In a high thrills water park such as Blizzard Beach, what do you do with kids who are too old for the kiddie area and a little too young for the larger slides? At Blizzard Beach, you send them to the Ski Patrol Training Camp, an area made especially for pre-teens. It’s a fun little area, and kids from about 7 to 11 will find a lot of things to do.
There’s an “old pipe” that kids can slide down and drop into 8 feet of water. There’s an iceburg course that tests balance as kids try to walk from one side of the pool to the other on floating iceburgs. There’s a T-bar where kids swing out over the water and then drop. There are wide slides and a mogul course for tube riders.
Blizzard Beach is the only water park I’ve seen that has a specific area for preteens. Usually children have their own little play area and adults have their own big play area, but those kids between about 7 and 11 that are too big for the kiddie area but too small for a lot of the slides get bored. I think it’s a great idea, personally. You may or may not want to leave them at Ski Patrol by themselves, depending on their age and swimming ability. There isn’t much for adults to do at Ski Patrol, so take the opportunity to pull up a chair and bask in the Florida sun.