3/20: Water, Water... Everywhere

[Al Lutz]

A guide to the Orlando area water parks, discuss it here!

DIRECT ARTICLE LINK: http://www.miceage.com/kevinyee/ky032008a.htm

[Instidude]

Kevin,

You hit the nail on the head here. I'm a 40-something parent with 2 kids (9 & 7). and we can spend a couple days at Typhoon Lagoon (the wave pool alone is worth the admission - and it's not just the big waves, it's the fact that you feel like you someplace other than Central Florida). Blizzard Beach is fun, but not as good for the whole family - however as the kids get older, they do like the thrills of BB.

I've been to a lot of water parks over the years, but anymore, Typhoon Lagoon has spoiled them for me. The overall theming and environment at TL really puts it heads and tails above all others.

[4 Park Central]

Kevin - I'm surprised you don't know the full backstory of Blizzard Beach.

Basically a freak storm hits Central Florida bringing snow and ice with it. Entrepreneurs decided to capitalize on the unexpected change in weather to create a ski resort in the area. However the snow doesn't last and with the melt goes their dreams of a permanent ski resort. However being entrepreneurs they decide to use the snow melt and turned the location into a water park.

[KevinYee]

I'd heard it, but forgotten it.

It's a fairly silly backstory - like Disney would open a ski resort after a single atypical snowstorm! No wonder my brain blocked it out

[kcnole]

There's one more water park close to Orlando that you forgot about.

Wild Waters is near Ocala in Silver Springs.

I'll link to it below:

http://www.wildwaterspark.com/

[mistryl]

haha I had no idea we had so many pictures of the Disney waterparks.

My big thing is cleanliness. I can deal with it when a theme park isn't as clean as Disney's, but somehow a dirty waterpark just makes me feel more exposed, somehow. Aquatica is still very clean, but I've heard some not-so-good things about Wet & Wild. While the rides look fun, I can't bring myself to go somewhere that I just think will feel scuzzy.

I did forget about the park near Silver Springs. Haha there's an alligator in the toilet bowl! I like it. There's also the one in Cypress Gardens, but I'd hardly call that a 'park'.

[Brian_WDW74]

Kevin,

Just a note that they do now offer 5-Park and 6-Park FlexTickets with Aquatica admission included. The 5-Park option replaces Busch Gardens admission with Aquatica, and the 6-Park option keeps the other 5 parks and adds Aquatica.

[Mark Dewd]

Kevin, I think you made a mistake when you wrote: "The slides are longer and definitely steeper on the Universal and Busch parks than they are at the Disney parks."

The big drop at Blizzard Beach (120 feet tall) is considered the tallest steepest drop slide in the World. Also, the Family Raft Ride at Blizzard Beach is considered the longest Family Raft Ride in the World.

[KevinYee]

Hm. You may actually be right when it comes to the Blizzard Beach big drop. I was thinking more about the 'standard' bodyslides and the racers.

The family raft ride at blizzard is really long, but not ultimately that interesting. The one at Aquatica is enclosed and makes you lose where you are. It takes a LOT (really: a LOT) for me to get disoriented, but the family raft at Aquatica did it to me.

[WSVR]

One thing I noticed between the two Disney parks is that though both are very well themed on the slides themselves, the queues aren't quite as well themed at Blizzard Beach. They seemed much more like staircases than the queues at Typhon Lagoon. Of course the better slides there made up for that quite a bit. But both are very well themed compared to your average water park.

TL
Good body slides, both curvy and straight enclosed. But they aren't really that big a thrill. Tube Slides, kids area, and family slides lacking a bit relative to BB. Better theming in the queues. Slide theming is for the most part equal. Has a more plausible back story. Has the Water Roller coaster and the Swim with the sharks as well as an awesome wave pool.

BB Much better family slides and tube slides Also has the twin tube racers
Has the two high thrill slides the likes of which TL doesn't have at all Has the head first mat slides both straight and slalem Has great kids area. Wave pool leaves a ton to be desired. More climbing to do here and less shade.