Lazy River

Slidin’ with Skyline

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Aquatica Orlando

Reef Plunge

Right at the entrance to the water park is the entrance to the first highlight: Reef Plunge. This classic bodyslide offers a fairly long slide over numerous bends and several smaller jumps and towards the end offers a ride through a larger water basin in a transparent tube. Here you have a few seconds to watch the Commerson’s dolphins, leopard sharks, sardines and other cold-water fish above and beside you before you reach the exit of the slide. Thanks to this feature, Reef Plunge is a unique experience and should definitely be tried once, provided the slide is open.

Loggerhead Lane and Tassie’s Twister

The Lazy River Loggerhead Lane serves as a cozy entry point for the double funnel slide Tassie’s Twister. After drifting for a few minutes, you can make your way up to the entrance. After a quick start, you then do a few laps in the funnel before leaving it comfortably through the outlet and being led back into the lazy river.

Riptide Race

Riptide Race was still the newest water slide in the park when I visited. The double racing slide offers several sections along its course where you can meet your competitors in the other lane. Despite its numerous jumps, the slide is a little too gentle, at least for a single person.

Walhalla Wave and Ray Rush

At the time of my visit, the Ray Rush slide was under construction. I would have loved to go for a ride on the Family Blaster ride built by Whitewater with the large Manta element, but I would have just as loved to go down the Valhalla Wave slide. Both slides promise to be a lot of fun, which is why I would love to return at some point.

Walkabout Waters and Taumata Racer

After this small disappointment, we now make our way through the Walkabout Waters play structure, where we refresh ourselves a little with the water from the huge overturning bucket, towards the Taumata Racer mat slide. This eight-lane slide not only has an incredibly high capacity, but also encourages you to race against your family or friends. The Taumata Racer is by no means a classic mat slide, because before it goes into the big shoot ride, you first pick up a lot of speed in a high-pressure helix. Wonderful!

Roa’s Rapids, Big Surf Shores and Cutback Cove

Aquatica Orlando is home to the pretty fast and really exciting Lazy River Roa’s Rapids. For a large part of the course, you can simply let yourself be carried along by the current without paying too much attention, and in between there are the absolutely brilliant rapid sections. It’s great fun. The nearby wave pools Big Surf Shores and Cutback Cove are perfect for letting yourself drift a little on the waves after a round or two in Roa’s Rapids.

Ihu’s Breakaway Falls

The four turbo slides of the Ihu’s Breakaway Falls tower are located directly next to the two wave pools Big Surf Shores and Cutback Cove. While the blue, green and orange tubes have a trapdoor start, the purple tube offers a classic entry followed by a very steep gradient before it turns into a curve-dominated slide, just like the other tubes. As always with very high waterslides, the tension increases with every meter of height. Here at Aquatica Orlando, it is even forbidden to wear swimming trunks that are too tight, as you would probably be going too fast. At some point, you reach the top and are spoiled for choice between the four lanes.

While the two of the three trapdoor start lanes immediately turn left and, after a short bend to the right, offer a longer straight section with the third in the group following the same course in the other direction, the purple slide gets off to an incredibly fast start with a fairly high drop. This is followed by a powerful downward helix, which leads into another high drop for the finale. Meanwhile, the three other lanes also set off on their final spurt and elegantly lead you into the exit after another high-pressure left or right turn.

All four lanes of Ihu’s Breakaway Falls are really good slides, with the purple lane definitely being the wildest of the four. Those who like turbo slides will get their money’s worth here, because Orlando’s highest water slide is really not for hot showers and/or water park newbies and is therefore a real test of courage!

Kare Kare Curl

Let’s now move on to the last huge standalone slide in the park and my personal highlight: Kare Kare Curl. As I was traveling alone and a group of three happened to need another person to slide with them, I was able to take a seat in one of the four-person boats in no time at all. After a short slide at a lofty height, there is a tight helix before the big drop into the Tornado Wave begins. In this wave, you speed up rapidly before drifting sideways and hurtling downwards. After two quick swings along the slide wall, you are slowly slowed down before plunging into a tunnel and being guided leisurely to the end of the slide.

