It's alright, I'm still alive! a TR -- Day 11: Aquatica-- Updated 27/4

Great update,i love your pics-as always :thumbsup2.Shame that you don't plan on visiting Seaworld again-we do love this park+found that after 5 years away we still thoroughly enjoyed it.I agree about the mime act he is hilarious.We fed the dolphins and agree it's an amazing experience.One i would always pay for again and again.
Also just to let you know we got a cuddly Curious George for Dd4 and a HSM mickey+minnie for Dd8 :thumbsup2.
Hope your studies are coming along well,take care.x.
 
Oh my goodness me I have totally abandoned this! I'm so snowed under with revision at the moment I wake up, go to the library, come home and fall into bed only to repeat the whole thing again the next day! It's not fun!!! I will update this though, just sparadically!

Just caught up on this thread and it was - as usual - a very entertaining read.
My favourite picture up to now is the one of the huge slice of chocolate cake with the low fat milk strategically placed alongside it (or was that just coincidence :lmao:)

Also good to hear honest views about what you don't like as well as what you do. It's this type of trip reporting that helps people planning trips to make informed decisions, hopefully helping them save some money in the process. Well done.

Aww thanks for the compliments, I try and be as honest as I can, of course people need to form their own opinions but I know peoples thoughts definately helped me when we were planning!!

And I agree, the cake definately one of ty fav pictures too!! I want to say the milk was put there deliberately but I think it was just a very funny coincidence!! :rotfl:

The evening at Sea World looks amazing! Esp the shows. It's a shame you didn't love it yourselves though.

I agree with you about the mime, he was the best part of the day. When we walked in we had no idea he was taking the mick out of people, so when he showed us to our seats and everyone started laughing we were a bit confused, but after sitting down for 5 mins soon worked out why!

Its definitely worth getting to the show 10 minutes early just to watch him!!

You should definitely try to convince your family to do Discovery Cove one day, if you like dolphins you will absolutely love it :)

Looking forward to hearing your views on Aquatica......

The evening is amazing and seeing everything lit up is fantastic! I love how the mime got you! We always arrived just before the mime so were never 'got' but it's hilarious to watch the confusion of the people! Aquatica is coming up!!

Great update,i love your pics-as always :thumbsup2.Shame that you don't plan on visiting Seaworld again-we do love this park+found that after 5 years away we still thoroughly enjoyed it.I agree about the mime act he is hilarious.We fed the dolphins and agree it's an amazing experience.One i would always pay for again and again.
Also just to let you know we got a cuddly Curious George for Dd4 and a HSM mickey+minnie for Dd8 :thumbsup2.
Hope your studies are coming along well,take care.x.

Aww I'm so glad you got what you wanted, I hope you're girls love them! I'm about to pop over and check your report out, can't wait to read about it!!
 
That's only my pre-trippie Laura,i hope to have my first couple of days up next week-little one has been very poorly with severe tonsilitis,so have't got around to it-hope you do join me though,when it's up+running :thumbsup2.x.
 
That's only my pre-trippie Laura,i hope to have my first couple of days up next week-little one has been very poorly with severe tonsilitis,so have't got around to it-hope you do join me though,when it's up+running :thumbsup2.x.

I realised that after I wrote my comment! I hope your dd gets better soon, I cant imagine it's any fun at all. Lots of :pixiedust: for her I will definately join your tr when it's up and running!! :thumbsup2
 


I realised that after I wrote my comment! I hope your dd gets better soon, I cant imagine it's any fun at all. Lots of :pixiedust: for her I will definately join your tr when it's up and running!! :thumbsup2

Cheers Laura,take care hun+make sure you get lots of rest,with all the cramming your doing :hug:.x.
 
I was quite looking forward to today, we were going to visit the newest edition to the Florida adventures, Aquatica, run by Sea World! I managed to rememeber to bring my camera in with me today but didn't take that many photos due to being generally wet all the time!

We got there pretty early and there was already quite a big queue forming, we were expecting it to be busy but there was serious storm predicted for the afternoon so it wasn't as bad as we thought. As soon as we walked in we were awe struck, the theming is amazing! If you've ever been to Sea World and seen/ridden the Atlantic ride the theming is pretty much based like that is, the buildings were very like that and everything else was beach!!

