How to Survive the Water Park

We were provided the opportunity to visit Wet N Wild Water Park a couple weekends ago and not only did we have a blast; I learned quite a bit about surviving a water park!

Wet N Wild opened Barefootin’ Bay which is perfect for the entire family! We are a family of 5 with kids ranging from age 4 to age 11, plus of course, mom and dad so finding something for the entire family can be difficult.

We spent, no joke, 3 hours in Barefootin’ Bay and the entire family had a blast!

The water play area was shallow enough that Addy could walk around and play without having to worry about the water being too deep. In fact, I don’t think it ever got deeper than her knees, plus there was a little play structure with different slides that she was able to go down.

Barefootin’ Bay also had some of the bigger slides in a shrunk down version for the little kids so all three kids could do on them and have fun! All three kids had a serious blast and I loved that they could play without having anxiety of deep water!

Daddy even braved taking the big kids on the bigger water slides – the Tornado and Mammoth Falls.

We missed a couple of areas that I really wanted to try, but that just gives me all the more reason to go back!

Monsoon Bay (the wave pool) was a great place to swim and play in the water with the kids. Addy wore a life vest (if under 48 inches it is a must) that was provided by Wet N Wild (although you can bring your own, but it must be Coast Guard approved life vest).

Addy loved the Crazy Cactus Roaring River – she made us go on it at least 5 times, if not more! (Again, she had to wear a life vest, but she loved the river!)

We seriously had so much fun and I cannot wait to go back.

But I learned a few things in regards to surviving the water park:

We brought a duffel bag to keep our belongings in – towels, clothes, wallets, etc. NOT NECESSARY!
We didn’t use towels while we were there, honestly. Next time, I would leave them in the car or not bring them at all.
We wore clothes over our suits and wore them in. Again, I would leave our clothes in the car and not take them in.
Next time, I would bring these – Waterproof Case, Universal Dry Bag Pouch for Outdoor Activities for Devices – to keep our phones, ID, and debit card in.
Lather up the sunscreen. I would bring sunscreen with to relather throughout the day too. Even after reapplying a couple of times, we still managed to get burnt.

It was our first visit to the water park so it was a learning experience for us, but it was a good learning experiencing!

Next time we go, we will be more prepared (sans duffle bag) and will have a fabulous time as a whole family (instead of one person watching our stuff while one person gets to play with the kids!)

Is there anything I missed for surviving the water park? If you are more experienced, please leave your tips!