7 FL Water Parks Rank Among Nation's Best: U.S. News

FLORIDA — Seven Florida water parks made a splash with U.S. News & World Report reviewers. The website named these watery attractions in the Sunshine State as being among the top nation's 36 water parks for 2023.

The publication said the best water parks offer everything from towering slides and water coasters to beaches and lazy rivers, plus wave pools and surf simulators.

The website reviewed numerous water parks across the country and lauded this Virginia destination as a great place to stay cool on a hot summer day.

The standouts in Florida, and comments from U.S. News, are:

• Universal's Volcano Bay: Orlando

Part of the Universal Orlando Resort, the Volcano Bay water park is built around a simulated volcano. Admission covers access to 19 attractions. Notable park features include a lazy river and a dozen waterslides such as the Maku of the Maku Puihi Round Raft Ride.

• Adventure Island: Tampa

Within walking distance of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is the 30-acre Adventure Island water park, offering mat racing slides, corkscrews, a lazy river and more. In 2022 the park introduced two new rides: a multirider Rapids Racer and a Wahoo Remix family raft ride.

• Big Kahuna's Water & Adventure Park: Destin

Head to Big Kahuna's Water and Adventure Park in Destin on Florida's Gulf Coast to find the Honolulu Half Pipe, a surf simulator that you can ride with a bodyboard or flowboard. The property offers more than 40 rides, slides and attractions.

• Disney's Typhoon Lagoon: Orlando

The focal point at this Walt Disney World Resort is Mount Mayday, where an array of slides and raft rides travel through and around caves, waterfalls and rock formations. The park's surfing lagoon presents guests with 6-foot swells. Families enjoy Ketchakiddee Creek, a water playground with child-sized pools, a small beach and an interactive tugboat.

• Shipwreck Island Waterpark: Panama City Beach

Panama City Beach is known for its white sand beaches, and Shipwreck Island Waterpark with attractions across 15 acres. Major features include a 500,000-gallon wave pool, the Raging Rapids ride, the Pirate's Plunge racing slide and children's activity pools.

• Rapids Waterpark: West Palm Beach

With more than 20 attractions to try, favorites include the funnel-shaped Black Thunder, which will spin you around in total darkness. Or, just cruise down the lazy river through water cannons, mist and a waterfall. Florida's only water coaster racer — Mega Mayhem, a ride equipped with blast jets for extra speed — is set to open in summer 2023.

• Island H2O Water Park: Kissimmee

This park outside Orlando has slides like Live Streaming which give visitors a video recording of themselves as they drop vertically, while the Profile Plunge allows a group of six to control the music while on the way down.

See the complete list on U.S. News.