While you are taking your vacation in one of the many Disney villas, Florida villas, Orlando villas, Florida vacation rentals and villas near Disney that are available to rent, and feel you have a great need to cool down, then we strongly recommend you try one of Florida Water Parks.

As we all know, Florida is HOT, VERY HOT especially during the Summer months.

They have some of the wettest and wildest rides around for a fantastic day out !!.

Here are some of the main ones:

Aquatica - SeaWorld Orlando

Aquatica is Florida’s newest water park which opened in April 2008.

This park offers a new twist in water play with animal interactions, as in the Dolphin Plunge which is the most popular ride in the park.  Two side-by-side enclosed tube slides send you racing through an underwater world that is home to a playful pod of beautiful black-and-white Commerson’s Dolphins.

Try the Taumata Racer if you are looking for the biggest thrill in the park.  This is a high speed competitive mat ride where eight racers rip down a staggeringly steep hill, head first.

Loggerhead Lane – take a load off your feet and hop on a lazy river ride down Loggerhead Lane.  This leisurely raft ride takes you through an underwater world colored by exotic tropical fish.

Tassie’s Twisters is one of the wackiest rides ever imagined. In fact, getting there is part of the fun.  From the Loggerhead Lane lazy river, you’ll make your way to the island in the center and climb to the tower.  Once you get to the top, lightning fast tubes shoot you into a giant bowl, where you’ll spin, and spin, and spin, until you’re finally spun back out into the lazy river. You’ve never seen or felt anything quite like it.

Whanau Way is a quadruple slide tower and is one of the most popular rides in the park.

Walhalla Wave & HooRoo is a is a thrilling ride for the whole family, zooming you through a 6-story maze of twists, turns, and tunnels before you surge back out into daylight.

Walkabout Waters is one of the most talked about places in the park for children. This towering, 60-foot-tall rain fortress is bursting with color, excitement, and adventures waiting to begin.

Cutback Cove & Big Surf Shores - one thing or should we say two things that makes Aquatica so unique are the giant, side-by-side wave pools you won’t find anywhere else in the U.S.  At Cutback Cove, the waves are always rolling, and the action’s always high. At Big Surf Shores, the surf can be high or slow and easy. What kind of wave do you feel like catching today? Two separate pools let you decide.

Roa’s Rapids race you along an action river ride through the white waters of Aquatica.  Get ready for an awesome adventure through a roaring sea of high tides, swirling whirlies, and gushing geysers- all at speeds that leave ordinary river rides eating this one’s wake.

Aquatica is located across the street from SeaWorld Orlando on International Drive and is open year round.

Blizzard Beach at Disney World - Kissimmee

Blizzard Beach is one of Walt Disney World Resort water parks and has a Winter theme.

For a really “cool” time, this 66-acre water adventure park has all the atmosphere of a major ski resort – but it is strictly tropical.

Here, visitors can slip and slid down “snow-capped” mountains amid a snowy scene (a visual effect only – temperatures actually remain a controlled tropical level year-round,).  Waterslides look a lot like slush cascading down the mountainside, and a “ski lift” takes guests to the top of Mt. Gushmore. Disney’s Blizzard Beach.  It contains 21 slides, a wave pool, and a separate area for pre-teens and children.

As you enter the park, the first thing you see is the 90-foot snow-capped mountain, Mt. Gushmore. It is home to the newest waterslide called Downhill Double Dipper, a side-by-side racing water slide that stands 50 feet high and 200 feet long. Riders travel up to 25 mph as they twist and turn before shooting out through a blast of water.

Other adventures at Mt. Gushmore include slalom courses, toboggan and water sleds and the 120-foot high Summit Plummet, a breathtaking 60-mph plunge straight down to a splash landing at the base of the mountain.

The Teamboat Springs is the world’s longest family white water raft that ride takes six-passenger rafts down a twisting 1,200 foot series of rushing water falls.

The Toboggan Racer is an 8-lane water slide that sends guests racing over exhilarating dips as they descend the “snowy” slope.

Snow Stormers has three flumes descending from the top of the mountain and following a switchback course through ski-type slalom gates.

Runoff Rapids is an inner tube run, where riders can careen down three different twisting, turning flumes.

Chair Lift is where wooden bench chair lifts carry guests over the craggy face of Mt. Gushmore, from its base at the beach, to its summit.

At Cross Country Creek, you can float on a tube along a lazy river that encircles the entire park. On the way, you will float through a cave where you’ll be splashed with “melting ice” from overhead. “Melt-Away Bay” is a 4,000 square foot (one-acre) wave pool that is nestled against the base of Mt. Gushmore and is constantly fed by “melting snow” waterfalls.

Tike’s Peak is a smaller version of Mt. Gushmore, just for children. It includes short water slides, a snow-castle, fountain play area and a squirting ice pond.

