What Is the Best Water Park in Orlando?
Orlando has amazing warm weather for most of the year, making it an ideal location for visiting water parks. The top three incredible water parks that you can experience alongside your Disney World or Universal Orlando vacations are covered below. Here’s our list of most to least favorite water parks that you must check out.
Aquatica
Aquatica Orlando is one of the most popular water parks located just across the street from SeaWorld. The park features some of the most thrilling and top-notch water rides with 42 slides, lagoons, and rivers. While it may not have a 200-foot tall volcano or a snow cap mountain, it does have a delightful tropical atmosphere and a good slide lineup with arguably the most intense water slides you’ll ever experience.
Rides & Attractions:
Spanned across 59 acres, Aquatica offers a sandy beach area right in the center of the park with palm trees, foliage and architecture reinforcing the theme. Thrill seekers wouldn’t be disappointed with the variety of slides and water adventures the park offers. Its trapdoor slides deserve a special mention, offering a sudden and thrilling initial plunge, giving the usual freefall sensation.
However, its signature water rides steal the show by hurdling you through a rapid-fire series of turns. These turns are so fast that they will forcibly uncross your legs, and you will slide wildly up the side of the trot. They also exert some decent forces for a water slide.
For kids, you have two areas of interest: i-e, Walkabout Waters, a colourful play area with smaller slides, sprayers and the obligatory giant dump bucket. Another kid-friendly spot is Kata's Kookaburra Cove, an even smaller area for our smaller guests.
In a market filled with highly themed water parks, Aquatica can easily get lost in the shuffle. While the other major Orlando water parks have prominent themes and slides, if you have a SeaWorld annual pass, it is worth visiting Aquatica for a few hours.
Universal's Volcano Bay
Tropical-themed water park Volcano Bay opened in 2017, replacing the former wet n' Wild. It's also the first water park created by Universal itself. With the main feature being the Krakatau Volcano located at the center of the park, thrills and relaxation flow in perfect harmony here.
Rides & Attractions:
The park is split into four sections: Krakatau Volcano, wave village, rainforest village, and river village. Wave village, your first spot, is home to the largest beach area in the park with plenty of sun lounges and shady areas for you to relax and catch some rays. This beach leads to the wave pool with amazing views of the volcano and beautiful waterfalls.
Krakatoa, on the other hand, features rides such as Punga racers, allowing you to race against three other riders. The next two attractions share the record for the tallest drop capsule slides in the world at 125 feet. The Karla and Tainui Serpentine body slides are a pair of tube slides that plunge guests from a trap door as slides intertwined as they go through, around and down the volcano before ending in a luscious. However, all these rides are definitely not for the faint-hearted ones.
If you don't want to try out any of the slides within the volcano, you can still go inside through a hidden cave where you could meet a fold, a spirit of Krakatoa. With the use of your tapu wristband, Volcano Bay has plenty of amazing dining locations throughout the park, as well as a load of storage lockers and changing facilities to make sure you get the most out of your day at the park. This park will make you a fan and a frequent visitor.
Disney's Typhoon Lagoon
Typhoon Lagoon is a tropical-themed water park home to towering palm trees, white sand beaches, and water-soaked fun at every turn. This magical oasis features everything from winding waterslides and rushing rapids to a relaxing lazy river that journeys around the park.
Rides & Attractions:
One of the main features of Typhoon Lagoon is the massive wave pool that is the largest in North America. It pumps out six-foot waves every 90 seconds. Younger guests under 60 inches can also enjoy the base slides. These are fun beginner water slides which are perfect water attractions for kids.
Behind the massive wave ball, you won't be able to miss Mount Mayday and Miss Tilly, a shrimp boat. Many of the park slides are housed in and around the park's icon, as well as plenty of waterfalls and amazing scenery, which can all be seen via the Mountain trail. To the left of Mount Mayday are three RAF rides starting with Keelhaul Falls. This is a very smooth single-rider tube slide that is very scenic and can be quite fast. It is an enjoyable slide for guests of all ages and is the mildest of the three rafts.
Right next is Mayday Falls, a much more intense single-rider tube slide and the highest and longest attraction in the park. Before hitting the final splashdown, you will swerve through caves, go under rustic wooden bridges and speed paths, and crash waterfalls. This is one of the most exciting slides in all of Typhoon Lagoon.
The final raft ride is Gangplank falls, a family raft ride for up to four guests per raft. Like Mayday Falls, you will travel through caves under Bridges past drenching waterfalls, spinning and banking side to side. This is a great slide for all the family to enjoy.
There are also various restaurants at Typhoon Lagoon serving quick-service food like pizzas, burgers, salads, rice bowls and ice creams. Here you can rent lockers and towels and choose from a selection of swimwear, sundries, and plenty of Disney merchandise.
Summing Up…
While all the parks have their unique feature which makes them stand till date, it is Aquatica that tops our list of favorites. If you’re planning to take a trip to one of these water theme parks, be sure to hop on to Orlando vacations for packages and discounts that you can easily avail all year around.
