October 29, 2015October 30, 2015 by themeparkguru

Islands of Adventure Water Rides: How Wet Will You Get? | Islands of Adventure

Islands of Adventure

One of the many great things we love about Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park is the amount and selection of water rides at the park. This selection is especially appreciated during those very hot summer months! There are a total of four very fun water rides in the park and are spread out through the various “islands”.

While water rides are fun and can provide a nice way to cool down, it’s also nice to know just how wet you will get on these rides. You may just want to get a light spritz but end up coming off one of the rides with your drawers drenched!

Islands of Adventure Water Rides

That’s where we come in! We have tested each of the four water rides at Islands of Adventure to show you just how wet you will get on each ride. The four rides and their locations are:

Jurassic Park River Adventure – Jurassic Park

Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls – Toon Lagoon

Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges – Toon Lagoon

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish – Seuss Landing

Read below to see whether you’ll walk off the rides lightly soaked or if you’ll walk off completely drenched!

Islands of Adventure Water Rides: Soak Factor

First we must mention that each water ride is awesome. Each one has a unique personality. They are all super fun and we recommend experiencing each one during your visit to Islands of Adventure.

Our Guru, Bobby, rode each water ride and started off with dry clothes for each one. Here are the results we found (before and after pictures posted below):

Jurassic Park River Adventure: “Time. The ever flowing river.” It is hard to capture this ride’s awesomeness by writing a few words, but here’s our best try: Triumphant…Surreal…Heart Warming. You can’t go wrong when the amazing music of John Williams sets the tone for your ride! We noticed varying results depending on where you sit. Bobby rode front and center and only got lightly soaked. However, he noticed people sitting in the back of his ride car getting off pretty wet. This ride gets a rating of light to wet soak factor.

Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls: Bobby rode in the middle of the ride car, behind two people. Honestly, the location of his seat didn’t really matter because he came off the ride completely drenched. There are some who were able to make it off the ride wet rather than drenched, but it’s usually rare. This ride gets a rating of wet to drenched soak factor.

Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges: Known to be the wettest water ride in Islands of Adventure. There are waters thrashing about and guests are able to shoot water guns at your boat. This ride has a round ride boat, so again it doesn’t matter where you sit. You pick a seat and hope you’ve chosen wisely. One great feature of the round ride boat is that you’re able to laugh at the others while they are getting drenched with water…but watch out! The next splash is probably coming for you! Bobby got head to toe soaked and his drawers were drenched! This ride gets a rating of DRENCHED soak factor.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish: Looking at this ride, you may think it’s only for children. It may have been intended as a kid’s ride, but this ride provides fun for all ages. You pick a fish and based on the type of fish you picked, you listen to the ride song and fly the fish according to what the song says. If the song tells Red Fish to fly high, then you are supposed to fly high to stay dry. We have yet to prove that following the song actually keeps you dry, but it’s nice to keep imagining that it does. Bobby chose Blue Fish, followed the song, got wet. However, he did not get that wet. Enough to feel cool for 10 minutes in the hot Florida sun but not so much that your shoes are squishing. This ride gets a rating of light soak factor.

Theme Park Guru Tip

While riding these Islands of Adventure water rides is fun, sometimes it’s just not fun to have to walk around the rest of the park or ride non-water rides completely drenched. Here are two tips we have:

Bring extra clothes to change into after you’ve hit all of the water rides. Plan to ride them all in the morning (the lines are usually shorter) and then change into your dry clothes to hit the other attractions. You can place your dry clothes in a nearby locker (but have to pay), place them in one of the free lockers near the rides that require a locker (risky if you don’t get back in time), or place your clothes in a backpack and wrap it in a poncho or shopping bag on the water ride.
Go back to the hotel room, change and recharge. If you are staying at one of the Universal hotels or at a nearby hotel, it’s a good plan to hit the water rides in the morning and get completely drenched. Then head back to your room to change but also take a break. Chill out in your room and recharge while the other guests navigate the park during the busiest and hottest part of the day. Then head back to the park in the late afternoon to hit the non-water rides and enjoy the park at night.

There you have it! All of the soak factors for the water rides at Islands of Adventure!

Check out our Islands of Adventure page to learn more about the park!

What is your favorite water ride at Islands of Adventure? Comment below!

Universal Orlando Official Water Rides Page