like the last time we saw them, it was because my nephew's soccer tournament was in our town, which was incredible.

[00:03:12] We got to see him play and that was really fun for everybody. The cousins loved it, but we were busy. You know what I mean? Like we were, we were everywhere. And it's, it's harder to just like have that time, especially when you have five cousins, five kids that are involved in so many activities. And so when we have Thanksgiving and we actually are forced to not do anything, but just be, it's the very best. And watch football. Hopefully my team is, I wouldn't call them doing well yet, but hopefully they're doing well by the time this episode drops.

[00:03:41] We could talk about how they're going to still be playing and it's going to be a great thing. We'll see, but I love it too. Football for Thanksgiving is going to be hopefully not a letdown for us. I talked about it earlier, like we're going to be in Orlando for Thanksgiving. We're deciding where are we going to eat Thanksgiving dinner at? This is going to be different for us. And I think the plan is we're going to get it to go and then go back to the condo and still have Thanksgiving traditional. I'm just not going to be the one cooking because I'm not, that's not who I am. So we're looking at all of the Disney Springs options.

[00:04:09] I think we're going to get it from Disney Springs, take it back, then prep for the movie in Disney Springs as well. We have a football game on Black Friday. So we have shopping on Black Friday, which we have to do. And then the Utes are in town playing UCF. So we have the big last game of the season for our boys in Orlando. That actually sounds amazing.

[00:04:33] It's so funny that you say that because we're also not cooking Thanksgiving because we're going to be on the dream, which by the way, the day we get off of the cruise is the day Moana FB releases. So now I'm just really hoping that they do a midnight showing or they just release it early for the ship. Because for listeners that don't know, and we did talk about it on our cruise episode, in the movie theater on the cruise line on the ships, they play current Disney films, whatever's in the theater.

[00:05:03] So since we're getting off of the ship when Moana 2 comes out, I have to think they're going to make it special for us. And hopefully we're going to get to see it. Anyway, because it's going to make us a little late arriving to Thanksgiving and my parents are going to be with us, we all just kind of agreed that we would order Thanksgiving in. We are still doing traditional food, but we're just going to do it at a way more relaxed level. I'm a little nervous about it, but I am also, I'm looking forward to the ease. I think my life is craving ease right now. I think that that is definitely one.

[00:05:32] I hope that you get it on the ship. We've had a premiere before and it wasn't even a midnight premiere. Like we had it the day before, I think for winter soldier. Ease is, that's exactly it. Like my mom was the spend 15 hours in the kitchen, making everything from scratch person. And I love her so much for that, but that's definitely just not who I, I'm more like, should we go with Chef Art Smith? Should we go with? It would be more traditional growing up, right?

[00:06:01] Like my mom and my aunt, my grandma would be in the kitchen forever. And I think the natural progression, you know, would be like, I was going to join them. And I'm like, guys, literal guys, stand up. I'm not doing all this. Like this is, and my brother's like a huge help. He actually loves to cook. He loves to cook more than me. So that's awesome. But I don't like it. Is this so bad? I actually have one of my very, very first memories with Sean from Thanksgiving when I, my grandma, I, I was really, really close with my grandma. So when she passed, gosh, it's coming up on a decade now already.

[00:06:31] That's crazy. But we were prepping Thanksgiving dinner and she told me that I should get Sean a plate and take Sean a plate. And I told my grandma, I'm like, um, he has legs. Yeah. Yeah. It was like my first rebellion of being like girl power. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna follow. Cause my mom to this day still makes my dad, his plate takes it to him on his tray. Like the whole thing. And I'm just like, yeah, that's, that's a tradition I'm breaking.

[00:07:00] I like the, you know, I'll make a plate for my hubby. I'll make a plate for the kids. But what burns me is if you just finished, don't you dare leave your plate on the table and expect me to clean it up. Absolutely not. No. You're how old is your youngest right now? Three. Three. Yeah. Okay. So I didn't know if she had turned, if she had turned four yet. So I'd even be like, she's got to clear her plate. Listen, Tally is the most helpful of all of them. She really is.

[00:07:30] She's my kiddo that spends the whole day with me. And all day long, she just wants to be like mommy's little mini me. And she's like, I help you do this mommy. And it's so great. And it's so charming. But the older two get home from school and they're like, ah, they're disasters. They don't want to do anything. That's because they have to catch the bus at a time that should be absolutely illegal. Yeah. I completely agree. I'd be burnt too. Katie's four children have to get on the bus at five in the morning or something silly.

[00:07:58] We had to wake up at 545 for my older two children to get on the bus by 630. Yeah. Yeah. And they're elementary age. That's crazy. Kindergarten and second grade. Yeah. There's no way. Yeah. That's not functioning for me. I can't imagine for them. Okay. Well, I'm really excited for all this to come. I'm a little nervous, but my brother, because we spend Thanksgiving at my brother's house, he says the place we're getting the food from is awesome. So I'll report back after we eat it because I'm only a little nervous. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

[00:08:28] They have great food there. So I'm thinking it's probably going to be really, really good. Going to be easy coming off of the Disney dream. And I think it's going to be great. But Becky, you said Black Friday shopping, and I almost feel like that needs its own conversation, maybe even another time, because I didn't even know that was actually still a thing. I don't know that it really is so much. However, for our family, we have one thing on our Black, well, two things on our Black Friday list. Me and McKenna are obsessed with Bath & Body Works.

