12 Best Sights in Walt Disney World Orlando, Florida

If you're on your way to Snow Stormers or Toboggan Racers on the purple slopes, you might notice this cool-looking slide on the left. It's well worth the stop, as you're timed from blastoff to finish line! Competition can get heated as kids (48 inches or taller) vie for the glory of fastest speed slider, but even the least competitive will enjoy tearing down Mt. Gushmore in their racing tubes. Expectant mothers shouldn't ride, nor should guests with heart conditions or neck or back problems. For people with disabilities: Guests using wheelchairs must transfer to the tube-launch site.  Ride early; this popular purple-slope attraction gets crowded after lunch.

This speed slide drops through a snow-banked mountain gully on a fast, hilly, green-slopes descent to the base of Mt. Gushmore. It isn't quite as intimidating as neighboring Summit Plummet, but it's a real thriller nonetheless. For guests who are pregnant or who have heart, back, or neck problems, this ride is not recommended. For people with disabilities: Guests using wheelchairs must transfer to the slide.  The earlier you ride, the better: on crowded days waits can last up to 90 minutes.

This is Mt. Gushmore's big gun, one of the world's tallest, fastest, free-fall speed slides. From Summit Plummet's "ski jump" tower at the very top of the green slopes, it's a wild, 55-mph, 12-story plunge straight down and then into a tunnel before a white-water splash landing at the end of the 360-foot-long run. It looks almost like a straight vertical drop, and you can't help but feel like a movie stunt double as you take the plunge. If you're watching from the beach below, you can't hear the yells of the participants, but you can bet many of them are screaming their heads off. If you have heart, neck, or back problems or are pregnant, avoid this attraction—one of the most intense in all of Disney. For people with disabilities: This attraction requires walking up two flights of stairs and is not suited to those with mobility issues.   Make this your first stop early in the day. Summer afternoon waits can be up to two hours.

Disney never leaves the little ones out of the fun, and this junior-size version of Blizzard Beach, set slightly apart from the rest of the park, has scaled-down elements of Mt. Gushmore, with sand, slides (including one with tubes), faux snow drifts, and igloolike tunnels. Parents can find sun or shade beneath lean-tos. Lifeguards are on hand. For people with disabilities: Guests using water-appropriate wheelchairs can enjoy the wading areas.  Stake out lounge chairs early, especially for a shady spot. If your tykes don't swim well, get them fitted with a free life vest, and pull your chair up to the water's edge.

No subtropical skiing paradise would be complete without a chairlift, and this one is an attractive alternative to trekking to the top of Mt. Gushmore over and over again. The two-minute ascent is a great opportunity to scout out other slides and enjoy the "ski beach" scenery. For people with disabilities: Guests using wheelchairs must transfer to a ride seat and subsequent attractions. A companion will have to meet you with the wheelchair at the base of Mt. Gushmore.  If the wait is too long or you have children under 32 inches tall, hiking up is good exercise.

Grab an inner tube, hop on, and circle the entire park on a leisurely 25-minute float on this 3,000-foot-long creek. Along the way, you'll get doused with frigid water in an ice cave—wonderful on a steamy Florida day. Tubes are provided at seven launch sites, but they're not required. Kids soon discover that the fastest and most enjoyable way to get around the park is to glide with the current and hop off at whichever landing they wish. For people with disabilities: Guests using wheelchairs must transfer to inner tubes.  There are landings near most thrill rides, and moving through the park this way is oodles more fun than walking.

The park's main pool is a 1-acre oasis that's constantly fed by "melting snow" waterfalls. The man-made waves are positively oceanlike. If you're not a strong swimmer, stay away from the far end of the pool, where the waves originate. You can get temporarily stuck in a pocket even if your head is still above water. If you prefer to stay beached, there are plenty of recliner chairs around the bay. This is where moms and dads often relax and watch their kids swim in the lifeguard-protected waters. For people with disabilities: Guests using water-appropriate wheelchairs can enjoy shallow waters here.  Get an inner tube if you plan to venture to deeper waters, and arrive early if you want to find a shady spot (the giant umbrellas are limited).

It's easy to overlook this three-track flume ride hidden on the far red slope of Mt. Gushmore. Yet, if you have the courage to carry your tube all the way up to the top, you'll eventually come upon three twisting, turning, 600-foot-long flumes—even one that's in the dark (keep in mind the tunnel slide is for single riders only, while the open slides are for one- or two-passenger tubes). Once you're in, it's way more fun than scary. Still, guests who are pregnant or who have heart, neck, or back problems should skip it. For people with disabilities: Guests using wheelchairs must transfer to inner tubes. Your water chair will be sent to the bottom of the hill for you.  It's worth riding both an open slide and the tunnel slide, but remember that the tunnel slide is only for single riders.

Preteens might want to spend most of their time on the T-bar drop, Cool Runners slides, and Snow Falls downhill body slide. In addition, there's a chance to take on the Thin Ice Training Course, a wide-open area where kids can jump from one slippery mogul to the next. The moguls really look more like bobbing baby icebergs, and kids don't mind when they miss a berg and plop into the pool. For people with disabilities: Guests using water-appropriate wheelchairs can enjoy wading areas here.  The optimum time to come is early in the day or after a thunderstorm, when crowds thin out. That said, lines are often short at the zipline drop and the iceberg obstacle course.

No water park would be complete without a meandering waterslide, and Blizzard Beach has this one. Here three flumes, each 350 feet long, descend from the top of Mt. Gushmore along a switchback course of ski-type slalom gates on the purple slopes. Snow Stormers offers an exciting change of pace from the straight-down slides of the green slopes, and riders are in for a grand total of eight hairpin turns before finally splashing into the pool at the bottom. This ride isn't appropriate for guests who are pregnant or who have heart, neck, or back problems. For people with disabilities: Guests using wheelchairs must transfer to a toboggan-style slide mat with handles.  Hold on tight during this belly-down ride!

Six-passenger rafts zip along green slopes in one of the world's longest family whitewater raft rides. Since its original construction, it has doubled its speed of departure onto its twisting, 1,200-foot channel of rushing water, which ends with a refreshing waterfall dousing. This ride is a good place for kids too big for Tike's Peak to test more grown-up waters. Those who are pregnant or have heart, neck, or back problems should avoid this one. For people with disabilities: Guests using wheelchairs must transfer to the ride.  This ride is great for the whole family: there aren't age or height requirements (beyond "no infants"), tubes seat four to six people, and lines move quickly.

Grab your mat, wait for the signal, and go! You and eight other racers whiz simultaneously down the watery trail on the purple slopes toward the finish line at the base of the mountain. The racing aspect and dips along the 250-foot-long slope make the ride fun, but it lacks the speed of single-rider green-slope rides like Slush Gusher. For a ride combining speed and friendly competition, check out the Downhill Double Dipper. Expectant mothers shouldn't ride, nor should guests with heart, neck, or back problems. For people with disabilities: Guests using wheelchairs must transfer to slide mats.  It's more fun when you race family members or friends—up to eight people can ride at the same time.