Adventure Land

Adventureland is located in Altoona, Iowa. This is just outside of Des Moines. Adventureland opened in 1975, and currently offers more than 100 rides, shows, and attractions.

There are three different rides that are offered here they include, thrill rides, family rides, and kiddie rides. For thrill rides they have a few different roller coasters and faster,  and taller more high tech carnival rides.  The family rides are slower paced and often more than two people can all go together at once within the same cart. The kiddie rides are much like the ones that you would see at a fair, many of them resemble animals or forms of transportation. Most of these rides are slow pace and just go around in circles.

A new addition to the park that they have recently added is a water park called Kokomo Kove. You do not have to pay extra to get into the water area. It is already included in the normal ticket price. In the water park area you can find 7 water slides, over 100 other water features that are fun for kids, a lazy river and a giant play area for kids. If people do not enjoy getting into the water they can sit and enjoy themselves in one of over 200 lounge chairs. At Kokomo Kove, they made sure people of all ages would be able to enjoy it.

The current ticket prices for Adventureland are $35 for those over 10 and $30 for those younger or over the age of 60. For more information you can visit the parks website.

http://www.adventureland-usa.com/

Worlds of Fun

Worlds of Fun

Worlds of Fun is located in Kansas City, Missouri. It was built in 1973, before there was even much in the area. Now, it is one of the city’s main attractions. This traditional amusement park is themed around the adventure book, Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne. To go along with the book the park is separated into 5 different areas. These areas are called Scandinavia, Africa, Europa, the Orient, and Americana.  Within these different sections of the park rides, attractions, shops, shows, and restaurants are named to go along with the area they are located in.

This theme park currently offers its guest more than 100 different rides and attractions.  The types of rides that are offered range from kid’s rides, thrill rides, and family rides.  All but the kid’s rides can be found spread out through the different themed areas of the park. The kids have their own special section, with over 20 different rides and attractions just for them. They can be found in an area known as Planet Snoopy, located in the Americano section of the park. All of the Peanuts characters can also be found wandering around this area. They are there to interact with the kids and to take pictures or even sign autographs. There are seven different roller coasters throughout this park. All of them are quite different than one another.  They have a super fast coaster that reaches speeds up to 65mph, some that go upside down, and even one that goes backwards.  In 2009, the Prowler won the prize of being the best new ride in the world! Besides these rides there are also slower paced rides that the whole family can enjoy. If rides aren’t for you, Worlds of fun also features some award winning shows, that have performers from all across the country. Over all, this park is big enough to have at least something that the whole family can enjoy.

For 2011 the ticket prices are $43.99 for guests 48” or taller and $21.99 for juniors and seniors over the age of 62. For more information you can visit the parks web page. http://www.worldsoffun.com/.

Raging Waters

There is a group of three different water parks, in California, that are under the name of Raging Waters and are owned by the same group. These water parks are located in Sacramento, San Dimas, and San Jose.  The parks are currently the largest parks in the whole state.  You can find two other water parks in the states that go by this name but they are not owned by the same group.

Raging Waters Sacramento

The park in Sacramento features over 25 slides and attractions. These attractions include different types of slides, a wave pool, and lazy river, and different kiddie areas. One of the kid’s areas features a 5-story tall water playground that the whole family can enjoy.

Raging Waters San Dimas

The water park in San Dimas is the largest of the three and is ranked as one of the top Water Parks in the United States by the Travel Channel. Covering 50 acres, this park contains over 36 slides and attractions.  There are kiddie areas, a wave pool, lazy rivers, and even a sand beach. Some of the bigger attractions include a slide where you are in total darkness the whole time,  the new Flowrider that makes it seem as if you are catching a wave and raft rides that the whole family can enjoy.

Raging Waters San Jose

This park is the second largest of the three parks and known as the largest park in Northern California. It was formally a water park belonging to Six Flags but they let it go after filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy. It includes all kinds of slides, a lazy river, a wave pool, and some areas for the little one.

All three of these parks have tons to offer. For more information, you can check out their website.

http://www.ragingwaters.com 

The Lost Island

The Lost Island is located in Waterloo, Iowa. This water park has only been open for 10 going on 11 years.  The park is located in an area where there is not much going on, but has so far been doing alright. Every year to improve the park they try to add on one new big project from the previous year.

