One of the best ways to enjoy yourself during the warmer months, particularly if you don’t happen to live near a beach, is to find your nearest water park and haunt it.
In the United States one of the best water park operators is Schlitterbahn, a family company that has its headquarters in Texas. The company operates four water parks, one of which is in Kansas City, and the other three are all in Texas, at Galveston Island, South Padre Island, and the original park which is located at New Braunfels, in Comal County near San Antonio.
It is the New Braunfels water park that is so good it has won the Golden Ticket Award for Best Water Park numerous times since 1998. The Golden Ticket Award is an amusement industry award that is decided based on surveys given to experienced and well-travelled amusement park enthusiasts from around the world.
The name ‘Schlitterbahn” is the German term for “wet or slippery road”, and the water park doesn’t disappoint with its variety and quality of rides, all of which demand your immersion.
Perhaps the main attraction is the Master Blaster, a much awarded uphill water coaster which uses huge jets of water to propel riders up water slides where, once they reach the top, gravity drops them down another side. Riders ascend to the top of the Blastenhoff Tower where they find two-passenger inflatable boats waiting for them. Once in position on the launch platform, they are sent down a three-story plunge, then back up three stories and into a twisting tunnel. Riders get a brief glimpse of the tower they just left before dropping once again. Master Blaster continues its course, figure-eighting around the tower, blasting uphill and down before entering the climatic pretzel-shaped downward spiral.
Another wonderful ride is the Wolfpack Raft Slide. Starting from the top of Blastenhoff Tower, the Wolfpack allows entire families the chance to experience water thrills together. Large inflatable rafts are brought to the top of the tower by a conveyor system. These rafts can accommodate up to four people. The ride course takes guests through a series of twists, turns and drops before splashing down five stories below.
You need some surfing experience to tackle the Boogie Bahn Surfing Ride which is an endless moving mountain of water with all the excitement of ocean surfing. You lie on your body board and slide down onto the wave surface. Although 50,000 gallons of water flow across the surface, the water depth is just a matter of inches. Beneath the sheet of water is a foam covered surface to ease the occasional “wipe-out.”
Not every ride at Schlitterbahn is “death defying” as there are plenty of timid rides too. It is the perfect place to enjoy some sensational water rides on a warm day.
Schlitterbahn Waterpark New Braunfels
400 N Liberty Ave
New Braunfels, TX 78130
(830) 625-2351