Aquatica or Disney Waterpark for a 1 day quick trip?

[amytheobald]

We are a family of 5 all of our kids are under 8...we are going to be in Orlando for a family wedding, and only have 1 day to do something fun...disney is out, 1 day is not enough for me...and we re thinking we want to do a waterpark...oh and it will be in august on a saturday....so Aquatica, or one of Disney's waterparks? ifyou say Disney which one?

 

[Freaky]

I would love to hear opinions on this too. We are trying to decide between Aquatica and Typhoon Lagoon - our trip is July/Aug so it's going to be hot and I am leaning towards TL at present.

 

[SnowWtch]

If you're thinking of Aquatica make sure you go early. They have been known to close the gates due to capacity since it's new. When we passed by last month the gates were closed and there was still a line of cars wanting to get in.

 

[gjw007]

I went to Aquatica a few weeks back. There are a couple nice things about it. The dolphin plunge is kind of neat but the reality is that as you travel through the tube, you really don't see much when the tube passes through where the dolphins swim. The lazy river is small but has good current. They have another small lazy-river type pool where instead of riding on tubes, you put on lifevests and float. I think they refer to this as their rapid river ride; I really liked this area. The other items seem to be what I would refer to as standard water park rides.

I have not been to Typhoon Lagoon but I have been to Blizzard Beach. The lazy river at Blizzard Beach and at Discovery Cove are two of my favorite lazy river type activities. I would add the Rapid Rivers at Aquatica to list. I think that Blizzard Beach is bigger; it certainly didn't feel as crowded.

I'd probably pick Blizzard Beach over Aquatica but mostly because I like the lazy river at Blizzard Beach. The other activities are very similar.

 

[Eeyore_Lover]

I went to Aquatica a few weeks back. There are a couple nice things about it. The dolphin plunge is kind of neat but the reality is that as you travel through the tube, you really don't see much when the tube passes through where the dolphins swim. The lazy river is small but has good current. They have another small lazy-river type pool where instead of riding on tubes, you put on lifevests and float. I think they refer to this as their rapid river ride; I really liked this area. The other items seem to be what I would refer to as standard water park rides.

I have not been to Typhoon Lagoon but I have been to Blizzard Beach. The lazy river at Blizzard Beach and at Discovery Cove are two of my favorite lazy river type activities. I would add the Rapid Rivers at Aquatica to list. I think that Blizzard Beach is bigger; it certainly didn't feel as crowded.

I'd probably pick Blizzard Beach over Aquatica but mostly because I like the lazy river at Blizzard Beach. The other activities are very similar.

I would agree, go to Blizzard Beach.

 

[lovinpoohbear]

We really liked Aquatica in April. I liked that the wave pool was mild compared to the Disney waterparks. We spent almost the whole time in the Roarin Rapids, even DS 4 loved it. We all put on life jackets and floated along. VERY relaxing, no lines to wait in. Aquatica and Disney Water parks are different but for some reason, I just relaxed more at Aquatica!!!

 

[bytheblood]

I have heard that Aquatica is amazing. I do not do waterparks, but if I were already at Disney, I think I would just use theirs. JMO, of course.

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

Everyone has different opinions about the waterparks. We were at TL a few weeks ago and a guy there was raving about how great Aquatica is. Later in the vacation, a lifeguard at the BWV was telling a guest how BB is the top waterpark with the best slides. Meanwhile, if I had a choice I would go to TL everytime. Try them all out if you can! Otherwise, I would go with TL. I love the wave pool and the Crush'n Gusher. And like the voice on the bus says, Don't forget the sunscreen!

 

[gjw007]

We really liked Aquatica in April. I liked that the wave pool was mild compared to the Disney waterparks. We spent almost the whole time in the Roarin Rapids, even DS 4 loved it. We all put on life jackets and floated along. VERY relaxing, no lines to wait in. Aquatica and Disney Water parks are different but for some reason, I just relaxed more at Aquatica!!!

I forgot the name in my previous post, but yes, Roarin' Rapids is great and there is a nice strong current rather than the more mild current seen at other lazy rivers. I spent half my time here as well. Its a hoot with the lifevests and just about as much without the lifevests.

 

[MinnieForMe]

Hi:
With all your children under 8, I would pick Aquatica hands down. There are two childrens sections and all the kids could play in the wave pool. There's a warning when the waves are coming. The toddler section was so much fun. Even my boys (6 and 10) were happy to stay there while their 2 year old sister rode the slides with daddy. They had little canoe like floats and they just paddled around. My boys were totally bored at the toddler section at BB. I didn't like the adult rides (how inaccessible they were) or the layout of the park but it was clean and bright. The wave pool was milder than TL but not as fun as BB because you can't bring in tubes.

We also did BB and my boys 6 and 10 loved the Tikes Peak area. They spent hours trying to cross iceburgs. My daughter enjoyed the toddler section but it was not well laid out in that the parent could not ride down the ride with the toddler so you either had one parent at the top and one at the bottom or your child was alone at the bottom. Aquatica let us ride the slides in the toddler section.

TL is my personal favorite but geared towards older children and adults. The landscaping and feel of the park is the best if you love the tropics. Living in New England, swimming with pretend iceburgs reminded me too much of summer at the ocean here (joking of course).

I don't think you'll be unhappy at any of them.

 

[Poly-Anna]

Until we went to Aquatica a few weeks ago, TL was our favorite. However our 4.5 year old did not want to leave the Walkabout Waters section of Aquatica. It is this huge, multi-level, rope ladders/climbing stairs thing (sort of like Camp Jurassic at Universal but with water), with about 8 or more water slides for little kids, water guns and two huge (enormous) barrels that fill with water every 15 minutes or so and dump water on those below. I enjoyed it as much as my son. Roaring Rapids that has been mentioned previously is also a cool twist to a lazy river, where you don't use tubes but life jackets to float along the river. We all loved that too. If we had more time, we would have gone to TL, but we were happy to have tried Aquatica and definitely will go back there.

 

[muffyn]

I read there is NOT a lot of shade there.

if you love the sun , probably a good place to go.

me, I'm allergic to sun

blizzard beach had great shade/...
I'd love to try typhoon lagoon.

added benefit, is that most people get tickets with the disney water parks included so the admission is free...

 

[amytheobald]

I read there is NOT a lot of shade there.

if you love the sun , probably a good place to go.

me, I'm allergic to sun

blizzard beach had great shade/...
I'd love to try typhoon lagoon.

added benefit, is that most people get tickets with the disney water parks included so the admission is free...

We actually are not taking in Disney on this trip, we are just there for one day... We are headed back to disney for free dining in sept

 

[gjw007]

Until we went to Aquatica a few weeks ago, TL was our favorite. However our 4.5 year old did not want to leave the Walkabout Waters section of Aquatica. It is this huge, multi-level, rope ladders/climbing stairs thing (sort of like Camp Jurassic at Universal but with water), with about 8 or more water slides for little kids, water guns and two huge (enormous) barrels that fill with water every 15 minutes or so and dump water on those below. I enjoyed it as much as my son. Roaring Rapids that has been mentioned previously is also a cool twist to a lazy river, where you don't use tubes but life jackets to float along the river. We all loved that too. If we had more time, we would have gone to TL, but we were happy to have tried Aquatica and definitely will go back there.

I didn't go with any young children but I did see the area with the slides for the kids. I think if you have kids 6 or younger, you would prefer this area to Blizzard Beach. It reminded me of an enhanced Six Flags small children area in their water.