Aquatica TR with photos

Good Monday morning to everyone! I'm a tad bit sore today, the reason, a full day of waterslides and swimming! We went over to Aquatica yesterday for the passholder preview and the waterpark did not dissappoint.

***I forgot the names for most of the slides and they were out of maps when we arrived around 3:30 in the afternoon, so please forgive me for not remembering what some of the attractions are called.***

There is plenty of "preferred parking" for us Platinum Passholders and for those tourists who want to shell out extra cash to park close, though the parking lot is designed to be wide and not deep, so you're really not walking that far if you have to park on the outskirts of it.

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The entrance.

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Once you enter, you wonder over a bridge and encounter the "main attraction," Dolphin Plunge. The line can move very, and I mean VERY SLOW but it's a good little time. It's a simple enclosed pipeline slide with two 360 turns. The catch is that the darkness ends and you're sliding through the Commerson's Dolphin area and you can see the dolphins. I didn't get to see the dolphins swimming because too much water was spraying in my face, but it was cool to do. This was the only "single rider" slide there for adults.

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If you don't want to go down the slide, they have a viewing area for everyone to enjoy the dolphins.

--I'll have to upload this picture later at home--

The beach area is HUGE. Lots of lawn chairs and plenty of sand.

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More to come in about 5 minutes...

Part 2:


There are two wavepools. I forget the names, but both are smaller than I thought they would be, but still, they do the trick. There are thermometers and countdowns of the wave action in both pools.

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This tower, while seems to host basic slides, is a lot of fun. I call it the Fat guy speed slide. I'm sporting a bit of a gut and let me tell you, you get some speed and some airtime, especially on the blue slides with the mini dragon tail ending.

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There are two seperate kids areas, one for the younger kids that offers several different types of slides:

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More to come...

Part 3:

And then there's the larger kids area with a ton of things to keep the kids, and kids at heart busy for a long time.

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The eight person racer is fun and fast and the line seemed to move very fast all day. I never waited more than five minutes for it. The lifeguards made it fun with the racing aspect and yes, you get airtime coming out of the tunnel on the hill.

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still more to come...

The two family raft rides are next door to the racer. The Walhalla Wave and HooRoo Run are a lot more fun than they look. The wave is the blue side and is a long twisty multiple person ride. You get lots of speed and everyone gets lots of water splashed on them during the ride.

The Run is the green one and it's a long dragon's tail that picks up speed and airtime. My wife said, "you're not supposed to get that much air on a waterslide! My butt is supposed to stick to the raft!"

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And I saved the best (in my opinion) for last. The toilet bowl! Yes, we now know what it's like to be flushed! You can go single or double on this. There are two bowls, both are identical. Warning, if you go double and get turned around before the second drop into the pool, be prepared to be tossed from the raft causing the person in front to be catapulted into the water... Not bad, just be prepared with air in your lungs!

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And the wrap up is coming...

Part 5:

The park also has two lazy rivers. One requires everyone to use tubes and this is the river that takes you through a viewing area for the Commerson's Dolphins exhibit as well as another tank full of fish.

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The other river has rapids. I suggest wearing a life vest for this which allows you to float with the current. You encounter a lot of rapids and water squirting the entire ride. This was my wife's favorite part of the park.

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In conclusion, I think Aquatica will compete for a year or two, but expansion will be needed. I give it an 8 out of 10. The landscaping is great, but bring suncreen! There is hardly any shade in the park and people will be buying a lot of aloe at the end of the day. The food deals seem good if you're there all day, and also, the refund of deposits do not come in cash, but in SeaWorld/Aquatica money. They currently do not have a wrist band payment system as they do in Tampa at Adventure Island or like the one they used to use at Discovery Cove. Employees say it's coming in the next few weeks, so until then, you will have to go back to the lockers to get cash and or credit cards.

Finally, remember, without beer, we wouldn't have the parks! Thanks AB IV for building us a quality waterpark that locals can enjoy! Now, start brewing better beer!

Great report - thanks. Photos are excellent as well

Great report, thanks!

I'd love to go there, but we will be in Florida in late August, and I can't imagine how busy it will be then!

This park looks awesome. I am glad that I added to my Sea World/Busch Gardens passport. I can't wait to go try it out next week

While it looks better than your average water park, I'm actually fairly disapointed with the pictures and reviews I've read online. The concept art made it look to be a highly themed park with tons of foliage (like Typhoon Lagoon) and cool animal interaction. The theming is tenuous at best and the lack of foliage kills it. (There should be tons of shade from trees here). And the animal interactions look lame. Everyone I've heard from says that the dolphin slide is a waste because you can't see anything and the open part is far too short. Good idea, bad execution. Also the concept art made it appear that the lazy river would have several areas that go underneath huge fish tanks like the shark attraction in Sea World, but that appears not to be the case either.

All in all it looks like a good standard waterpark, probably definitely better than Wet N' Wild but nowhere near what Disney or some of the other major water parks in the country have done.

kcnole said:

While it looks better than your average water park, I'm actually fairly disapointed with the pictures and reviews I've read online. The concept art made it look to be a highly themed park with tons of foliage (like Typhoon Lagoon) and cool animal interaction. The theming is tenuous at best and the lack of foliage kills it. (There should be tons of shade from trees here).

Click to expand...

Valid point. Typhoon has been around for many years, so trees there have been able to grow. Aquatica has new trees that need to grow. I too was disappointed with the lack of shade, but what can you do? I'll just have another cold beer to keep cool and apply another layer of sunscreen!

crazydaveh said:

Valid point. Typhoon has been around for many years, so trees there have been able to grow. Aquatica has new trees that need to grow. I too was disappointed with the lack of shade, but what can you do? I'll just have another cold beer to keep cool and apply another layer of sunscreen!