[00:08:56] And so we always have to go to Bath & Body Works and get, they have like a bag that is just a promo thing, not sponsored by Bath & Body Works, by the way. We would love that. But- Oh, that's funny because I was about to say, I don't like Bath & Body Works. I know. It's like a team divided on this conversation. But we're actually Black Friday shopping, and maybe it will be mostly online. Like it's been online for years now.

[00:09:22] But the Taylor Swift drop for her book and her anthology, it's coming out only at Target. And it is a must have at our house because we are diehard Swifties here. Are you just going to get one copy to share? Yeah, we do one for our house for sure. The book looks pretty amazing though. We're really excited about it. I think it'll probably still be there in January. So I'm going to wait on that. I got my kids the catalog so they can like look through and see what toys and stuff they might like.

[00:09:49] And I mean, I keep hearing really consistent things about like toys for their play kitchen. But I have added something to my own wishlist for Christmas as of yesterday. You know that kitchen brand Ninja? They have this slushie maker that looks like a legit, you just pulled up to a gas station slushie maker, but it's for your house. And I'm like, I have to have that for Christmas. I love slushies more than chocolate. Slushies are everything.

[00:10:18] Is slushies like, are you talking like a slurpy slushie or like a snow cone? What do you mean by a slushie? You don't put any ice in it. You just put whatever you're, if you're going to make a Coke slushie out of like Coca-Cola, you just pour the Coke in and it's super cold. It has that cold core that like continually spins. Like you see it, like the gas station. It's one of those, but for your house. So there's like no ice that goes in it. It's just frozen drink. I'm like, yes, please.

[00:10:48] First of all, that is called an icy. And second of all, that sounds like a terror to clean. Like I bet that that kitchen product is terrible to clean. It's really, I bet it has a lot of pieces. I bet it's really hard. Allie, have you ever heard? You're not supposed to yuck someone's yum. What the heck girl? I'm sorry. That was rude of me. Okay. Well, good for you. That sounds like a great wish list.

[00:11:16] I do think that that's called an icy, not a slushie. And I bet you're going to love that. And I bet you're going to have Coke icies all day. Thank you. Icies are branded by the way. Slushies are generic. Yeah, because to me, it's a slurpee. Yeah. Yeah. It's like a, what is it that's branded that people don't even realize? Velcro. Kleenex. Well, Kleenex, I think everybody knows because it's a tissue. Kleenex. Velcro. Velcro. Well, there's no like alternative to Velcro, right? Yeah. No, they're called hook strips or something.

[00:11:46] They're called hook and loop. Oh. I think. Now somebody's going to fact check me on that. I'm almost positive that Velcro is called hook and loop or something like that. And that Velcro is a brand of that. I was going to say like bandaid is a brand that most people usually refer to instead of bandage. Correct. Yeah. See, look at us. Except I don't know that mine's a hundred percent accurate. It's somewhere. There's some accuracy in there somewhere for me, but I don't know. Somebody look it up. Okay. I'm excited to dive into today's conversation.

[00:12:15] We are kind of pivoting. We're talking about holidays. And so now I'm kind of cold thinking about because of where I live and it's the Midwest, but we're talking about water parks today at Disney world. And this is like a hidden gem. People don't, some people I bet right now are learning for the first time that Disney has water parks. And I would say that a good number of our listeners have probably never been to the water parks. Would you agree? You think that's probably fair to say some are just now learning and those that do probably haven't been. Yeah.

[00:12:43] I think that it is definitely one of the most overlooked pieces of Disney. For sure. Definitely. How often do you go to the water parks when you are on your Disney trips, either with other adults or with your family? When I was traveling from Utah to come to Disney world, we would go to the water parks every time. I'm not actually a huge water park person, but Disney touches on everything.

[00:13:10] It was a really, really great way to take a break from the hustle and bustle. Like it allows you to take some time to chill and goodness. If I could not just be in a lazy river for hours, that is my jam. Yeah. Well, we are going to take a quick break and then we're going to dive into the Disney water parks, what they are, kind of where they are and what they offer and why they're going to make your trip even better by including them.

[00:13:35] But before we hop to that break, I just want to say that Velcro is in fact a brand of the product called hook and loop. I did look it up. I was accurate. And we'll be right back. This episode of Moms Behind the Magic is brought to you by BabyQuip. BabyQuip.com. Use code MAGIC to get $30 off of any order of $150 or more. BabyQuip has grown. It's not just about babies anymore. BabyQuip offers a huge range of baby and toddler gear, cribs, strollers, car seats, toys, and more.

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[00:15:28] So head to BabyQuip.com. Use code MAGIC to get $30 off of any order of $150 or more. That's BabyQuip.com. Code MAGIC. Pack light. Travel happy. All right. We're back. I'm intrigued to hear what y'all have to say. So the coolest thing about the waterparks to me, the hustle and bustle of the parks. We talk a lot about taking the parks in at a leisure pace and allowing yourself that downtime and allowing those moments that aren't action-packed, right?

