Omaka Rocka Opens at Aquatica

Aquatica is the home to a new ride Omaka Rocka. The new ride is now open and it’s a ride which features half-pipe maneuvers through three funnels (think extreme sports/skateboarding), and is the water park’s first expansion since it opened in early 2008.

Here are some details about Omaka Rocka:

+ It  shares a platform with Whanau Way, on the wave-pool side of the park.

+ There are two slides with three funnels each.

+ The name comes from South Seas and means “rocking river.”

+ The half-pipe element provides “near weightlessness,” says Aquatica vice president Rick Beddow.

+ Guests ride in two-seater floats like those currently found in the park.

+ There is no height restriction, although you must be able to hold onto the grips and maintain the riding position throughout.

+ Although portions of the Omaka Rocka are enclosed, the tubing is “semi-transparent,” allowing more light in — and allowing landlubbers to see folks sliding through, says Brian Morrow, director of design and engineering. (As opposed to some of the very dark entrances of other Aquatica attractions.)

+ Morrow says SeaWorld has always had an expansion master plan — the Whanau Way tower was built with another ride in mind for the future. But Omaka Rocka is not the ride that was originally planned for that spot.

So another great ride is brought to Orlando and it’s sure to be a lot of fun as riders rock back and forth, sliding one way and then the other,  speeding down the flumes through the massive funnels  and feeling a sense of weightlessness just before they skim into a drenching splashdown!



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