Water. Ah. That's what summer is all about. Getting wet. Swimming. Splashing. Cooling off. I love summer and I love water parks. When it isn't summer, I get my water fix by heading to an indoor pool. Over the past two-and-a-half years, my daughter and I have explored a lot of the water parks in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. Here's some outside waterparks that we like:
• Princeton Splash Pad, Princeton
This is just a fantastic place. It's big enough that there is space for everyone, but you can still keep an eye on all the kids at once. It is completely fenced in so you can't lose anyone. There are tons of fun water features. It is truly a splash pad; there isn't any standing water so it is great for those little tykes who don't swim yet. Pools are so much work. Splash pads -- real splash pads, not the pools that have a splash feature added -- take away the worry of a possible drowning.
Click here to read full post on this park.
• Bunker Beach, Blaine
I remember this place as being just a wave pool, but it's a whole lot more now. It's a huge complex with huge watersides, a lazy river, climbing wall, kid area, sand playground and more. This isn't a place for the faint-hearted, though. There's a lot of water in the young kid area; two feet or so. Kids under 2.5 can easily trip and find themselves floundering underwater. Or, just by going down the little watersides, they can get under far enough to get scared. You'll want a good adult-to-kid ratio here. The best part about this place is it's got lots for all ages. So if your group covers a range of ages, you'll all be happy at Bunker Beach.
Click here to read full post on this park.
• Oak Hill Splash Pad, St. Louis Park
This neighborhood park is free and has many fun features. It kept kids ages 16 months to 8 years happy. Again, this one is a true splash pad without any standing water but lots of water features. It is essentially like running through a huge sprinkler. Kids love it.
Click here to read full post on this park.
• Lake Hiawatha Splash Pad, South Minneapolis
Our neighborhood park had to make the list. For us, it's close and convenient. One of the best parts of living in Minneapolis is that everyone has a park within 6 blocks. Most of those parks have pools and/or splash pads. But do know that these "splash pads" are really just pools with a water feature or two to make it more fun. When you put my 2-year-old in a pool, she doesn't want anything to do with the water features. She just wants to paddle around in her floatie. So, bring the puddlejumper life jacket and the donut floatie and have a great afternoon.
• Wabun Park Splash Pad, South Minneapolis (part of Minnehaha Park)
The splash pad at Wabun park is more like a pool with a center water feature. It gets a bit deep for the tiny ones, but is a great place to sink into on a muggy summer day. We were there on a weekend and it was packed -- until it started to rain slightly. Then we had a bit more room. It's location at Minnehaha Park next to the Vet's home on the Mississippi River make it a pretty popular spot. Plus, it has recently become handicapped accessible (parking, picnic shelters, bathrooms) and plans are to install a universally accessible playground next to the pool next summer.
• Anoka Water Park
This water park falls somewhere between Bunker Beach and the small neighborhood pools in Minneapolis. Get there when it opens or you won't have a lounge chair. But then, maybe you don't really need one. There's a spacious grassy area off on one side. This place has a couple big slides, a couple medium-sized slides and one small one that my 2.5-year-old loved. I could hardly get her to leave. (And she left tucked under my arm as she threw a tantrum.) The other kids behaved well, and it was a pleasant place to spend the afternoon.
• Wild Mountain, Taylor's Falls
We love Wild Mountain and my family tries to make it out there once a year. The big slides are a blast for kids seven and up through adults. And they've got a great, fenced in area with fun water features for smaller kids. There's a huge bucket that dumps water out; keep the toddlers away from that! There are several water spouts that shoot up from the ground; those keep kids entertained for hours. And some slides. A lazy river encircles Adventure Park. It's not as huge as Bunker Beach but definitely as much fun.
• Cascade Bay, Eagan
The jury is out on Cascade Bay in Eagen. We went one day this summer, spent a fortune on tickets (ok, $18 is a lot for one adult and one kid), and left within 2 hours. There were 3 huge groups of kids there and they weren't well behaved or closely supervised. It was absolute chaos. However, when I complained to the managers, they apologized nicely, calmed me down, refunded my money and gave me tickets to return. We'll see what happens next summer.
COMING SOON:
Get wet - indoor water parks
