For thrill seekers, take the chair lift to the top of the 90-foot, snow-capped Mt. Gushmore. Once at the top, you can choose your way down – the 55 mph plunge straight down from the 120-foot heights of the aptly named Summit Plummet or the tall, but less steep, Slush Gusher speed slide with a couple of surprise “moguls” to spice up the ride. Looking for a more relaxing way to cool off? Soak your cares away in Melt-Away Bay, a 1-acre pool at the base of Mt. Gushmore or hop in an inner tube to explore the icy caves of Cross Country Creek, which circles the park. Little ones will want to spend the whole day at Tike’s Peak, a scaled-down version of the park built especially for water adventurers under 48 inches tall.

Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park was born in the aftermath of a mythical tropical typhoon. The centerpiece of the park is the Miss Tilly, a shrimp boat from Safen Sound, Fla., that was picked up by the strength of the typhoon and deposited precariously on the top of Mt. Mayday, 95 feet in the air. A nearby fruit packing plant, Tropical Amity, is the scene of frequent flash flooding which sends guests careening down the remains of the wash facility aboard inflatable rafts on Crush ‘n’ Gusher, a white-knuckle water coaster. In addition to thrilling slides and tube rides, you can come face-to-face with colorful underwater creatures during a snorkel adventure at Shark Reef, a 362,000-gallon saltwater pool, or body surf in the 2.25-million-gallon wave pool. Ketchakiddee Creek, complete with geysers, fountains, slides and a pint-sized white-water rafting adventure caters to the smallest members of the family.

Wet ‘n Wild Orlando, voted America’s most visited water park by Amusement Business magazine, offers plenty of fun for the whole family at its park, conveniently located along International Drive. No trip to Wet ‘n Wild would be complete without experiencing its two newest rides – Disco H2O and The Blast. Disco is alive and well and you can experience the sounds of the '70s as you are sent spinning through an enclosed aqua disco on Disco H2O. Or, get soaked to the bone as you travel down a ruptured pipeline on The Blast. A fun-filled kids’ zone will keep the little ones busy while a lazy river and 17,000-square-foot wave pool, complete with four-foot high waves will help you escape the heat. For your more adventurous family members, the Wake Zone offers kneeboarding, tubing and wakeboarding fun on a half-mile-long lake.