Where the fun shines!
Water World is a family waterpark in Hyland Hills, near Denver. The park is a part of the Hyland Hills Recreation District. It bills itself as "America's Largest Family Waterpark," but I'm not sure how accurate that is. It is quite large, and has a lot of great attractions. It has a lot of facilities for kids. It is relatively cheap, especially when you factor in the $3-5 discounts that are readily available by bringing in cans of food for local charities.
The most popular attractions at the park are Journey to the Center of the Earth, a slide based (loosely) on Jules Verne's novel. It has animatronic dinosaurs, and you ride in groups of 2-3 (more for children). While you wait in line, it shows a weird video on monitors throughout the structure that houses the line, showing old black and white dinosaur movies mixed with a fake newscast. It is a very strange video. Along the same lines is the Indiana Jones ride, Lost River of the Pharoh. It is not nearly as fun to ride though. Journey typically has a long line, and during crowded days, you may have to wait as long as an hour to ride. Another popular attraction is Thunder Bay, the giant wave pool, where a rather large (4-8 feet) wave comes every two minutes. Alternatively, there is the Surf's Up wave pool, which has constant waves of a smaller size. The Screamin' Mimi, in which you ride on a yellow cart down a track. You get going pretty fast, and then you hit the water, and skip along on top of it for about 30 feet. This is a lot of fun if the line isn't very long.
Recently, the park opened up the Fun H2Ouse, a fun house featuring plenty of ways to get your friends wet. Plus, it has a toilet bowl style waterslide, and three new slides, similar to the already popular white lightning slides. In addition, the park has "river country," a collection of slides of various sizes that are named after rivers. If you've ridden one, you've pretty much ridden them all.
My personal favorite attraction is the Lazy River, a circular river in which you slowly float in circles. It is great for sleeping, plus it has some of the warmest water in the park (not for the reason you're thinking). You can float for hours.
The park is sponsered by Pepsi, and you'll see reminders of that everywhere. In the giftshops, on the tubes, etc. The gift shops are reasonably priced, and you can buy sunscreen, towels, etc. for a decent price. The price for a decent meal is reasonable as well, about $5. Tubes cost a small fee to rent for the entire day, allowing you to use them on slides (and not having to wait for your own) and in the wave pools. It has some great attractions and is a lot of fun to go to.
Water World is located at 88th Avenue and Pecos Street. To get there, take Interstate 25 to 84th Avenue. Go west on 84th until you come to Pecos Street. There will be a water tower in front of you. Take a right (north) on Pecos and the park will be on your left. There is ample parking, although you might have to walk.
Ticket Prices:
- Adult: $24.95
- Child (ages 4-12): $20.95
- Tot (age 3 and under): Free
- Senior Citizen (age 60 and over): Free
There is also a season pass (called a
splash pass) available for $69.95 if you buy early, and 79.95 if you buy it later. This is a great value if you think you will go to the park enough. The problem is that because it is so far away from where most people in the
Denver area live, it is difficult to make the trip all that often.
The address and contact information if you want to know more is:
1800 W. 89th Ave.
Federal Heights, CO 80260
Phone: 303-427-SURF (7873)
Fax: 303-650-7594
E-mail: sloose@hylandhills.org