Aquatica Orlando Tips

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My family loves visiting Orlando!  We are so lucky to have cousins who live there – to hang out with and explore all the city has to offer! In Orlando, we are always looking for new things to do, and I have had my eye on an Aquatica visit for a while.  I was so excited to be invited to check out this water park on my recent Florida trip!

The first week in November, baby girl and I were so fortunate to spend an entire Monday at Aquatica and we are so excited to share all our best Aquatica, Orlando tips with you all!

 

Baby Girl and I would like to thank Aquatica Orlando for providing us with two tickets to facilitate this honest review. As always, opinions are all my own.

Aquatica Tips & Planning Your Trip To Aquatica Orlando

 

Aquatica Orlando Tips Before you Go & What to Bring to Aquatica

 

Aquatica, Orlando is the water park affiliated with the SeaWorld brand. In Orlando, the park is located on International Drive across from SeaWorld. Before your visit, I highly recommend buying tickets online – with a one day advance purchase you save $20 per ticket! You can purchase your tickets here

.To pack for a day out at Aquatica, I recommend bringing a small bag with towels, extra sunscreen, some spending money, a snack, extra bottles of water, a plastic bag for wet swim suits and a change of clothes. To Aquatica, you are permitted to bring WATER ONLY (in terms of beverages) and you are allowed small snacks, but not full on meals. In fact, I have a waterpark parking list, so check that out before you go!

Also, a question I get often is – “Does Aquatica give out towels?” and the answer is NO! You have to bring your own or buy some on site!

To store your valuables while you are enjoying the attractions, you can rent small lockers for $15 and large ones for $20. For two people, we were able to fit our belonging in a small locker.

 

What to wear to Aquatica Orlando?

To Aquatica, we wore our flip-flops and swimsuits. We did carry our towels around with us, stashing them in the shoe cubbies at each ride. But it was a warm day and we really didn’t need to towel off after each ride. I did wear my flip-flops around the park and stashed them in the cubbies provided near each attraction. Baby girl just walked around without shoes and that seemed fine. If you like water shoes and have them, I did see folks wearing them, but not necessary by any means.

 

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Does Aquatica Orlando Provide Life Vests?

If your little one is under 48” tall, they will be required to wear a life vest. You can bring a Coast Guard approved life vest, or you can use one free of charge. The life vests, in sizes from infant to Adult X-Large, were located at several spots throughout the park. We picked out a Child Small (30-50lbs) for baby girl and she wore it all day. I do like that they provide adult life vests – and I did see plenty of grown-ups wearing them!

 

Aquatica, Orlando: Park Experience

Baby girl is 43” tall and was able to ride all but about 4 attractions. We started the day back at Wahanau Way, which is a double tube water slide through some tunnels, concluding with a large drop. We then wandered around to Roa’s Rapids which is a giant lazy river that you float through without tubes. The current is so strong it pushes you through the river. We LOVED this ride. We must have gone around at least 10 times, in two-lap intervals throughout the day. I tried riding both with and without a life vest and found that without the vest I moved through the river faster.

Throughout the day we made our way to each ride (and around Roa’s Rapids so many times). Baby girl loved the Touamata Racer, where you go headfirst on a mat. I did go once but I thought the large drop was frightening. She loved it! Check out the video of her coming down the huge slide! FACE FIRST!

At Aquatica there was also a giant splash park/water play area. When I needed a time out, baby girl went to town on the little slides with the buckets and the big barrels that periodically dumped water on the kids. While she was splashing, I was able to relax on one of the many lounge chairs placed throughout the park. Seriously I have never seen so many lounge chairs in my life! Which is such a great place for parents to relax!

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Mid-day we took a break from the water to eat lunch at one of the concession stands. I was super impressed by the healthy options available! I had a veggie burger with a fruit cup and baby girl had a kid’s meal consisting of chicken fingers, fries and applesauce. The food was tasty and reasonably priced. Also worth noting, especially if you as a parent are doing more lounge chair relaxing than little kid wrangling, Aquatica serves alcohol! Yes, you can enjoy a cocktail on a lounge chair in the sand!

The day of our visit, Aquatica closed at 5pm, and you know we stayed right up until close!  Towards the end of the day baby girl and I made our way over to the man-made beach (the sand was really nice, and again lots of chairs for lounging) and swam in the wave pool. This was really fun as we jumped the waves just like we do at the real beach!

A few minutes before the park closed, we headed back to our locker to retrieve our stuff. We changed out of our wet suits and into the dry clothes we had packed (I highly recommend this). Since we were going back to our condo, we did not shower or bring a blow dryer, but there were facilities to wash up and get put together.

We had so much fun at Aquatica. This park was perfect for a six-year-old girl (and her mom). The park offered a nice variety of water attractions and with the life vests provided, and many lifeguards stationed throughout the park,  even non-swimmers can enjoy so many rides!

I was super impressed with how clean Aquatica was. From the pools, to the locker and changing facilities to the dining area. Also, the temperature of the water in each attraction was perfect! On the day we visited it was refreshing but not too cold!

 

Other Helpful Aquatica Orlando Tips

• On this visit we had my aunt drop us off. If you drive, parking costs less than $19 if you pay in advance, online. If you purchase parking at the gate, it will be $20 per car.
• If you are traveling with real little ones, don’t dismiss an Aquatica trip! Kids under 48″ have Kookaburra Cove, a really shallow water play area. Baby Girl may have enjoyed playing here also.
• For an additional cost you can rent a cabana (which looked really nice) and you can even rent towels (good to know if you are coming from an area hotel).
• Again, don’t forget to bring those towels! Aquatica does not provide towels and it would stick to have to pay a premium to buy some on site!

 

Since it’s been cold and snowy here on Long Island, I am in the midst of planning some wintertime Florida travel. I can’t wait to go back to Aquatica with hubby and little man. My daughter and I had such a great day at this park and I know your family will too!

Have you visited Aquatica in Orlando? What are you best Aquatica Orlando tips?

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