Kare Kare Curl is an absolutely magnificent slide, which for me also serves as a symbol for Aquatica Orlando.

Whanau Way und Omaka Rocka

Nearby is the ascent to the fast tube slides Whanau Way and Omaka Rocka. While the former scores points with its rapid double drop finale after a winding start, Omaka Rocka impresses with its wild pendulum passages in the small funnels on the way down.

Pictures Aquatica Orlando

Conclusion Aquatica Orlando

Just like back then in San Antonio, I was once again quite happy to have bought the ticket for the water park. The visit to Aquatica Orlando was my highlight of the day and one of the best water parks I’ve visited so far. Despite the many closed slides, I liked the park even better than its sister park in San Antonio. There are a lot of really good water slides here and the design of the park is also extremely sublime, which is why I can highly recommend a visit. With a visit to the main park next door, you really have a lot to experience here.

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Aquatica Orlando

Going down the Summit Plummit

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Disney’s Blizzard Beach

Opened in 1995, Blizzard Beach is the newest water park at the Walt Disney World Resort. The theme of the park is based on a Disney legend. After a heavy snowstorm in the area, a businessman wanted to open Florida’s first ski resort. However, the snow did not last long. What remained was a mountain with water-filled ski jumps and a chairlift. The ride was about to close when an alligator was seen sliding down a ski jump and landing in a pool of water. The ski area was then reopened as a water park.

Melt Away Bay, Cross Country Creek, Tike’s Peak and Sky Patrol Training Camp

At the base of Mount Gushmore, we can find most of the family friendly offering. The toddler pool Tike’s Peak is slightly off the mountain and hence a good area to let your kids play safely. The Sky Patrol Training Camp on the other hand snugs neatly onto the mountain and offers a variety of fun activities for older kids. Surrounding the mountain is the Cross Country Creek offering a relaxing journey throughout the park. Finally, the family can come together to experience Melt Away Bay, the park’s large wave pool.  

Downhill Double Dipper

Probably the most fun slide at Disney’s Blizzard Beach is the Downhill Double Dipper tube slide. Here we race down a series of steep drops and experience a very fine airtime on the crest of the second downwards chute. It is also a very good slide to race against friends and family.  

Snow Stormers and Toboggan Racers

Snow Stormers and Toboggan Racers are the two mat slides of Disney’s Blizzard Beach. While Toboggan Racers is a mat racer slide, where you race against your fellow sliders down a chute with multiple waves, Snow Stormers is a more classic slide guiding us through seven serpentines on our way down.

Runoff Rapids 

Runoff Rapids are the park’s classic tube slides located at the back of the artificial mountain. While two of the slides offer a very chilling slide down a course with multiple serpentines and a few jumps, the third of the pack does it in pitch blackness.  

Slush Gusher and Summit Plummit

Slush Gusher and Summit Plummit are the park’s two kamikaze style bodyslides. While Slush Gusher offers a pleasant slide down multiple hills next to the ski jump tower, Summit Plummit takes it one step further and lets you go down the sky jump. These huge kamikaze slides always require a lot of courage and Summit Plummit – although you are not actually taking the jump – is a very breathtaking experience. Thankfully, you don’t have to walk all the way back up to go again, as the run off ends nearby the park’s chairlift.  

Teamboat Springs

Teamboat Springs is the large family raft slide and starts on top of the mountain. The slide goes down a very gentle slope at the back of the back. The slide consists of alternating left and right turns, sparkled with an occasional jump in between and topped off with a nice double drop finale. It is a very family friendly ride, but a very fine experience too.  

Pictures Disney’s Blizzard Beach

Conclusion Disney’s Blizzard Beach

I had a blast at Disney’s Blizzard Beach. Due to the “cold” weather – at least for the locals –, there was basically no one else in the water park, hence I could experience all of the slides in a very timely matter. I truly love the theme this water park is going for and I’m quite excited to come back one day.

