Atlantis Port Adventures in the Bahamas?

pmurph

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 6, 2013
I have always wanted to go to the Atlantis in the Bahamas. I want to do the tour where we just go on the tour of the ruins and the aquarium ("Discover Atlantis).
My husband says the kids (8 and 12) will want to do the water park there ("Aquadventure"). But its so expensive (for all four of us), and we are going to Castaway Cay the very next day so I vote "no" to the water park. Plus I want to get back a LITLE bit early so that we can enjoy some uncrowded amenities on the ship before early dinner.

My question is: Will my kids be disappointed if we don't do the port adventure that includes the water park? Will we be exposed to it if we are doing the port adventure that doesn't include it?

Anyone have any thoughts on the Atlantis Port Adventures?
 
My Hubby and I did the Aqua adventure last time. If your kids like water parks they would enjoy it. They had a lot of great slides and the lazy river was definitely my favorite part. As far as I remember I believe you had to have a special ticket/wristband to get to the waterpark section. Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong though. I know there were places where it branched off to go to that and the dolphin experience. That being said it is pricey especially for a family of four. This time around we are planning on staying on the ship and enjoying the pools and aquaduck without the long lines. If you come back early you might be able to have more pool time for the kids. HTH. :)
 
Have you thought about renting a room at the comfort suites across the street? When you stay there you have full use of all the amenities at Atlantis and you can come and go as you please - no waiting for a tour bus. We got a great rate from an online booking site for spring break - $198 (including taxes) for two adults and two kids. If you pm me I can provide you with the website. Someone suggested checking in and then immediately checking out so you never have to return to the hotel.
 
My DH, DD8 and myself did the Discover Atlantis tour last August. We did not see or hear the waterpark area at all during that tour. We too wanted to get a taste of Atlantis without dropping a bundle. I also worried about my DD8 not utilizing all of the larger slides at the park yet at her age. It was a pretty quick tour. We were done in about an hour or so and back on board in time to catch a late lunch. The tour was just "ok" for us. In the future, I would either pay the money for Aquaventure and the beach or stay on the ship.
 


We did the tour and then played in the water in the lagoon area. The beach was old due to wind. We walked around the main hotel for a bit. It was fun for the kids (ages 2-5) but not a must do. I would have done the comfort suite deal if my kids were older
 
We did the discover Atlantis tour and didn't care for it. While it was neat, the tour was very rushed. By the time the tour was over we were ready to head back to the ship.
 
DH, DD7 and I did the Discover Atlantis tour. We had one of the first morning tours, and then after the guided tour part was over, we had lunch at Atlantis ($$$!) and then went back through the Aquarium again at our own pace. The theming of the aquarium is nice, but be aware that their tour guides aren't Disney guides - they made it sound a bit cheesy. :rotfl:

We neither saw nor heard any evidence of the water park. My DD really enjoyed the fish, and going through a second time gave us the opportunity to explore things again at our own pace, but already with some familiarity. It also let us shop at our own pace! :rotfl:

We actually really enjoyed Atlantis. It's on our longer list of places to go back to for a long weekend trip on its own. I'd love to experience the water park, but there's so much going on there, I can't imagine that you can see everything in a single cruise ship day.
 


We went to Atlantis in January with our kids and it was THE highlight of the trip for us. The lazy river was soooo much fun and the water slides were amazing! Our kids are older (ages 15 and up), but they was a wave pool, the lazy river, numerous water slides, zero entry play area, the beach (we swam in the ocean for about an hour) and lunch is included also.

If you can afford it, I would say do it. That being said, due to cost, this was our 12 cruise and the first time we went there. But we will go back next time, for sure!
 
We visited Atlantis when my son was 15 years old. The water park was the best part of the vacation for him. He loved the water slides and the adventure river. It's not like a typical lazy river. Your tube goes on conveyor belts and goes through roller coaster type rides. There are rapids. It was a blast. My son didn't even want to leave the water park area to go to the beach.
 
We stayed at Atlantis last year for a week. If you only have a few hours during a cruise stop, there is plenty to do visiting the aquariums. But the tours can be restrictive to non-resort guests. You can't wander around on your own without a wristband.
 
I think Comfort Suites will save us some $$ BUT DCL I'm assuming will refund the excursion if the weather is bad. Will Comfort Suites? Thanks:)
 
We neither saw nor heard any evidence of the water park.

We did the Discover Atlantis tour a could of years ago and that was exactly our experience (including the cheesy tour guide)!:rotfl: We will be going on another Disney cruise next month and someone on the meet-up boards asked how the heck I missed the water park. Now, I don't feel like a total space head! :thumbsup2. If you've never been, you don't realize how big Atlantis actually is.

I think Comfort Suites will save us some $$ BUT DCL I'm assuming will refund the excursion if the weather is bad. Will Comfort Suites? Thanks:)

Very good point! I think the time of year is probably an important factor. However, we bought our trip insurance from an outside provider and just added it to our total trip cost for insurance purposes so if we had to cancel, it would be covered. Weather related reasons probably aren't covered, but I'd be surprised if Disney would cancel the Discover Atlantis tour due to bad weather since much of it is underground. Disney charges $59 per person (ages 10 and up) for the tour alone so if you can get a good rate at the comfort suites you might not be out too much money even with bad weather. If it's just the two of you, I would definitely book through Disney since you don't save that much and there's the hassle factor of having to check-in and out.
 
Everyone can shoot me...but I'm much more of a pool person than I am a beach person. So with that said I loved the water park at Atlantis and was a bit underwhelmed by Castaway.

Yes, Atlantis is expensive but I figure it was the one day I was going to be there...I probably won't be going back there anytime soon so the money we spent was understandable.
 

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