[00:15:56] But it's a lot harder to do. That's why we talk about strategies all the time. With the waterparks, there are such a good balance of this thrill and chill aspect. You know, you're going to get all your thrills still, which I think people maybe wouldn't assume. And you're going to get so much chill. Do you think it's fair to call a waterpark a substitute for a down day? Like, do you think it's still like a down day?

[00:16:21] My answer is yes, simply because I look at going to the pool at your resort as a down day as well. The rush is not, not rush as in like thrill, but the rush of like having to go from one place to another is not there. You can totally just pull up a lounge chair and watch your kids be in the water if you want. Like there's so many varieties to do that I don't think it feels like it gives you the exhaustion of a regular park day, in my opinion.

[00:16:46] I also would say that waterpark days for our family are chill, let's go hang out kind of days. And I'm not usually a let's go chill and hang out kind of person. That's just not, not my vibe, I guess. What I love about the way that Disney does waterparks is how accessible they are to the whole family. Matt and Bella and Emma love to catch waves in the wave pool. That's not my jam. I don't love that.

[00:17:14] And so Tally and I will hang back in the shallower area or Disney has a section of the wave pool that is just like a little kid section with a slide built into it. Right. And it's right there in the wave pool. And so they've designed things so well to make it accessible to the whole family and a place where the kids can go on the slide or the older ones can go catch the waves. And I'm just going to sit right here on this bench in the water.

[00:17:44] Yeah, they really kept everybody in mind. So I'm going to be the outlier here. Shocker. I actually don't consider the water parks the down day just because anytime you have to prepare and leave, it's not as down. Right. And now I'm going to contradict myself because like I am a believer in leaving a resort and going to a character meal on a down day. Right. Or going to the ranch. Like we talked about this on the show. But when you're going to a park and you've got to like pack a park bag, right?

[00:18:12] Which would be your water park bag in this case. And you're going to be walking around. You're going to still be seeing lines of some sort. I still think it's very immersive, which is why I am so excited for 2025 because you all know I don't like to do parks on arrival day. And I like a down day somewhere in the middle. And with Disney packages. And I don't know. I mean, how many listeners do you think know this? I feel like at this point, most people know this, but I also feel like it's a little nugget

[00:18:41] that some people might be learning in this moment or being reminded of is that Disney World in Florida in 2025 with your vacation package. If you do a full package, you're going to get a free water park day on arrival day. Insane. What do you value? It's like people keep saying when a promo is going to drop, you know, like when I'm like, there's kind of a year long promo running and you get this free water park day. The day you check in. It's a pretty big deal when you're considering if you can make it work.

[00:19:08] It's an extra reason to fly in early on that day or considering even coming in and doing a split stay so that you kind of could even do a potential two days. I don't know. There opens up so many doors of opportunities for people to consider experiencing the water park either again, if they haven't done it for a long time or for the first time, which I think is a mass amount of people who have never hit these water parks before. I just booked a client yesterday and they're doing that exact thing.

[00:19:37] They're doing a room only at the beginning of their stay. They're going on a Disney cruise. And when I was doing their room only package, essentially, they wanted to have the golfing and the extras that come from having a Disney package before going and getting on their cruise. And I was talking to my Disney agent. Huge shout out to those Disney agents who help us. We have a couple of them that recognize us here on the podcast now, which is really, really cool. But I was talking to her and she's like, how fun that they could go to the water parks before they go and get on their Disney cruise. And I was like, I hadn't even really thought about that.

[00:20:07] But yes, they could go to the water parks, stay at their Disney resort for one night and then get on their shuttle to go get on their Disney cruise the next day. And the savings, if they wanted to do the water park, that water park pass more than covers the cost of what they're paying for their Disney resort for that day. Such a cool idea. We, I just did something a little similar for a family. They've traveled with me a few times. I've booked a couple of their trips and they always add the water parks on. Like they always have the water park pass on. They're just diehard water park people.

[00:20:36] And for their upcoming trip, she wanted to go multiple times. And so we threw the idea out. What if we split stay, right? Like what if we do a split stay? So you have two included water park days and you have it on your arrival. And then the day you switch resorts is your next down day and you get that arrival day. There are so many like really out of the box ways to kind of strategize and use this re water park day. We have plans. We have big plans. The three of us plus Carla and Stacey have big plans.

[00:21:04] I don't know that it'll actually happen because I don't think any of us are actually water park people. I'm a water park person. Pick me. All right. We might send Katie to get a Slurpee at the water park. The day we arrive. But all of that to say, our trip is coming up in January. So stay tuned for that. And the water parks will be open. They're open year round. So it's an option to us. They're open year round. They're comfortable year round. The water is heated.

[00:21:29] If the outside temperature drops below like 60, I think it is or something like that. I think you better be looking to see if they're opening. They may be waiting till the weather changes or whatnot. But the water is heated and they are scheduled to be open year round. Yeah, they keep the water heated to about 82 degrees. And as someone who moved to Florida from Pennsylvania, people ask all the time, am I really going to go to the water park? Am I really going to use my resort pool in my winter vacation?

