Wave Pool

Soaking Up the Thrills

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Soak City

After spending some time at Valleyfair, I headed straight into the neighboring Soak City water park. The entrance is located quite centrally within the park, directly across from the Mad Mouse roller coaster, making it very easy to switch between the amusement park and the water park.

The water park itself has a surprisingly long history. Valleyfair opened its first water slides back in 1983, eventually developing into Whitewater Country and later the Soak City water park.

Breakers Pipeline & Plunge and Breakers Bay

Right next to Breakers Bay stands the large Breakers Pipeline & Plunge slide tower. Breakers Pipeline features four different drop-floor slides. After stepping into the launch capsule, it is arms and legs crossed as you wait for the floor to suddenly disappear beneath your feet. Two of the slides take a fairly direct route down, while the other two feature a more winding layout. The drop-floor start adds a nice dose of suspense to all four slides.

A few meters higher up are the two slides of Breakers Plunge. There are no capsules or drop floors here. Instead, you are looking straight down two classic kamikaze slides towards the runouts some 27 meters below. Despite their much simpler layout, Breakers Plunge feels even more extreme and certainly takes a little courage. I really enjoyed both attractions.

Right next door is Breakers Bay, the large wave pool at Soak City. Once the waves start, there is plenty of movement in the water. For me, a good wave pool is simply part of a good water park.

Panic Falls

Hidden away in the back corner of Soak City was Panic Falls, a truly old-school slide tower. The three body slides dated all the way back to 1983 and were among the first water slides ever built at Valleyfair.

And you could certainly feel their age – in a good way. You race through the numerous turns at surprisingly high speed, hitting several small jumps along the way. At times you even lift slightly off the slide, while the increasing speed causes you to bounce around more and more as the ride progresses. This slightly unpredictable behavior made Panic Falls great fun and one of the highlights of Soak City for me.

A few years younger were the two Panic Falls Speed Slides, which were added in 1988. Their layouts are much simpler: from the roughly 18-meter-high tower, two open slides head almost straight down towards the runout. The speed is accordingly high, and their old-school construction gives these slides a character of their own.

Ripple Rapids

After the rather wild slides of Panic Falls, things became much more relaxed on Ripple Rapids. The classic lazy river winds its way through part of Soak City and was perfect for a short break. Simply lying back in a tube and floating around the water park for a while was exactly the right change of pace after the wild slides before it.

Hurricane Falls

The big highlight at Soak City, however, was Hurricane Falls. The roughly 21-meter-high family raft slide didn’t look all that unusual at first, but turned out to be a surprisingly wild ride.

A large raft takes you down a wide channel featuring several steep and highly banked turns. The raft quickly picks up speed and starts swinging higher and higher through the curves. At times, it climbs surprisingly far up the side walls before swinging back down into the channel and almost immediately entering the next turn. This extreme swinging motion makes the ride incredibly dynamic, especially as you can enter the next section backwards or sideways depending on where you are sitting in the raft.

The ride was much wilder than I had expected from a typical family raft slide, and I really enjoyed it. Hurricane Falls was without question my favorite slide at Soak City.

Pictures Soak City

Conclusion Soak City

I really enjoyed Soak City during my short visit. The water park isn’t particularly large, but it offers a nice mix of modern attractions and some wonderfully wild old-school slides.

Hurricane Falls was the clear highlight for me. I certainly wasn’t expecting a family raft slide to be this wild, and the extreme swinging of the raft alone made my detour into the water park worthwhile.

 

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Superior Shores / The great Mid-Western Road Trip Day 4 - 5

An Ocean of Fun

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Oceans of Fun

After spending the morning at Worlds of Fun, I headed over to the neighboring Oceans of Fun water park around noon. The weather was expected to get worse later in the afternoon, so I decided to move my visit to the water park forward a little.

The entrance to Oceans of Fun is located right next to the Fury of the Nile rapids ride. This is also where the large Monsoon spillwater ride once stood, and I still walked past the now abandoned ride during my visit. What made Monsoon particularly interesting was the way it was integrated into both parks: the ride could be accessed from Worlds of Fun as well as Oceans of Fun, essentially making it part of both parks. Quite a clever idea – it’s just a shame that the ride hasn’t operated since 2022.

My first stop inside the water park was Castaway Cove, where I set up camp for the next few hours. The adults-only pool is a nice little oasis within Oceans of Fun and I liked it right away. The swim-up bar built directly into the pool is also a great feature and fits the area perfectly.

Aruba Tuba, Coconut Cove and Typhoon

From Castaway Cove, I eventually made my way to the first slides. I started with Aruba Tuba, a classic tube slide featuring two separate enclosed courses winding their way down the hillside. The ride itself isn’t particularly spectacular, but the numerous turns make it a fun way to start exploring the water park.

