Looking for a good water park to cool off at?

[OogieBoogie]

From ABCNews.com

Aug. 3, 2006 — It's been a hot summer, and one of the best and most fun ways to cool off is at a waterpark.
"Good Morning America" teamed up with the Travel Channel to bring you the Top 10 wild waterparks in the United States.
1. Schlitterbahn Waterpark, New Braunfels, Texas
Waterpark lovers must make a pilgrimage here. This park has something for everyone who wants to have fun in the water. There's the Master Blaster Uphill Coaster, the white water rapids of the Torrent, and a surfing ride called the Boogie Bahn.
2. Disney's Blizzard Beach, Kissimmee, Fla.
Snow in Florida? You'll really cool down at Disney's Blizzard Beach, where you can slide down Mt. Gushmore and raft Teamboat Springs.
(Disclosure: Disney is the parent company of ABC.)
3. Raging Waters, San Dimas, Calif.
If you visit this park, you must ride the Wedge, which is made from 21,000 pounds of steel and 10,000 pounds of white fiberglass. Want more thrills? Drop-Out offers one of the tallest vertical drops in the country.
4. Water Country USA, Williamsburg, Va.
Need to cool off after visiting Colonial Williamsburg? Fast forward a couple hundred years. There's a fun '50s and '60s nostalgia theme here and terrific rides.
5. Splish Splash, Long Island, N.Y.
Get away from it all only one hour from a New York City — there's a natural, Adirondack theme here along with terrific rides. The newest ride is called Alien Invasion, which features a rapid drop followed by a spin that feels out of control. There are plenty of thrill rides and kids' rides.
6. Soak City, Buena Park, Calif.
You won't forget you're in California at this park, with its surfer theme that's inspired by Southern California's 1950s beach towns. There's a new spin ride here, too.
7. Water World, Denver
Travel to the Caribbean without leaving Colorado — there's Tortugo run and a family-oriented Calypso Cove. Or go to Egypt by taking a ride on the Lost River of the Pharaohs.
8. Six Flags White Water, Marietta, Ga.
This water park has a nice, natural setting, as it's home to more than 5,000 trees. It has a lazy river and a family-friendly vibe.

9. Noah's Ark, Wisconsin Dells, Wisc.
Noah never had this much fun! There's Flash Flood, which sends passengers in boats plunging down a 50-foot hill into a 40-foot, and Dark Voyage, a 600-foot-long dark tube ride. Don't worry, there are tamer family-friendly rides, too.
10. Wet 'n Wild Emerald Pointe in Greensboro, N.C.
Can you conquer the Dragon's Den? Or walk the plank at Shipwreck Cove? Well, at least you'll be able to relax on the Lazee River.

[kcnole]

9. Noah's Ark, Wisconsin Dells, Wisc.
Noah never had this much fun! There's Flash Flood, which sends passengers in boats plunging down a 50-foot hill into a 40-foot, and Dark Voyage, a 600-foot-long dark tube ride. Don't worry, there are tamer family-friendly rides, too.


I've so wanted to visit this park. I love how they've gone beyond the idea of just a water park and even placed a dark ride on a tube in their parks. I know that Disney didn't need to do that since they have 4 regular theme parks full of dark rides, but I'd love to see what Disney could come up with in a dark ride in a water park.

[OogieBoogie]

Growing up there were 2 water parks here in Nor Cal that I went to all the time. Oakwood Lake in Manteca was the first park I went to. The park is quite tame by todays standards, but it had a excellent inner-tube rapids ride which was worth the trip to me. I think this was the first water park in Nor Cal.

The second one was Raging Waters in San Jose. It became a freqent hangout with me and my friends during summers in high school. They had these slides called 'speed slides' which were about 3 stories tall and had 3 drop offs down to the pool at the bottom. The trick was to arch your back so that only your heels and shoulderblades touched the slide. This gave you more speed, then as you hit the first drop, thrown your arms down and push yourself up. You could get anywhere from 4-8 feet of air off of each drop by doing this. Ahh memories.

[sir clinksalot]

That's the same list they have had for the last 3 years, and the same descriptions. There is NO WAY Soak City is number 6 in the country.

That being said, Schlitterbahn is without a doubt the best waterpark I have been to, but I couldn't help but feel a bit dissapointed. I will be interested to compare it to the Disney waterparks in October.

