Adventure Island (water park)

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Not to be confused with Universal's Islands of Adventure.
Adventure Island
Adventure Island logo.svg
LocationTampa, Florida, United States
Coordinates28°2′30″N 82°24′47″W / 28.04167°N 82.41306°W / 28.04167; -82.41306Coordinates: 28°2′30″N 82°24′47″W / 28.04167°N 82.41306°W / 28.04167; -82.41306
OwnerSeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
OpenedJune 7, 1980; 41 years ago (1980-06-07)
Area30 acres (12 ha)
Pools2 pools
Water slides10 water slides
Children's areas3 children's areas
Websitewww.adventureisland.com

Adventure Island is a water park located northeast of Tampa, Florida, across the street from Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. The park features 30 acres (12 ha) of water rides, dining, and other attractions. The park opened on June 7, 1980, and is part of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.

Rides[]

  • Aruba Tuba
  • Calypso Coaster
  • Caribbean Corkscrew
  • Colossal Curl
  • Rapids Racer — ProSlide dueling racer with world’s first dueling saucer section.
  • Riptide Rush (4 individual slides)
  • Vanish Point (3 individual slides: 2 drop slides and 1 non-drop slide)
  • Wahoo Remix, formerly Wahoo Run. The previous ProSlide Mammoth River with dark enclosed tunnels will now be lit with multi-color LED lights and augmented with sound.
  • Water Moccasin (3 enclosed tube slides)

Pools[]

  • Endless Surf
  • Fabian's Fun Port
  • Paradise Lagoon
  • Rambling Bayou
  • Splash Attack

Defunct rides[]

  • Tampa Typhoon: A water slide that closed in 2005. The slide opened in the late 1980s and shared a tower with Gulf Scream, a now-defunct water slide. Standing nearly 70 feet (21 m), or seven stories tall, the ride allowed patrons to see for miles around, including a view of the nearby MOSI museum.
  • Gulf Scream: Built-in 1980, it was the second ride to be constructed in the park. It shared its tower with (now defunct) Tampa Typhoon until 2005. It was demolished in 2014 to make way for the Park's newest ride Colossal Curl, a tube slide that opened in 2015.
  • Barratuba: Built in the mid-1980s. The entrance to this ride was near the top of the hill behind the Runaway Rapids where Wahoo Run is now located. This ride was a similar experience to Calypso Coaster (using a tube to ride on) but instead was built in-ground and followed the land's natural terrain down a hill. The ride finished with a short drop through a large cylinder before ending in a splash pool located immediately adjacent to the splash pool of the Runaway Rapids, approximately where the park's most eastern snack and concession stand is now located. Guests can still observe the remnants of this ride now disguised as flower bed decoration lining the exit path of Wahoo Run. The exact details of this ride's fate are unclear, but many Tampa natives who are old enough to remember Barratuba and the lore behind it, believe it was closed after a lawsuit was filed after a patron broke a bone while riding. As stated above the ride was built in-ground: and this created a very haphazard unpredictable experience which often created enough force to eject riders from their tubes. The slide's surface was as hard as concrete and not very forgiving.
  • Everglides: A unique water slide that sent riders down a pair of straight fiberglass flumes from a wooden tower riding flat bottomed plastic toboggans. At the bottom of the slide, the fast moving toboggans would carry the riders on a series of skipping bounces along the length of the splash pool before coming to rest at a beach. A mechanical conveyor carried the toboggans back to the top of the ride for the next guests. It was removed in between the 2017 and 2018 seasons to make way for a beach and sitting area.
  • Key West Rapids: A 700 foot-long one-or-two person water slide. Riders, seated on tubes, were sent down a course that includes pools, water mines, and three acres of water, which slowed the tubes to a near halt so that staffers could redirect the tubes down the remainder of the course. On September 10, 2011, a lifeguard working the attraction was struck by lightning whilst wading in a pool and later died.[1] In 2017, the park announced that Key West Rapids would be closing in 2019. It was replaced by Solar Vortex in 2020.[2][3]
  • Runaway Rapids: One of the park's first attractions, it consisted of five body slides winding through a rockwork structure. Two of them - Little Squirt and Corkscrew Canal - were tailored towards kids, while the other three - River of no Return, Barracuda Run, and Courageous Falls - were meant for adults. The attractions did not operate during the 2020 season, and had faced limited operations in the years prior. In February 2021, demolition permits were filed with the City of Tampa to remove the attraction and the rockwork around it.[4] It will be replaced by Rapids Racer in 2022.

Dining[]

  • Surfside Cafe
  • Mango Joes'
  • Surfside Ice Cream
  • Gulf Scream Ice Cream
  • Bayou Beach Club
  • Island Taco Truck
  • Snack Attack

References[]

  1. ^ Reyes, Ray (August 3, 2013). "Adventure Island sued in staffer's death". Tampa Bay Online. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  2. ^ "Key West Rapids". Adventure Island. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  3. ^ "Key West Rapids Review". Total Orlando. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  4. ^ Bill (February 8, 2021). "Runaway Rapids to be Removed at Adventure Island Tampa". touringcentralflorida.com. Retrieved February 11, 2021.

External links[]

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