Surf lessons at TL

[Erich32]

Has anyone took surf lessons at TL? Whats the format? How was it?

[Erich32]

I am replying to my own thread.

June 9th I had sceduled surf lessons at TL. I showed up at 5:45am at TL with my DD for our surf lessons. We signed releases, paid for the lesson 150 each and headed inside the park. There was 10 of us in the lesson with only two of us (myself included) over 35. They showed us on land how to pop up on the board then got us in the laggon to practice paddling. Then the fun started. They had two instructors in the water. You through you board into the water, walked down the stairs into the pool, jumped in and paddled out to the first instructor. He put on the leash for you, got you set up, then the wave came. There were two waves about 3 seconds apart. The first one was the big one then a smaller one. I tried them both and I stood up on both (not for very long). DD who is 12 stood up every time and rode the small one in until it disapated. After you rode (or tried) the first one you had 95 seconds to paddle back to the second instructor for your second ride. Then you rode in the second one, paddle to the beach and walked back and waited for your turn.

I had NO IDEA how physically demanding paddling on the surfboard would be. I jog and lift weights 3-5 times a week and surfing kicked my tail. Even the kids were winded. I rode a total of seven waves and it was plenty. I started getting the hang of it by the end. All of the kids picked it up quickly. They had photographers taking tons (65) of great pictures. The lessons ended at 9:00am and the park opened at 10:00.

The lesson was the highlight of my 7 day trip. All of the instructors were laughing at the ease that my DD popped up and the HUGE smile that they could see clear across the pool.

I would do the lesson again.

The only beef that I had was that after paying for the lessons ($300) I had to buy a park ticket to get in (which I already had) and we had to exit the park at 9:45 and wait in line to get back in when there were already 200+ people in the park waiting for the rope to drop.

[princessimagineer]

i really wanna do that! im glad its fun!

[epceddie]

Really,after spending all that money the least they could have done was let you stay inside and blend in with the rest of the crowd when the park opened.
That's like going to the Crystal Palace for breakfast in the MK and having to leave the park and come back in after you finish eating.
We love going to the CP early in the morning because Main Street U.S.A. is empty when we get there and empty when we finish at about 8:45 p.m.
I got some great photos of Main Street with no people at all. It looked like a ghost town. Fifteen minutes later, there was a tidal wave of people running up the street.

[Magic Smiles]

That sounds like amazing fun. If I was much younger I would consider doing it. Maybe DS will want to try this sometime. It certainly does seem strange that they would make you leave the park and re-enter.
Thanks for posting the details.

[g8rgirl29]

Thanks for sharing the info with us!! I have always wondered about this activity.