[Neon Cactus]

Just curious why you were disappointed with Schlitterbahn. I've never been yet, but I want to go everytime I see that special. I have been to Water World in Denver and that was great. They have a dark ride tube ride with dinosaurs and then an Egyptian themed tube ride. I'd put it higher than the two WDW water parks.

I was laughing a bit when I watched the Travel Channel's Top 10 Water Parks special. Number 9 was Wet N Wild Las Vegas, which would be fine if the park hadn't been torn down a while ago.

[sir clinksalot]

^ It's not that I was 'dissapointed'. It's just that it wasn't "All that". It's a fun park, but Master Blaster had a 1 hour wait the 2 days we were there, so we only got to ride once.

It's kinda ghetto.

[yoyoflamingo]

I'm honestly surprised that Splish Splash made the list. I guess I never really appreciated it until it showed up on this list. That being said, BPF and I had a great time when we went last month.

[melmel]

I freakin' love Raging Waters! But it's so far to drive to San Dimas.

[Ward]

Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels may be the top dog (never been); but beware of their new parks - namely the one in Galveston. We just returned from there and it stinks! The biggest problem is that the Galveston park is entirely too small. They converted the property between a local airfield and Moody Gardens (where an old airplane hanger used to sit) into a water park. Most of the rides are slightly above average, and admittedly the 'Lazy River' that encircles the park is pretty neat [it actually has waves that run through the river about every 20 seconds]. But they did not plan for the massive onslaught of humanity!! We even heeded the numerous warnings about Saturday crowds and went on a Monday. It didn't help.

So if you're wanting Schlitterbahn, go to the original in New Braunfels.

[ralfrick]

Originally Posted by OogieBoogie

Growing up there were 2 water parks here in Nor Cal that I went to all the time. Oakwood Lake in Manteca was the first park I went to. The park is quite tame by todays standards, but it had a excellent inner-tube rapids ride which was worth the trip to me. I think this was the first water park in Nor Cal.

Very likely, as the original Manteca waterslides were the first fiberglass tube slides anywhere in the world. These were some amazing slides. You go face down on a mat, and would just fly. They were rated with ski run symbols because you'd go so far up the sides of the tubes. There was a queue where you'd wait, and every 10 minutes another group was let into this area. Each group would have a specific color mat, and could stay 30 minutes (this was just one section of the park). Since they would wave people down the slides about every 5 seconds, you'd get a lot of rides in that 1/2 hour, and there were at least 6-8 slides.

The rest of the place was kind of funky. Some guy had just built the slides on his land, then some others were added over the years, including the tallest speed slide in the state, but it was haphazard in its (kack of) design. Some of them were fun, but those original ones were so good. That tube rapids ride was different from any I've seen, too. You'd drop into a series of pools, and could be in one a long time if you wated for the current to move you out without getting hands or feet involved.

Sadly, they just closed forever in 2004. We went on one of the last days. It will one day be some nonsense like Oakwood Estates-a Gated Community. We drove by a couple of weeks ago, and nothing seems to have started.

Now, as to the list in the OP. Travel Channel has done a few since that one (Schlitterbahn is always on top). We went to Soak City because it made this list, and that was in 2001. Odd that it would be in a report now.

[mrcoaster]

I've been to nearly all of them and there's no doubt that Schlitterbahn is top notch. Water Country USA in Williamsburg, VA is also pretty great. Noah's Ark in the Dells is a blast.

The lines at Schlitterbahn can definitely get bad in July and August. You really need to hit the park early in June during a weekday to avoid huge crowds.

[Neon Cactus]

I'd like to go to Schlitterbahn on South Padre Island. It looks interesting because you float into the queues for each slide. It looks like one big lazy river and then you just float into the line you want to go to. Doesn't look like a whole lot else out near South Padre. I want to check out the first one in New Braunfels first, plus there's plenty of other attractions in the area to see.

I love Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. Water World near Denver was great. I haven't been to Raging Waters in San Dimas for over 20 years, so I'd like to do that again.

We went to Carlsbad Caverns over Memorial Day and stayed at a very cheesy Best Western in Whites City near the cave. But the hotel had a water park which consisted of a kids area, a pool and two water slides. But my 6 year old could ride by herself with no problem and the 2 year old could go with us and they loved it.