A round of golf at Winter Summerland Miniature Golf
We’ve all had those days at Disney: half days before we’re due back at the airport, days when we need a break from the hustle-bustle of the theme parks. In our case, we had a day to kill before setting sail on the Disney Magic. We decided to head over for a round at Disney’s Winter Summerland Miniature Golf.
As is the case with all things Disney-fied, the course is highly themed and includes a backstory. Supposedly Santa himself commissioned the building of Winter Summerland as a post-holiday retreat for his elves. (Located conveniently next to Blizzard Beach Water Park!)
There are two 18-hole courses for guests to choose from, one themed with all kinds of frozen fun, the other with a surf ‘n sand motif. We opted to take the Winter course, most likely because it had a shorter wait. Disney staggers start times for the course to avoid families piling up on each other on the greens.
The holes are entertaining and highly interactive: you putt through an ice castle, activate a “defrosty” cooler filled with Christmas treats, and aim under Santa’s feet as he either attempts to pop up or down the chimney. Keep an eye out for a kid-pleasing “snow machine”, a squirting snowman, and, at the ball return, a special video message from Santa. Cheerful Christmas tunes play throughout the course.
We enjoyed our 18 holes, but agreed that we were more impressed with the interactive elements at Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf course. We were also disappointed that the game did not include the souvenir character golf balls we had received at Fantasia Gardens. Apparently they are now given as prizes if your score qualifies for the “leader board”; candy canes were given out as a consolation.
Location: Disney’s Winter Summerland Miniature Golf is located next to Blizzard Beach Water Park in the Walt Disney World Resort.
Touring tip: Additional, same-day rounds of golf are half-off the regular price plus tax.
Alligator Bayou guest rooms will sleep a family of 6 (including one under 3 in a crib), but it’s a snug fit in a 314 sq. ft. room. Beds include 2 queens and a bonus pull-down Murphy bed that is suitable for a shorter person. Also taking up space is a table with two chairs, a small fridge, and the bath area, divided from the sleeping space by a curtain. We were charmed by the subtle Princess and the Frog theming — Louis the gator featured prominently on the Murphy bed — as well as other touches of the bayou such as log bedsteads, a sugar sack-print privacy curtain, lantern light fixtures and carpeting made to mimic a wood plank floor. Our lodge’s location was a long hike from the “Sassagoula Steamboat Company” Main Building (and dining options), but we were conveniently close to one of the resort’s four bus depots. Proximity to the depot was important, as we utilize the Walt Disney World Resort transportation system in lieu of renting a van.
Given that our Mouse Holiday Family wilts at the thought of such crowds, we have never ventured even in the general direction of the Walt Disney World Resort too close to Easter. As we don’t have the luxury of visiting as often as we’d like (a major understatement), we tend to schedule our trips when attendance is low. This totally wouldn’t be the case if we were locals. We’d take the crowds in stride if we could experience these special Easter activities:
Epcot
Update: Our 2.5-year-old daughter loved Tike’s Peak. She must have spent an hour alone beating a path down the multiple kiddie slides and enjoyed going down the larger one on our laps. The water in the zero-depth entry wading pool is comfortably warm (nice in the spring) and the material on the bottom of the pool is a soft but skid-preventing rubber. We definitely sacrificed a chunk of our water park time in Tike’s Peak, but it was worth it to watch Erin having a blast!