Everything you must know before visiting Aquatica Orlando
Are you planning a trip to Aquatica Orlando, Florida after the pandemic? Well, here’s everything you should know and be prepared for before you visit.
Our family just visited the park in March 2021 and we absolutely loved every minute of it but if you are expecting an empty park, shorter lines and tons of social distancing you will be pretty surprised.
The park is, however, taking precautions to ensure everyone’s safety, such as taking temperatures, sanitizing life vests, tables and chairs.
Everything you must know before visiting Aquatica Orlando
Tickets
Avoid the lines at the park and purchase your tickets online through the Aquatica website. Not only will you be saving time but you can also save money as the park usually has great discounts offers on their website.
If you are a veteran or current military active duty be sure to check out their military discounts, they are usually 50% off of regular price and you may even include all day dining for an even bigger discount.
Reservation
Once you have purchased your tickets and have received them via email, you can make reservations to guarantee you and your family won’t be left out. Just go to the Aquatica website and reserve your spot.
Be aware that you will need your ticket voucher numbers in order to make a reservation, however, if anyone in your party is under three years old and they do not have a ticket as they do not pay for entrance, you do not need to make a reservation for that guest.
I would also like to mention that even if you didn’t make reservations, you may still be able to get into the park considering their maximum capacity hasn’t reached its peak. I only know this because we have a family member who lives in Orlando and was able to purchase the tickets at the park the same day we went and were able to get in without any issues but they also arrived early.
Masks and temperature checking
Masks are required to get into the park as well as inside gift/merchandise shops and restaurants. The great thing is that if you forget your mask, Aquatica has masks available to you at no extra charge both at the entrance and at the restaurants.
Now, masks are not required to walk around the park and it is prohibited on rides and/or inside the water.
Temperature checking is done at the entrance of the park and anyone with a temperature of 100.4 F and above will be turned away
Also read: Tips to visiting SeaWorld Orlando Florida
Cabana Rentals
Being pregnant during our visit to the park I knew a cabana was a must as I would need a place to sit down and relax and let me say, it was worth every single penny we spent!
The price of the cabana will vary depending on the cabana you choose, the day of your visit and how many people you have in your party. We opted for the Walkabout Waters cabana because it is directly off of the Walkabout waters, and considering we have little ones who would spend most of their time at this part of the park, it was just perfect for us.
Each cabana rental comes with towels, a refrigerator stacked with 12 dasani bottle of waters, a big locker, loungers, ceiling fan and a guest service personal that can assist you with bringing food and drinks directly to your cabana. However, if you have all dining day options you will still need to visit one of the restaurants personally.
Also, keep in mind that the cabanas includes four guests of age 3 and up and any additional guest is $15-$35 per person.
I highly recommend renting your cabana prior to your visit and not waiting until you arrive at the park. The day we went all cabanas were completely sold out and there were many people whom hoped to rent one and just simply couldn’t.
On top of all of the features included with your cabana rental, you will also get 20% at the gift and merchandise shops. All you have to do is show the attendants your cabana wrist band and receive the discount. You can also get discounts on ice cream and foods that are sold in the gift shops.
Here’s a break down of how much our cabana was worth to us:
Water — $36 (for 12 bottle waters, considering each bottle water cost $3 at the park)
Locker — $30 ( lockers in cabana are equivalent to 2 large lockers, each locker is $15)
Discount at Merchandise stores — $3.50 (we purchased 3 ice creams)
Loungers — $78 ( each set of 2 costs $39 at the park)
Peace of mind — PRICELESS
Total — $147.50
Price paid for cabana — $189.00
Locker Rentals
Locker rentals are $10 for a small and $15 for a large locker.
Parking
Parking is $25 for regular parking and $35 for preferred parking. We opted for regular parking because the walk from the car to the entrance was very minimal.
Eating (All day dining)
When we visit theme parks in Orlando, we usually just pack a mini cooler with sandwiches and snacks for the entire day, however, Aquatica has a strict policy on outside foods and you are not able to bring anything except for baby food and/formula.
With that being said, we opted to do the all day dining option and it was totally worth it.
With the all day dinning option you may eat every hour while at the park and although we are a family of five, we decided to purchase only three all day dining adult plans and that was perfectly enough for us.
With each all day dinning option you may choose an entree, a side or a dessert and coca-cola product fountain drinks. Food varies from restaurant to restaurant but it pretty much consists of burgers, hot dogs, pizza, hot and cold sandwiches, wraps and more.
Price for all day dining is $39.99 per adult and $19.99 per child, however, because we received military discount we paid much less than that but I would still say it’s worth it even if you pay the full price, especially if you will spend all day at the park.
Just so you have an idea, a rib entree with a side and drink costs $19 + tax for the meal, if you purchase two of those at $38 + tax, then your all day dining plan has pretty much paid itself off.
For us it’s worth it because we have kids who are hungry all the time, so even though we don’t eat a full meal each hour we still stop by the restaurant and pick up a cup of fruits or some cookies.
Cash or Card
Unlike many other parks that aren’t accepting cash and only debit/credit card payments, Aquatica is currently accepting both methods of payment so bring on the cash if that’s what you have.
What you should and should not bring
Do Bring
Wagon — if you have a big family and carrying a bunch of backpacks just isn’t convenient for you, go ahead and pack your wagon and bring it over to the park.
Towels — If you aren’t renting a cabana, definitely bring towels. Although, you can buy towels at the park, they aren’t cheap so you might as well just bring your own from home
Flip flops or water shoes — The park does a great job at keeping the floor wet so it doesn’t get too hot, but if you are the type of person who doesn’t like to walk bare feet, then bring flip flops or water shoes. If you choose to wear tennis shoes, just know they may get wet.
Waterproof phone pouches — I cannot reinforce how much you will need these at the waterpark. You can also buy them at the merchandise shops but they cost $30 each and you can just buy them from amazon at $9 each.
We were able to get inside the water and rides and still take pictures and videos without worrying about our phones getting wet. What a life safer!
Water bottles — You can bring your own water bottles to the park but remember, if you are renting a cabana there will be 12 bottles waiting for you in the mini refrigerator.
Goggles — You can bring your own goggles or buy it from the merchandise stores located inside the park.
Do not bring
Life vests — Aquatica provides life vests to all guests at no extra charge so no need to bring your own.
Food — As mentioned previously, outside food is not available at Aquatica so to avoid waste and getting your food thrown out, just don’t bring any.
Charging your electronics
Although I totally remembered to pack a battery bank so we could keep all phones charged and be able to take pictures and videos all day long, I fond out my charging cable wasn’t working only when my phone was already at 6% and the day wasn’t even close to an end yet.
My luck is that you can purchase a battery bank along with three different device charging cables from a fuel rod machine. The fuel rod machine is located right next to where you pay for the locker right in the locker stations.
It is a bit pricey, $30 per kit, but totally worth it so you won’t miss out on capturing memories.
Park hours
Park hours vary so be sure you check out Aquatica’s park hours to find out the exact time the park opens and closes the day of your visit.
Overall, our trip to Aquatica Orlando was absolutely awesome. Pregnant and all I still enjoyed very much, although I was not able to get on rides, I was able to enjoy the lazy river, the rapids river, the walkabout waters and the wave beach pool.
The cabana was an awesome experience and next time we visit the park, that is definitely a must have on my book, pregnant or not.
I hope you enjoy your time at Aquatica as much as our family did and if you have any questions be sure to reach out to me via DM on Instagram, I’d be glad to help.