The Ski Patrol Training Camp is designed for pre-teens; equipped with inner tube slides and a challenging ice-flow walk along floating icebergs.

Typhoon Lagoon at Disney World - Kissimmee

Typhoon Lagoon is Walt Disney World’s 56-acre water park that includes a man-made watershed mountain and eight twisting, turning water slides and roaring streams. It is also home to a two-and-a-half-acre wave pool, one of the worlds largest (where the waves are as big as six feet and come at you every one and a half minutes)

The park features a water playground for children, a white sand beach and a lazy stream that surrounds the 95-foot Mount May Day.

Mount Mayday, is the 95-foot volcano on top of which is perched a shipwrecked shrimp boat.  At the summit of Mount May Day, guests can choose from several exciting water slides. At the base of the mountain is one of the world’s largest wave pools, complete with a white sandy beach and some of the most powerful artificial waves in Orlando. Also bordering the Lagoon is Castaway Creek, a 2,100-foot river that carries guests leisurely around the perimeter of the park. You can even go snorkelling amid tropical fish and other exotic marine life.

Typhoon Lagoon is the main wave pool that is two-and-a-half- acres, and holds 2.75 million gallons of water. There are two sets of waves that are produced in this pool. The first set are gentle bobbing waves that come on a continuous basis, like a normal wave pool. However, every half hour a loud horn will sound and that means that the waves will be changing.  At this point, get ready for waves as large as four feet that come at you with a lot of speed and force, every 90 seconds.

Castaway Creek is the lazy river that travels around the park. Take an inner tube and float along. The river is only 3-4 feet deep and runs on a slow current. As you float down the river on this 2,000-foot journey, you will see banana trees, palm trees, tropical birds and flowers. You will slowly drift through caves, under waterfalls and cool mists, and through tropical forests, and around all the other attractions at the park. If you choose, you can get off Castaway Creek at one of the many stops along the way.

Disney’s first ever water coaster, the Crush n’ Gusher is a thrilling experience that defies gravity as powerful jets propel passengers on rafts through every surprise filled turn until they splash land in the pool below.

Three water slides await you at Humunga Kowabunga, which sends you zooming through enclosed tubes at 30 mph to a splashing surprise ending.

Storm Slides is another set of three slides where you will twist and swirl through caves and tunnels.

Mayday Falls is the longest waterslide in the Park that takes guests aboard their own personal inner tube down the side of the mountain in the shadow of the famed shrimp boat.

One of the most dramatic attractions at Typhoon Lagoon is Shark Reef, a massive saltwater pool and manmade coral reef, where you can snorkel among swarms of exotic marine life. For those who don’t want to get wet, there is a sunken tanker with portholes that provide stunning views of the underwater activity.

Ketchakiddie Creek is Typhoon Lagoon’s play area, especially for children aged two to five. There is a small pool and water slide, fountain and bubblers, interactive water boats, and even a pint-sized white water rafting adventure. An adult must accompany all children.

Wet-n-Wild

Wet-n-Wild in Orlando, was voted by the Amusement Business Magazine as America’s “number one water park,” and also honoured by Aquatic’s International as the country’s “first true water park.”

Wet ‘n Wild is, indeed, the oldest water park in the area, but it is continually adding new rides and is loaded with slides and other attractions for the entire family. It includes a 7-story water slide, various tubes, wave pools, and a Lazy River tube ride around the park and more, including a rather elaborate children’s area.

Over a dozen thrill rides in all at Wet ‘N Wild (including several multi-person/family rides) will keep even the most discriminating amusement park aficionado entertained. Wet ‘N Wild is also fully staffed with certified lifeguards and all the pools are seasonally heated.

One of the newest attractions at Wet ‘N Wild is Disco H2O, a multi-million dollar retro slide that showcases the 1970s disco nightlife. Like other bowl rides, this one sends passengers on a four-person cloverleaf “raft” down a slide and into a large funnel where it swishes and spins to the sounds of the hits of the 70s, before splashing out the bottom. Inside the ride are flashing lights and a mirror “disco” ball.

Other rides include the Bubba Tub, a four-person raft that takes passengers on a rollicking ride on a triple dip slide.

The Surge sends five passengers at a time through a never-ending maze of twists and turns, and The Blast sends groups of two through a colourful maze with sound effects and then ends with a final plummet into the water.

Experience the thrill of The Bomb Bay, where the floor actually falls out from underneath you in a bomb-like capsule, 76-foot high vertical slide. (Get ready to feel your stomach drop to your feet in this one!).

Thrill seekers will want to try out The Flyer, which begins its’ descent from a vantage point located 40 feet above the park. This exhilarating ride sends passengers racing through 450 feet of banked curves and speedy straightways.

Another of the park’s most popular rides is the Blue Niagara, where you’ll race, twist and splash through 300 feet of intertwined looping tubes that start at six stores above the park and end with a big splash landing.