Here's some pictures of the beach
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and a shop building thing!
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My brother, dad and I were quick to dump our stuff, slop on the sunblock and explore, we decided to go on Aquatica's signature ride first, the Dolphin Plunge where you go through a tank full of commerson dolphins. The queue was already massive so we hastily joined the back and within about 20minutes were at the top waiting to go down. I was so excited about this ride but honestly it's awful! I have never ever gotten claustrophobic but I was nearly in tears and having a panic attack by the time I came out of the slide,the tubes are so thin and so dark it makes you panic so much. I was determined not to close my eyes though as I didn't want to miss the dolphins. As it happened we sped through the 2 second dolphin tank I literally saw daylight and that was it, it was so disappointing. :(

Here's a picture I took of it after I came off

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and here are the dolphins

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they have a tank that they swim in which goes to the tubes but when I was there the dolphins were so wary of the tubes and the things going down them they hardly swam by them and if they did it was at lightening speed! I think it's fair judgment to say I was incredibly gutted!!

Still I was determined to try other things out so after I had calmed myself down and got accostomed to the wide open spaces again we headed for the rapids, a firm favourite with my family. We were expecting a lazy river type thing but these were definatly rapids!! They moved fast in some points, swept you one way and the other and were alot of fun! We spent a while swimming around those!

This is the best picture I got!
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We soon wore ourselves out and went back to our sun loungers to find mum missing, we suspected that she had got hot and had gone to the wave pool so we headed down there to find her. There are 2 wave pools next to each other which is quite nice but a bit of a pain if you're meeting someone by 'the wave pool'! they're very big and give you clear warning when to go the waves are coming by a giant counter clock on the side of the pool!

We found mum and soon my brother and I were antsy to try other rides so after wandering around a bit and nearly crying at the queue times (like 40mins minimum for many of them) we finally settled on the tube slides, which were amazing!! Here they are in all their glory!
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The slides were much biggerand airier and you got to go down on a tube in 2's. We had ALOT of fun! We were practically flying off the bumps!

Soon mum was getting quite bored and hungry as there is much to do if you're a non swimmer at this park, it was starting to get very cloudy so we made our way over to the changing rooms to get dressed and then to get some food. It was getting VERY busy by this time too!

I took this photo walking around, I think the girl thought I was taking it of her!
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I don't remember where we ate but it was really nice, sandwich and salad based, as we knew we were having a big tea we only had a light snack(apart from my brother)

My parents both shared this as it was huge!
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I had this (which was more filling than it looked!) I was also craving fruit by this point as well, a girl can only have so many burgers!!
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My brother who is a complete salad phobe had this:
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We walked back to the carparking lot and I realised you could see seaworld!
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As we got in the car the heavens opened, it was serious rain! We drove home, had a shower and waited the rain out. When it stopped we piled wandered over to the shopping outlets linked with our hotel and did some major shopping. I bought 2 pairs of shoes and lots of closed! I loved the summer exchange rate!

We spent the best part of the afternoon shopping and were soon hungry again, it had just started to rain too. We drove to TGI Fridays, a definate favourite restaurant of ours both in the UK and USA.

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We were seated within about 15minutes and our waiter was hilarious, got to love the waiters!

We ordered a sharer starter, it was delicious!
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When we had devoured that we got our mains (with quotes from each person),

I ordered the fajita's ('WOW')
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My brother the ribs ('b-e-a-utiful'):
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My mum the NY strip steak ('mmmm')- she'd taken the onion rings off the plate!
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And dad the sirloin steak ('cooked to perfection')- chips were in another plate!
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The food was amazing!! We didn't have room for pudding but it was ok, we didnt want to spoil the taste of our main!

After whiling away 2 hours in TGI's we headed to DTD as the rain had stopped, we generally browsed, I loved this line of minnie mouses!
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I bought a stitch :) shown here
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My brother and I decided to hit Disney Quest for a bit whilst mum and dad browsed, here's some photos on the way there...

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Finally we arrived and got in, I dont remember what we rode but here's some pictures I took which I think I may have borrowed earlier on in my TR!
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After we had finished up in Disney Quest we made our way back to the car to meet our parents and made a trip to the petrol station, not fun in itself but I have never laughed so much watching my dad, and then my brother and dad, trying to figure out how to work the thing haha. A token picture to end on...