 As of right now this park features major water slides, kiddie play areas, water attractions, and activities that take place outside the water park area. This past season the park introduced its best slide yet, the Wailua Kapua.  This is a new ProSlide Hydro Magnetic Rocket water coaster. Up to four people can take a ride up in a tube on a conveyor belt.  They will then get to experience the 900-foot-long ride though twists, turns  and drops at speeds up to 35 feet per second.  If this slide isn’t for them they can pick from one of the 8 other ones that the park has to offer. If slides aren’t for you but you still like water you can spend some time in the either the wave pool, lazy river, or one of the parks lagoons that are kid friendly. Outside of the park you can find an 18-hole mini golf course, an arcade, and go-karts! There are so many choices for this being a smaller water park.

Day passes for this park are $23.36 and 3 and under are free. For more information, you can check out the parks website.

http://www.thelostisland.com/

Splashtown

Splashtown is located in Houston, Texas. This park sits on the land that was once known as Hanna-Barbera Land, which was an amusement park.  When this park first opened up in 1984 it was converted into a waterpark and they named it Splashtown USA. The USA was then dropped after the first season of being open. Randomly, Splashtown San Antonio opened up around the same time as this park and surprisingly the two were not exactly owned by the same people.

The Stingray Racer is the newest slide that has been added to the park. This attraction contains 6 of the same slides lined up side by side were you go down head first on a mat.  Here you can challenge your friends or family to a friendly completion to see who can race down the slide the fastest.  Apart for this slide the park offers its guests 10 other slides a lazy river, a wave pool, and kid friendly areas that the whole family can enjoy.  Some slides are milder than others, so you are bound to find something you like with one these slides that contain twists and turns or sudden drops. One can even experience some blackouts as you are going down, so hopefully you aren’t afraid of the dark! If you don’t like to go on slides alone, one should have no worries since a great number of the slides allow you to at least double up on a tube or a raft with others! There is enough to do at this park to allow you do have a full day filled with fun. For more information, you can visit the parks website. http://www.splashtownpark.com/

Water World

Water World is a water park located in Federal Heights, Colorado.  This park first opened in 1979 and is known as one the top water parks in the United States. This surprised me. I picture Colorado as more of a mountain town and a place to snow or ski.

This park has over 45 attractions covering a whopping 67 acres. In this area the park is split up into 7 different sections. You can find all sorts of slides at this park ranging from single rider slides, to tube slides, raft slides, and speed slides. The park currently has two different wave pools, a lazy river, and some kid friendly areas.  These sections include: West Coast, South Beach, North Shore, River Country, Calypso Cove, Wild Isle and Big Top. West Coast and Big Top are the two biggest sections of the park. The West Coast and the Big Top feature mostly family attractions. Here you can find small pools and multi-rider slides.

This park is usually open every year from Memorial Day to Labor Day. This park has two different ticket rates for depending on what time of the day that you go. If you go in the morning when it opens prices go as follows:

People 48” and above    $35.99

Children 40”-47”               $30.99

Children under 40”          FREE

Seniors                                 $6.99

Prices if you go after 1:45PM

People 48” and above    $20.99

Children 40”-47”               $17.99

Children under 40”          FREE

Seniors                                 $6.99

For more information about Water World, you can visit their website.  http://www.waterworldcolorado.com/

Carowinds

Carowinds amusement park is located in two different towns in two different states. It lies on the state lines of Charlotte, North Carolina and Fort Mill, South Carolina. When this park first opened, in 1973, the goal was to bring these two states closer together.  They put some thought into the name. They wanted to come up with a good name that could represent both states. They came up with the name by taking “Caro” since the two states combined are often referred to as the Carolinas and then they added “winds” to represent the winds that have blown through the two states. When the park first opened it was themed towards the Carolinas rich culture, so the name fit the park perfectly. Then, as the park began to age new things began to replace the old leaving a more modern feel.

In the park you will be able to find a whopping 13 roller coasters, numerous thrill rides and family rides, and an entire section just for kids.  Located within the park is also a water park called Boomerang Bay. This sections includes 12 water slides, a lazy river, a wave pool and 3 interactive family play areas.  If this isn’t enough the park also offers shopping, multiple restaurants, 3 shows featuring Peanut characters, and ends every night with fireworks.

Carowinds is open from early spring until Halloween. Ticket prices for this park are $51.99 for those over 48” and $24.99 for those under 48” or over the age of 62. You can also get in for $24.99 if you go after 4:00 PM.  For more information regarding this park you should visit its website.

http://www.carowinds.com