Aquatica Orlando touts itself as offering one of the preeminent water-park experiences in the world, and this boasting might just be correct! The theme park mixes the experience of an aquarium with the experience of a traditional theme park, and even features a ride that incorporates real-life sea creatures! From Whanau Way to Walhalla Wave, join ViewCation as we take a look at all of the Aquatica Orlando rides you HAVE to experience.
Whanau Way
Whanau Way consists of a tower featuring four different giant waterslides, and each waterslide can fit two occupants at a time on a double inner tube. This means that Whanau Way is a ride that can be ridden by eight riders at once! Each of the various waterslides that can be found at Whanau Way offer several twists and turns for their riders, and you’ll make a gigantic splash when you hit the waters at the bottom! This waterslide tower showcases how Aquatica Orlando likes to do waterslides, and it’s a perfect introduction to the park. There’s a height requirement of 42”, so it’s not open to everybody! However, these waterslides are far from being the most extreme offerings available at Aquatica Orlando.
KareKare Curl
If the four slides found at Whanau Way represent how Aquatica Orlando likes to do traditional waterslides, the KareKare Curl is a good example of how the park likes to do untraditional waterslides! The KareKare Curl is named after the coastal settlement of Karekare in New Zealand, which is known globally for it’s incredible surfing waves. If you’re looking for a taste of those incredible surfing waves within the boundaries of America, the KareKare Curl waterslide attempts to offer just that. Though the ride is only 30 seconds long, it will offer riders an experience that they are likely to remember for the rest of their lives!
In order to ride the KareKare Curl, you’ll need to get in a raft with a bunch of other riders. You and the other riders will then be shot down a massive tunnel that spans well over 300 feet. However, this gigantic plunge is only the beginning of the thrills that the KareKare Curl offers. Once you get to the bottom of the slide, you’ll be forced to confront a simulation of an incredibly large Karekare wave. While this wave might not be quite as crazy as the really thing can be in the right circumstances, it’s still a pretty crazy experience!
The wave that you’ll be shot up after plunging down the KareKare Curl’s slide is 35 feet tall, and the experience will make riders feel like they’re flying as they soar through the air. Of course, the KareKare Curl isn’t a ride that’s going to be acceptable for everyone given it’s intense nature. The height requirement for the waterslide is 42”, though even those who meet this requirement might be intimidated.
Walkabout Waters
If you’re looking for an experience at Aquatica Orlando that everyone can enjoy, Walkabout Waters stands as one of the park’s attractions with no height limit whatsoever. That’s because Walkabout Waters isn’t really a ride, but more of a playground. However, don’t let that designation fool you into thinking that the attraction has nothing to offer! Walkabout Waters is meant to resemble a rainforest, and it’s 60 feet tall and spans 15,000 square feet. The experience is tons of fun, and you may even find yourself getting lost for hours!
Riptide Race
The Riptide Race features two dual waterslide that each can fit a double inner tube. This allows two pairs of riders to race against each other to see who gets to the bottom first! Aquatica Orlando is great about adding extra dimensions to traditional water-park experiences, and the Riptide Race is another stunning example. The ride is particularly fun if you’re visiting the park with four or more people, as you’ll know everyone that’s involved in the race! In order to ride the Riptide Race, you and your party will have to make your way up a 68-foot-tall tower. From there, you’ll be off on your race! The slides themselves are fairly long at nearly 700 feet, though they’re mild enough that the ride shouldn’t be off-putting for younger park visitors. The height requirement for the Riptide Race is 42”, which seems plenty appropriate.
Ray Rush
The Ray Rush is another raft waterslide not all that dissimilar from the KareKare Curl. However, the Ray Rush isn’t quite as intense as the KareKare Curl and doesn’t have as high of a height requirement. The Ray Rush also has unique manta-ray theming that makes it stand out from other rides in the park. Although the height requirement for the Ray Rush is only 42”, the ride is still incredibly thrilling! Similar to the KareKare Curl, the ride starts out as just a basic raft waterslide before turning into something else completely once you get to the bottom. Whereas the KareKare Curl offers it’s riders the experience of riding a simulated Karekare wave, the Ray Rush features giant manta wings that riders will slide back and forth on up to 60 feet in the air.
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Cutback Cove & Big Surf Shores
We’re cheating a bit with this entry because it’s technically two attractions and neither one of them is a ride. However, no trip to Aquatica Orlando is complete without experiencing the park’s dual wave pools! Big Surf Shores is the more relaxing of the two, while Cutback Cove can get pretty intense. Either way, you’re going to have a ton of fun!
