LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – We all know about the rides, parades, attractions and the food at Walt Disney World-- all recognizable things that make the theme park so magical.
But did you know there are several hidden adventures you can also experience at Disney?
For example, you can actually go surfing or learn to surf in the giant wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon. And get this: you're guaranteed a perfect wave every time!
"What's amazing about the Typhoon Lagoon surf pool is first off, it's the largest surf-able wave pool in the United States and we're the only ones in Central Florida offering this," said Mark Dukes, the general manager of Water Parks and Mini Golf at Disney. "What makes it unique is you’re going to get perfect waves. We've got two sets of waves. One is a 6-foot wave, and it comes off right at 6 feet every time. And right behind it, we've got a 3-foot wave. So when you come out for lessons, you've got an opportunity to kind of work up to the big wave."
That's because Disney actually has engineers who program and time the waves.
"What'll happen is, he will go in and program it, program a learn-to-surf wave and then program the time," said Jennifer Rowlette-Reneau, one of the surf instructors with the Cocoa Beach Surfing School.
They're the ones who teach the classes at Typhoon Lagoon, and who taught News 6 morning anchor Kirstin O'Connor to surf.
O'Connor and the News 6 crew were out at the water park before the sun came up to get ready for their adventure.
After the instructors introduced themselves, they got down to business. After explaining that the new surfers would be using longboards because they're more conducive to learning, Rowlette-Reneau explained how the class would work.
"We're going to turn the pool off, we're going to put you on the surfboard and we're going to have you paddle down to the second lifeguard tower and back," she said. "Then I'll watch you paddle and I'll be able to gauge what board will be the best board to start you off so you have the most success right from the beginning. You're going to wait for my signal for the appropriate time to get into the pool, and every time you get in the pool you're going to get two waves and then you're going to get out."
But before that could happen, all the surfers needed to learn how to properly pop up and get to a standing position on their surfboards.
"When you hop up, you will pop to your feet so that your front foot is about dead center in the surfboard, followed by your back foot. You want your feet to be about shoulder-width apart," said Rowlette-Reneau. "We travel up the body to the knees, and you can see they're bent like so, they're your shock absorbers, if you lock your knees you're going to wipe out. If you bend them, it's a lot easier to absorb that. Keep traveling up, notice that his backside is low, his hips are loose, if you look at his back, it's straight. When you stand up, you'll pivot so your shoulder is facing the nose. So this is the surfing stance.
"The waves make a loud kaboom noise when they start. You'll hear the loud kaboom, you'll take a few paddles, we'll push you into the wave, you'll stand up. It's a push-up, a pop, stand, pivot around, weight on the front foot, arms out for balance."
O'Connor spent a few minutes trying out the maneuver, and then it was just about time to get in the pool.
"We just got finished with our safety instruction and our on-land training," said O'Connor. "But what she told us at the end was don't overthink it, because I'm already overthinking it, so we have to get our boards and just get in the water."
After some practice paddling, O'Connor caught her first wave. She wiped out a few times, but was determined to figure out how to stand up. Rowlette-Reneau noticed O'Connor was pointing her feet forward on the board, so she gave her an adjustment to help her get into a more stable position.
"You guys, this is no joke, I'm out of breath," said O'Connor. "I've put my hair back in a ponytail, it's time to get serious."
And she did!
Right after that, O'Connor caught several waves, and got several nice rides in on the small waves. She was reminded again that where you surf is where you look when she was looking at one of our News 6 photojournalists while riding a wave and nearly crashed into him, laughing.
Finally, it was time to try a big wave, and O'Connor popped up and stood up and rode the wave until the end, cheering.
"You know how I know I'm a real surfer now?" she asked. "I've got a rash right around my ankle, that's how you know, that's a real surfer mark."
The entire class said they had a great time.
"My favorite part was probably the third time, I did a big wave and I actually stood up and, oh, that was so awesome," said Kristin Bonk, visiting from Chicago. "I stood up and I made it to the flags, it was so cool. I would highly recommend to everybody and everyone, do this, it was so great. One of the best birthday gifts ever."
The learn-to-surf experience at Disney costs $165 a person. The lessons are only offeredat selected dates and times, so you've got to make a reservation if you want to try it out. Group lessons last about two and a half hours and are available for people over 8 years old. You don't have to have a ticket to the water park to participate unless you want to stay in the park after the class.
For experienced surfers, you can book the pool for a package of about 100 waves. For more information on that experience, click here.
For more on the Disney surfing lessons, click here.