[00:21:58] I mean, as a Floridian, you know, it's 65, break out your babushka, right? But if you're from Pennsylvania, Michigan, like any of those northern areas that get winter time, you're going to come down to Florida and it's not going to feel as cold to you. So we were hitting the water parks in December and in February, the first year that we moved down here. I still feel comfortable hitting a water park in the winter time, but I think it's a good

[00:22:27] use of your time. The other thing that I was going to say, too, to sort of piggyback on your conversation, Allie, about how you can do a split stay to sort of like strategize getting another free water park day in there. If you are someone who is going to be taking an especially long vacation, let's say you're coming down here for, I don't know, two weeks or something like that. A good strategy, too, is you mentioned that you can add that water park pass onto your tickets.

[00:22:56] And whenever you do that, it's essentially like doubling the amount of park days. So if you buy five day tickets and you add on the water park and sports option or do the park hopper plus option, which includes the water parks, it's essentially like getting 10 park days out of that because you get five that you can do at a theme park and five that you can do at a water park. So it's a really great way to save that way, too.

[00:23:23] Just on the other side of it, the water parks are very key in these saving strategies. And by the way, if you haven't listened to our episode about Disney's saving strategies, check that one out, too. Yeah. And, you know, don't forget that that free water park day that we've been talking about so far on a hopper plus or on a water park ticket, you actually get, you know, if you have a five day ticket, you actually get six water park days.

[00:23:48] We included water parks in almost every single one of my trips growing up with my family. And back then there were three water parks at Disney World. Shout out to River Country. If anybody ever went to River Country, it was so cool. And now it's like a it's like an abandoned water park now. We loved it, but we went to all of these all three of them growing up. So we made lots of time for them because I know we visited all of them. Now Disney has two and it's Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon.

[00:24:17] Would you think it's fair to say that one over the other leans harder into thrills? Or would you say that they really, really are equal here on what they have to offer? I feel like they're both offering a good amount of thrills and a good amount of chills. I almost feel like at this point, theming is maybe the difference between the two water parks. There's obviously some hardcore differences in what the slides are offering you.

[00:24:46] But we're talking water parks that are going to have both are going to have slides. Both are going to have a lazy river. Both are going to have all of these pieces we're going to talk about today. But I think the thrill is there in both situations. Yeah, I think they're not. The thing about them is that they're not typically open simultaneously throughout the year. And that's really important to know. I think maybe in the deep summer months, they might both be open. But historically and most often, they are alternating.

[00:25:12] Like as we record this, this past week, one just closed the same exact day as the other one open. Because they, you know, like Disney, they like everything to be constantly fresh. And the best way to make a water park constantly fresh is to continue to refurb it often. There's a lot of wear and tear that happens at those parks. So to keep them looking beautiful and Disney standard, one closes while one opens and they work on it and they stay awesome that way.

[00:25:37] In most cases and most times of year, probably only seeing either Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon. And wouldn't that be awesome if your trip was just naturally scheduled over a bridge and you could hit both? But typically you're probably only going to hit one. That's why it's great that they really are very similar in their offerings. I do have a preference out of these two. Which one do you like better between Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, Becky? I'm going to lean heavy into Blizzard Beach.

[00:26:05] I think that the theming at Blizzard Beach is so cute. The picture, again, I always go back to the good picture. I just think that Blizzard Beach's vibes are more my vibe. I do love Blizzard Beach, but I would actually lean the other way. And I would say that Typhoon Lagoon is my preference. But gosh, we love them both. And I feel like there's unique reasons to love them both. But in my heart, Typhoon Lagoon edges it out just ever so slightly.

[00:26:35] I think that's because you're a roller coaster junkie. So a water roller coaster, Katie's like, heck to the yes. Oh, I never even get to go on Crushing Crusher. It makes me sad. I, okay, to be fair, I could. But it's always like Tally's not tall enough to ride it yet. And so Matt's taking the older two. And Tally and I are hanging out in the little waiting pool there. And I'm like, I don't feel like getting in line again for it.

[00:27:05] First of all, well, I'm going to touch back on that. But I am glad you each are split on that. I tend to fall more in the Blizzard Beach category. I don't know if that's rooted in my nostalgia for it. Because it's the one that we favored growing up a lot. Or I think the storytelling there. So the idea of Blizzard Beach is these snow-capped mountains. And the weather has heated up. And the snow and ice are melting. The whole park is built around the ski lodge idea.

[00:27:32] So you're getting to ride these ski lifts, which is really cool. And then the idea that the water you're swimming in is the melted snow and ice. And now they've just turned it into this amazing water park. I mean, that to me is Disney Imagineering woven so smartly into a water park. I just think it's so well done. I love. There is a family ride, Team Boat Springs at Blizzard Beach. And it's one of those big family tube rides. And I've talked a lot.

[00:28:01] I'm still a very short person. I was a really short kid. And from a really young age, I remember being able to ride that with my family. Which is a really cool memory. Because you can be pretty short and ride that. Gosh, like my mom doesn't swim. Which I've talked about before. But she would go down that slide with us. So I'm obsessed with that big family slide. And my heart lives with Blizzard Beach because of all the theming. And I think it's so smart. I was going to say you love Blizzard Beach. And I could be wrong in this.

[00:28:29] But you might be the most competitive person that I know. And the Toboggan Racers are a competition in a water park. Enter Allie here. It's like the perfect place for you. And you're like, I could see you like totally trash talking your kids that you're going to beat them down. And for sure. Oh my gosh. The Toboggan Racers are so fun. We did all five of us going. You're going like, I don't know, nine or ten people at a time. And you're racing down the mountain. Hilarious. All five of us were going.

