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| - It was opening day so of course there were going to be issues. I knew that going in and it was pretty much what I expected -- wait times for slides ranged from 1-2 hours. But the park never felt that crowded, thanks to them closing the gates when they reached max capacity.
It's a good thing I got there at 6:30 and another person in our party got there at 5:30. There was the expected rush to get in but most people in line were cool about it. We were some of the first hundred or so people in and had no problem snagging inner tubes (which you only need for the lazy river and maybe the wave pool) and lounge chairs.
Here's a quick rundown of positives and negatives from the first day:
Positives
+ Friendly staff. They didn't always know the answers to questions, but they always smiled and tried to be helpful.
+ It was great that they had people manning the locker area and walking people how to rent a locker, find it and work it. Prices for lockers range from $8-12 and can be accessed throughout the day.
+ Slidin' Thru. The park food wasn't good, of course, so it was nice to see the Slidin' Thru Food truck set up in the back right corner of the park. Prices were higher than usual, but I can't fault them for making a good business decision. Let's hope we see more food trucks here in the future.
+ The main restrooms by the lockers have showers.
Negatives
- They ran out of food. By 1pm their cafe was out of almost everything. So I walked over to their buffet, purchased a wrist band for it and proceeded to wait almost 2.5 hours in line. That long wait was due to their buffet running out of food. They had to wait for a couple delivery trucks to drop off more food, then heat it/cook it. They only had hot dogs and pizza when I finally made it through. Typically I think they have salads and other options. But remember, this is a water park. Don't come here expecting Bacchanal or Wicked Spoon-quality food. Think high school cafeteria.
- Not enough rental tubes. This didn't effect me since we got the last of the rental ones. But there were lots of unhappy people left at the rental counter and at the lazy river. I guess they should have gotten there earlier.
- Poor signage at the cafe. There are separate lines to order food and pick up food. Make sure you're in the right ones.
- No outside food or drink is allowed. But you can bring in water bottles only if they're unopened (factory sealed)
Comments/Observations
- Buffet prices are $12.99 ($9.99 for kids and season ticket holders). They give you a wrist band and you can go through as often as you like throughout the day.
- Some families were only buying one buffet wristband and had that one family member go through and get food for everyone. One chick walked out with two plates of pizza, about 6 hot dogs and a few salads. haha
- There are only 30 or so cabanas for rent. You can rent them in advance for here on out. If you get a cabana you can also get food service. A great option if you want to avoid the long lines at the cafe.
- I didn't have problems with parking but if you can't get into the main lot there are plenty of dirt lots within walking distance to the park.
- For the majority of slides you have to wait in a line to get a tube/floaty, then head to a different line to wait for your turn on that slide. Some groups will split up -- one person will wait in the line to get a tube and another in the line for the slide. This will minimize their wait time because by the time the person gets the tube, the other person will be close to the front of the line for the slide. Some may think of this as cutting in line -- and as an old crabby dude, I would agree -- but congrats kids on thinking outside the box.
- There are plenty of grassy area to layout if you don't get a lounge chair, so feel free to bring blankets along with towels.
- I only went on 2 slides (the Rattler and Constrictor, both were fun) and the lazy river and wave pool. It's a good thing I prepped my kid ahead of time and told him he'd probably only go on a few slides, not all of them. It's important to set your kid's expectations to lessen the chance of a meltdown.
It wasn't a perfect opening day, but the most important thing is that my five year old walked away thinking it was loads of fun. Plus he was wiped out by 7pm. Despite some negatives (mainly running out of food) it was a fun family day and Wet 'n' Wild is a long overdue addition to the community.
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