Right next to the slide’s runout is Coconut Cove. The large pool area features several water play elements and is mainly aimed at families and younger visitors. After a quick look around, I continued straight on to Typhoon.

Typhoon is a classic kamikaze slide and definitely takes a little courage. The slide runs down the hillside over several large humps, gradually building up speed along the way. You can even get a little airtime over the crests, which makes the ride surprisingly wild. Add in the age of the slide and the whole thing somehow feels just that little bit more daring. I really enjoyed Typhoon.

Riptide Raceway

Riptide Raceway is a much more modern addition. The large mat racer has been cleverly built into the natural hillside of Oceans of Fun and features four different courses. Rather than simply running parallel to each other all the way down, the individual lanes wind their way through numerous turns before eventually meeting again for the final race to the finish.

You ride headfirst on a mat, picking up plenty of speed as you race through the turns. With four different courses to choose from, there is also a good reason to ride Riptide Raceway more than once. The different layouts in particular make it one of the more interesting mat racers.

Caribbean Cooler and Hurricane Falls

After the first few slides, it was time to slow things down a little on Caribbean Cooler. The classic lazy river runs through a larger section of the water park and is a good place to simply lie back in a tube and float around for a while. The course itself isn’t particularly spectacular to look at, but after several slides, the relaxing lap came at just the right time.

Next up was Hurricane Falls, a classic family raft slide where, of all places, I encountered the longest queue of the entire day. Luckily, I had received a Fast Pass for Worlds of Fun when I bought my Cedar Fair season pass. At the time, I wasn’t even sure whether it could be used inside the water park. There was no harm in trying, though – and sure enough, it was accepted, cutting my wait considerably.

Hurricane Falls sends riders down the wide channel in large rafting boats. The raft rocks back and forth through the turns, making the experience slightly different depending on where you are sitting. All that swinging around makes for a really fun ride.

Surf City Wave Pool

I also spent some time in the Surf City Wave Pool, which has been part of Oceans of Fun since the water park first opened in 1982. The generously sized wave pool is therefore one of the park’s oldest surviving attractions. Once the waves start, there is plenty of movement in the water. I enjoyed the Surf City Wave Pool – for me, a good wave pool is simply part of a good water park.

Predators’ Plunge

The next slide tower is home to Predators’ Plunge, a classic speed slide with a drop-floor start. After climbing roughly 20 meters to the top of the tower, you step into the launch capsule. Door closed, arms and legs crossed, and then all you can do is wait for the floor to suddenly disappear beneath your feet.

You immediately pick up plenty of speed and shoot down through the enclosed tube. And it isn’t simply a straight drop: several fast turns keep the pace high all the way to the runout.

I really enjoyed Predators’ Plunge. The drop-floor start provides just the right amount of suspense and makes it one of the better slides at Oceans of Fun.

Shark’s Revenge

Shark’s Revenge is a tube slide on the same tower that starts off rather innocently. Several turns take you down through the enclosed tube, gradually building up speed along the way. The real highlight, however, is waiting right at the end.

Suddenly, the tube opens up and a surprisingly large drop appears directly in front of you, leading down towards the runout. It’s quite a breathtaking moment and makes for a great finale. That unexpected final drop makes Shark’s Revenge one of my favorite slides in the park.

Constrictor

Constrictor is another tube slide, but what makes this one particularly interesting is its unusual series of turns. The individual curves are extremely tight and sometimes follow each other almost immediately. As a result, the tube repeatedly climbs high up the walls before being thrown straight into the next turn.

It makes for a pretty wild ride, with plenty of swinging from side to side. This unusual layout makes Constrictor much more interesting than your average tube slide and certainly made it one of the more memorable rides of my visit.

Pictures Oceans of Fun

Conclusion Oceans of Fun

Overall, Oceans of Fun was a pleasant surprise. The water park first opened in 1982 and certainly shows its age in a few places, but some of those older slides are also among the most fun. I particularly enjoyed Typhoon and its slightly daring ride over the large humps. At the same time, newer additions such as Riptide Raceway ensure that the slide lineup doesn’t feel outdated.

There is also plenty to do away from the slides. Castaway Cove and its swim-up bar made a nice place to retreat to for a while, while Caribbean Cooler and the Surf City Wave Pool offered a chance to relax between rides.

In the end, I had much more fun at Oceans of Fun than I had expected before my visit. In fact, I almost spent too much time in the water park and eventually had to hurry back to neighboring Worlds of Fun to keep up with my roller coaster schedule. Considering that I had originally planned Oceans of Fun as little more than a short detour into the water park, that says a lot about the quality of the place.

 

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Oceans of Fun / The great Mid-Western Road Trip Day 3

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.

What is your opinion on the Aquatica Orlando water park? Simply write them in the comments field below the report!

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Aquatica Orlando