Five Fords Fifth Family Floriday Aug 18 - Day 2 - Aquatica

[juliab]

Thursday 9th August

Had a really good night’s sleep, woke up the once but managed to get straight back off and didn’t fully wake until 6.30am.

Another gorgeous morning! The lake looked so beautiful with the sun rising behind it.

Breakfast was a simple affair with the kids opting for Lucky Charms whilst Scott and I had some toast and weetabix.

Suntan lotion applied we headed out to Aquatica arriving there just after 9.30am.

It was really busy as we entered the park but walking further round we came across lots of empty sunbeds which thankfully had shade too.

Headed over to the slides and we all went on Whanua Way and then Omaka Rocka. Wow these slides were very fast but so good. Even Poppy loved them and she can be a little scared of the faster rides.


Walked across the park to Ray Rush which had quite a queue but we decided to wait. It was quite high up to the top of this ride. the views from up there were really good. We waited maybe half an hour so it wasn’t too bad. Me, Poppy and Scott went down in the first raft followed by the boys. Wow this was such a good slide and we couldn’t believe how high up the slide the raft went! So enjoyed this slide and the boys did too!

We wanted to go on the other raft ride but the line was really long and we didn’t want to be waiting another 30 minutes so we walked round the park to see what else there was.

Checked out Taumata Racer, well everyone except me as I wasn’t too bothered about going on it. When Poppy got to the top she changed her mind as the drop looked a bit too much for her. Hayden and Jamie loved it so much so that they went back on it again.

I took Poppy to the wave pool whilst Scott waited for the boys. The waves were nice and gentle and Hayden joined us whilst Scott and Jamie braved the slide at Breakaway Falls. Jamie said it was a bit scary when the floor came away from under you but absolutely loved it and so did Scott.

We fueled up on some snacks and drinks before going over to Roa’s Rapids. It was really busy round here and we had a bit of difficulty trying to find life jackets that would fit us as they all appeared to be XXXL.

Eventually we found some and entered the river. We’ve never been in this before and we loved that the river was quite fast flowing. In fact it was really fast which made us all have the giggles.

Whizzed round a few times before us all spending some little time in the wave pool.

Having a bit of a chill!

Walkabouts Water. It was so busy but Poppy enjoyed playing in here, great fun especially for the kids.

Decided to leave mid afternoon as the park was getting so busy and teh wait times were super long. We'd been on enough rides to satisfy our time here and it was way to chaotic to just sit and chill.

It was 2pm so we opted for a late lunch at Wendy’s which was opposite the Blue Heron near enough, so we could pop in on our way back. Kids were eager to try a different burger place out.

Just as we were approaching Wendy’s we were about to switch lanes when a big SUV banged into the side of us at the back end. There was this almighty crashing sound and the car jolted it really did shake us all up but more so Hayden as it was on his side. Thankfully we were all ok. Scott signalled to the other car driver that we’d pull up we honestly thought that he’d pull up too so turned off into the carpark but the other car must’ve have just driven off! Waited a bit but he didn’t come and the kids still wanted to eat.

I took the kids in for a burger whilst Scott inspected the damage which turned out to be a big dent on the backside of the car. We still couldn’t believe what had just happened and Scott felt absolutely terrible about it. It wasn’t his fault but he still felt bad and then he was stressing about the state of the car. Once the kids had finished eating we went to our apartment, Scott took photos of the damage then he called Avis. They told us to inform Highway Police of the incident and also that if the car was in a driveable state to continue using it and fill a report form in when we returned the vehicle.
This had kind of put a dampener on the day but the kids were ok it was us adults who felt bad about it all. Decided to pop over to Premium Outlets for a little look as we wasn’t far away from the shopping centre. Managed to find a parking spot ok but just as we got out of the car the heavens opened up and we got soaked. Our first proper Florida afternoon downpour!

We didn’t really feel much like shopping but we had a look in a few shops where Scott picked up a couple of tops. Disappointed with the Disney Character warehouse shop, not a great deal in there at all, from what I can remember I don’t think we bought anything which is a first for me. Had a look in a few more shops before calling it a day.

Once showered and changed I wasn’t feeling too good so Scott said he’d take the kids out for tea whilst I had a bit of quiet time to myself. I had this awful banging headache, think I was over tired?
Scott and the kids weren’t gone for too long they’d walked up to road to Chick-fil-A which they said had been amazing!

Heard the fireworks going off at 9pm, went to bed after they had finished.

Bit of a mixed day which started off well. The main thing was we were all fine and it was silly to be fretting over a car.

Thanks for reading