Are the cabanas at Aquatica worth it? Yes if you don’t mind the price
By Brian Miller
There is a lot to like about SeaWorld’s Aquatica water park but it can get crowded and having a place of your own is well worth the price. I’m talking about “cabanas”.
At Aquatica, you can search for open chairs, you can rent a double lounger, or you can pony up and rent a cabana for the day. Last weekend, we decided to give it a try and see if the cost was worth the price and let’s be honest, it is, pricey.
The cabanas at Aquatica are priced based on the time of year and the number of people you are going to put inside them. Let’s start with this point first.
Number of people
Most of the cabanas allow for up to four adults but you can add three more people in most cases for a total of seven but you have to pay for each individual above the 4th person. That price ranges from $15.00 to $30.00 but I could not find a single person that could tell me how that price range is decided. Is it 30 per adult or is it the time of year?
Time of year
The Aquatica website will tell you that the cabanas start at around $65.00 a day but that is pretty much for the winter months.
June prices, for example, are $329.00 to $450.00 for standard 4 person cabanas plus the additional person prices, the Ultimate Cabana will cost you $699.00 for the day.
The family cabanas can fit up to 10 people but there is only one available per day as is the same with the Ultimate Cabana. Only 2 Premium Cabanas are available per day. The others have quite a few more but they do sell out quickly.
Don’t get scared away by price!
On our trip, we rented one of the standard cabanas at Walkabout Waters. That put us immediately next to the “Walkabout Waters” kids area and that was fun for my children who we could keep an easy eye on from the cabana itself.
Let’s talk about this specifically-priced cabana before we dive into the pricier ones because this one is well worth it.
There are a lot of people at the park and the previous day we did not rent a cabana and that left us apprehensive about leaving our stuff lying around. Many people will rent lockers and they can be a little pricey for the day as well.
Our cabana came with two nice-sized adult loungers, a refrigerator, locker, towels, 12 complimentary bottles of water (not the tiny little ones either), 20% off at the gift shops, and access to a private menu. We had a person who served as our guest relations contact and they would get our food and we could order drinks that they would deliver. It was much faster than trying to do it on our own.
Of course, the best part is the shade and in the Florida heat that can’t be discounted at all. If you nickel and dime everything together you could probably add it up but the best part of the cabanas is the privacy and peace of mind knowing that no one is going to move your stuff or take it.
$699.00 may sound like a lot for a cabana and that is exactly what the Ultimate Cabana is priced at for the month of June but there are only two Cabanas in the entire park that can accommodate 10 people. This is one of them. It comes with everything mentioned for the other cabanas but has more furniture, a dining table for six, a second cabana with a couch, a daybed, and more available seating. It is also located between the two wave pools which is pretty cool as well.
This is a perfect Cabana if you are going with friends that are going to split the rental costs with or simply have that many people at your party.
The private and premium seating lounger option
If you are spending the day with one other person and the cabanas are not really what you need, the two-person loungers are an option but they too can be a little expensive for what you are getting. The area is semi-private meaning they are in their own location on one of the Aquatica “beaches”. The private beach loungers come with two lounge chairs, a canopy, and a private area on the beach. The premium loungers also have a small locker. The premium loungers will run you $149 to $159 for the day while the private beach loungers will cost you between $45 and $49 during the summer months. Towels and private food services are not provided.
Overall it is worth the price!
It was hard to pay $300.00 for a one-day rental buy my wife insisted and I am glad we did. Towel rentals are around $4.00 and they are not replaceable meaning if you lose it, get it soaked, whatever, you have to rent another one. For us, we would have needed 5 towels. Lockers are important because you don’t want to leave your wallet, keys, etc…lying around for others to take and those are $15-$20.00 per day. Again, I could nickel and dime my way to the value of the cabana but it really comes down to privacy and having a place to go to without being cramped next to a bunch of people who don’t care about your personal space.