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Thanks again Laura
Your pics help to bring your report alive and makes it good reading.
We had heard that Aqauticas well trumpeted tube ride wasn't being that well received - more from the point of view that it is so fast, and you go from dark to light and by the time your eyes have adjusted you are back in dark again, that you don't get to see anything. Obviously you agree with this point of view.
We as a family are not big water park fans but would have done Aqautica for this one ride if it had been a success. Looks like we will be spending our money elsewhere.
Thanks for taking the time to post during your hectic schedule. It is appreciated.
 
Another great update Laura.Although we had flextickets-we never made it to Aquatica-it is'nt my cup of t anyway as i have a fear of water.But still would have liked to have gone,just never had the time.The tubes looks very claustrophobic :scared1:,i also have heard that the dolphin plunge was'nt as great as advertised :sad2:,a shame you never saw anything.
Great shopping :thumbsup2.x.
 
Good luck with your studies Laura, soon be summer time.:goodvibes

Thanks for the latest posting, I enjoyed reading it.

We too, much prefer the evening shows at Sea World than the day time ones as they are so cheesy. I still enjoy Sea World though as I find it a restful day just having a stroll around with minimal waits for anything. I am very much looking forward to trying the new coaster in July.

We are not really water park people, my sons probably are though. We quite enjoyed our afternoon at Aquatica especially the rapids creek thing, that was so much fun. I am not into slides though the lads enjoyed the raft one you went with your brother. We didn't bother with the dolphin slide either, I didn't think the concept was a good one from the start due to how quick you travel. However, I just adored those little black and white dolphins as I had never seen them before. I don't intend going back to Aquatica this year.

We were there in July last year, when exactly were you there?

Don't worry about taking your time doing the reports, I know how time consuming they are and how busy you must be, it is nice to have something to look forward to.:goodvibes
 
Great update Laura :thumbsup2 What a shame about the dolphin ride - it's no good if the signature experience is a dud!! :headache:
I've already kinda decided not to bother with Aquatica next trip. I'm not really that much of a water park person anyway, but I can go TL if I need a water park fix! :laughing: I think I'm gonna do Seaworld again tho :woohoo:
 
Another great update Laura. You do seem to be getting some funny looks while you are taking that picture. :rotfl:

Luckily I had read all about the petrol pumps before I had to use one. ;)
 
Great report :)

And I totally agree with you about the dolphin tube at Aquatica, its just a gimmick fo rthe sake of having a gimmick, totally pointless.

So what was your overall opinion of Aquatica? As you seemed to really enjoy yourselves after the dolphin ride. I ask as I wasn't very impressed with it at all, apart from the lack of good rides, I couldn't believe how bad condition the park was in considering it was supposed to be so new :confused3

The TGI's food look delicious :)
 
I am also wondering whether you thought Aquatica would be worth a special trip or not?! My son loves waterparks, but now thinking we might just stick to Blizard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon.
debx:wizard:
 
Thanks again Laura
Your pics help to bring your report alive and makes it good reading.
We had heard that Aqauticas well trumpeted tube ride wasn't being that well received - more from the point of view that it is so fast, and you go from dark to light and by the time your eyes have adjusted you are back in dark again, that you don't get to see anything. Obviously you agree with this point of view.
We as a family are not big water park fans but would have done Aqautica for this one ride if it had been a success. Looks like we will be spending our money elsewhere.
Thanks for taking the time to post during your hectic schedule. It is appreciated.

Aww thanks :goodvibes, I loved taking my pictures!! I'm glad I could have been some help in the Aquatica front, in my own opinion BB or TL are much much better and worth far more for your money!!

Another great update Laura.Although we had flextickets-we never made it to Aquatica-it is'nt my cup of t anyway as i have a fear of water.But still would have liked to have gone,just never had the time.The tubes looks very claustrophobic :scared1:,i also have heard that the dolphin plunge was'nt as great as advertised :sad2:,a shame you never saw anything.
Great shopping :thumbsup2.x.

You really didn't miss much missing aquatica out! :rotfl: but I know what you mean, we had flexi tickets too so we went to explore!

Good luck with your studies Laura, soon be summer time.:goodvibes

Thanks for the latest posting, I enjoyed reading it.

