As he was freshly rested, our patriarch rejoined the party today as we set sail for Aquatica, the second water park on our list that nobody had visited. The park wasn’t too busy, so we were able to enjoy “bottomless refills” on our rides and literally ride as much as we liked which was amazing.

We began our adventure on a multi-lane slide, which allowed up to six riders to race each, other to see who could skim closest to the end of the ride. Luckily for me, I’d dispatched my “TK100-5E slide mat” with extra propulsion (@matty / @luke remember that one?) and skimmed my way into first place, several lengths ahead of everyone else.  

From there we moved onto a two-person ride which had multiple flumes terminating into the same pool. The first time I partnered with Sophie, but then Dan asked if I could ride with him as he wanted more speed than he achieved riding with Tim. Dan and I fitted a jet propulsion unit to our inflatable, revved it up and flew down the remaining four flumes, skimming across the splash pool at the bottom all the way to the exit stairs! And on the final slope for most of the rides we had achieved enough speed by leaning back on our raft to lift off the flume and get air on our last hill – #LegendDan. We spent a while on this ride, moving from the splash pool exit back into the ride queue to a different flume colour on a rinse-and-repeat cycle.

Our next adventure was a brace of drop slides, very similar to the image I included in the report from Volcano Bay. Once again half our party remained at the bottom to supervise the T-Shirts and other items we didn’t want to take onto the ride. And this time there was an additional slide which started you in a seated position, rather than standing. Each slide was as thrilling as the other and plummeted you downhill, along the flume, throwing you into left and righthand bends without warning. The green and blue flumes were pretty light inside, but for the riders starting off seated, the purple flume was pretty dark inside which added an extra thrill. For several lengths of the ride, it was so dark and you struggled to see where you were going, blissfully unaware you were approaching another steep incline or bend. 

The first big raft ride of the day was down a giant lime green and pink ride, which we rode in two groups which conveniently split us into boys vs girls as there’s no trust – can’t think why… lol. On the upright saucer, the riders glided upwards after plunging down several steep inclines. We challenged Sophie to get up to the third or fourth stripe on the ride, which they did with ease. 

Onwards to another ride which had been closed earlier in the day, a six-person raft hurtling you down a series of steep inclines, while banking up some steep slopes. You approach the first slope with enough speed to allow you to climb the incline and then slide backwards as gravity propels you down and back up the other side. Eventually, you lose momentum and the water pushes you onwards down the tube and after passing beneath a couple of waterfalls out into the splash pool. The other ride accessible from the same stairs was a green ride which didn’t have the saucer sides for you to ski up but did have enough momentum to allow the raft to ski up the sides. This time we’d swapped Dan for Charlotte, and I’m not sure she was prepared for the banking sides and sheer speed we achieved! 

We needed to put on lifevests before we could float along the lazy river, which was ok as they add a level of buoyancy allowing you to float on the current with little to no effort. Once again poor Sophie was the target for dunking under the water jets and waterfalls but she gave as good as she got and pushed Dan under one. Sadly this backfired when he stopped just after it, blocking her path and causing her to suffer the same fate. By now the sun was high in the sky and the concrete paths had heated up. Once your feet had warmed up after your ride, the heat from the concrete started to become unbearable and it felt (to quote Sophie) like you had switched your sliders (flip-flops) for two red hot skillets.  

One other thing I should mention at this point dear reader, is one of our code words / phrases. When our Matriarch looks at a ride she doesn’t really want to go on (either a water ride or a rollercoaster), if it hits a sufficiently high level of negativity – i.e. a really strong “hard” no, she’s coined the phrase “I’d rather eat a grilled fish”. And now when she takes a look at the ride in question (e.g. drop slide in the waterpark today), she’ll simply shake her head and say “grilled fish”! So when we’re back, if you hear the phrase “grilled fish”, you’ll understand what she means!

Having showered and rested for an hour or so, we travelled to CiCis Pizza Buffet for our evening meal. If you’ve ever had a Pizza Hut buffet, you can be forgiven for picturing that while trying to imagine what CiCi’s Pizza buffet is like. Unfortunately, you’re selling them short, as this buffet is massive and has pasta with a choice of two sauces, garlic bread, cheesy garlic bread, a dozen other pizzas, salad, bottomless drinks and to top it off – in case that wasn’t enough cinnamon swirls, apple pie pizza or chocolate brownie. And the range of drinks for your bottomless drink was equally epic. You had nine different Coca-Cola company drinks to choose from as well as iced tea, which is the tipple of choice for yours truly.

After our busy day, we retired to the villa, via Walmart to buy some more bottled water. Once again it was unbelievably busy, as if the entire population had popped into the store.  

And for the avoidance of doubt, it was even busier on the fourteen tills behind me, which weren’t self-serve.

Goodnight!

(Hey Chloe, just for you I made sure the blog was published before bedtime, so there’s no need to nag Dan asking where it is – lol! But we’re touched you’re reading it and enjoying finding out what we’re/Dan’s up to.)