A tip for Aquatica

[alwburgess]

Anyone planning to visit this new waterpark, especially in the near future should get there as early as possible as full capacity is being reached very quickly, today it was 10-30. we went to this park wednesday and although we got in finding any free beds is almost impossible also the roads leading up to the entrance are gridlocked.

[carys]

Crikey thanks for letting us know that great tip.

[purpleprincess]

Thanks for the tip Linda, heres hoping it will be quieter in Sept

[Pixie-Dust]

Thanks for that info, could you imagine getting there and not being able to get in!! The kids would not be happy bunnies!! :nonono:

Will put an early start for Aquatica into my planner.

~*~pixie-dust~*~

[Princess Kaz]

What sort of time do you recommend being there - to include parking and queueing?

K x

[sunsetlakes]

Great tip Linda. Thank you for keeping us informed.

[Cal and Dave]

Yes I agree. The first time we went, was fine, we were there for 10am and no problem finding beds and getting in. This was good Friday, the second time, which was in the week after easter, we again arrived at 10am and there were no beds left, and it remained like that all day :(

[Sue]

Can you get in if you have a cabana booked?
I have done this and was thinking of having brekkie in the resort before we got there - aiming to get there around 10am?

[pinkypominnie]

Oooh..thanks for the tip! Will make sure we get there 30mins before official opening......is opening time 9am? xx

[rach&dan]

I've heard that there's not a lot of shade in the park...didn't you manage to find some?

[alim]

Thanks for the tip we go in June and value that tip very much. I am sure it will even busier by then. :wave:

[dsj37]

We went a couple of weeks ago and were really lucky. It was a cooler day, 69 degrees, and we did consider not bothering because it mght be a bit chilly. Decided to go anyway and give it a go, did say to OH it will probably only be Brits there today which wasn't too far from the truth!! It was a bit chilly walking between water rides but the Park was so quiet that it was worth it, we didn't queue for any and did most a few times. It was a great family water park, smaller than Typhoon Lagoon (didn't do the others) but with more two and four person rides which was ideal with DS and DD (11 and 7). The kids play area was fab and even kept the 11 year old occupied for a while. Really large sand area fronting the two wave pools.

We drove past a few days later, weather back to 80, and the police were blocking the road as the Park was full, that was at 10.30! I would recommend getting there before opening as all Parks opened 1/2 hour early when we were there. I doubt there would be too many beds left much after 10am.

[tink]

had planned to go 14th do you think i should leave it until 20th onwards when British school holiday finishes? or will this not make any diffrence??

[johnny1352]

OMG wonder what it is like late july/early august when we go. Kids will be so disapointed if we cant get in

[simon06]

thanks for the tip, as with most parks its always better to get there early

[alwburgess]

Back home now,shatttered.

9-30ish would get you in i would say.We were lucky in that we did not arrive until after 10 but got in, after much walking around we found an area behind the lazy river, there was 1 bed + another we grabbed then a kind chap who had a large family gave us a couple of their beds as they were not going to be laying on them much. There are a lot of umbrellas some very large to give shade but there is not much cover from the sun when queuing for the rides,hubby got burnt.

The queue for the dolphin ride was over an hour and then if you travel through too quick you don't see the dolphins anyway. I heard one remark which was " if you are here all day you would still only get to do 4-5 rides" thats about right at the moment.

[spendleb]

Is it worth it then?, I mean is it a lot better than say Typhoon? I have planned to go after a trip to Boggy Creek for the airboats but reading this we wouldn't arrive much before 11am if we did this. We already have a day planned for TL anyway, wonder if it's better to arrive later in the afternoon for a couple of hours, what time does it open/close?

[2008herewecome]

:omg: :omg: :omg: Thanks for the tip....
Looks like this may be a no go then!!! :cry: :cry: :cry:

[JudyC]

Thanks for the tip. I'll bet a lot of people will get caught out thinking the opening time is 10am like the disney water parks, and not 9am.

[stitch99]

thanks for the tip does this mean other water parks are less busy? Anyone know if it's better to go later on in the afternoon?
If not may give it a miss this time..

[mini-mum]

We were at Aquatica on Monday. We had tried to get in the previous week, but it was closed (late morning) and Police were re-directing traffic. We arrived earlier on Monday and had no trouble getting in and parking. We headed for the beach area and managed to get 3 beds just under a very large umbrella. Unfortunately they weren't in the shade for very long. We slapped on loads of factor 30 suncream all day but all of us got burnt (and in some very strange places too!!!!). My kids definitely got burnt when queuing for rides - I agree that the wait time on the bigger rides was very long. We were quite impressed with the snack food available. Pizzas, chicken, chips, wraps, rolls, salads and fruit which you carry out in a shopping basket and take back to your sun bed! I enjoyed the lazy river where you go past an aquarium and the kids did the dolphin ride, but they said they were going too fast to see any dolphins, but there was a viewing area for non swimmers to see the dolphins. I can't comment on whether Aquatica is better than the other waterparks as we didn't go to any - we were going to go to Wet and Wild later in the week, but were all too burnt!

[pmac]

Thanks for the tip. I'll bet a lot of people will get caught out thinking the opening time is 10am like the disney water parks, and not 9am.

It depends when you are going - goes back to 10am entry from 7th April

[rybo]

Aquatica is much the same as the other water parks - my 8 yr old preferred Blizzard Brach for the better slides!
(So did I because we arrived at about 10.30 to find NO beds left anywhere) Anyway I couldn't see why it appeared to be more popular than the other waterparks - probably the novelty factor. It is a nice place though.

[Bullpeppar]

Its hard to believe that the park would be full at 10.30. But I suppose if you were going to the parks you would be going early as well.

[crid]

Is this just because of the UK Easter holidays being all over the place at the moment?

I take it once they are over it shouldn't be as bad? (At least that's what I'm really, really hoping - please let it be quieter from the 19th!)

[kittyminx]

thanks for the tip does this mean other water parks are less busy? Anyone know if it's better to go later on in the afternoon?
If not may give it a miss this time..

Hopefully....I love Typhoon and would be very happy for there to be fewer people there when we go in the summer....do fancy aquatica though....I love water parks!

kitx

[AlexD]

So is it worth hiring a cabana in advance ?

[tink]

What time does it close? considering going just for late afternoon eve??is that poss?

[Spook]

thanks alot ill bear that in mind

[bigcol300866]

So is it worth hiring a cabana in advance ?

Yes you can hire a cabana, at least you guarnteed getting somewhere to sit, but remember aquatica is new so it will be busy just get there early.

[ccarcher]

We went on the 26th March in our first week

Weather was a bit cooler / chillier in the mornings so we went into Seaworld till around lunchtime then over to Aquatica around 2pm

Maybe we were lucky but got in no problems, although car parks and park were extremely busy

We did a few slides (but the water we found colder than other parks), and mainly the kids play area

However last week on our way past the park on a few occassions (including last Thursday) the police were parked across the entrance and the park full signs were out by 10.30am

Maybe it will settle down a bit now that Spring Break / Easter etc is over