We too, much prefer the evening shows at Sea World than the day time ones as they are so cheesy. I still enjoy Sea World though as I find it a restful day just having a stroll around with minimal waits for anything. I am very much looking forward to trying the new coaster in July.

We are not really water park people, my sons probably are though. We quite enjoyed our afternoon at Aquatica especially the rapids creek thing, that was so much fun. I am not into slides though the lads enjoyed the raft one you went with your brother. We didn't bother with the dolphin slide either, I didn't think the concept was a good one from the start due to how quick you travel. However, I just adored those little black and white dolphins as I had never seen them before. I don't intend going back to Aquatica this year.

We were there in July last year, when exactly were you there?

Don't worry about taking your time doing the reports, I know how time consuming they are and how busy you must be, it is nice to have something to look forward to.:goodvibes

Thankyou, I'm counting the days down to summer, I'm helping on an America summer camp so I'll be out there all summer, I'm beyond excited!! I agree, the concept was a really good idea for the dolphin ride but the way it was executed wasnt as good. The dolphins were cute though!! We were in Orlando June 28th-July12th and in Aquatica on the 8th... it would be funny if you were in FL the same time as us! Aww thankyou for your compliment, I wish I could find more time to write them, it's great reliving it all!

Great update Laura :thumbsup2 What a shame about the dolphin ride - it's no good if the signature experience is a dud!! :headache:
I've already kinda decided not to bother with Aquatica next trip. I'm not really that much of a water park person anyway, but I can go TL if I need a water park fix! :laughing: I think I'm gonna do Seaworld again tho :woohoo:

I think Sea World in itself is a good concept it just gets a little same-y for us! And definately go to TL... much MUCH better!!

Another great update Laura. You do seem to be getting some funny looks while you are taking that picture. :rotfl:

Luckily I had read all about the petrol pumps before I had to use one. ;)

:rotfl: I think that's where my dad went wrong, he had no idea. I dont think I have laughed that much in a long time!!

Great report :)

And I totally agree with you about the dolphin tube at Aquatica, its just a gimmick fo rthe sake of having a gimmick, totally pointless.

So what was your overall opinion of Aquatica? As you seemed to really enjoy yourselves after the dolphin ride. I ask as I wasn't very impressed with it at all, apart from the lack of good rides, I couldn't believe how bad condition the park was in considering it was supposed to be so new :confused3

The TGI's food look delicious :)

My overall opinion of Aquatica, hmm. I thought it was quite untidy too, and the so called 'animal experiences' that were supposed to occur throughout the day I only saw one of, the rides were always heavily queued (although this could be because it was newly opened) and the staff were no where near as friendly or welcoming as the Disney staff. That being said the rides that we went on, with the exception of the dolphin ride, were good and we did have a lot of fun. We didnt get on all of them though because all teh tube slides looked the same width as the dolphin ones so I steered well clear!! Oh and teh TGI food was AMAZING!!! :rotfl:

I am also wondering whether you thought Aquatica would be worth a special trip or not?! My son loves waterparks, but now thinking we might just stick to Blizard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon.
debx:wizard:

I've put my opinion above, but I would say if you have time for it and it's already on your ticket (we had flexi tickets) why not give it a morning or afternoon. I think the Disney water parks are far better but for a change the Aquatica one could be quite nice too. Also I dont know how old your son is but they had some really good looking stuff, like at BB, for young children at Aquatica so your son could really enjoy that!

----------------​
I'm off to Edinburgh this weekend so I wont be able to update until at least monday evening.... but I will be planning it in my head so I can get it up as quickly as possible when I get back!! :rotfl:
 
Hope you have a good weekend in Edinburgh.

I will have a look back and check the dates, I think we were there from 9th July.
 
Haha, this TR is great. Your family and my family seem very much alike! Also, our last trip was at the same time as this, Holiday twins!
 
What a pity about the dolphin slide, from your photos the slides do look very narrow and I think I'd have got claustrophobia too!

Looks like you had a fantastic meal :)
 
Just caught up again with your TRs, Laura. I think I am the only person in the entire world who doesn't like that mime! People with painted faces freak me out, I actually ran away from him and haven't been back to that show since! Shame because the evening show sounds great.

Thanks for your views on Aquatica, I am not a big water park person really, but I like reading about different places all the same.

Laur's xx
 

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