What to Bring to a Water Park: The Complete Packing List

When I was sixteen, I worked at Oceans of Fun in Kansas City. I spent that entire summer watching families show up unprepared. Sunburned dads hobbling across scorching concrete in bare feet. Moms frantically trying to shield their phones from splash zones with paper napkins. Kids screaming because chlorine was eating their eyes alive and nobody brought goggles.

I packed for those families in my head every single shift. Years later, after taking my own kids to dozens of water parks across the country, I've refined that mental packing list into something real. This is what you actually need, what you can skip, and what most people forget until it's too late.

The Non-Negotiables

Forget any of these five items and you'll either be miserable or paying triple the normal price at the park gift shop.

Reef-Safe Sunscreen, SPF 50 or Higher

This is number one for a reason. Water reflects UV radiation, which means you're getting hit from above and below simultaneously. At an outdoor park, you're exposed for six to eight hours straight with almost no shade on the rides themselves.

Apply a full coat 20 minutes before you arrive. Reapply every 80 minutes, or immediately after going down a slide. Water slides strip sunscreen off your skin far faster than swimming does because of the speed and friction. I learned this the hard way at Schlitterbahn when I came home looking like a lobster on one side of my body where the slide contact had wiped my sunscreen clean.

Go with SPF 50 or higher, water-resistant formula. Spray sunscreen is faster for reapplication but less reliable for initial coverage. Start with lotion, switch to spray for touch-ups. A family of four will go through a full bottle in one park day, so bring two.

A Waterproof Phone Case

Your phone is coming to the water park. Pretending otherwise is a losing battle. A waterproof phone pouch from Amazon costs $8 to $15 and lets you use the touchscreen through the plastic. That's a lot cheaper than replacing a $1,000 phone that took an unexpected trip down a wave pool.

The pouch also lets you take photos and video on rides at parks that allow it. Some of my best family photos are slightly blurry shots from inside a waterproof case on a lazy river.

Get the kind with a lanyard so you can wear it around your neck. Avoid the ones that clip to your swimsuit because they pop off on slides.

Water Shoes or Sport Sandals

The pavement and concrete surrounding outdoor water parks can reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit on a July afternoon. I'm not exaggerating. During my summers at Oceans of Fun, we'd see kids sprinting between shaded spots like the ground was lava. Because it basically was.

Regular flip-flops work for walking around but they'll fly off on most water slides. What you want are sport sandals with a heel strap, like Tevas or Chacos, or dedicated water shoes with a rubber sole and drainage holes. They stay on your feet during rides, protect you from hot pavement, and give you grip on wet surfaces where flip-flops will send you skating.

For kids, water shoes with a stretchy pull-on design are easiest. Velcro straps slow down the ride transitions and inevitably fill with sand.

Cash and a Card

About half of water parks have gone fully cashless as of 2026, but the other half still have cash-only situations at smaller food vendors, lockers, and coin-operated features. Bring both. I keep a $20 bill and a credit card in my waterproof pouch, and I leave my full wallet in the car.

Some parks use wristband payment systems that you load with credit at the entrance. Great Wolf Lodge and several other indoor resorts use this model. If you know your park does this, you can skip the cash, but bringing a backup $20 never hurts.

A Change of Dry Clothes

This sounds obvious until you forget it, which I've done twice. Driving home for an hour in a wet swimsuit with the air conditioning running is genuinely unpleasant. You get cold, the seat gets soaked, and everyone in the car is cranky.

Pack a full change of clothes for every person in a separate bag that stays in the car. Underwear, shirt, shorts, socks, shoes. The "I'll just dry off" approach does not work as well as you think, especially for kids.

The Family Essentials

If you're bringing kids under twelve, add these to the list.

Swim Diapers

Every water park in the country requires swim diapers for children who aren't fully potty trained. This is a health code requirement, not a suggestion. Regular diapers swell up in water, break apart, and create a biohazard situation. The CDC's recreational water guidelines are clear on this point.

Bring at least three swim diapers per child per park day. You'll use more than you expect.

Rash Guards

A rash guard does two things better than sunscreen alone: it provides consistent UV protection that doesn't wash off, and it prevents the chest and back chafing that happens when kids go down water slides repeatedly. For fair-skinned kids especially, a rash guard is the difference between a fun day and a painful evening of aloe vera application.

They also dry faster than cotton t-shirts, which some parents use as a substitute. They're not the same thing. A wet cotton shirt provides almost zero sun protection and weighs the kid down. Get actual rash guards with UPF 50 ratings.

Snacks and a Cooler

Check your park's policy first. Many parks, especially Florida water parks and independently owned parks, allow small coolers. Some explicitly ban outside food. It's always listed on the park's website under their FAQ or policies section.

If outside food is allowed, a small soft cooler with sandwiches, fruit, granola bars, and water bottles will save you $50 to $80 over buying everything at park prices. Water park food typically runs $12 to $18 per person per meal, and the quality ranges from fine to disappointing. Packing lunch means you can buy one treat from the park (funnel cake, ice cream) without feeling like you've blown the budget.

