OT- Atlantis Resort Tips

[VeroBeachGirl]

We are foraying outside the World of the Mouse with our three kids (6,5,1) to Atlantis Resort. We are staying in a room at the Royal Towers. We booked sea squirts and the sea lion interaction for the kids and are on the meal plan. Does anyone have any tips to make our trip even better? We've visited the property, but never stayed.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

We are foraying outside the World of the Mouse with our three kids (6,5,1) to Atlantis Resort. We are staying in a room at the Royal Towers. We booked sea squirts and the sea lion interaction for the kids and are on the meal plan. Does anyone have any tips to make our trip even better? We've visited the property, but never stayed.

I visit Atlantis annually. How long are you staying?

There are quite a few Atlantis discussions here on The Dis about Atlantis. Take the advice of the cruisers with a grain of alt....staying there as a resort guest is much different.

I personally don't recommend the meal plan for value, and have other budget tips in this thread. But if you getting the plan two kids for free, then it might make economic sense.

My daughter was 6 when she did the “Junior Ultimate Trainer for a Day” program. She loved it. I shared some pics of it here.

I wrote this a few years ago on this thread about how I like that Atlantis can be a lot more relaxing compared to Disney, especially at night, but still an active theme park like vacation:

I actually like that the day at Atlantis is more defined than a day at WDW. Once the sun is down and you've had dinner, you can relax, rather than strategize for the spot you need for the MSEP or Fantasmic...and there spend an hour standing there defending it from the Brazilian hordes. Meaning you can actually RELAX at Atlantis.

That being said there are quite a few things to do...its just that the pools close at sunset and there aren't usually any fireworks....that's the big difference from WDW. But there are a bunch of low-key activities: movie theater, arcade, live music, junkanoo musician parade through the marina village, Radio0Control car speedway, one kids activity club and two teen night clubs, the sea-life exhibits are open...and just a nice walk on the beach.

Happy to help with any questions.

 

[VeroBeachGirl]

Wow! Thanks for all the great links. My youngest still drinks powder formula that we mix with water. Is the tap water safe to drink or do we need to buy bottled?
He is not fussy about taste and we use tap water at home and have used ship water on DCL for his formula. I have heard conflicting reports on drinking and not drinking the tap water at the resort.
Thanks!
P.S. We got the dining plan because of the kids eat free promo. We will be staying for three nights.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Wow! Thanks for all the great links. My youngest still drinks powder formula that we mix with water. Is the tap water safe to drink or do we need to buy bottled?
He is not fussy about taste and we use tap water at home and have used ship water on DCL for his formula. I have heard conflicting reports on drinking and not drinking the tap water at the resort.
Thanks!
P.S. We got the dining plan because of the kids eat free promo. We will be staying for three nights.

We mostly drink tap....we stay at the timeshare and have a full fridge, so we usually order a few bottles of water from a grocery delivery service, then refill with tap. We also drink tap in restaurants. There's an infamous 1.5 liter $9 bottle of water at the poolside concession stands, so we just bring our own to the pool areas most of the time. Word-on-the-street is that Paradise Island has its own desalinization plant, and the water that comes from there is very pure.

Going for 3 nights, I wouldn't bother with any off-resort excursions...too much time away from the resort and totally unnecessary for a brief trip.

My little ones did the Sea Squirts several times (pics and discussion)...its a nice cute activity. While you are over where this activity takes place, make sure you check out the sea-life lagoons between the Coral and Beach towers...kids can get up close at these, and can help out the sea keepers at feeding times (look at the Atlantean daily activity sheet, and look for interactive seakeepers sanctuary).

Otherwise the kids will love the dolphin Cay activities and the kid pool areas.

Also note that the wavy and rapids river system in Aquaventure does not have any height requirement. The major slides all have a 48 inch height requirement, but smaller ones can ride tubes in the river (with freely available life jackets, if they so choose). I've been riding these rivers with them since my youngest was a month or two shy of her third birthday.

 

[VeroBeachGirl]

We mostly drink tap....we stay at the timeshare and have a full fridge, so we usually order a few bottles of water from a grocery delivery service, then refill with tap. We also drink tap in restaurants. There's an infamous 1.5 liter $9 bottle of water at the poolside concession stands, so we just bring our own to the pool areas most of the time. Word-on-the-street is that Paradise Island has its own desalinization plant, and the water that comes from there is very pure.

Going for 3 nights, I wouldn't bother with any off-resort excursions...too much time away from the resort and totally unnecessary for a brief trip.

My little ones did the Sea Squirts several times (pics and discussion)...its a nice cute activity. While you are over where this activity takes place, make sure you check out the sea-life lagoons between the Coral and Beach towers...kids can get up close at these, and can help out the sea keepers at feeding times (look at the Atlantean daily activity sheet, and look for interactive seakeepers sanctuary).

Otherwise the kids will love the dolphin Cay activities and the kid pool areas.

Also note that the wavy and rapids river system in Aquaventure does not have any height requirement. The major slides all have a 48 inch height requirement, but smaller ones can ride tubes in the river (with freely available life jackets, if they so choose). I've been riding these rivers with them since my youngest was a month or two shy of her third birthday.

My kids are signed up for sea squirts and a sea lion interaction. The oldest is tall enough for some of the slides, so hubby and I will take turns sliding with her while the other parent watches the two littles.
One last question:
Do they have life jackets for kids readily available near all the pools or should I bring my own?

 

[GrnMtnMan]

One last question:
Do they have life jackets for kids readily available near all the pools or should I bring my own?

They have jackets readily available. There are racks of them in many places throughout the pool areas.