Family, travel, mom blog | Theme Park Mom (Leigh Caldwell)

SeaWorld’s Aquatica water park has opened a new water slide, the Omaka Rocka. The slide promises the “thrills of the half-pipe.”

You ride a tube through flumes and land in funnels, where you “rocka” back and forth. Check out the video below to get a better idea. It looks very fun!

The height requirement for Omaka Rocka is 48 inches. There’s also a maximum weight on this one of 250 pounds.

Aquatica also has a new pass that allows you unlimited admission to the Orlando water park after 2 p.m.  for the rest of 2010. The pass costs $49.95 for kids and adults, and there are no black-out dates. That’s just a couple dollars more than the price of a 1-day ticket to the park. So if you plan to go more than once, it’s probably a great deal.

Here’s a look at Omaka Rocka in action:

You can now book a room at the brand-new Coco Key Water Resort in Orlando, which opens April 15.

The resort has 386 rooms and is built for families, with dozens of options such as two-bedroom suites and rooms that connect side-to-side or back-to-back. Larger families that book adjoining rooms will get a $30 price break over the cost of two individual rooms.

And then there’s the water park! CoCo Key Water Resort will have 8 water slides, children’s play areas, a teen area and a quiet pool zone, all under a canopy.

There’s also a full-service restaurant, food court and grab and go market on the property, so plenty of options for eating.

Here’s how the pricing works: You book your hotel rooms (rates range from $99 to $149 per night), and then pay an additional $19 per day, per room resort fee, which covers unlimited access to the water park for up to four people, as well as your in-room Internet and other children’s activities at the hotel.

This new hotel and water park is centrally located on International Drive in Orlando. Coco Key will offer free transportation to and from Universal Studios Orlando, Islands of Adventure, SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica and Wet n’ Wild. It’s about a 20-minute drive away from Walt Disney World.

Aquatica officials are promising the thrill of the half-pipe in a family waterslide now under construction at the Orlando water park.

On the Omaka Rocka, riders will speed down flumes and wind up in funnels, where they will rock back and forth, feeling the near-weightless sensation that skateboarders and snowboarders feel in a half-pipe.

Artist’s renderings of Omaka Rocka show that park guests will ride the waterslide on tubes.

This is the first major ride added to Aquatica since its opening for the 2008 season.