Aquatica Orlando Photos from March 8th, 2008

I’d taken photos at Disney for an update Friday, and was settling in to watch the storm roll in at the Polynesian Resort beach when I received a text message from Eric Davis at Orlando Fun Tickets saying he had a question for me.  Having no idea what he was writing about, I called – and he asked if I wanted to go to Aquatica!  (yes!)

The only thing I had to pay for was parking, which was $10.00 (and any food, etc.)    You can pay more for preferred parking, but I wouldn’t feel it’s worth it.  My parking spot was only a few minutes walk from the front gate, and it was easy to stop by the car when needed throughout the day.    A small locker would cost $8.00, I left items in my trunk instead.   One caveat – the previous nights storm brought a cold front, so the high was forecast at 63 degrees – so I had both a swimsuit AND a sweater.   The photos are posted in order of when I took them (for the most part).  Oh – and just one aside –  there are many signs saying “no coolers”. 

I have never considered myself much of a water park person.  I really enjoyed River Country – but am not really into big slides and such.   However, just being at the front of Aquatica was absolutely wonderful – flowers, waterfalls, etc.    The landscaping is lovely, with the plants and flowers well-matched to their surroundings throughout the park – even when matched alongside furniture.   I was very impressed by this.

 

The bathroom before you go inside the park – it was clean, but very small (2 stalls, no extra changing room).   There are much larger facilities inside the park.

It’s hard to see, but Anheuser-Busch is stamped on everything!  Toilet, faucet in the bathroom, etc. :): 

 

I asked what this meant:

 

I was told that that “Big Kahuna” is for guests who have rented cabanas, or who are coming in from a Discovery Cove ticket.   The cabanas start at $150.00 for 4 people in off-season, and it costs more to add any additional guests.   I do have some photos of the outside of the cabanas at the end of this article.  They looked pretty nice!

We first made our way to the beach area to hold our lounge chairs.   The park was not crowded at all, so that wasn’t a problem!  As you can see in these photos, the wind was really kicking up (and did all day long).  

 

We then went to look at the dolphins (I did several times during the day!)  

I had worn my swimsuit, but didn’t end up in the water at all (except for my feet).   I thought I’d take photos first, then play later – but it was really quite cold out all day, especially as the afternoon progressed.   Eric from Orlando Fun Tickets , Heather and Aaron did take in some slides.  They started out with Dolphin Plunge, taking a photo op (by me) before sliding down.   At the top of the slide, you can see how many employees were dressed (very warm!)

 

Next, they did the Loggerhead Lane  (lazy river):

Had I read up on Aquatica ahead of time, I’d have known about (and bought) the food pass for the day.  It looked to be a very good deal!  

Adaptations (shop): 

 

One of the fun areas of Aquatica is the children’s play area called Walkabout Waters.  It looked like a LOT of fun!   I will have more photos of it as the article progresses, I was wandering around the area – around the water slides, and refreshment stops.

 

Taumata Racers looked like a lot of fun!

 

Roa’s Rapids: 

Mango Market is where I had lunch.   I tried the cheese pizza (which was okay, not great) – and a slice of chocolate cake, for research purposes only!  🙂  The cake was very good.   Again, I’d really have gone for the $20.00 offer had I arrived early in the day. My food at the Mango Market came out to $9.00 without a drink.

 

I had planned to spend an hour or two in the water with everyone, but they got cold early.  So I headed back to the lounge chairs, taking a few photos along the way:

Everyone loved Heathers sandal, which came equipped with a bottle opener on the bottom of the shoe!:

There isn’t a lot of wildlife at Aquatica – the dolphins, some fish, and birds:

Eric interviewing Aaron:

We headed to the Mango Market, where everyone else had hot chocolate.

 

 

We walked towards the kids area again – you can see everyone taking photos in the shadows as well (including Eric with his camera phone):

 

Eric, Heather and Aaron had to leave the park early.  I was planning to stay until close (and did).   I took some photos as we headed out towards the front.   We went by the dolphins as it was feeding time as well.