Island H2O is the Orlando areas newest water park located just south and adjacent to Walt Disney World in Kissimmee, Florida.  It combines family fun with technology using an internet and social media theme with attractions like Follow Me Falls, Reply Racers, Chat Creek and Live! Lagoon. Island H2O isn’t the largest water park, but it essentially has one of everything you could want in a water park in a great layout and manageable size. Each of the slides and attractions it has are well done and sincerely great versions of that type of slide or flume. Island H2O is very much a quality over quantity approach to a water park with excellence at every point from the food to the staff.

Island H20 is owned by a private group called Horizon Waterpark, LLC, but is managed by Premier Parks who you might know from locations such as Wet’n’Wild, Elitch Gardens and Magic Springs. It is part of the Sunset Walk entertainment district and located next to the Margaritaville Resort Orlando. If you are staying at the Margaritaville Resort you’ll actually get free access to Island H2O until October 25, 2025. This is how we got into the park and the process was quite simple. On checking into Margaritaville we were given a paper voucher for each day of our stay for the water park.

Island H20 is located right in front of Margaritaville and the entrance to the water park is on the side closest to the hotel, so you’re only looking at less than a 5 minute walk. Once you’re at the entrance to Island H20 signage will guide hotel guests to an area to exchange the vouchers for tickets. You’ll need to bring ID, but the process was very fast and efficient, even with a bit of a line. If you do have to pay admission the rates are typically less than $50 and if you’re local or looking to come multiple days a season pass is just a little bit more.

Once inside you’ll want to find an area to setup shop for the day. Lockers are available, but we usually try to not bring anything of value that we can’t keep on our person and just leave our towels at some lounge chairs. Island H20 doesn’t have a lot of natural shade, but thankfully they’ve installed some canopies to provide shade over many of the seating areas making them quite comfortable. If you want to break out your wallet there are also cabanas for rent at several locations across the park.

Our visit was on a Saturday in June with good weather, but even given this the most we waited for anything was around 15 minutes and the lines are mostly all shaded. The lines moved fast and were well managed with staff helping distribute tubes on the rides that used them. Later in the day parts of the concrete can get a bit hot, so a pair of flip flops you can leave at a ride entrance could save you from doing the “hot ground” dance. The great thing about a water park are that there is almost always a place you can cool off quickly such as the wave pool or the lazy river if you find yourself getting too hot. If you’re a hotel guest you can also easily take a couple hour break and come back or just call it a day early leaving time to visit another Orlando attraction. We visited on a busy Saturday and in a matter of 5-6 hours we were able to experience everything at least once (some multiple times) as well as catch lunch.

The food here was shockingly good, not just for a water park, but good in general. We have an 8 year old who is a chicken and fries connoisseur (his go to dinner at most restaurants) and Island H2O’s chicken and fries were probably the best we have had in years. Food is reasonably priced for being at a park and about my only complaint is that even with the refillable bottle you have to pay $1.50/refill regardless of if you purchased it that day or months ago. So do the math if you’re only there for a single day as with $1.50 refills the refillable bottle may not be worth it. Some of the naming and themes of the restaurants are great too like the one near the entrance called “Mega Bytes”. One thing to be aware of is that all purchases at Island H2O are subject to a 1% Marketing Entertainment Fee (MEF) as are all business located at Promenade at Sunset Walk. You’ll see this clearly on your receipt and it will make your purchases just a tad more expensive.

For the adults there are also a full bar available called the Tag Shack (which is somewhat unique in water parks). This area is probably hopping during the park’s “adult only” Island Nights events held late in the evenings on weekends. If you’re an adult there during regular hours and you find yourself getting overwhelmed there’s also an “adults only” pool called Private Domain where you can go hang out.

The slides here are all very well done and you’ll find the latest in water slide technology from a water coaster to vertical drop slides. The names here are great such as Hashtag Heights, Live Streaming and Follow Me Falls. Our 8 year old thought all the internet themes were the most awesome thing ever and it really resonated with him. Speaking of kids, there’s tons for them to do here with the tallest height requirement being 48″ and several HUGE play areas for even the smallest kids. The vast majority of rides can also be experienced in groups of 2 or 4 which helps keep families together for the fun.

The standout rides were Follow Me Falls which is essentially a “water coaster” where a stream of water actually pushes you up a hill! Profile Plunge is a huge family raft ride that will have you in a tunnel with colorful stripes everywhere. Finally, the Live! Lagoon Wave Pool is an excellent version of this popular water park attraction with great wave action, a huge screen and fun music in a perfect location with tons of seating near food and beverage. The life guards and other staff at the park were very friendly and professional, operating at a level much higher than I was used to at a typical water park.

Note that if you’ve watched some of the older YouTube videos about the park showing a bunch of the interactive picture/video features triggered by wristband RFID system called Vantage, however it appears most of that is no longer operational. You could still see the small kiosks at the top of most of the slides, but they appeared to only be used by employees as they swapped positions on a slide. This appears permanent as the park app that powers it has been discontinued (season passes are now done by digital wallet), but it’s not too big of a loss in my opinion. The rides are still great fun and many adults probably are happy to do without water park pictures of themselves.

You also used to be able to use Vantage to earn things like free ice cream by completing certain ride challenges, but the park did have a scavenger hunt where you could get free ice cream the day we were there. You’ll also still see some signage around the park with the name Island H2O Live, but it appears the “Live” has been dropped from the website with the removal of this system. There are also a bunch of selfie areas where you used to be able to use Vantage, but now you just use your own phone.

Overall Island H2O was an excellent water park experience. The park really is about the perfect size as it’s not too large to be overwhelming, but not too small that you feel at all shortchanged. The ride, staff, facility and food quality were all noticeably excellent compared to your standard water park. It and easy decision to visit if you’re staying at the Margaritaville Resort and can get in for free. If you’re staying elsewhere Island H20 can still be a great choice if you’re looking for a relatively inexpensive (by theme park standards) day or partial day. If you’re in Orlando be sure to browse Island H2O as you’ll probably give it a like and potentially making it your new hot spot.