The Best Water Rides in Orlando

Best Water Rides in Orlando

Orlando has been home to some great water rides over the years. I have some great memories of almost all of these rides, and some nightmares as well. Wet pants and 10 miles of walking don’t mix very well. But, in 6^th grade, I didn’t even know what chafing was. Some of these rides were also a test of my younger bravery, with how intimidating the drops were. Here is my ranking for the very best water rides in Orlando. Splash Mountain would have been number one, but the briar patch is no more.

Fyre Drill—The newest water ride in Orlando is Fyre Drill at Epic Universe… I like that it is a creatively built ride to take a small footprint, but this ride is too slow for me. It is a water shooting game that has no points system and is just a very boring attraction. I will almost always skip right passed this attraction. There just isn’t enough for me to spend my day on, even though it is a short wait when I have gotten on it. On my last ride through, I went on it  at nighttime, and I was just wanting to get off of it halfway through.

Kali River Rapids—This is the water ride in Animal Kingdom and the main issue that I take with this ride is how short it is. There are two other rapid attractions that are far better than this one. The big drop into the rapids is fun, but it’s over almost immediately after. It is also the ride I experienced my first theme park chafing with.

Journey to Atlantis—I have some great memories of this ride, during my graduation trip, me and my buddy brought two full water bottles on this attraction and poured the water all over our friend in the row in front of us. This ride has fallen into such a state of disrepair and operation issues that I haven’t been on it in years. The queue snails along, it opens and closes randomly throughout the day, and it just isn’t as fun anymore. Seaworld can open a new coaster left and right but can’t be bothered to maintain what could be a good attraction with an incredible façade.

Infinity Falls—Staying with Seaworld once again. Now this is a quality rapids attraction with a fun drop and a longer layout than Kali River Rapids. Almost a minute and a half longer than Kali, and the climb on Kali boosts up this number. The climb on Infinity Falls is unique as it is an elevator and shoots you right up to the drop. The rapids are fun, and this is a quality attraction. Unfortunately, it does close at random times of the day as well.

The next four are the best and difficult to put on this list.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure—This is a great ride, I was fighting hard to put this one higher because I do like this attraction, but it falls short to its predecessor. The issue that this attraction is lacking are the stakes. Why is it all just one note? Happy happy happy, let’s get musicians for the party. Next show scene let’s get musicians for the party. Next scene let’s get SMALLER musicians for the party. The ride is still fun, but it could have been better.

Jurassic Park River Adventure—IT HURTS. This would have been number one in my heart a couple of years ago. This is one of my favoirte movies of all time, and this ride captures that movie wonderfully. I have great memories of getting my cousin (who hated rides) on this ride and the issues that happened after. This was also the ride my girlfriend and I did on our first date. I am trying to be fair. This ride is in the roughest state of disrepair of any of them on this list. Dinosaurs are repeatedly gone from their usual spots. They look terrible if they are there, and it just needs love. It is finally getting the love it deserves in 2026 as it is basically down for the entire year. I am thinking it might just be Jurassic World instead of Jurassic Park. With Velocicoaster, the Raptor Encounter, and the new movies being pumped out, it looks like this will be the next addition of corporate synergy. I might be bitter for a day or two but I don’t like seeing Jurassic Park being in the state is in.

The top two belong to Toon Lagoon and I think they are the easy winners here. A flume ride that makes fun of Disney World, fun moments, gets you soaked and some great drops, or a rapids ride that lasts seven minutes?

Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges—This ride is extremely fun. Rapids that last seven minutes and even animatronics on the attraction. The story is wacky, and you feel like you are in a cartoon world. A Toon Lagoon perhaps. This is missing a large drop, but the dread of seeing the water begin to swirl as you know you are going to get soaked is top tier. There are so many opportunities to get wet on this attraction, it is practically a guarantee. Seven minutes for a ride is also the most of this list and it is an almost all action seven minutes as well. A very strong rapid ride, and the room with the huge octopus is very fun to look at.

This leaves one left and I think it is the rightful king of the water attractions. Dudley Do Right Ripsaw Falls fills six minutes full of water and jokes that can have the entire family laughing. It never takes itself too seriously and it is a wacky six minutes full of fun story moments. Maybe it is because I worked at Universal and would have to go work in Toon Lagoon for a few minutes at a time which would let me hear the iconic line, “I say you’re going the wrong way” over and over again. There are multiple drops, multiple ways to get wet, a fantastic façade, a great finale, and a fun queue with plenty of jokes. Jokes about Universal, jokes about Disney with a Country Bear Jamboree knock off in the queue. It is gold.

There are some very good water rides in Orlando. It is full of rapid attractions, and some great flume rides. For those of you wondering where Frozen is…. That is not a water ride. Neither is Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, or Living with the Land. This list was exclusively for the water attractions that are flume rides or rapids