CoCo Key Water Resort

In the past, CoCo Key Water Resorts have only built indoor water parks (in more Northern States) with adjoining hotel resorts but the new park at 7400 International Drive (near the Orlando Convention Center) is their first outdoor park and offers an alternative to Wet n’ Wild on International Drive.

The water park covers 58,000 square feet with water slides, a lazy river, spa, pools, an arcade and a playhouse. There is also an interactive play island for kids.

Part of the water park is covered by a canopy to help protect guests from the Florida sunshine (and the rain!!).

The CoCo Key Water Resort has been built alongside the empty Legacy Grand Hotel which is has been converted into a 373 room resort hotel with restaurant, food court, coffee shop and fitness centre. Room rates including water park package for four are in the region of $99 to $139 per night.

There is the Minnow Lagoon which as its name suggests is for young children and it features zero-depth entry, water features, slides and soaker cannons. The Minnow Lagoon is under cover and close by is the Wet Rooster Tiki Bar with a full bar; a great place for parents to hang out whilst keeping an eye on the kids.

Outdoors is Parrot’s Perch, a jungle gym adventure wet play island with a zero-depth entry pool, water cannons, slides and a large buckets that dumps 400 gallons of water every 30 minutes if you are looking to get very wet.

Nearby are the larger slides. The Surfer Splash takes one and two-person tubes (42-inch height requirement). Over The Falls is a body slide (40-inch height requirement) and lastly there is Boomerango Double Rider Slide which allows you to experience a sense of weightlessness (48-inch height requirement).

The Coral Reef Cove is great for teenagers and has the Cyclone slide (48-inch height requirement) and water volleyball.

There are a choice of dining options:

• the family dining Callaloo Grill
• Pizza Hut Express
• TradeWinds Restaurant located within the CoCo Key Water Resort Hotel serving a breakfast buffet and dinner
• Wet Rooster Bar offering tropical beverages and snacks

For those wanting to stay dry, there is also the Key Quest Arcade, a large arcade gaming area where you can play the latest and most popular video games.

You can even hold birthday parties at the CoCo Key Resort with CoCo, a six-foot high parrot.

The charge for non-residents is $19.95 (plus tax) for an all-day pass, $14.95 for a Twilight Pass (after 4 pm). Florida residents can buy an all-day pass for $14.95. Children up to 2 years old are admitted free.

All the CoCo resorts have a Key West theme to them with brightly coloured cabanas, thatched roofs and of course in Florida, real tropical sun. You can rent a cabana for the day; again typical prices at other parks range from $50 to $75 per day.

CoCo Key Water Resorts also operate nine other indoor water parks in Rockford (IL), Omaha (NE), Kansas City (MO), Cincinnati (OH), Columbus (OH), Boston (MA), Fitchburg (MA), Waterbury (CT) and Mount Laurel (NJ). A tenth park in Chicago was shut recently.