A Dry Bag

A 10-liter dry bag costs about $12 to $20 on Amazon and replaces a locker rental. It holds your phones, wallets, car keys, and sunscreen. Roll the top down, clip it shut, and leave it at your chair. It's not theft-proof, but neither is a beach towel draped over your stuff.

If you prefer the security of a locker, that's fine too. Most parks charge $10 to $20 for a full-day rental. But if you can fit everything into a dry bag, that's money back in your pocket.

What Most People Forget

These items won't ruin your day if you leave them behind, but they'll make a noticeable difference in comfort.

Goggles. Chlorinated water in the eyes for six straight hours causes redness, irritation, and misery. Kids especially will complain about this by mid-afternoon. A cheap pair of swim goggles fixes it completely. Some parks don't allow goggles on certain slides for safety reasons, but they're fine for wave pools, lazy rivers, and splash areas where kids spend most of their time.

Hair ties and a swim cap. Multiple rides at multiple parks require long hair to be tied back. Don't rely on the one hair tie you're wearing because it will snap or disappear. Bring extras. For anyone with color-treated or chemically treated hair, a silicone swim cap prevents chlorine damage.

A full-size towel from home. Park towel rentals typically run $5 to $10 per towel. For a family of four, that's up to $40 you're spending on something you already own. Bring your own and stuff them in a mesh laundry bag for the wet ride home.

Ibuprofen or acetaminophen. You're walking on concrete all day, often in 90-degree heat, carrying kids and gear. By three o'clock your feet hurt, your lower back aches, and you might have a mild dehydration headache. A small travel packet of pain reliever in your dry bag saves the afternoon.

A plastic bag for wet clothes. Ziplock gallon bags work too. Nobody wants a soaked swimsuit leaking all over the car interior on the drive home. This is the single most-forgotten item on the list, and the one people are angriest about forgetting.

Aloe vera gel. Even with perfect sunscreen discipline, someone in your group will get a little pink. Having aloe in the car for the ride home prevents a bad night's sleep.

What to Leave at Home

Expensive sunglasses. They will come off on a slide and sink to the bottom of a catch pool. Buy a $10 pair from a gas station specifically for water park days. If you lose them, you shrug instead of filing an insurance claim.

Jewelry and watches. Rings, bracelets, and watches slide off wet hands and wrists. I've watched hundreds of people at Oceans of Fun searching catch pools for lost rings. Leave them locked in your car's glove box.

Nice cover-ups or clothing you care about. Everything gets wet. Chlorine stains are real. Wear things you're willing to sacrifice.

Full wallets with every card you own. Bring one card, some cash, and your ID. Leave the rest in the car. You don't need your library card and seven loyalty punch cards at a wave pool.

Locker Strategy

Most parks charge $10 to $20 per day for a standard locker. Premium lockers near the entrance or in high-traffic areas can run $25 or more. If you travel light and use a dry bag, you can skip the locker entirely.

If you do rent one, get it early. At popular parks like Volcano Bay or Aquatica, lockers sell out by mid-morning on busy days. The best locker locations are near the center of the park, not at the entrance. You'll make multiple trips back throughout the day, and proximity to the rides matters more than proximity to the parking lot.

Some parks offer unlimited-access lockers where you can open and close them all day. Others give you a one-time open, meaning once you access it, you have to pay again. Ask before you buy.

Indoor Water Park Packing Differences

If you're heading to an indoor water park resort like Great Wolf Lodge or Kalahari, the list changes slightly.

Drop the sunscreen (you're indoors), but add warm layers for the car ride and transitions. You'll be walking through hotel lobbies and outdoor parking areas in a swimsuit during winter months if you're visiting a winter water park. A hoodie and flip-flops for the walk to the room make that transition less painful.

Bring extra swimsuits. At a resort, you'll swim multiple sessions per day across two or three days. Nobody wants to put on a still-damp suit from last night. Two swimsuits per person is ideal. Three is better for a long weekend.

Pack pajamas and regular clothes. Unlike a day park, you're spending evenings at the resort. You'll want comfortable clothes for dinner, the arcade, and activities like MagiQuest at Great Wolf Lodge.

The Quick-Reference List

Print this or screenshot it for your next trip.

Always bring:

• Sunscreen SPF 50+ (two bottles for outdoor parks)


• Waterproof phone pouch with lanyard


• Water shoes or sport sandals


• Cash and one card


• Dry clothes for the drive home


• Full-size towels


• Goggles


• Hair ties


• Plastic bags for wet clothes


• Pain reliever

For families with kids:

• Swim diapers (3+ per child)


• Rash guards with UPF 50


• Snacks and a small cooler (if park allows)


• Dry bag or waterproof pouch

For indoor resort stays:

• Extra swimsuits (2-3 per person)


• Warm layers for transitions


• Regular clothes for evenings

Leave at home:

• Expensive sunglasses


• Jewelry and watches


• Full wallet


• Anything you can't replace

I've been visiting water parks for over 20 years and working at them before that. The difference between a prepared family and an unprepared one is about $100 in gift shop markups and three hours of avoidable frustration. Pack smart, pack once, and keep the bag ready in the car. You'll use it more than you think.

For more trip planning help, check out our guides to the best water parks in Florida, Wisconsin Dells parks, and water parks with lazy rivers. Or explore every park in our directory to find one near you.