Atlantis "The Current" question

c todd

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 13, 2016
I've been researching excursions for our Dream trip in May. I was intending to do the Aquadventure at Atlantis with my soon to be 5 year old. Although he's tall enough, I know he wouldn't do any of the slides nor would I - too chicken. But the rapids river sounds like fun. I was reading on another site about the river with rapids at Atlantis and there's quite a few complaints about injuries that are starting to worry me. Has anyone been on The Current recently that can give some feedback? I know that millions of visitors have been through there so a few complaints don't mean a lot but the complainers make it sound everyone was getting injured (cuts/scrapes etc). Any personal experience here? Thanks.
 
Not recently, but three years ago we did it. Our girls were 10 and 14 at the time. I was actually pretty concerned, mostly for our 10yo. It is pretty rough, I was concerned she would flip over and then struggle in the rapid water.
 
When I went, I was very surprised at how roughy the rapids actually are. I was so concerned with keeping my 6-year-old from flipping over that I actually flipped my own tube and was dragged along the bottom for a few feet. It really scraped up my hips and legs, and I was kinda miserable for the next few days. Honestly, I’d opt for a beach instead. Atlantis is very expensive and crowded, and there aren’t a lot of options for a young child.
 
I found it horrifying lol kept smashing into the walls, I would never bring a child on it. There is lots of other tame slides etc and a lazy river.
 


We did Atlantis off the Dream three years ago with a large family group. The kids who went on that excursion were 11, 10, 9 and 8. We LOVED the Current, and thought it was a total blast -- the moving ramps that take you up were fantastic. That said, I think we all got dumped at one point or another, and two kids actually lost their goggles. No one in our party got hurt, but I personally would not take a 5-year-old on it unless he/she was a strong swimmer and confident in the water.
 
I've been visiting Atlantis annually for many years. I've been riding these same rapid rivers with my kids since they were toddlers. I think my wife was 3 months pregnant once when riding it. A few people get knocked over occasionally, but its not really a common thing. And I think a lot of the time people that get tipped are thinking they are in the safety of a shoulder harnessed roller coaster, but you actually need to balance yourself and paddle or shift your weight, just a little, to keep yourself upright. You're in a free floating tube in moving water, and you have to use some common sense. I'm no Olympic athlete, just an overweight middle aged father who exercises a few days a week, and I do not find it all that challenging to stay upright.

Also, some people also make the mistake of assuming that the walls of the river system are soft-foam. They are hard concrete. A few calls 'watch your feet' when we've been close to bumping a wall has been enough to prevent my 3 and 4 years olds from scraping themselves.
 
I just cringe when I think of that river now! We have stayed at Atlantis twice. Once when DD 4 and once when she was 6. Both times we took her on one of the double tubes with one of us while the other parent went on a single tube. She has always been a pretty strong swimmer and since she was with a parent we figured we didn’t even need a life jacket. The good thing is, in my story my daughter has never fallen off the tube... however on the mist recent trip I was on a single tube and my tube and someone else’s both came to a narrow part where only one tube could fit at a time. I kind of tried to hold myself back so the other person could get through first. It didn’t work well and our tubes hit dumping mine over. At the same place the rapids really picked up speed. It all happened so fast, but I was so dumb that I didn’t want to lose my tube that I kept holding on to it, even though I was now upside down and got drug along the bottom of the cement channel. It all happened so fast, but by the time I got up both knees were bleeding, I had scrapes on my stomach and both arms, and half of my toenail was ripped off and my big toe was all mangled and pouring out blood. Of course part of this was my fault for not letting go of the tube, but it was so fast I just wasn’t thinking clearly. I exited the river and asked where a first aid station was. And walked for a good 10 minutes to finally find a worker with a small black kit from what looked like the 1970s. I kid you not, their “first aid stand” was a guy with small bandaids and hydrogen peroxide. This happened on the first day of our trip and I was miserable the rest of the trip trying to deal with my toe and the beach and pools. Needless to say I am hesitant to go back on when we go back. (Which we do plan on going back). My family loves staying at Atlantis. But I still think I would allow DD to go on it. It really is fun. I would definitely give the advice of letting go of your tube if you fall over, and even though she is almost 9 now, I would maybe still consider a life jacket!
 


I kid you not, their “first aid stand” was a guy with small bandaids and hydrogen peroxide.
There are two medical facilities on-site at Atlantis. Kind of near the Mayan Temple pool there’s a nurses station that is staffed while the pools are open:

83557C90-1563-4603-BDCB-56FD43989C9F.jpeg

Then over in the beach tower is a clinic that has a nurse on duty 12 hours a day, and a doctor who come s in a few hours each day.
 
It’s a shame this thread has so many negative experiences. As I said, I visit Atlantis annually for a week, and my Aquaventure experiences have been overwhelmingly positive. And I think that the vast majority of guests have similarly injury-free positive experiences.

Here’s a good video to see for yourself:

 
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It’s a shame this thread has so many negative experiences. As I said, I visit Atlantis annually for a week, and my Aquaventure experiences have been overwhelmingly positive. And I think that the vast majority of guests have similarly injury-free positive experiences.

Here’s a good video to see for yourself:

And as I said, my family will always go on it again in spite of my bad experience because we love it, but it is important to be aware that is can cause injuries even if you are an aware person. and it is unfortunate that I wasn’t informed of the nurse or doctor they had. When I got to the first aid stand, I asked if there was a different place or nurse I could go to and was told this was all they could offer me. No mention of nurse or doctor at all even though I asked a couple of different employees directly about it. My husband and I love the current but both agree the attraction would never be in a water park in the United States because it wouldn’t pass safety standards.
 
It’s a shame this thread has so many negative experiences. As I said, I visit Atlantis annually for a week, and my Aquaventure experiences have been overwhelmingly positive. And I think that the vast majority of guests have similarly injury-free positive experiences.

Here’s a good video to see for yourself:

And I also must add, I am not an accident prone person, but because of this attraction I now have lovely scars on both knees. I know I am the exception to most people’s experiences, but it was seriously traumatic for me, and it always makes me wonder how traumatized my daughter would be if it had been her that this happened to.
 
My husband and I love the current but both agree the attraction would never be in a water park in the United States because it wouldn’t pass safety standards.
Don’t want to get in an argument here, but the rapids section was manufactured by a U.S company, which has it in its own parks (Schlitterbahn) in Texas and Kansas.

https://www.schlitterbahn.com/new-braunfels/rides/deluge

The wavy section is called a a torrent river, which is manufactured by the same U.S. company.

https://www.schlitterbahn.com/galveston/rides/whitewater-river
 
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Thanks for all the responses, didn't think it was a heated question. As of now, I think we will not do it but if we did he would definitely wear a life jacket. He's a very good swimmer but I feel more comfortable when he wears it in a situation like that or open water.
 
We went in 2016 with my two boys, 7 and 9 at the time. We all loved it, but my kids are both strong swimmers. Mine still ask to go back all the time just for that river!
 

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