granniem

We are going to be in the Cocoa Beach/Tamarac/ and Orlando areas in June/July and would like to find a PUBLIC Lazy river type amusement. We went to Discovery Cove last year and loved the lazy river there. We already have our hotels booked so this would have to be public. Any Ideas?

RedRock

I'm not sure what you are looking for in a "PUBLIC Lazy river type amusement". Discovery Cove is a commercial theme park and does not represent a river in Florida..

starrsville

Lazy river swimming pools are either commercial parks or at hotels.

If you want a genuine lazy river and one of the best experiences you can have in the Orlando area - or all of Florida - then go here...

http://www.canoewekiva.com/

granniem

We went to Discovery Cove last year and loved the lazy river. I know some hotels have lazy rivers on their grounds BUT what I am looking for is someplace that we can get the same lazy river as in Discovery by paying admission to go in. Does this make sense?

starrsville

You can do that. Go back to Discovery Cove. Don't pay for the dolphin experience - just pay for the park admission.

GoTravel

You can go to any of the Disney waterparks.

pollyvw

Here's another Florida REAL 'lazy river;' not a theme park:

http://tinyurl.com/mk9ut

We saw it written up in Southern Living once and went there on way to Orlando area. Second time we went just to go there. This is very close to being the most fun trips we took with our children when they were elementary school age.

granniem

Thew non dolphin swim at Discovery Cove costs about $175.00 per peson per day. I didn't like it that much. That would cost me $700.00 for a famiy of 4.

As we only have been to Universal and Isle of Adventure I didn't know of any other parks with it.
Thanks

granniem

pollyw, where is this park. It has driving directions but I am from NY and have no clue. This sounds like what I am looking for.

birder

Wet N Wild has a lazy river in Orlando:

http://www.wetnwildorlando.com/index.html

Doesn't Disney have 1 or 2 water parks? Do they have lazy rivers?

If you can change your hotel, the lazy river at the Omni Championsgate is amazing. A real current so you can actually just float along.

mary1007

Disney's Blizzard Beach has a lazy river.

NeoPatrick

It's really easy to find a lazy river. Just look by the old mill run in the noon day sun.

NorCalif

I second Starrsville's recommendation of Wekiva Springs State Park. It has a beautiful clear natural springs you can swim in, which spills into the river where you can canoe (it's totally lazy and calm - like a lake). It has big moss-hung trees lining the banks, water hyacinths blooming, herons, egrets and other birds, fish, alligators sunning themselves on logs, and turtles. My kids have loved it from the first time they went (when they were about 5) to the present (they are now in college). It's the only thing they insist on doing every time we go to central Florida to visit the grandparents.

starrsville

It may be one of the best "attractions" in Florida - and most folks just zip on down the interstate and have no idea it is there. It is definitely a memory making experience. It's a shame that so many folks won't experience it - and a treasure for those who do.

RedRock

I agree, there are many excellent State Parks in Florida where you can go for a lazy river experience. Keep one thing in mind, these are wild areas, not commercial amusement parks. There are risks involved and a person needs to be aware of where they are and what they are doing. Several million gators call these places home.

321go

granniem, the park pollyvw linked to is northwest of Gainesville. Wekiva is much closer to Orlando, but I don't think they offer tubing (kayaking, canoeing, and swiming are offered). Rainbow Springs park, west of Ocala has tubing.

msjames

This is going to sound stupid and tangiential, but what are you supposed to do when you see gators in the real lazy rivers? Just keep going and don't look them in the eye? Do they try to avoid humans?

birder

msjames, your post made me laugh out loud -- not because it was a stupid question (it isn't at all), but the whole "don't look them in the eye" thing. Generally gators are not going to bother you. The only human deaths in Florida by gators have been gators that have been habituated to people coming up on land to grab people (normally people hunched over gardening or something so they look smaller) or people walking small dogs ... the gators go after the dogs, and when the human intervenes, it turns on the person as well. We did have a gator snatch someone who was by a canal down near Miami I think, but I believe later reports were that the person had a bunch of drugs in their system. I hope I'm recalling all this correctly.

Anyway, I've seen plenty of fishermen wading out in lakes full of gators ... they just leave before dusk, which is when the gators start to feed.

I've been inspired by this thread and am now going to Rainbow River for tubing for my birthday in May!

OO

I'm a big chicken perhaps, but wild horses couldn't get me into fresh water in FL. Even innocent water, such as the decorative little man made lake with fountain at the entrance to International Plaza (upscale shopping center) in Tampa had a gator in it that went after a man's dog when the dog went in for a dip and a little exercise!!

The Wildlife Commission offers the following tips to avoid alligator attacks:

• Be aware of the possibility of alligator attacks when in or near fresh or brackish bodies of water. Many attacks occur when people do not pay close enough attention to their surroundings when working or playing near water.

• Closely supervise children when they are playing in or around water. Never allow small children to play by themselves near water.

• Do not swim outside of posted swimming areas or in waters that might be inhabited by large alligators.

• Alligators are most active between dusk and dawn. Therefore, swim only during daylight hours.

• Leave alligators alone. State law prohibits killing, harassing or possession of alligators.

• Never feed or entice alligators -- it is dangerous and illegal. When fed, alligators overcome their natural wariness and learn to associate people with food.

Postal

It's probably too far for you, but one of the best tubing rivers in Florida is the Ichetucknee, which is in a little town called Fort White, about 140 miles northwest of Orlando.

You can ride a tube down the river for more than 2 hours and it's absolutely gorgeous.