We did the Atlantis Aquaventure excursion through Disney last October and it was by far the most fun we had on the trip. We still talk about it every now and then and have a good laugh. HOWEVER, we are a family of four, DH and I in our late forties, with two teen boys ages 13 and 15. I feel like this was the perfect age for all of us to really enjoy this experience as a family. The boys are still at an age where they want and like to hang out with us, but fearless and want to experience everything.
We did every water slide and tube experience on property. The body slides are really fun and not too extreme but it depends on how fearless your kids are (they look a lot scarier than they are). Mine probably would not have done them when they were 7. The tube attractions were our favorite (kind of like tube roller coasters). But there's no system to distribute the tubes. Once you have one you hang on to it from one attraction to the next until you're done. We did the body slides first, pretty quickly, and were able to grab four single tubes, but soon after that there were a lot of people waiting for them. They also have double tubes, and given that your kids are younger you may want to consider those. The single tubes give a more thrilling ride as they can, and will, at times spin around and you can end up going down the slides backwards. We loved the "lazy" river, but it's really more of a "crazy" river, as there are several portions that unexpectedly become river rapids (imagine Kali River Rapids or Grizzly River Run sitting on an inner tube... not that bad but you get the picture). You have to be mindful of your appendages as they can get banged against the walls in the rapids. My advice if you want to do the slides and attractions, get there as early as possible and start early. The lines for the slides and the number of people looking for tubes later in the morning were huge.
Twice through the river and we were done and ready to give up our tubes around lunch. You get a voucher that's good for lunch at several of the eating locations at the resort. I think we ended up with sandwiches or burgers, fries and a drink. It was fine for us. If you want anything beyond what your voucher provides you have to pay for it on your own.
We went to the beach after lunch and had a great time in the water (big waves) throwing a football we brought around. But I think you said you weren't interested in the beach.
I believe there are "kiddie" pools for the smaller ones like your toddler. If your seniors watch your toddler, you can experience the slides and tube rides with your older ones. I don't think there is a problem bringing a stroller, but I'd confirm with Disney. If your kids are adventurous and like thrill rides (and you do too), I think you will have a great time. I think it's more relaxing as a parent with slightly older kids as there are some wilder aspects of the attractions that would have worried me when the boys were younger, but we saw plenty of families with younger kids having a good time.
We didn't consider doing it outside of Disney. The nice thing about Disney is you don't have to worry about anything. You get on their shuttles, an Atlantis staff member meets you and gives you a brief tour and sets you up with towels and a wristbands. I guess we would have preferred to skip the tour but we still had enough time to experience everything. The shuttles back are flexible.
It's a lot of money and we debated whether or not to do it too. But, for our family, at this time in our lives, it really was worth the cost for all of the fun and great memories it gave us.