[00:28:58] And I haven't been on it on a long time. But the mat you're going on folds up and you hold on to it. And I just remember dying laughing because it's splashing you in the face. And I'm just like, I feel like a stinking kid in this moment. And I'm a 40-year-old mom doing this with my teenagers. And it's like, do it. Do those things. Even though it's outside of your comfort zone. Even though all of the body insecurities. All of those reasons. Just let go of it and go do that with your kids. You're going to make the best memories. We still laugh about that to this day.

[00:29:28] I'm right there with you in that I'm just a big kid there alongside my kids. I am not. You will never meet Katie who is just lounging in, you know, my swimwear. That will never happen because I just fry. I'm always just like, let's go have fun. Let's go. For me, all of the body insecurities melt away because I'm like, I'm just here having a great time like everybody else. So fun.

[00:29:52] I'm dying to go now because now I'm like, I need to put my kids on T-Boat Springs and I need to race them down that mountain. And it's so funny, Becky, you said that I'm the most competitive person, you know, because on some levels, I feel like I've let a lot of that part of me calm down. But as I'm imagining myself on the racer, I'm like, I would physically feel nervous at the top of that hill. Like, I feel like I have to like there would be a level of me that would want to say, we're just doing this for fun.

[00:30:21] And then the other level of me would try to take the biggest push I possibly could to get going as fast as I possibly could down the down the stretch. Oh, it's hilarious. I love it. Yeah. Would you be willing to go on the big slide, the Plummet Summit at Blizzard Beach? Here's a crazy thing. When I was growing up, we had the coolest water park. And then it was overtaken by we have a really big amusement park that built a water park on and built it up really big. And so the standalone water park kind of died.

[00:30:48] But this standalone water park that we had here in Cincinnati growing up was really awesome. And they had this slide that essentially went straight down. And it was probably half of the size of Summit Plummet. And I loved that slide. I was a thrill junkie and I could ride that from a pretty young age. And I thought it was so cool. You know, like halfway down, your body would leave the slide and you would do that little lift off. So when I was going to Blizzard Beach when I was little, that was my references. I knew the cliff.

[00:31:16] That was the name of our slide here in Cincinnati. And if shout out to any listeners that might be from Cincy that remember the cliff, because that's a super nostalgia moment. At Blizzard Beach, there is this ride called Summit Plummet. And it is massive. Summit Plummet is so big. And it looks like you're at the top of like a ski jump, right? So the line takes forever to like, it's a long way up. It's a long way up because it's far away. You know, it's a high slide.

[00:31:46] It's 120 foot slide. Yeah. Yeah. And you got to get up there, you know? And so my dad and my brother, my dad was such a thrill seeker back then. And I was never tall enough. And I can remember they would go, my dad and my brother would run. I can just still like see them walking away. It's like so sad. And my mom would stay back with me. She was great. You know, we would do whatever. Like you and Tally, Katie. But I was much older, you know? And I would just be so sad because every year I just wasn't tall enough.

[00:32:15] And by the time I was tall enough, I don't know, we just weren't going anymore. Yeah. All that to say, I haven't done it. I haven't ridden Summit Plummet. And now that I'm tall enough, I would be really scared, I think. Because I know the coming wedgie. You know? I know I'm going to have to like end the slide with my hands completely covering my chest. Because you just know that suit is not staying intact.

[00:32:44] You're going to be flying up and flying out everywhere. I think I would do it. You know, a game time decision, I think I would. But I would be really nervous. I would be really scared. I'm laughing so hard thinking about how this is a full circle moment that you're finally talking about. I know. It's like a throwback to your eighth grade conversation of not getting to go on the roller coaster. Oh, God. So embarrassing. Oh, man. Yeah.

[00:33:11] And the girl whose birthday party that was at, if you know that story I told, she teaches tumbling for me now at my dance studio. And we were literally just talking about it and laughing. Like last week. Wait, are you sure you're tall enough for Summit Plummet? Actually, what's the height limit? Maybe not. I just have too much. I have too much knowledge now. So I know that there's some pain elements that come with Summit Plummet. Yes, definitely some pain elements.

[00:33:39] And I think as moms, we kind of look at that as, is it worth it? Is the pain worth it? Toboggans? Yes. Yeah. Summit Plummet? Maybe. If you have teenagers, go do it with your teenagers maybe. But I don't think I'm doing it. Honestly, I remember being, you know, in whatever splash pad or eating an ice cream or whatever it was. I was difficult as a kid. So I'm sure every time my brother and my dad would go to Summit Plummet, I probably threw some level of a tantrum.

[00:34:05] I probably wanted them to stay back and not ride because I couldn't do it, you know. And there must have been some sort of conversation when they would come back and don't act too excited because set Allie off or whatever. But I can remember vividly like side eye watching my dad tell my mom how excited he was and how much fun he had and what a rush it was. So those are cool memories to have. And I just remember how much fun and I can remember them talking about it leading up to trips and how they couldn't wait to go down it.

