Entrance

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Here's some quick history before we begin: WaterWorld was originally going to be part of a trio of animal parks based in the Tampa area. The trio consisted of a marine park (WaterWorld), an animal interaction park (Explorer's Bay) and an animal park (an unnamed successor to the ill-fated ANIMALIA). WaterWorld opened its doors on 7 October 2012, which then heralded the construction of its sister park, Explorer's Bay, on 27 October. Explorer's Bay and the unnamed animal park were set to open in 2013 and 2014 respectively, but by 2016, both parks had been cancelled due to insufficient funding.

We will begin our tour of WaterWorld at the Entrance.

Entrance

WaterWorld has one guest entrance located at the South of the park. It is quite large in size and can serve tickets to up to 10 visitors simultaneously. This design feature was implemented to ensure that even on the busiest of days, queues would be able to move along in relative ease. Visitors are encouraged to purchase their park tickets online as it is not only cheaper but also a lot more convenient.

The tickets are used to activate a set of automatic ticket barriers at the park entrance.

Staff are often present at these barriers to hand visitors a free park map:

Once through the automated ticket barriers, you are immediately welcomed into a lush subtropical environment. Colourful vegetation and towering palm trees are landscaped beautifully at the edges of pathways; this is prominent throughout the entire park. Some of the taller trees also provide for much-needed shade, which you can retreat to out of the relentless gaze of the hot Florida sun:

The path leading out of the entrance forks out into several different directions. Taking a left from the entrance would guide you towards Tropical Waterways, while taking a right from the entrance would guide you towards Commerson's Point. The route directly in front of the entrance would lead you deeper into the park, passing Manatee Lagoon and eventually leading to Seal Coasts:

The WaterWorld map recommends taking a left from the entrance, leading into the Tropical Waterways attraction:

Entrance Layout

This aerial photograph taken on-board a helicopter shows clearly the layout of the entrance and the surrounding areas. The path directly ahead of the entrance leads you towards Manatee Lagoon and Seal Coasts, whereas the the path on the right of the entrance leads you through Tropical Waterways. The path on the left of the entrance leads you to Commerson's Point and, eventually, the Dolphinarium:

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