Reef Plunge
The Reef Plunge is one of the newest additions to Aquatica Orlando’s repertoire of attractions, and it’s quickly become one of it’s most popular, as well. The Reef Plunge is another waterslide with a twist, though this twist goes a little bit farther than any of the twists mentioned before. The twist of the Reef Plunge is that the ride features actual dolphins!
The Reef Plunge consists of a giant tree-house-themed tower with two translucent slides branching out of it. Regardless of which of these slides riders take, they’re in for a treat! The Reef Plunge doesn’t require a raft or inner tube, and there can only be one rider in each slide at a time. However, the draw of the Reef Plunge isn’t necessarily the slide itself, but the fact that going down the slide takes you through an underwater environment populated by dolphins!
Not everyone who rides the Reef Plunge gets the experience of a dolphin riding right past their slide while they take the plunge, but it’s not uncommon. Regardless, the slide offers a great time with each ride, and the experience is always slightly different due to the element of real sea life. Even though the main draw of the Reef Plunge is the fact that it features real-life sea creatures in it, the slide itself is plenty of fun and can be a little intense. Because of this, the Reef Plunge sadly has a limiting height requirement of 48 inches.
Ihu’s Breakaway Falls
Ihu’s Breakaway Falls is a strange and somewhat terrifying attraction consisting of four breakaway platforms and three slides. The ride takes four at a time, but only three of it’s riders will end up going down one of Ihu’s Breakaway Falls’ thrilling waterslides. Of course, no one is supposed to know which one of the four platforms isn’t going to breakaway, resulting in an unprecedented surprise that might be too much for riders! Like the Reef Plunge’s dual waterslides, the three waterslides that make up Ihu’s Breakaway Falls branch out of a giant tree-house-themed tower. Each of the three slides offered by the ride provide a different experience, so you’ll have to ride Ihu’s Breakaway Falls multiple times in order to know everything that the ride has going for it.
Kata’s Kookaburra Cove
Kata’s Kookaburra Cove is the section of Aquatica Orlando designated for small children, so those seeking thrills should stay way. However, families will find that there’s plenty of fun to be had within this area of the park, which is filled with plenty of small waterslides and other stuff for kids. Kids are unlikely to ever get bored here, but parents might!
Loggerhead Lane
Not all of the rides at Aquatica Orlando are crazy, and Loggerhead Lane is an example of a ride that can actually be fairly relaxing! Loggerhead Lane is Aquatica Orlando’s answer to the lazy river, and it’s a ton of fun for park visitors who find themselves in the mood for a little downtime. Of course, given that it’s Aquatica Orlando and not your run-of-the-mill waterpark, Loggerhead Lane features a few flourishes that make it stand out from the traditional lazy river, including some bamboo bridges providing scenery.
Roa’s Rapids
If Loggerhead Lane is a little too lazy for your tastes but you still like the idea of coasting relatively aimlessly down a river, Roa’s Rapids offers a slightly more intimidating lazy river. Roa’s Rapids is a great attraction for older kids, many of whom might finds themselves bored by Loggerhead Lane. Still, it’s got nothing on Aquatica Orlando’s true thrills!
Taumata Racer
The Taumata Racer is another attraction that offers it’s riders the chance to race each other down adjacent waterslides. However, the Taumata Racer is a good deal more intense! Whereas the Riptide Race features dual waterslides that each fit two riders, the Taumata Racer features eight waterslides that each fit only one. However, these waterslides are a great deal more intense than the ones found on the Riptide Race, even though the height requirement is the same at only 42”. Park visitors be warned!
Walhalla Wave
Finally, let’s take a look at the Walhalla Wave! The Walhalla Wave may be the last ride that we take a look at in this video, but it’s certainly not the least! This is another raft waterslide, and it’s incredibly intense. The Walhalla Wave sends up to four riders plunging six stories in 40 seconds down a dark tunnel with numerous twists and turns.
With all of these incredible rides for park visitors of all ages, it’s no wonder that Aquatica Orlando feels comfortable touting itself as one of the world’s best water parks. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Aquatica Orlando has a ride that incorporates actual dolphins into it, and that there’s another ride at the park that simulates the experience of surfing a world-class New Zealand wave? As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more globetrotting ViewCation videos are on their way!