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Thanks for the photo report.


I agree about the foliage.

After looking back over your pictures, it looks like after a few years it will be much more lush. (or is lusher a word ?:lol::lookaroun)

crazydaveh said:

Typhoon has been around for many years, so trees there have been able to grow. Aquatica has new trees that need to grow. I too was disappointed with the lack of shade, but what can you do?

Click to expand...

Discovery Cove is just the same re the lack of shade (and a point we made when completing a survey on our last visit)

kcnole said:

While it looks better than your average water park, I'm actually fairly disapointed with the pictures and reviews I've read online. The concept art made it look to be a highly themed park with tons of foliage (like Typhoon Lagoon) and cool animal interaction. The theming is tenuous at best and the lack of foliage kills it. (There should be tons of shade from trees here). And the animal interactions look lame. Everyone I've heard from says that the dolphin slide is a waste because you can't see anything and the open part is far too short. Good idea, bad execution. Also the concept art made it appear that the lazy river would have several areas that go underneath huge fish tanks like the shark attraction in Sea World, but that appears not to be the case either.

All in all it looks like a good standard waterpark, probably definitely better than Wet N' Wild but nowhere near what Disney or some of the other major water parks in the country have done.

Click to expand...

That is exactly what I was thinking. It looks like a fresh and modern Wet n Wild with a sprinkling of Typhoon Lagoon here and there. It definitely did not live up to the concept are but then again I wasn't really expecting it to.

My youngest is dying to go to Sea World so we will probably check it out this summer.

Thanks for the report. We took a look (from a distance) over there last week, and the lack of shade really stood out to us too.

It's so bright and colourful and pretty!!!

And the kids bit looks fab! (I don't have kids, but I always thought water parks don't seem to provide much for them!) I think I may be spending some time in there too!!

Maybe I'm just easy to please as I'm from Britain and all our water parks need to be indoors and therefore aren't really waterparks at all...

unkadug said:

Thanks for the photo report.


I agree about the foliage.

After looking back over your pictures, it looks like after a few years it will be much more lush. (or is lusher a word ?:lol::lookaroun)

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Yes, Dave, thanks for the great pictures. I always love the ones you take. Everyone needs to remember that Typhoon took years and years to get the lush greens it has now. This property basically didn't have trees on it before they started building so all trees will have to have time to grow.

Just an aside on trees at the Disney parks. You might be surprised how many guests complain about the lazy rivers being dirty because leaves fall from the trees and land in the water. LOL

My thoughts on the new park......the slides just sort of stick up around the park. Just doesn't have the atmosphere that you get when the slides come down the mountains of the Disney parks. It also seems weird that there is only 1 single rider slide for adults.

Dave, were there pavillians to get under to get out of the sun or a thunder storm? Looks like ya definitely need to wear beach shoes with all the sand in the beach area. Hopefully they will add some pavillian areas for people who do not want to lay out in the sun and get a tan/burn.

We didn't get to go to preview but getting out of the SW park has been a bear the last few times we were there. How did the new park effect driving? They really need to figure a way to get people out of their parking lot when the park closes and everyone that filled Shamu Stadium tries to leave at the same time.

Hmmm...to me this new park appears kinda tacky and like anything you can find in hometowns across the country. I know there are some state-of-the-art attractions there that you can't find anywhere else, but the themeing and appearence pales in comparision to the Disney Water Parks. Anywho, as a water park fan, I can't wait to try this baby out on my next trip!

Thanks Dave for the great pix and report!! I gotta get to FL soon!!! That looks awesome! Did anyone get the email about the announcement they are making on Thursday at 11am?? :wave: Wonder what that will be? Probably an advertisement for Aquatica! I'm still gonna watch!

Rabflmom said:

Yes, Dave, thanks for the great pictures. I always love the ones you take. Everyone needs to remember that Typhoon took years and years to get the lush greens it has now. This property basically didn't have trees on it before they started building so all trees will have to have time to grow.

Just an aside on trees at the Disney parks. You might be surprised how many guests complain about the lazy rivers being dirty because leaves fall from the trees and land in the water. LOL

My thoughts on the new park......the slides just sort of stick up around the park. Just doesn't have the atmosphere that you get when the slides come down the mountains of the Disney parks. It also seems weird that there is only 1 single rider slide for adults.

Dave, were there pavillians to get under to get out of the sun or a thunder storm? Looks like ya definitely need to wear beach shoes with all the sand in the beach area. Hopefully they will add some pavillian areas for people who do not want to lay out in the sun and get a tan/burn.

We didn't get to go to preview but getting out of the SW park has been a bear the last few times we were there. How did the new park effect driving? They really need to figure a way to get people out of their parking lot when the park closes and everyone that filled Shamu Stadium tries to leave at the same time.

Click to expand...

Single rider slides have poor capacity and most visitors are going to be with others anyway.

Rabflmom said:

Dave, were there pavillians to get under to get out of the sun or a thunder storm? Looks like ya definitely need to wear beach shoes with all the sand in the beach area. Hopefully they will add some pavillian areas for people who do not want to lay out in the sun and get a tan/burn.

We didn't get to go to preview but getting out of the SW park has been a bear the last few times we were there. How did the new park effect driving? They really need to figure a way to get people out of their parking lot when the park closes and everyone that filled Shamu Stadium tries to leave at the same time.

Click to expand...

There are areas in and around the restaurants to take cover, but if it's a whopper of a storm, it will get very crowded with the numbers of people they're expecting.

As for leaving, it took us no time to get out of the park. SeaWorld was open until 7, we left Aquatica at 6. They have installed more turn signals on the light at CF Parkway and Harbor Dr.

Here's some pictures I didn't post earlier of some of the restaurant seating and other parts of the park.



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