We as theme park fans can sometimes be a bit myopic when determining what makes a themed vacation destination worth visiting. Traditionally, that tunnel vision cuts off thrills associated with the regional theme parks like Six Flags or Cedar Fair — or even bigger players like Busch Gardens.
But even more maligned is the classic water park.
You see it often — theme parks are billed as the Crown Jewels, while water parks are viewed as secondary destinations or minor diversions. When Universal announced a third theme park at its Orlando resort, fans felt let down when it was revealed that the park would in fact be a water park.
Regardless, this view of water parks as being lesser than theme parks is misguided. Here are a few reasons why water parks are underrated, especially among theme park fans.
They’re much more refreshing
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Let’s start with the obvious: water parks are the perfect place to escape the heat on a summer day. For some reason, that obvious fact can often be overlooked in the race to look down upon the aquatic experience.
Theme parks, and their more basic cousins amusement parks, tend to have more heat-capturing black asphalt and less opportunities to cool off. And, importantly, there’s a world of difference in being drenched in water while wearing street clothes and doing so while in a bathing suit.
With water parks, the goal is to keep you refreshed throughout the day — with some parks, like Schlitterbahn in South Padre Island and Galveston, inventing ways to let guests wait in line without getting out of the water. Theme parks want to entertain guests, and amusement parks want to thrill them, but water parks want to keep guests cool and happy all day long.
There’s no doubting that theme parks and amusement parks can be awesome places to spend a summer day free from work, school, or other obligations. But, if you’re looking to escape the heat that comes along with summer, water parks have them beat every time.
They’re incredibly innovative
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Largely due to the fact that “ride vehicles” aren’t really a thing, most water parks feature rides that revolve around variations on the same theme: sliding down a water-lubricated fiberglass slide either on your back or on an inner tube.
Because most rides feature this same concept, it’s easy to dismiss water parks as lacking any kind of diversity in their attractions. Not so! Yes, there are also the classic mainstays of lazy rivers and wave pools, but what water park engineers have been able to do to innovate on the basic water slide concept has been nothing short of amazing.
Slides in which you go uphill, slides with trap doors, slides with vertical walls and airtime, and slides with interactive components have all become popular in the last decade. Each year, more and more innovation comes to the water park space, bringing with it some new way to stay cool while enjoying thrills.
Yes, most water slides are built around the same basic concept, but that doesn’t mean they’re still stuck in the 1980s.
The thrills are more unrestrained
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Relatedly, because most water slides use either an inner tube or your own body in place of a ride vehicle, the element of danger can feel much more heightened even at lower speeds and lower heights.
Furthermore, the lack of a restraint on most water slides can help further the illusion that you are careening out of control as you slide down the tube — taking what might be an otherwise basic attraction and turning it into something seemingly death defying.
One such example, the trap door slide, has a thrill factor unlike that of nearly any other theme park attraction, as the floor dropping out beneath your unrestrained feet creates the feeling of total loss of control. Even on normal drop rides in theme parks, the restraint holding you to the seat provides a small sense of security. On a water slide, there is no restraint — which can be a very powerful mental force.
They can be just as well themed as dry parks
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It’s easy to think of the old 1980s-style Wet ‘n’ Wild concrete-and-plastic aesthetic when picturing a water park. But while those do still exist out in the world, they are not where the industry is heading — and, in fact, there are many examples of how it isn’t where the industry is right now, either.
Some of the earliest themed water parks — Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach at Walt Disney World — began to explore what might happen if you applied the concepts present in dry theme parks to water parks, with Blizzard Beach’s “melting ski resort” theme adding a brilliant visual flourish to traditional water park mainstays like the speed-slide-turned-ski-jump Summit Plummet and the family-slide-turned-slalom-course Teamboat Springs.
Sea World upped the ante with its tropical-themed Aquatica park — a critic’s favorite for sure — before Universal topped them all with Volcano Bay. Volcano Bay is as beautiful as a water park can be, with attractions built into the mountainous superstructure seamlessly to create one large aesthetic expression. But while this might seem like just the Orlando Parks trying to outdo one another, this is quickly becoming the industry trend.
Aquaventure at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, as well as the future water park development at Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean International’s private cruise destination, all seem committed to the thrills that can only be found via themed water parks.
The park experience is more intimate
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When you board a roller coaster, it’s rare for you to enjoy that roller coaster by yourself or with a single friend. And yet, with water parks, that’s the main way to experience the attractions.
Yes, there are some water slides with group components — like large raft slides or mat racers — and, yes, there are some theme park attractions that are solo or small affairs — like the Haunted Mansion or even Space Mountain.
But, on the whole, the principal experience of a water park is the feeling of total isolation as you slide down a tube filled with water, and relief when you finally see your friend smiling at you down below.
The thrills in a water park are much more internal. There are no jump scares or large animatronic show scenes. There is only you, a dark tube, and water to push you along. When the trap door releases you, there is no one to share the moment with until you reach the bottom.
Sure, theme parks are better at bringing people together — kids and parents, friends and loved ones. But that doesn’t mean water parks are without merit. They’re thrilling in their own way, and they allow you to escape the real world in a manner that is far more unique.
Admittedly, they are a bit gross. But hey, that’s why they’re underrated, right?
