Unless you have already decided (in your mind) that nothing can live up to the Disney waterparks, I can't imagine Aquatica would be disappointing to you. Its a lovely park with an Australian theme, and home to SeaWorld's famous Commerson dolphins. There's a nice mix of features from big slides to areas for the kids to lazy rivers and wave pools. I'm not a big "thrill" lover but my boys LOVE slides (the bigger, the better) and we all fell in love with Aquatica on our first visit.
Our favourite area at Aquatica is Roa's Rapids. Its a tubeless lazy river with a very fast current that is more fun than you can imagine. Its best enjoyed (even for adults who are good swimmers) by wearing one of the many life jackets which are available at the entrance to the rapids. Then wade in, and once you hit the current, pick up your feet and let it carry you around (and around and around and around!). We literally spend HOURS there on each of our visits, and hands-down its the best waterpark feature we have found anywhere. There's nothing else like it!
For "best value" dining there's the all-you-can-eat buffet at the Banana Beach Cook-out. Two different options are available...one visit or an all-day pass....and they offer pizza, barbecued chicken pieces, pulled pork, hot dogs, watermelon, brownies, warm yeast rolls, coke products, and more. There's also the Waterstone Grill (which is our personal preference) where you can get chicken tenders and fries, grilled hamburgers, salads, etc. all ordered a la carte.
If you have done the Disney waterparks, I would say give Aquatica a try. I'm all for doing something different and enjoying a new experience.
We are doing the Disney waterparks for the first time this summer, and the above posts about Blizzard Beach made me smile, because THAT'S the park that I'm worried about disappointing
me. As someone who comes from a northern climate, the snow theme doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. While Typhoon Lagoon looks like a tropical paradise, BB to me looks "blech". But we're trying it out anyway, because like I said....I am all about new experiences!
I will post a bunch of Aquatica pics for you in separate posts so you can get a glimpse of the park. Stay tuned.
. I'm more of a lazy river and wave pool kinda gal 
. But I'd love to see their new sandcastle area. The pictures look fantastic!
... hey, a girl can dream, can't she? 
. We'll be the family of pasty white Canadians 
.... shouldn't be hard to miss us amidst all those gorgeous Florida tans 
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Can't wait to go back to Aquatica in August. We loved it. We've never been to the Disney water parks but Gina I think you nailed it--a "blizzard" theme didn't scream "fun" to me! (Maybe a hot tub would be nice after shovelling the driveway though...) Loved Aquatica. W&W not so much, I must say, but we are not thrill riders. 
I'm a visual person, so I always find photos helpful.....and I guess I just assume others do as well 
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it is common to see "DS" "DD" or "DH" for examples in posts. It means "Disney Son" or "Disney Daughter" or "Disney Husband"
