Waterparks near DLR?

magickingdomprincess

magickingdomprincess

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 5, 2015
Does anyone have experience or recommendations for waterparks around DLR? We’ll be there the last week of July and are thinking about trying one out. Two adults and two kiddos, age 7 and 9, none of us are huge thrill seekers as far as water slides. It doesn’t seem like there are a ton of options close by, one that I saw pop up is the Knotts Berry Farm waterpark. Any experience with it? Any others you recommend? TIA! :goodvibes
 
Great Wolf Lodge. Get a day pass or tack on one night at the end of your stay. It's the best waterpark in the area. It's largely indoors but there is an outdoor pool and bar/grill during the summer.

Knott's Soak City is...meh...it's kind of old and run down and just not very clean. I don't like it. My kids went with school as a field trip and neither has asked to go back since.

In summer 2021 , there will be a brand new waterpark in Irvine, about 15 minutes south of DL, but this year, you don't have many options.
 
If you're going to make a day of it, then you might consider a day trip to the big water parks. There's Legoland, but that requires an additional cost on top of regular Legoland admission.

https://www.legoland.com/california/legoland-water-park/rides-and-attractions/
Then there's Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Valencia.

https://www.sixflags.com/hurricaneharborla
Other than that I suppose Great Wolf Lodge might have day passes, although they set a limit. They primarily use their water park as a means to sell hotel rooms.

https://www.greatwolf.com/southern-california/daypass
 
Does Raging Waters still exist? I used to drive by it all the time over by Covina, but I've never been there. I'm not a huge waterpark person. The ones in that area we've taken the kids to are Great Wolf Lodge and the one at Magic Mountain. They had fun wherever we went, but I liked Great Wolf Lodge best.
 


DLgal said:
Great Wolf Lodge. Get a day pass or tack on one night at the end of your stay. It's the best waterpark in the area. It's largely indoors but there is an outdoor pool and bar/grill during the summer.

Knott's Soak City is...meh...it's kind of old and run down and just not very clean. I don't like it. My kids went with school as a field trip and neither has asked to go back since.

In summer 2021 , there will be a brand new waterpark in Irvine, about 15 minutes south of DL, but this year, you don't have many options.
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Thank you! The new one sounds good, maybe if we go again next year! GWL seems like a good option, we'll have to check it out. Do you know if there's a wave pool there? That's DS's favorite part of waterparks.

bcla said:
If you're going to make a day of it, then you might consider a day trip to the big water parks. There's Legoland, but that requires an additional cost on top of regular Legoland admission.

https://www.legoland.com/california/legoland-water-park/rides-and-attractions/
Then there's Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Valencia.

https://www.sixflags.com/hurricaneharborla
Other than that I suppose Great Wolf Lodge might have day passes, although they set a limit. They primarily use their water park as a means to sell hotel rooms.

https://www.greatwolf.com/southern-california/daypass
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestions and links! Legoland seems fun, although it's probably an expensive ticket with having to add on to a regular ticket.

Kittyblue said:
Does Raging Waters still exist? I used to drive by it all the time over by Covina, but I've never been there. I'm not a huge waterpark person. The ones in that area we've taken the kids to are Great Wolf Lodge and the one at Magic Mountain. They had fun wherever we went, but I liked Great Wolf Lodge best.
Click to expand...
I checked and according to their website Raging Waters is the largest waterpark in SoCal. Definitely might be a possibility! Good to know you enjoy GWL too! Thanks!
 


bcla said:
24 miles from Disneyland doesn’t seem too bad. Certainly closer than the places I suggested.
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It's a long drive. Easily 45 min to an hour. It's through a mountain pass on a highway that is notorious for traffic slowdowns.

It's really not worth the effort to go that far, to be honest. The place is overrun by poorly behaved, unsupervised teenagers and the staff is awful.

You are right that it's closer. I'd never suggest Hurricane Harbor or Legoland Waterpark for people visiting Disneyland. Those are way too far, and in the case of Legoland, their water park has slipped in quality CONSIDERABLY in the last couple years. They have not done a good job maintaining it at all.
 
Kittyblue said:
Does Raging Waters still exist? I used to drive by it all the time over by Covina, but I've never been there. I'm not a huge waterpark person. The ones in that area we've taken the kids to are Great Wolf Lodge and the one at Magic Mountain. They had fun wherever we went, but I liked Great Wolf Lodge best.
Click to expand...
It’s in San Dimas. I believe that’s off the 57? So traffic can be pretty bad in that area. From what I’ve heard that park it can be super crowded.
 