Wet N Wild also features a winding Lazy River where you can enjoy a relaxing ride as you drift slowly through bubbles to an enchanting spring with a waterfall spilling over a rocky hillside.

Wet ‘n Wild’s newly upgraded 17,000 square foot Surf Lagoon Wave Pool features some of the most powerful waves found at any water park.

Just for children, Kid’s Park at Wet N Wild, is complete with a giant sandcastle, kiddie pool and specially sized beach chairs. The Bubble Up is a large, multi-collared balloon that is crowned with a mushroom-shaped fountain that sprays water all over the balloon’s surface. Kids can climb to the top (with the aid of a rope) and then bounce down the side of the balloon into a three-foot deep pool below.

Kissimmee Lakefront Park is a great place for families to visit for recreation and to enjoy the many popular events, festivals and concerts that are held there throughout the year.

Kissimmee Lakefront Park is situated on Lake Toho which is the second largest lake in Florida.  The park has basketball courts, a playground, a volleyball court and picnic areas with BBQ grills.  There is boating and fishing on the lake for water enthusiasts.   If you are a nature buff, you can take an excursion boat out to Cypress Island which offers visitors some gorgeous nature trails for hiking and exploring.  The beautiful ancient oak and cypress trees are part of the habitat of a number of birds including herons, osprey and owls as well as a good variety of other animals.  You’ll also see sheep, goats, llamas and emus grazing throughout the area.  Your family can enjoy airboat rides, swamp buggy rides, horseback riding, tubing, and water skiing during your visit.

Here are some of the annual events and festivals held at Kissimmee Lakefront Park that are fun for the whole family:

In January, you can attend the annual Sunshine Regional Chili Cookoff.  This event features competitors from all over the U.S. creating their signature chili recipes.  In addition to plenty of food, there is stage entertainment, arts and crafts, and family activities.

Caribbean Fusion is an annual event in March that offers Latin, Caribbean, and Hispanic music, food, arts and crafts.  There are plenty of stage performances and activities for the kids.

Music lovers will find many free concerts to attend at the park including the Concert in the Park series that features a performance by the Orlando Philharmonic and Jazzfest Kissimmee which showcases many jazz artists from the area as well as local high school jazz bands.

The 4th of July celebration offers families a fun day of live music, festival food, rides and of course a spectacular fireworks display to finish off the day!

In December, the Holiday Extravaganza is held.  This very festive event includes live bands, street performers, arts, crafts and food  vendors as well as  ice carving demonstrations. Winter comes to Florida with the 30 ton pile of snow known as “Frosty’s Playground.”  The climax of the Extravaganza is the “Festival of Lights” parade down Broadway followed by fireworks over the lake.

Admission and parking is free at all of these events.

Fore!

If you fancy playing some golf at Disney then look no further than Oaktrail just on the other side of the entrnace to Magic Kingdom.

Last year we decided to purchse a 5 day Hopper pass for Disney and that gave us Free rounds of Golf at Oak Trail. It is a walking course but is great for a knock around. They do not have too many rules and it is well worth the visit.

If you take the family there is a pool nearby and a small refreshment hut whilst you hits some balls around the course.

Mind you it is not an easy course. Whilst you are there you can check out the Palm Trees and Mgnolia Course which is a bit more expensive.

Even if you do not have a 5 day disney pass giving you free rounds it was only $38. Great Value. So check it out.

The countries the park has are:

Mexico

Norway

China

Germany

Italy

American adventure

Japan

Morocco

France

United Kingdom

Canada

In these little outlet’s children and adults can learn about different foods and cultures that other countries have to offer.

There also something for the kids to do….they can collect stamps while they are walking around the different countries (the world) once they have collected them they can then exchange these for a free poster making it more likely that the will remember more about EPCOT.

Every ride and attraction helps to teach the audience visitors and guest’s something, whether it is about energy and the “pros” and “cons” of all energy sources as seen in Ellen Degenrees “Universe of Energy” ride, or a historical summary of Man’s achievements on Earth as depicted on the “Spaceship Earth” ride, otherwise known as the giant golf ball ride. This ride is customized for the passenger, allowing you to choose your home country via a computer onboard the ride along with an opportunity to select answers from a series of questions and then creating a future world for the passenger based on your responses.

Overall EPCOT is an educational theme park that goes about furthering this objective in entertaining ways. Many rides are supportive on respectable goals such as conservation, respect for our environment and cultural understanding.

The only ride which I can say I did not like very much was, “The Mission Space simulator” that was only because afterwards I felt quite sick and fuzzy headed.

EPCOT is a great theme park, which I thought was quite a bit larger than Magic Kingdom, and one which offers their guests a truly unique experience; you might even come away learning something new about our world that we live in!