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27 articles tagged "2026".
I visited Volcano Bay on a Tuesday in late July a few years back. The temperature hit 94°F by 10 a.m., the park was packed shoulder-to-shoulder, and I watc...
The 4th of July is the single busiest day at every water park in America. I know this from personal experience — both from working summers at Oceans of Fun...
There's a version of Arizona that people imagine — scorching sun, endless summer, perfect water park weather year-round. Then there's the version I've actu...
I've been to a lot of water parks that charge you $35 for parking, $6 for a bottle of water, and then act like they're doing you a favor by existing. Holid...
The gate price at Aquatica Orlando in 2026 is $89.99 for a single-day adult ticket. I've watched that number climb steadily over the past several years, an...
Michigan has some of the best freshwater beaches in the world sitting right in its backyard, which makes it a little funny that some of the most fun I've h...
There's a moment I still think about from my teenage summers working at Oceans of Fun in Kansas City. A dad walked past the wave pool with his teenage son ...
I've visited water parks in 47 states, and Indiana keeps surprising me. Most people driving through on I-65 have no idea the state has one of the legitimat...
I've driven through the Smoky Mountains more times than I can count, and every single time I pass Sevierville on Highway 441, I have the same thought: whoe...
I've stood at a Six Flags ticket window in July watching families hand over $85 per person — cash — when they could have paid $35 by buying online the nigh...
I've spent the better part of three decades driving to water parks that most people only know from highway billboards. Virginia keeps surprising me. It's a...
I've been to a lot of water parks that looked great in photos and felt disappointing in person. North Carolina is not one of those states. The range here —...
I've been driving to Georgia water parks since before GPS existed, navigating with printed MapQuest directions and a cooler full of sandwiches in the back ...
Most water park "best of" lists for Illinois just alphabetize a few parks and call it a day. That's not what you're getting here. I've been to all of these...
I've handed a phone to the lost-and-found staff at more water parks than I care to admit — not mine, thankfully, but guests' phones that took a swim they w...
I've been road-tripping to water parks since before most people had GPS, and New York State keeps surprising me. You've got a Long Island park that could p...
Most people grab whatever cheap sandals are by the door on the way out. I did the same thing my first summer working at Oceans of Fun in Kansas City — unti...
Pennsylvania keeps surprising me. Every time I think I've got the state figured out — a few solid indoor parks and Hersheypark's splash zone — I find somet...
I've driven the length of this state more times than I can count chasing water parks, and New Jersey genuinely surprises people. Most visitors assume the J...
I've watched people walk out of water parks looking genuinely stunned — and not because of the rides. It's the credit card receipt. They budgeted for ticke...
Teens don't want a kiddie area. They want the slides parents won't ride, enough space to disappear with their friends, and a park that treats them like real customers.
California has more water parks than any other state outside Florida and Texas, and a stretch of climate that lets the desert ones run nine months a year. Here is the 2026 ranking, with the parks worth your money and the ones to skip.
America keeps building taller water slides. Here are the eight that will make you reconsider your life choices in 2026 — and where to find them.
Reef-safe sunscreens that actually stay on through water slides, ranked by someone who has tested them across a dozen parks. Skip the chemical stuff.
Texas does water parks differently. The sheer size of the state means you could spend an entire summer hitting a different park every weekend and still not visit them all.
The Midwest has more quality water parks per capita than any other region in the country. Here are the ones worth your family's time and money this summer.
Outdoor water park season is weeks away. Here's when the big parks open, what's new for 2026, and how to score opening-week deals.
