The morning was spent helping my son try and fix an intermittent leak somewhere on his roof! It was another 90+ day in Orlando, and I must have lost 10lbs !?!? by the time we got down. After a quick shower I said my farewells and headed for home .... which just so happens goes past SeaWorld. I’d made up my mind that if the cars were in the overflow area I wouldn’t bother, but to my surprise there were still 1/2 dozen rows to go before then, so in I went.
It was another very hot day, and as I made my way across the bridge towards Shamu Stadium I was a little perturbed not to see soaking wet people walking towards me. I arrived at Infinity Falls to see no rafts on the rapids at all, although there was op activity at the entrance and in the station, so my hopes were raised somewhat. After standing around for 10mins the rafts started to move ... it was looking good .. :). Soon after we were let thru and I plus 7 others made it onto the 2nd raft of the session.
The walk to the station was OK, but nothing to get excited about. A few areas of encampment and kayaks broke up the areas of greenery, but it’s a long long way from being a rainforest. I’ve been to the Amazon rainforest so I know what it looks like. If they’d had some bird or animal noises it would have made it a little better, but it was just some dialogue about the SEA expedition. The rainforest was a constant noise of parrots, macaws and so many different animals. Although I didn’t miss the 1 bite and you’re a gonna spiders ... LOL !!! Infinity Falls needs many more years to allow all the trees and shrubs to grow in, then it will start to look the part.
The rafts are on a moving platform so you have to be quick to get on before you head out into the rapids. The seatbelts are for 2 people, so we strapped ourselves in and headed for the water curtain ... which did switch off just as we got there, but it didn’t matter ... you are going to get soaked. A few dips and rises ensured if you had your back to them you got the full ‘over the raft’ deluge but we were having fun, and in the heat all we wanted was to get wet. As you would expect with a new ride the amount of concrete is there for all to see, but again as the ride ages I hope a lot of that will become covered in green and more eco friendly. By the time we got to the first up slope we were drenched, so getting stuck 1/2 way up and then being soaked even more by water spouts just added to the good time we were all having. We were soon on the move again and after dodging the water pouring down from the drop slope we entered another area of good rapids before we got to the lift. Be warned ... if somehow you have managed to stay relatively dry to this point (highly unlikely) and you end up with your back to the lift wall, it’s game over. The lift is quick and soon we found ourselves on the top and ready to descend. It was hands in the air time, and down we went. Actually this part is one of the driest parts of the ride, but the most fun. We bobbed along under the bridge and back into the station. We all wanted to stay on, but by now the wait line was back to the entrance bridge, so sadly we all had to get off. I asked the op about my stay-on 1 time platinum pass perk, but he didn’t know. I wasn’t going to persue it, but I’ll have to find out if Infinity Falls is included in that program.
If I have one niggle it’s with the drainage in the bottom of the raft. Do not wear your best sneakers on this ride ... the amount of water you’ll find your feet in is ankle deep at times. Why oh why didn’t they have some form of grate system instead a few little drainage holes is a bit mystifying to be honest.
The other thing that might become an issue is people coming off the ride and then going straight into the Waterway grill to eat ? Time will tell on that one.
Surprisingly people were allowed to take their bags on the ride, but maybe that was because it was a soft opening ? They do have all those lockers after all.
So all in all I have to say I was impressed. The walk to the station was a bit blah, but the ride itself delivers as advertised. It’s surprisingly smooth in its journey thru the rainforest rapids, and it does offer wonderful relief on a blisteringly hot Orlando afternoon.
Will I go on again? Maybe, especially if the temps stay in the 90’s.
I think Seaworld has hit a home run with Infinity Falls, but the full impact of just how successful it will be won’t be seen until next summer.
.... and then on the way home (again) I stopped off at the Starflyer and had another swing over I-drive.
A good day in my home town for sure.
Tweet
I like raft rides okay but not ones overtly soaking wet. Only did Popeye once as soaked to the skin after that (there's a reason Universal has those "heat booths" outside it) and soured me on it. Prefer the lighter splashes of Kilmanjaro Rapids and some Six Flags stuff.
There are 2 family size ‘heat booths’ outside of Infinity Falls as well, so it gives you an idea of how wet you are likely going to get.
Anyone know the reason for the height maximum on this ride? As there are no over the shoulder restraints I can only imagine there may be some reach envelope or head clearance issues.
They were having problems with the ride throughout the day today and when I got there around 4:30 it was 75% drained, with a guy up to his waist in water trying (I assume) to fix what’s broke !!
Rob .. good guess .... the max height is to do with how far a 6-5 human can reach. The entrance bridge and the underneath of the drop slope are home to a lot of sensors and someone somewhere decided anyone over 6-5 would be able to reach up and trip them .... ultimately stopping the ride. I was also told that the head support height could potentially injure a rider over the max limit ... whiplash maybe ??
I also checked the heat booths .... $5 for an unspecified amount of time. It is family sized so for mom, dad + kids I suppose it’s not too bad. The Florida sun is free though :)
This discussion has been archived and is no longer accepting responses.
Forbidden Journey and The Mummy are my all-time favorite rides, but I don’t think my family laughs as much and enjoys a ride collectively more than the Popeye water ride at Universal. Will definitely be checking this one out. Thanks for the review!