[00:34:35] Yeah, I would say go for it for sure. If you're a thrill junkie, that's a massive, I would call that one of the biggest thrills at Disney World would be Summit Plummet. Like right in par with the bigger coaster thrills and things like maybe even a top five. I think that Typhoon Lagoon has some pretty awesome thrills as well. We hinted at it, but Crush and Gusher, I was there the year that Crush and Gusher opened and it was a big deal because you actually go uphill on that water slide.

[00:35:02] And so getting to ride a water coaster, it's not the most comfortable experience, right? They have to propel you up a hill on a water slide, but you're in like this raft. Yeah, it's water jets and it's pushing you and it's really kind of thrilling. It's kind of exciting. You go really fast. I have a really, really, really good memories from that thrill as well. But then I also love the other thrill at Typhoon Lagoon that's unique, which is surfing.

[00:35:31] Like, do you know you can surf at Typhoon Lagoon? It's before and after hours, but it's still pretty cool. Yeah, so Typhoon Lagoon has the largest wave pool in, I was going to say the country, but I think even broader than that. It's the largest wave pool in North America. So the, but the surfing, you can go in and they have like open surfing and their surf machine is legit giving you waves. It's not like going out in the ocean and waiting for some kind of wave to come.

[00:35:58] You're going to get a solid wave and you can buy open surf, but you can also buy private surfing. It's expensive. If you are a surfer, if you have a surfer in your family, you can invest in going and guaranteeing yourself some pretty awesome waves. I wish I was a surfer for that purpose. Yeah. I wonder if they take novice surfers because I think this is absolute, I think light bulbs everywhere are going on right now. I bet very few people know that this is a thing.

[00:36:25] And in this massive wave pool, I know you, I know Disney guarantees that you'll get at least 10 waves, which is like really a cool standard. I would assume because I've never done this, I'm surprised, not a surfer from Ohio, but I think I would venture to say maybe even you'd probably get more. It's like a minimum 10, but you'd probably get more and you can host private surf. So it's, it's a really, really unique thing.

[00:36:51] And again, that's outside of water park hours because it is in the big wave pool. Wave pools give me a tad bit of anxiety, to be honest. I think probably just because I have three little kids, but Disney is so safe. Like if I'm going to let them go in any wave pool, that's the one I'm going to probably let them in. When we went on vacation to Hawaii, we did pay for private lessons for our kids to learn to surf in Hawaii and they have surf school options. I'm not going to guarantee it every day, but if your kids have that on their bucket list

[00:37:19] and you don't want to find somebody to go out to the ocean, like it's another cool, very unique experience that Disney has up as an option of. I love that. I am not, even as an adult, I'm not on team wave pool because I just have too many memories of me being 10 or 12 years old in a wave pool and catching a wave that I had no business catching and like being plastered against some big hairy man that I don't know.

[00:37:45] So I don't love wave pools, but my husband and my older two adore it and they have the greatest time. For as much of a water park person as I am, I'm realizing that there are lots of elements of water parks that I don't particularly enjoy because I just said I don't enjoy the wave pool. Becky, you said you could lounge in the lazy river all day long. All day.

[00:38:09] If we go to a lazy river together, I am going to be that friend that is not catching an inner tube. And I will just sort of meander along with you because I hate being in an inner tube and bumping into people I don't know and being like, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, but I can't control where I'm going. Like, no, that is not the vibe of the, of the lazy river. And I'm, I don't care if you want to be in the lazy river with me, just let me be in my, my tube. And I'm going to float around. I'm not to put the legs outside of the tube person.

[00:38:36] I'm like, put my body through it and just lay on my tube and go in it for hours. And Laker will do that with me. And he and I are just floating. We'll probably go around that lazy river and it's not a small lazy river. I don't know how long their lazy river is, but it's probably 20 plus minutes to make a loop and we'll go around like five times. Yeah. We love it. Yeah. That's what I love about the water parks is you just have that relaxed, checked out. You can still do all the water slides and float five times around the lazy river.

[00:39:06] If you want, you know, you can really do everything and you can have that real balance of the thrill versus the chill, which I love. And I think everybody's seeking at Disney world. I also highly recommend renting a cabana, getting a private spot or a tent or whatever, an umbrella. I just think having a home base that's either a little bit more convenient, a little bit more comfortable is never a bad idea, especially if you're getting an included water park day on your 2025 vacation, then you have a little wiggle room maybe to get things.

[00:39:34] You can get an umbrella worth it. In my opinion, like in that Florida sun, if you can guarantee an umbrella. Oh yeah. Like, especially if you're getting there later in the day, there are definitely places that you can find shade throughout the park that you wouldn't necessarily need an umbrella. However, a lot of those shaded places are going to be tucked back in coves where you're not going to be able to watch your kids be in the water. So very, very intentional. And there's, there's like so many different areas to these water parks.

[00:40:02] In particular, I think that the little kid areas are really, really something to not overlook for your littles. If you are somebody who cares about the splash pad at your resort, some of the moderates and deluxe resorts have amazing splash pads for kids. This is like those, but on steroids. The frozen area is so cute in Blizzard Beach. The Catch a Kitty Creek is just such a fun place for kids to go play and imagine and splash around and be carefree.

[00:40:31] I love the kiddie areas in both the water parks, whether we're talking about the frozen splash pad and the little kid slides. My kids are still little enough to enjoy those little slides. They make little kid size inner tubes. They go pick up their little inner tube at the bottom of the slide and they walk up to the top and they get to cycle their way down. And for most toddlers, that's their first introduction to a water slide, right?

