"A furious storm once roared 'cross the sea,
catching ships in its path, helpless to flee.
Instead of a certain and watery doom,
the winds swept them here to Typhoon Lagoon."
Throughout Typhoon Lagoon, you can find evidence of the great storm, from businesses rebuilt from the wreckage to the Miss Tilly marooned atop the peak of the volcanic Mt. Mayday.
The main entrance of the park is cobbled together from bits and pieces of lost ships. There's the mast and sail forming the marquee and a collection of wheelhouses and cabins for ticket booths. Strung across the threshold is a row of nautical flags. The observant may note that they've been arranged to spell out "WELCOME TO TYPHOON LAGOON."
Nestled along the shores of the sparkling lagoon is a tiny fishing village and the former Placid Palms Resort, since renamed Leaning Palms. The storm left quite a few things here in disarray. Some buildings, like the tower at Leaning Palms, are barely standing, held in place by nothing more than a few salvaged ropes.
This fishing supply store down by the river has taken advantage of the fact that the storm shot a boat straight through their roof. Now they've renamed the business "Happy Landings" and started selling ice cream to the tourists.
Elsewhere, entrepreneurs have taken over slanting shacks and decorated them with some of the items blown in from around the world. Even some new residents were brought here by the storm. Singapore Sal has brought her "Saleable Salvage" operation to town, taking advantage of the giant buoy that crashed through the roof of a village residence, turning it into a bit of advertising for the venture.
Although the place is a bit the worse for wear, the townsfolk have made the best of things, and business is booming.
I was vaguely aware of Typhoon Lagoon's opening when I went with a group of fellow 20-something friends in the summer of '89. I forget now what the rest of the group opted to do on one particular day, but three of us decided to check out this new water park. I enjoyed the entire experience from the theming to the water attractions and the wave pool. It just seemed to be sized right, there was sufficient shade, a killer backstory to tie everything together, etc. It remains my favorite water park.
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