Adventure Island is back!!!!!  Wait, where did it go?  With the rise of new water parks and new additions to other parks the one water park across the street from Busch Gardens may have been forgotten to all except those living in the area. Forget no more because Adventure island rises to the elite with the additions of Colossal Curl in 2015 and Vanish Point this past weekend.

Vanish Point is a drop slide that brings a new type of rush to Adventure island. Climb the 70 foot tower only to ….. drop ….. with a 20 foot free fall ….. straight down into the 425 foot slide twisting and turning to the bottom. Adventure Island has two of these slides side by side that launches you together to the bottom. The green is rumored to be smoother and the pink more intense while the escape slide is fast. For those of you that chicken out after that long hike to the top of the tower, Adventure Island added a third more conventional slide that has a ride unique to itself in it’s downward plunge.

This is a welcome addition to Tampa Bay that is already generating buzz from my followers on twitter. One follower who saw my “drop video” said he had to try it himself and then messaged me “Wow!!! What a rush, this has put Adventure Island back on the map.”  I agree. I took the drop myself and have experienced nothing like that. Waiting in the launch tube listening to a heartbeat when the countdown begins, then …… surprise!!! You are on your way. This is a ride I will be looking forward to trying again when I visit Adventure Island again.

Vanish Point opened to the lucky few that took on the cooler weather on Friday and it looked to be very popular all through the weekend. Adventure Island also added a Quick Queue this year to their popular slides this year which well allow you unlimited sliding all day long through the summer.

Adventure Island is a water park not spoken much of in the State of Florida where there are many parks. Look at the smoke and mirrors of the others and take away all the visual sights in and around all of the water parks and you will find that Adventure Island is one of the best water parks in the southeast and a must to visit if wanting to cool off during the summer with a relaxing calm ride in your raft in the Rambling Bayou or a thrilling slide on Vanish Point.

The Do you Vow to Vanish??? Just listen to Vice President of Adventure Island Brian Kilpatrick and decide for yourself.

 David “Thrills”
The Thrill Freak 

David “Thrills” is an avid enthusiast of thrill parks and entertainment activities in the Tampa Bay Area. Be sure to follow me on twitter @TheThrillfreak for live tweets, Snapchat @thethrillfreak for that special exciting memory, and  instagram @thrillfreak just or email me at tampathrillme@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns. Logos are property of Busch Gardens. Pictures are the property of David “Thrills.” and picture of facial expression used with permission from the team at touringcentralflorida.com