I'm beginning to wonder if we should find a different activity for our free day. We're already planning on doing a day trip to SeaWorld, which is a somewhat far drive already so I'm not sure we want to spend another day st a destination that's far away. We might just wait and see when we go what we feel like doing. My DS8 (DS9 in July) loves dinosaurs and was interested in a museum we saw advertised last year, I think in LA. I might look into that too, although again that would be a bit of a drive. Thank you all for the feedback, I appreciate it!
 
magickingdomprincess said:
I'm beginning to wonder if we should find a different activity for our free day. We're already planning on doing a day trip to SeaWorld, which is a somewhat far drive already so I'm not sure we want to spend another day st a destination that's far away. We might just wait and see when we go what we feel like doing. My DS8 (DS9 in July) loves dinosaurs and was interested in a museum we saw advertised last year, I think in LA. I might look into that too, although again that would be a bit of a drive. Thank you all for the feedback, I appreciate it!
Click to expand...

Maybe stay overnight one night in San Diego and do Sea World one day and then the San Diego Zoo or Natural History Museum the next day? Also, I recommend taking the train down from Anaheim. That would be a fun adventure for a 9 year old. It runs right along the coast line and is a beautiful trip. Bonus points for being able to go to the bathroom while on the train, instead of having to pull off the road if you were driving.
 
magickingdomprincess said:
I'm beginning to wonder if we should find a different activity for our free day. We're already planning on doing a day trip to SeaWorld, which is a somewhat far drive already so I'm not sure we want to spend another day st a destination that's far away. We might just wait and see when we go what we feel like doing. My DS8 (DS9 in July) loves dinosaurs and was interested in a museum we saw advertised last year, I think in LA. I might look into that too, although again that would be a bit of a drive. Thank you all for the feedback, I appreciate it!
Click to expand...

Possibly the LA Museum of Natural History? That is a great museum and does have a good dinosaur exhibit. It is in an area called Exposition Park in LA (probably about an hour drive from DLR depending on traffic) that also has the California Science Center where you can see space shuttle Endeavour (make a reservation ahead of time) if that would be of interest as well. Another alternative would be the La Brea Tar Pits for dinosaurs/prehistoric creatures.
 
pharmama said:
Possibly the LA Museum of Natural History? That is a great museum and does have a good dinosaur exhibit. It is in an area called Exposition Park in LA (probably about an hour drive from DLR depending on traffic) that also has the California Science Center where you can see space shuttle Endeavour (make a reservation ahead of time) if that would be of interest as well. Another alternative would be the La Brea Tar Pits for dinosaurs/prehistoric creatures.
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We did this on a DL trip last year, my kids LOVED it! We checked out all the dinosaurs at the LA Museum of Natural History, then walked next door to check out the Endeavor. SO NEAT! Highly recommend!
 
Nevada Jen said:
Some of the beaches have waves that almost as good as a wave pool ;) Venice Beach and Santa Monica are good decently close beaches and a fun day trip for kids.
Click to expand...
Well...those are a little far away 1.5-2 hours with traffic in fact. See my "CALIFORNIA" embedded link in my previous post. The closest beach is probably Sunset Beach and I do recommend that one if you just want to go to the beach. Seal Beach has a pier and a quiet little beach community with walk-able shopping/dining on Main Street. Huntington Beach is a bit more developed with more of a quintessential "beach scene". Those are going to be your easiest beach trips from DL, all have better waves than you will find at Venice/Santa Monica.
 
magickingdomprincess said:
I'm beginning to wonder if we should find a different activity for our free day. We're already planning on doing a day trip to SeaWorld, which is a somewhat far drive already so I'm not sure we want to spend another day st a destination that's far away. We might just wait and see when we go what we feel like doing. My DS8 (DS9 in July) loves dinosaurs and was interested in a museum we saw advertised last year, I think in LA. I might look into that too, although again that would be a bit of a drive. Thank you all for the feedback, I appreciate it!
Click to expand...

If you are already planning on being in San Diego, I highly recommend staying over night and going to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido. We actually prefer it over the San Diego Zoo. It’s awesome.

Traffic on the 5 headed back to Anaheim is bad..... if you can make a day of it and go somewhere fun for dinner, you’ll save a ton of time heading back to Disneyland at 7pm or later. I highly recommend Old Town for Mexican food. It’s close to Sea World. Lots of options along the way in North County as well.

Which hotel are you staying at? Pool day if you don’t want to drive anywhere????
 
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