Photo TR: A Cold Day at Aquatica Orlando

A few weeks ago I had the chance to visit Aquatica Orlando for the first time in a while... This is absolutely my favorite water park in Central Florida and has been for many years (note, I've not been to Volcano Bay yet) and I've been happy to see the park continually grow with new additions since it first opened. With the random cold of a Florida weekend, we had already planned to visit the park but figured we'd brave the cold air in the name of low crowds and thus, short waits for the park's best slides... It turns out, it wasn't just a slow day, but a near-empty day, allowing us to ride all but one slide in the park twice in the first two hours of the park being open!

Time for a quick visit to Aquatica!

HooRoo Run was removed to make way for the new Ray Rush slide, but Walhalla Wave has been temporarily closed while the new slide is constructed.

I always love seeing the Dolphin Plunge tower at the entrance of the park!

It was definitely neat to see a Shark Tank product available for use inside of the park!

Dolphin Plunge is such a picturesque attraction!

Tassie's Twisters is accessible via Loggerhead Lane.

Banana Beach Cook-Out is one of the park's main eateries, and this one allows for an all-you-care-to-enjoy dining experience!

New since my last visit was the addition of a Passholder Pavilion, which is something I'll definitely take advantage of in future visits!

Looking towards the new Ray Rush slide.

The entrance to Walhalla Wave and Ray Rush will be behind this wall.

Another neat addition to the park since my last visit is the option to purchase a "Big Squirt" toy...

With your "Big Squirt" you can shoot targets on this board with water, which when hit will trigger water jets to shoot back at you.

Lots of different elements to see for Ray Rush.

There's a magnetic launch section of the slide!

Walkabout Waters has multiple tipping splash buckets and little slides for the younger guests and their families to enjoy.

Taumata Racer is the park's most colorful attraction, and the only one that uses a mat-racer style experience.

Omaka Rocka, the park's first addition can be seen from across the park.

Ihu's Breakaway Falls was the park's most recent addition...

And one that I got to experience in a memorable way.

A look back on my first time experiencing Ihu's Breakaway Falls back in 2014...

A closer look at Omaka Rocka and Whanau Way.

The park recently celebrated its tenth anniversary with this special sand sculpture.

Some new 10th anniversary merchandise available in the park.

Even more!

The Commerson's dolphins are the key element of Dolphin Plunge and they are incredible to watch from the viewing area.

I truly believe that Dolphin Plunge is one of SeaWorld's best design achievements in their company history.

I find myself spending a lot of time just watching it from the outside when I visit the park.

Loggerhead Lane, so aptly named.

One last stare at Dolphin Plunge.

The entrance is so unique... Still one of my favorite places in Orlando when it comes to theme parks.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped by Seaworld to get a bite at the Seven Seas Food Festival!

It was a beautiful day in the park!

Mako has comfortably joined the park's wonderful Waterfront skyline.

The park's false killer whales previously found home in the Whale & Dolphin Theater (where Dolphin Days is shown) have moved in to Shamu Stadium.

The Bananas Foster Cheesecake Cone is an incredible winner on the Seven Seas Food Festival menu!

The Sea Scallops Provençal served with Wild Mushroom Risotto is my second favorite dish of the event...

My first being the Conch Fritters... I used to have these exact conch fritters from Captain Pete's Island Eats back when the Key West section of the park first opened. They were served for many years (and were a family favorite when we'd visit) but were phased out as guests showed less interest in such fare and the menu shifted to focus on hot dogs instead. It is truly wonderful to see these back on the menu at SeaWorld, even if only for a brief period of time!

We don't often visit SeaWorld without stopping by Pacific Point Preserve.

We found a new favorite sea lion!

Manta is still one of the best coasters in Florida after all these years!

Such nice pictures! Wonderful report!

Great report! I didn't spend long at Aquatica back in November, but I really liked how nice the park looked.

I thought Dolphin Falls was overrated from a ride standpoint (the pass-through happens too fast as a rider), but off-ride it's stunning to look at. Ihu's Breakway Falls was easily the highlight for me.

^I'll be very curious to see what they do with Dolphin Plunge once the Commerson's Dolphins are no longer at the park, as SeaWorld has already confirmed that they will not breed or seek to replace them once they have reached the end of their lifespan.

^I'll be very curious to see what they do with Dolphin Plunge once the Commerson's Dolphins are no longer at the park, as SeaWorld has already confirmed that they will not breed or seek to replace them once they have reached the end of their lifespan.

Yeah without the dolphins, it's just your garden variety body slide. If they can find someway to keep animals or scenery in that pool, then I think the visual effect could still be really impressive off-ride.

Great report! It's nice to see someone who shares my affinity for Pacific Point Preserve. I could watch Sea Lions all day and be perfectly happy with life.

Aquatica is really an outstanding waterpark. Thank you for the pictures.