Planning a trip to Atlantis can be overwhelming: Which tower to stay in? Meal plan or no meal plan? How old do you have to be to swim with dolphins? How tall do you have to be to ride the water slides?
I recently collaborated with Atlantis to create a series of videos to help make planning easier.
I get asked a lot, “What do you really think about Atlantis?” Here’s the 411.
- My kids LOVE it, love it as in they are obsessed and would go back every month. They have enjoyed it at every age, when they were little they liked feeding nurse sharks and going on the baby slides. Now Macie wants to go because she’s legal to “hit the club” at 18 and the boys love the thrilling water slides. To me Atlantis is like Disney, your kids want to go, so you do. But the honest truth is that I love it too. I love riding the lazy river with one of my kids in a double tube, I love that I can spend time with my teenagers in a place they really want to be, I even love racing them on the water slides, just not the big ones.
- I get asked if it’s expensive, it is. There’s no getting around it, it’s not a cheap vacation. The rooms are pricey, the food is pricey. If you want to budget ahead of time I suggest getting a dining plan, then you don’t have any surprise charges. If you want to see Atlantis on a budget, it’s doable, you need to stay in one of the less expensive towers and look for deals.
- Go in knowing that it’s a GIANT water park with a ton of hotel rooms. If you stay in a luxury tower like the Cove, you will have a luxury experience while you are in that tower or at the private pool. If you are one of the masses in line for the Leap of Faith, it’s not a luxury experience. It’s a giant freaking water park. It’s clean, it’s fun, it costs so much because they are running an ENORMOUS water park.
- Don’t miss all the marine life. Atlantis has the largest open air marine habitat in the world. They are so much more than dolphins, take the kids to feed the nurse sharks, do the stingray experience, snorkel the ruins. If you have little ones this is such an easy way to get them in the water with AMAZING marine life. You don’t need to take them snorkeling in heavy surf off the back of a dive boat for them to get up close and personal with turtles, tropical fish and more.
- Buy food when you get there or pack snacks in your suitcase. I mentioned that it’s expensive, having your own snacks saves money and also helps with afternoon meltdowns. I keep everything to make pb&js, granola bars, fresh fruit and juice in the room. You don’t need to buy an expensive cheeseburger to hold them over until dinner when a $1 granola bar will do the trick.
- My family loves Atlantis, I love Atlantis, you just need to really plan ahead. Make your budget, pack properly and do your research so you don’t leave and realize that you missed something super fun like the Sea Lions because you didn’t know they were there!
Here is everything you need to know to plan your trip. Have a question I didn’t answer? Send me an e-mail, I’m happy to help!
What to Do at Atlantis (with kids)
What to Do at Atlantis (without kids)
What to Do at Atlantis (indoors)
We were hired by Atlantis to create a video series, the editorial and opinions on Luxury Travel Mom are not compensated.