[00:41:00] Gosh, we spend so many hours in those little kid areas and we love them. So over in Blizzard Beach, it's Tykes Peak that has been renovated to be frozen themed. But there is another little kid area over by Tykes Peak that's called Ski Patrol Training Camp. And that's the area where it's maybe a little bit older kids. Like my eight-year-old really enjoys that area where they have the ropes that they're going

[00:41:29] to be going across platforms over the water. They have a zip line that they can jump down into the water. Like there's a lot of really fun, unique things happening over there too. So we spend, we just spend so much time in the little kid areas at both of them. And Disney just does them so well. The 34-year-old in me is transformed. I wish I could be a little kid and be doing all these, you know, let's go play with the sprayers.

[00:41:57] Let's, you know, let's go run through the waterfall. Like that's just me. So I love enjoying those areas with my little kids while they're still little. All right. We're going to take another quick break. This is such a fun conversation. I'm like dying to go to these water parks now. I'm seriously about to finish recording this and then strategize for my spring break trip. Oh, I love this. I love this. You know what we didn't? There's one more thing I really, I'm excited to dive into to kind of round out this conversation.

[00:42:27] But I don't think when we were talking about the cabanas that you can get at the water parks, what they include, we just kind of touched on them. If you're looking for any way to really level up your day, a cabana is going to accommodate up to 10 guests. It's going to have seating for like six. There's usually like a little couch-ish and like a chair to, you know, and so it's not going to have like 10 seats, but comfortable enough seating. All 10 of you aren't going to probably just be sitting there. It's going to be like a home base, right? And you're back to eat lunch or whatever you're doing.

[00:42:54] You're going to have towels because otherwise, unlike the Disney resort pools, towels do cost money at the water parks. So in your cabana, you have towels, a private locker included because lockers otherwise cost. So with a cabana, that's included. Ice water, that's huge. Souvenir refillable mugs for soda at the water park specifically. So these are not the same as your resort refillable mugs. These are water park refillable mugs. So you can refill them while you're there, which is awesome.

[00:43:21] And you have attendants that are available to take food and beverage orders, which is awesome. If you've ever just hung out at a Disney resort pool for the day, you know that this may be a thing that at your resort, some cast members will do depending on where you're staying. That is such a luxury that we take advantage of all the time, ordering food and drinks right from our seats. You get a fan, a roof, a mini fridge, charging ports. I mean, it's great. And it's private. You're not going to have somebody else's family trying to like wait for you to let go of a recliner so that they can steal it for their family.

[00:43:51] Like it's, it's its own little retreat. Yeah, definitely. The first time I saw one of these attendants and they're walking around with these ice water washcloths and things for you. I'm like, oh, that is so nice. I did not know this level of luxury existed. Yeah. It was so great. It really is awesome. I mean, they really take care of you. So highly recommend that. It's going to be pricier, but really great and really worth it if you have that kind of money

[00:44:18] to splurge and you really want to level up your water park day. Okay. The last thing I'm really excited to talk about that we haven't touched on, we've talked a lot about the different themings at these places, why each one is really unique. The fact that they are so thrilling and exhilarating and so much fun. One of the really exciting and awesome things that Disney does year round within the theme parks are these special parties. You get a Merry Christmas party.

[00:44:43] You get Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party, and then you just get the sort of non-themed after hours events inside some of the parks. So I believe, I don't know if either of you were with me, but with some other agents, I attended a Hollywood Studios after hours event. So fun. We got snack tickets and really unique characters were out. That's where we met Lotso, which was just really cool. Rides are open. They're just awesome experiences. They are ticketed events.

[00:45:09] You get these exclusive hours in the park to ride attractions with really low weights and meet really unique characters and have some different snacks. Typhoon Lagoon offers its own after hours party, specific months of the year, specific nights. It is a ticketed event. And I cannot wait to do this with my kids when they're older. I need them to be, for me, I want them to just be a lot older and really strong swimmers so that we can just go and not have any stress.

[00:45:39] But Katie, I know you recently did H2O Glow. That is the name of this party. Like, first of all, what a cool name, H2O Glow. Tell us about your experience. Yeah. H2O Glow is amazing. And I have sort of, whenever I've talked to clients about it, I'm like, this is almost like a secret after hours event because so many people don't know about it. It is a great value for your money, but it's just such a unique and cool experience.

[00:46:06] I want to just start off by saying I'm as fair and pale as the day is long, right? And so anytime I can get in a night swim, I'm all for that. I love that H2O Glow happens in those evening hours so that I don't have to worry about getting the kids all lathered up in sunscreen or anything. We're just good to go. And there's just so much fun happening at this event. So they do have lots of people have glow sticks and things like that.

[00:46:33] They have dancers that are like out on the beach dancing with you. They bring out characters. There's like, we met Goofy. We met Captain Hook and Smee. My kids spent probably like a full 10 or 15 minutes just like dancing with Captain Hook. Like how fun was that, right? But I mean, Allie, to your point of taking them older, I took them while they're still little. And we just had the greatest time.

