Your Guide to Orlando's Water Parks

It should come as no surprise that Florida gets hot.

Luckily, here in Orlando, we’ve figured out the best way to beat the heat: spending the day at a themed, immersive water park.

Riders on tubes splash down two mirrored blue and purple slides overlooking the surrounding waterpark and Rosen hotels in the distance.

Our water parks have everything: epic slides for thrill-seekers, sandy beaches for sunbathers, and plenty of family-friendly attractions to keep the entire family cool on a hot, sunny day.

But with four incredible water parks to choose from, which is the right option for your vacation?

Here's our guide to Orlando's water parks to help make your decision a bit easier.

Volcano Bay

A tall, rocky volcano with a waterfall cascading down the side and falling into a surrounding blue wave pool.

If you’re anywhere within the vicinity of Universal’s incredible Volcano Bay waterpark, you know it.

The towering Krakatau volcano can be seen on the horizon from miles away (and driving right past on I-4) billowing plumes of hot steam and glowing pink, red, blue, and purple with fiery lava effects at night.

The waterpark has three distinct villages in addition to the volcano, and within each you’ll find a variety of wet and wild fun.

Rainforest Village is home to attractions like the Puihi of the Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides, and the Ohno of Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides that end six feet above the pool, so you land with a splash.

A tall tower of a waterslide with two green and blue enclosed slides on either side that splash into a pool.

Adventurers can also explore the choppy waters of TeAwa the Fearless River, a thrilling whitewater ride through a river of rapids that you can tackle with only your life vest.

In River Village you’ll find the Kopiko Wai Winding River, a slow ride through a vibrant tropical landscape with surprises like a sparkling night sky in Stargazer’s Cavern.

Honu of the Honu ika Moana is a multi-person waterslide that sends riders careening along an open flume path on a five-passenger raft.

River Village is also home to Runamukka Reef and Tot Tiki Reef, refreshing play areas just for kids and toddlers. It’s full of water slides, spraying fountains, bubbling geysers, and other playful attractions that are perfect for little ones.

At the base of Krakatau, the mighty volcano, is Wave Village, home to the beautiful Waturi Beach. Those seeking relaxation can unwind at The Reef, a peaceful leisure pool with a private waterfall.

A family with three children plays in the pool with a large tiki head spraying water.

The Volcano is home to some of the biggest thrills in the park, including the Ko’okiri Body Plunge. This 70-degree water slide starts with a drop door and sends you racing down 125-feet of “white-knuckle fun.”

The Kala & Tai Nui Serpentine Body Slides is a set of intertwining tubes that send two guests sliding down to the clear blue water below in an exciting race.

The Krakatau Aqua Coaster is an epic adventure that sends a four-passenger canoe splashing down – and up, thanks to a system of hidden magnets – over 1500 feet of track. With a variety of exciting drops, twists, and turns, think of it as a watery roller coaster more than a waterslide.

While spending the day at Volcano Bay, you can enjoy delicious food and tropical cocktails all day long.

If you’re looking to treat yourself, upgrade to a private cabana overlooking the volcano and the water theme park below for an extra luxurious day of refreshing relaxation.

Disney's Typhoon Lagoon

A beautiful clear blue wave pool surrounded by palm trees with an orange buoy in the middle and, in the distance, a fishing boat perched upon a tall rock.

Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon is one of Disney’s two water parks in Orlando, including its sister park, Blizzard Beach.

Typically, when one Disney water park is open, the other is closed for maintenance and repairs.

While Typhoon Lagoon is currently closed for the season, Blizzard Beach is open for guests, weather permitting. It’s expected that they’ll switch again in May, making Typhoon Lagoon the primary water park for the late spring and summer seasons.

When Typhoon Lagoon reopens for 2025, you and your family will be able to enjoy a variety of refreshing and exciting attractions like the Humunga Kowabunga, a near-vertical, five-story drop waterslide.

Two young women with their arms around one another in a knee-deep wave pool with a wave crashing behind them at twilight.

Typhoon Lagoon is known for its signature Surf Pool, which is North America’s largest wave pool. Six-foot swells ebb and flow against a white sandy beach, perfect for laying out in the sun or beneath the shade of an umbrella.

The Crush ‘n’ Gusher is modeled to resemble an abandoned fruit processing plant and gives riders the choice of three unique “fruit chutes” - the Pineapple Plunger, Banana Blaster, or Coconut Crusher. Ride solo or join a partner on this coaster—like raft ride.

A man and woman in a two-person raft labeled coconuts and pineapple float in a pool with a slide in the background.

Keelhaul Falls, Gang Plank Falls, and Mayday Falls are scenic raft rides, with Mayday Falls being the most intense, highest, and longest waterslide at Typhoon Lagoon.