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Disney's Blizzard Beach

Following Snorri to Rulantica

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Rulantica

It is very refreshing to see a stand-alone water park in Germany as well. Water slides are by no means a rare sight in Germany and some slide towers are a wet dream for water slide fetishists; but there hasn’t been a real water park in this country yet. Instead, we have a lot of thermal spas, i.e. wellness oases with mostly quite expensive entrance fees. Interestingly, the Europa Park with its water park Rulantica is already positioning itself above the long-established competition close to the border due to its very high entrance fee, and is also clearly outdoing the nearby Schwarzwaldtherme with its slide paradise Galaxy Schwarzwald. Yes, the park is a Mack product, but that really doesn’t justify everything.

Passing the new bed stronghold of Krønasår, we reach the Rulantica water park, where we pick up our wristbands at the ticket office. Shortly afterwards we enter the hansgrohe world of experience.

Snorri’s Saga

We start our discovery tour through Rulantica with Snorri’s Saga. The 250m long Lazy River winds once through the water park and tries to tell a story to the floating visitors by means of several projections. The whole thing is quite respectable, which definitely benefits the – in the nature of things – lazy flow channel.

Hugin, Mugin, Dugdrop und Vildvål

Directly opposite is the entrance to the tube slides Hugin and Mugin, as well as the drop duo Dugdrop and Vildvål. While Hugin and Mugin offer an exceptionally wild race characterised by numerous jumps and tight curves, visitors can expect a breathtaking tour de force on Dugdrop and Vildvål. The two AquaRockets from Aquarena are among the most intense water slides far and wide. The rather long slide also requires a lot of endurance, because there is no time to breathe until you reach the landing area of the turbo slides.

Vildstrøm

Fortunately, the entrance to the wild river Vildstrøm is right next door. The long slide through the wild river by the manufacturer API Waterfun is characterised by numerous faster slide sections, rapids and only a few intermediate pools. Thanks to the wider cross-section of the canal, you rarely bump into the canal wall, which gives visitors a very pleasant slide over a total of two lanes.

The bars of Rulantica

After so much sliding, you’re almost dying of thirst. Luckily, there are three bars in Rulantica, and you don’t even have to leave the pool at two of them. Above the hustle and bustle, you can relax a little in the sports bar Skål Bar, while the kids have a good romp in nearby Trølldal. The Skogbar, on the other hand, is a bit busier, and after buying a drink, you have to be careful that it doesn’t become one with the water around it. In the outdoor area of the water park, meanwhile, the Tempel Krog offers a pleasant ambience for a drink or two, especially in the evening.

Isbrekker

A little tipsy and passing the three children’s slides Översnurra, Överstor and Översnabb, we now move on to the larger slides of the Vinterhal theme area. The icebreaker for us is the short, but quite crisp Isbrekker slide, where you plop down into the water from a height of several metres after a short slide. Splendid fun!

Två Fall and Stormwind

We continue with the tube slides Två Fall and Stormwind. While Två Fall stands out positively due to its swinging course and the quick jumps, Stormwind is convincing due to its extremely fast ride into the large funnel.

Svalgur Rytt and Vinter Rytt

Things get really interesting on Svalgur Rytt and Vinter Rytt, both of which start from the highest point in the bath. While Svalgur Rytt is a surprisingly fast family raft slide that offers some really fun jumps on its 200m long track, Vinter Rytt is particularly convincing with its Tornado Wave, which you slide up in the usual Proslide manner. But even before the defining element, the Vinter Rytt convinces with its surprisingly strong airtime during the transition into the shooting ride of the water slide. Without question, both slides are the highlight of the Rulantica water park.

Pictures Rulantica

Conclusion Rulantica

A visit to Rulantica is a very expensive one. However, if you see the park not as a water park but as a kind of night club, which interestingly has some of the best water slides in Europe, then the visit is quite something. In a cocktail mood, the slides are twice as much fun, and if you haven’t brought your own car, you can get drunk here at reasonable prices. I like it.

 
 

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Rulantica