SeaWorld’s Summer Soak Party

Orlando Attractions Update – SeaWorld Orlando’s beat-the-heat strategy takes a page from the dance-party book. The theme park has introduced Summer Soak Party. It’s the kid-magnet splash-pad concept, turned upside-down and set to music.

The limited-time Summer Soak Party is basically a large tented area rigged up with sprinklers on the stage of Bayside Stadium, which has been home to concerts, an ice-skating rink, Halloween events and “Wheel of Fortune.”

The tarp is a good 20 feet off the ground. Underneath are gadgets that distribute water in a variety of ways, from swirling action to basic squirting to tumbling sheets of mist. It’s not terribly intense — nowhere near the splashy Shamu-show level — but if you’re under the roof, you’re going to get wet. Linger, and you’ll be doused. Just standing along the edges you may get splattered enough to worry about your electronic devices. You’ve entered the sprinkle zone.

Some folks taking the plunge last weekend simply took off running or spinning below the sprinklers. There also were SeaWorld Orlando team members, garbed up in rubber waders, on the scene to organize games such as “Red Light, Green Light” and incorporate props such as hula hoops.