Castaway Creek is the park’s scenic lazy river that offers a relaxing float around the park. The river encircles the entire water park with five landings that allow you to access different areas and attractions.

Grab your family and friends for Miss Adventure Falls, a four-person raft ride with an aquatic conveyer belt that blasts you right into the action. Hold on tight as you go looking for scattered treasure.

Your tropical paradise awaits when you spend the day searching for adventure at Typhoon Lagoon.

Disney's Blizzard Beach

A water slide perched atop a rocky mountain covered in snow designed to look like a ski lodge, complete with ski lifts.

Blizzards and snowstorms may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Orlando. Disney’s Blizzard Beach is the exception.

The story behind the water park is this: when a freak snowstorm hit Florida in 1977, the state’s first ski resort was constructed. When the Orlando sunshine returned, all the snow melted, leaving behind a slushy and slipper water park full of excitement.

Throughout the park, you’ll find rides for thrill-seekers and plenty of immersive activities for younger kids.

A tall multi-level water slide designed to look like a ski chute with umbrellas and pools below, at sunset.

Summit Plummet offers the largest adrenaline rush in the park with a near-vertical high-speed plunge straight down twelve stories. Shooting through a darkened tunnel, you can’t even see where you’re going until you burst into the water below with a massive splash.

Those in search of a little friendly competition can enjoy racing friends and family on the Toboggan Racers, a headfirst slalom-style waterslide with 8 lanes and 250 feet of exhilarating dips and hills.

Melt-Away Bay is a delightfully heated 1-acre wave pool that will transport you to paradise. The sound of a refreshing waterfall will lull you as you unwind on a lounge chair on a tropical white sand beach.

A boy in a blue bathing suit and Mickey Mouse rash guard splashes in the water with Olaf and snowgies smiling behind him.

Inspired by the Disney animated film “Frozen,” Tike’s Peak has pint-sized waterslides and other attractions that are perfect for younger kids. Splash in wading pools with Olaf and his Snowgie pals, explore Anna and Elsa’s igloo fortress with pop-up water jets, and enjoy a junior inner-tube ride.

Blizzard Beach is also home to a variety of other waterslides and rides including the group whitewater raft adventure Teamboat Springs, the scenic lazy river known as Cross Country Creek, the aquatic obstacle course of Ski Patrol Training Camp, and many more.

Spend your day escaping the heat in more ways than one at this cool, snowy-themed water park.

Aquatica

A tropically colored Aquatic sign as seen from below through two loops of a water slide.

Owned by SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica is one of Orlando’s most popular water park destinations.

This park is jam-packed with slides, pools, and other splash-worthy attractions that will keep the entire family entertained all day long.

One of Aquatica’s signature slides is the Reef Plunge, an exhilarating one-of-a-kind experience that sends riders twisting and splashing along 330 feet of enclosed slide.

At the end of the ride, you’ll zoom past an incredible water habitat that is home to marine life like unique Commerson’s dolphins, leopard sharks, and other cold-water fish.

Tassie’s Underwater Twist is their newest renovated water slide that has been reimagined as an exhilarating journey through projected reef habitats accompanied by an inspiring musical score.

A variety of green, yellow, blue, and pink water slide tubes cascading down through green trees with the arch of the Orange County Convention Center in the background.

Feeling a little competitive? Riptide Race is the world’s tallest dueling racer, starting atop a 68-foot tower. Speed to the finish line on an adrenaline-pumping water slide on a two-person raft with an adventurous teammate.

KareKare Curl offers groups of brave riders (up to five on a raft) a feeling of weightlessness as they slide up a 35-foot wall before sliding through a tube down to the bottom.

Cutback Cove and Big Surf Shores are two large side-by-side wave pools with varying levels of action so you can choose the kind of surf you feel like facing.

If you prefer a more relaxing float, Loggerhead Lane is the perfect lazy river experience to carry you away. Aquatica’s lazy river takes you through an underwater world with tropical fish for a unique exploration of marine life.

A family of four rides in a yellow Aquatica raft through an underwater aquarium filled with sting rays and fish.

Kids will love the whimsical Walkabout Waters, a 60-foot-tall rain fortress that’s perfect for climbing and staying cool on a warm day. This 15,000-square-foot playground is colorful, interactive, and perfect for family play.

These slides and attractions – and so many more – await you at Aquatica.

A network of colorful walkways, water slides, and climbing platforms as seen from below.

Stay at a Rosen Inns Hotel for a Splashing Vacation

Orlando knows water parks, and at Rosen Inns, we know Orlando.

We’ve been experts in all things Central Florida vacationing for over 50 years.

Our hotels have their very own sparkling pools to keep you refreshed, and all our properties are convenient to the water parks discussed above.

Choose one of our comfortable, affordable, and family-friendly hotels for your next Orlando vacation.