Well that was a hot mess. Got a groupon over the summer, and decided to cash in before it expired. I understand it's wintertime, and I went on the Saturday of a long holiday weekend, but wow, just wow. Please note, this is a review for just the water park.
So here are a few of the things that helped me form my opinion of this place:
Location- right off of 23 in Dundee, this place is closer than most other water park places for us. Also located next to a cabelas- not a big deal for us, but maybe a draw for others.
Entrance- the entrance for this place (if you're not staying at the hotel) is in between the hotel and water park. The entrance is not well labeled, so we had to drive around a little bit, and worse, walk around in the cold for a little bit, trying to figure out where the entrance to the water park is. And the parking around that area is very limited. If you were staying in the hotel, not a big deal I suppose, but for us, this was an inconvenience for sure.
Prices- we had a groupon, so it was about $11 a person. Otherwise it's 24.99 for an all day pass, and 12.99 for twilight passes (5-9 or something like that)
Front desk- going along with their lack of labeling, when you get there, it's not very clear where you're supposed to purchase tickets to go to the water park. There was a line to check in for bday parties (which looked to be the place you would also buy tickets), but in fact, you are supposed to go into the gift shop. No defined line, so you kinda just roll up on people.
Water Park- again, this was a particularly busy day, which I get, but that aside here are a few of the areas and what I thought:
Lazy River- where do you get a tube? Really, REALLY crowded.
Play area- pretty cool. There are a number of buckets of water scattered throughout the playscape that eventually fill up and dump on unsuspecting victims. There's even a large bucket that pretty much drenches the entire group. Slides seem to be at your risk as they don't have anyone monitoring when you should go and not go.
Changing area- for a place this size, the locker room (or rather restroom) was frankly too small. 5 stalls for people to change, and the floors are covered with water. Yeah, not great.
Slides- didn't actually get to go on the two big ones, but they looked pretty elaborate and fun
Little kids wading area- the water in this area is approximately 15-20 degrees warmer than the playscape and the lazy river water. Kinda makes you wonder if this was done on purpose, or the water is warm for some other reason (eww, you know what I'm saying?)
Arcade- right next to the swimming area, they have an arcade with games that dispense tickets. Decent selection, but coming from the swimming area, it felt like you were stepping outside.
Pool- why is there no pool in this place?
OVERALL- not a fan. the huge crowd probably didn't help, but combined with the inadequate changing area, lack of signs, and overall chaos happening, we will not be coming back. Might have a different opinion if we stayed at the resort, but that ain't happening anytime soon.
CELEBRITY RATING- Ted Nugent (cuz he's going to Cabelas before and after) read more