Day 3 – Wet ‘n Wild

After seeing how hot it was through the day, we decided to spend our Monday staying cool at Orlando’s Wet ‘n Wild waterpark – and at only $35ea admission fee, it has to be one of the cheapest theme parks available. There was simply heaps of rides to go on – here’s a rundown of some of our favourites:

Disco H2O – Definitely the best ride. 4 people go down at a time, in a big inflatable tube thing. As soon as you start you float into a pitch black tunnel, which means you don’t see the massive downhill drop that you hit only a couple of metres in. After gathering a heap of speed, you emerge in this giant UFO shaped bowl, full of disco lights and music. The speed from the downhill drop means you do a couple of laps of the disco bowl before plunging into the pool below.

The Storm – Quite similar to Disco H2O, but you do this one as a single rider, sans raft. Imagine a vertical speed slide with a big curve at the bottom, and that’s what the entry was like. Then you come out into a massive bowl again, but on this one I managed 4 laps before I lost all my speed. From there, you just kind-of “plop” out the bottom, a fall of about 1 metre into a very deep pool. I think this one would be better named “The toilet bowl”!

The Blast – A twin-person raft ride. This one was outdoors, and as well as the normal twists and turns you’d expect from the ride, there was a heaps of water cannons, buckets, waterfalls, etc. along the way to ensure you stay very wet. We rode this one the most, since each time we got absolutely soaked, and there was never any line up!

The Speed slide also rates a mention here. It’s the normal vertical drop type of setup, but it’s the start that makes it interesting. You get into this capsule which is shaped like a rocket. Once inside, they close the door and seal you in, and it’s a tight fit so I imagine that’s what a coffin would feel like. Anyway, you’re in there standing up, and when the operator presses the “go” button, the floor drops out from under you and you’re literally rocketting down the speed slide. This was easily the most adrenaline charged ride; Kristy gave this one a big miss, and I only gave it a single run because those super-fast slides are super-painful on the back.

With both Epcot and Wet ‘n Wild we were lucky with the crowds; generally we didn’t wait more than 5 minutes to board any of the rides! Unfortunately we made an amateur mistake with our sunscreen, failing to take into account how much of it would be rubbed off due to the contact with the various water craft. We both got pretty toasted, and we’re still feeling the effects today! Though, not nearly as bad as some of the pale-skinned poms that were abundant in the place.

We stayed at the water park until the closing anouncement (that’s when the lines are the shortest!), and then made our way back to the hotel. We were absolutely exhausted from all our fun-in-the-sun, so after a quick dinner we hit the sack and slept very, very soundly.