[00:47:00] I have so many pictures of my toddler, you know, we're dancing on the beach and she's like over in the, I don't know how to describe it. There's like these shower, shallower sections on the outside of the wave pool that are not connected to the wave pool at all. But they catch probably like, I don't know, maybe a foot of water. Maybe not even that much. But that's where Tally likes to hang out and play during the day. During H2O Glow, she's like dancing over there in the little shallows and everything

[00:47:28] in her little swim diaper. And it was just, ah, it was just such a cool thing. But the other thing too that I really love about H2O Glow is they include snacks and beverages with your ticket at that event. So you get popcorn, you're getting, you know, soda and everything. They do the Mickey premium bars included. It's another great perk of the evening is I'm not waiting for Crush and Gusher and I can swim as much as I want.

[00:47:56] I can enjoy the party and the characters and the dancing as much as I want. It's just, it's a really cool thing. And let me just say that as a 90s kid, this was like the perfect 90s kid vibe. They're playing the music that millennials super love. Out on the beach, the people that were dancing were little kids. And then like moms my age who are really just there to have a great time. I mean, we saw plenty of people that didn't have kids there just having a great time. It was, it was fabulous.

[00:48:26] Yeah. I cannot wait to do this party. Katie, does it start after dark or does it start like as the sun is setting? Because I honestly feel like going to the water park at the second half of the day is such an overlooked thing. Having the golden hour at the water park is so magical and beautiful and glimmering water, sun setting. I love it. Yeah. You get to go as the sun is setting.

[00:48:52] I think, I think it's usually like five or six o'clock that that event starts. So it's perfect. Yeah. It's awesome. It's something if you're traveling, especially in the summer, you should be looking into or asking your sage in about because what a hidden gem of fun you can really add to your day. Okay. Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, overlooked, under acknowledged, probably by us and most people that go, but I'm amped.

[00:49:19] I'm ready to, to make this happen for my family because I haven't taken my kids and they're really at a fun age that I'm excited to experience it with. Also, I need to see which one's going to be open when I go in March. That schedule is probably out. So I need to look at that and start to strategize. All right. Should we do a little water park lightning lane? Let's go. Okay. All right. I am demanding fast answers here. Don't forget. We're not, Stacey. It's okay. Sorry, Stace.

[00:49:47] We'll go Becky and Katie for every answer. Okay. Cause that's how you are on my screen. Okay. All right. For family raft rides. Would you prefer Miss Adventure Falls or Team Boat Springs? Miss Adventure Falls for sure. I agree. It's gotta be Miss Adventure Falls. I think I'm Team Boat Springs. Is there a wrong answer? I don't know. No. For our biggest thrill, Summit Plummet, the big, super tall body slide that I was talking about, or the Crush and Gusher water coaster at Typhoon Lagoon? Crush and Gusher.

[00:50:15] Cause I just can't do Summit Plummet. I'm gonna agree with Crush and Gusher. I'm going Crush and Gusher as well. Okay. What about, even though I haven't done Summit Plummet as we all well know now, but I'm just, I'm super scared of the wedgie. Okay. Kid area. Child play areas. Catch a Kitty Creek or Tyke's Peak? Tyke's Peak. Simply because I'm a Frozen at heart person. Yeah. Tyke's Peak has to win it out for all the different attractions they have over there. Yeah. And kudos to Disney for putting Frozen at Blizzard Beach.

[00:50:43] Like the best place that Frozen can exist is at Blizzard Beach. Like Elsa froze this water park. Yeah. I love it. It's almost like they could, they could almost change the, like the Disney lore to be that. Oh man. Awesome. I hope they, I hope they don't because I love the melted snowcat mountains, but I love that Elsa's there. She would definitely go there. Okay. Okay. Yes or no? H2O Glow. Is it worth it? Yes, absolutely. Completely worth it. A hundred percent. Absolutely. For sure. And favorite spot to chill at the water parks. How would you do it?

[00:51:12] Always in the lazy river. Every time, no matter what. I'm going to say just catching one of those lounge chairs out and watching the kids play. I want to be at Blizzard Beach with the snow falling and listening to the Christmas music. That's the perfect chill for me. Yeah. And when it comes to the water parks in general, are you seeking more thrill or more chill? It's chill for me. It's got to be more chill. Yeah. I think it's chill for me as well, but gosh, the thrills that these are really amazing.

[00:51:41] And I don't want anybody to overlook them just because I want to chill. I don't want any listeners to be like not in for the thrills because they're awesome. All right. You know, I think I remember looking one time, looking it up one time and I am pretty sure Blizzard Beach is a top five fastest attraction at Disney World. I think it's like rock and roller coaster, test track, summit plummet is in, is absolutely in there. That's crazy. And it's just your body. Yeah. It gets up to 60 miles an hour in there.

[00:52:09] They say it's, it's the third tallest and third fastest water slide in the world. Yeah. Yeah. Crazy. All right. Well, that was really fun. If you want to make your Disney vacation even more dreamy than it already will be just because Disney is so magical, hit the water parks. That's going to do it for us on another episode of the Moms Behind the Magic podcast. Make sure you're joining us in our social media feeds on Facebook, Moms Behind the Magic podcast.

[00:52:36] Get all of your questions answered so you feel even more like a pro. And until next time we are sending you some fun, love and joy. And you send us back some five star reviews on Spotify or wherever you listen. Hashtag FLJ. And we'll see you real soon.