From old-school slides to modern thrill rides to family-friendly lazy rivers, the world is wild about water parks. The top Orlando water parks offer all of the above, including several opportunities to view aquatic animals during a day of play. Here are several great spots to cool off, enjoy water rides and splash about.
Aquatica
5800 Water Play Way
407-545-5550
Shiny new and very popular, Aquatica is at SeaWorld, south of downtown. It's an all-day adventure that includes a multidrop tower for the daring and the famed "Dolphin Plunge," where you zip down a see-through tube that runs right through a dolphin swimming pool, offering a 360-degree view of our flippered friends. The 59-acre park is open all year round, and offers day tickets and combination passes with SeaWorld.
Discovery Cove
6000 Discovery Cove Way
887-557-7404
For those who want wildlife with their wild water at Orlando water parks, Discovery Cove is a sister park to SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica Orlando and gives you a chance to swim with dolphins as part of a splashy day! The whole experience emphasizes interacting with wildlife while enjoying a water park vibe.
LEGOLAND Water Park
1 Legoland Way, Winter Haven
877-350-5346
A favorite of the Undercover Tourist blog's "Frog Family," this one is an "affordable add-on" for the Lego fanatics who have already signed on for Orlando LEGOLAND. It's basically a build-your-own water park experience, from the chance to construct a raft from soft Lego bricks and float away on it to the build-and-race your own Lego boat activity. Older kids and daring adults will enjoy the speed and tube slides. And those Joker Soakers? They are just what they sound like, so bring your A-game for the fun water fights.
Disney's Blizzard Beach
1534 Blizzard Beach Drive
407-560-3400
For Blizzard Beach, Disney takes the concept that a ski resort melted and runs with it. Thrill seekers slide down snow-capped mountains, including "Mount Gushmore," one of the world's tallest and fastest water slides. Smaller (or calmer) family members will also enjoy the daylong fun, since the park has smaller slides, wave pools and places to just float and relax, too.
Disney's Typhoon Lagoon
1145 E. Buena Vista Blvd.
407-560-4120
Trust the entertainment masterminds at Disney to put on a show! This water park expands the definition of water slide to include the "Humunga Kowabunga" with five steep drops, while keeping the tamer, slower slides that the little kids adore. And surf's up here, with the Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool, which generates 6-foot swells from powerful underwater turbines. Looking for a hands-on nature experience? The Lagoon features the Shark Reef, where visitors can swim with sharks, stingrays and tropical fish.
Universal's Volcano Bay Water Park
6000 Universal Blvd.
407-363-8000
Another water park that could only happen in Orlando, Volcano Bay can be seen from a distance, courtesy of its distinctive 200-foot conical mountain that roars when you least expect it and spouts a lavalike fluid at night. Other features include a lazy river, wave pool, aqua coaters and adrenalin-pumping 70-degree plunge slides.
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