It is a lovely hot August summer day, big decisions, what shall we do? We had a great day at Seaworld yesterday, how about a water park today? We have never been to Aquatica, and have heard you have to get there early, so what are we waiting for? So towels and plenty of sunscreen packed at 10. 00 am we head to the car looking forward to seeing Aquatica for the first time.
The park opens at 09. 00 this time of year and when we arrived at about 10. 20 the car park was already looking full – I hope the wait times aren’t too long! At the bag check we were asked if we have any food and drink – you are not allowed to take your own food and only a something like a bottle of water, but as we like to travel light anyway we had neither.
We headed to the locker rental area – lockers are $4 for a small one and $10 for a large one, with an additional refundable key deposit of $5.
Bags deposited in the locker, sun screen on time to head for our first ride - Roa’s Rapids. Life jackets are supplied, although not essential, we decided to put some on anyway although we can all swim easily as liked the idea of floating round. The water propels you round through water falls, spray rapids and you even pass through an aquarium. It is quite fast in places and we loved it! After going around a few times it was time for our next adventure.
Next port of call was TheWallhalla Wave/ Hoo Hoo Run – the lines looked quite long, but moved really quickly. We ended up in the line for Hoo Hoo Run and before we knew it were taking our places in the ring and being propelled down a steep slide – it was great!
Next stop was The Taumata Racer, which looked really steep and scary. We grabbed our rubber mats and joined the line, and again it moved really quickly and before we knew it, it was our turn to take our positions at the top of the slide –this was so much fun, and not as bad as it looks, probably our favourite of the day.
We were having a great time and went on The Dolphin Plunge (where you slide through the dolphin pool), Big Surf Shores (wave pool), Whanau Way and Tassie Twisters.
All in all a great time was had by all and we will definitely be returning. I had heard that finding shade is a problem, but we found there were lots of areas with umbrellas to relax in, not that we had time! Aquatica is very well thought out, and although perhaps not as big as the other water parks, there really is something for everyone of all ages, and will be joining our list of not to be missed!
The park opens at 09. 00 this time of year and when we arrived at about 10. 20 the car park was already looking full – I hope the wait times aren’t too long! At the bag check we were asked if we have any food and drink – you are not allowed to take your own food and only a something like a bottle of water, but as we like to travel light anyway we had neither.
We headed to the locker rental area – lockers are $4 for a small one and $10 for a large one, with an additional refundable key deposit of $5.
Bags deposited in the locker, sun screen on time to head for our first ride - Roa’s Rapids. Life jackets are supplied, although not essential, we decided to put some on anyway although we can all swim easily as liked the idea of floating round. The water propels you round through water falls, spray rapids and you even pass through an aquarium. It is quite fast in places and we loved it! After going around a few times it was time for our next adventure.
Next port of call was TheWallhalla Wave/ Hoo Hoo Run – the lines looked quite long, but moved really quickly. We ended up in the line for Hoo Hoo Run and before we knew it were taking our places in the ring and being propelled down a steep slide – it was great!
Next stop was The Taumata Racer, which looked really steep and scary. We grabbed our rubber mats and joined the line, and again it moved really quickly and before we knew it, it was our turn to take our positions at the top of the slide –this was so much fun, and not as bad as it looks, probably our favourite of the day.
We were having a great time and went on The Dolphin Plunge (where you slide through the dolphin pool), Big Surf Shores (wave pool), Whanau Way and Tassie Twisters.
All in all a great time was had by all and we will definitely be returning. I had heard that finding shade is a problem, but we found there were lots of areas with umbrellas to relax in, not that we had time! Aquatica is very well thought out, and although perhaps not as big as the other water parks, there really is something for everyone of all ages, and will be joining our list of not to be missed!