I must admit, even though I grew up frolicking on Hawaii’s powder soft sand beaches and surfing in the state’s cobalt blue waters, as a kid I would have given my right foot to visit a water park on the mainland. Luckily my parents obliged every few summers (and I didn’t have to lose an appendage) and to this day I still consider those trips some of the best moments of my childhood.
Water parks have come a long way since I was a kid… and they keep getting bigger and better each year. Take a look at the wet and wild fun that awaits you at the following parks this summer:
ILLINOIS
KeyLime Cove. I just toured this $135 million hotel and 65,000-square-foot indoor water park two weeks ago. In a word: UNREAL. The resort is located in Gurnee, Illinois just five minutes from Six Flags Great America (though the two are not related). KeyLime Cove is massive and so colorful you have to don sunglasses just to look at some of the slides. The property just opened three months ago so the place sparkles and the employees are amazingly friendly. Room rates with four water park passes start at $169 weekdays; $269 weekends.
INDIANA
Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana has just opened a $6 million monkey-themed water attraction that caters to visitors of all ages. Admission is $39.95 for adults and $29.95 for anyone under 54 inches.
NORTH CAROLINA
Just outside Charlotte, Carowinds just added a new 600,000-gallon wave pool to its Boomerang Bay water park. The pool area is called Bondi Beach because it boasts 275 feet of sand. It opens Saturday. Admission is $45.99 for adults and $19.99 for anyone under 48 inches.
Moving on to theme parks where you can shriek and scream into summer and not get in trouble for doing so:
PENNSYLVANIA
Tomorrow is a big day for visitors at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylavnia. When the gates open tomorrow morning, Fahrenheit, the park’s 11th coaster, will be unveiled for the first time. The “vertical-lift, inverted-loop” coaster tips riders on their backs during the first 90-degree ascent, then drops them 97 degrees in what’s billed as the steepest coaster drop in the nation.
CANADA
Canada’s Wonderland (located near Toronto) is debuting Behemoth, the park’s 15th coaster, this summer. It is touted as the country’s biggest, tallest and fastest coaster. The $26 million ride is said to reach speeds of 76 mph.
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Creating Your Own Backyard Water Park