We were excited to be invited to the media day for Aquatica Orlando’s newest big water park attraction. Aquatica hopes to race into Spring with Florida’s first-ever and only dueling racer — Riptide Race.
Featuring high-speed tunnels and more twists and turns than you expect, Riptide Race is an adrenaline-pumping water slide race that pits teams against each other in a splash to the finish line.
This video captures the on-ride experience including a side-by-side comparison.
The attraction is family friendly, smaller ones can ride with an adult, in groups of one or two. When you get to the top be sure to tell the lifeguard that you want to be paired with another tube so you can experience the thrill of the race experience.
“We are thrilled to introduce Riptide Race, an experience you won’t find anywhere else in Florida. Aquatica is the first waterpark in the state to have a dueling racer and we know our guests are going to love the fun of challenging their friends and family in a race to the finish,” said Kyle Miller, Park President.
Aquatica has more waterslides than any other waterpark in Orlando, which means everyone in your party can find something fun to enjoy. Big slides like Riptide Race will set hearts racing, but there are also kid-friendly water play areas, and white-sand beaches offering the perfect spot to relax (although we prefer seating in the paved areas).
As with all theme parks in Orlando, guests will encounter enhanced health and safety protocols. Each water park experience includes increased cleaning and sanitation, temperature checks, social distancing marks in queues.
“Riptide Race is the perfect addition to our attraction portfolio, complementing what is already one of the most family-friendly waterslide lineups in Orlando,” said Miller. “Health and safety continue to be a top priority for our parks, and we can’t wait to see our guests enjoy this new ride.”
Note that the Riptide Race attraction does have a weight maximum for riders. Individual riders cannot weigh more than 250 lbs and doubles can not weigh more than 400 lbs.
There are a couple of different attractions at Aquatica Orlando that have similar weight restrictions, so if you’re a larger size individual, make sure you check the weight limits before you start to climb those stairs.
I’m not sure why SeaWorld and other theme parks continue to build attractions that exclude a large portion of their audience. They can look around on any given day and see that many of the water park’s visitors won’t meet the weight limits. Given that this attraction was built from scratch, Aquatica could have specified a higher weight limit at the outset.
New Food Options
Aquatica also opened a new dining experience called Papa’s Cantina. It’s a food truck located near the main entrance to the park.
New and exclusive to Aquatica Orlando, the menu features crave-able bites and fresh flights, including:
- Signature Empanadas with a wide variety of savory and sweet fillings. Try the fresh and flavor-packed buffalo chicken, the classic beef and cheese, or the light and airy spinach artichoke empanadas. Save room for dessert and indulge in the perfectly sweet hazelnut empanada.
- Boneless Wings seasoned, and hand-tossed to perfection in Papa’s signature sauces. Take the heat, zest it up, or amplify the flavor with Papa’s Secret Sauce.
- Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Refreshers, featuring Barrilitos Aguas Frescas. Come try refreshing flavors like Watermelon, Strawberry Hibiscus and Mango Lime.
- Papa’s Special, the ultimate combination of flavor with 4 empanadas, 12 boneless wings, and your choice of 3 signature dipping sauces.
We sampled the beef empanada and a few of the boneless chicken bites. They passed the taste test and got two thumbs up from our volunteer. Better than the average theme park food was the verdict.
With spring break season almost over and peak summer still a few months away, this is a great time to book a reservation for your next visit to our favorite Orlando water park – Aquatica Orlando at Seaworld.