The Great Outdoors Waterpark

This place is a hidden gem. I tell parents all the time about it all the time and it seems like not a lot of folks have tried it. There is an entrance fee for folks visiting, similar to any water park but it’s pretty casual - like a park or playground. There are 4 areas to enjoy the water: - the toddler pool with the giant water bucket (dumps about 5 min apart) - great for toddlers - event this section has a more chill area for kids who are ~1yo. - lap swim pool with a diving board - lazy river - bigger slides. Great for adults and kids 7yo and older The snack shop is reasonably priced but they don’t have much in the way of food. You can bring in any food that isn’t in glass containers which makes it helpful for people with kids who just want a pb&j or snacks! You can grab a lounger or bring chairs/blanket to set it out on the grass. There is a lot of space to lounge!

Kids had a blast here. It's new, so it's clean and well thought out. I feel the prices are good for what you get. There is enough for little kids to do and plenty for older kids and adults to do too. There is a lack of shade, so that's the only reason I didn't give it five stars. There were people who brought tents and canopies, it would be nice to not have to do that. Otherwise, go here for a fun afternoon with the kids.

Really great place. I enjoyed my time there with my clients. Which I work with disabled people. All my clients enjoyed it. But the simple fact that a life guard (tyde or tide) chose to blow the whistle on my clients face to tell her she can't use the kids slide of course I understand she was old. But after the fact that I mentioned to him she was special needs and wouldn't understand he still decided to blow the whistle again. I understand it's your job. But the fact that he didn't take into consideration the Statement that I made. Really tick me off. I really wish some place would Train there employee on how to handle special needs people or how to approach the situation.

UPDATE: You’ll see in their response how inconsistent their policies are… it’s unsafe for 1-4 per the CDC yet they’re harassing my 5 yo….. We used to really love this place, been going for years with friends; hosted several birthday parties here, etc. However, this past weekend we were harassed all day by lifeguards as to our daughter’s age. The 12-15 lifeguards on duty are being told to ask the age of every child they deem to look 5 and under and give a wrist band, which limits their activities (no monkey bars in the lazy river for example) and forces a parent to ‘be within arms reach’ of their child, regardless of swimming abilities. Great policy for children who cannot swim, sure. But what they’re failing to address is kids that can’t swim is NOT dictated by age! In addition, we had issues with the slide for my other daughter. One lifeguard decided after lunch, my daughter was not allowed to go down any longer after she had been going down the slide all day. Supposedly when he measured she was showing half an inch too short. When she came down the stairs, I went up with her and he refused to re-measure her for me and told me to go find his manager if I had a problem. Even after I pointed out she had been measured and gone down the slide previously, multiple times. My daughters are very good swimmers and I was within 10 feet at all times, regardless of their policy. I can understand that other parents may not do the same. However, the 5 year old rule is bias plain and simple; it has no merit to determine if one can swim or not. Even when shown that the child can swim, they roll their eyes and gang up on you to make sure you know their authority. A lot of money to pay for them to not have a fun time because some teenage lifeguards are being directed to harass them about their age and tell them they can’t do things because they’re 5, all while watching a 6 year old who can’t actually swim do the exact same activities…

If I could give it a negative star I would! My family and I arrived at 4:15 only to be told that there was lightning 2 miles away every 15 mins they continued to tell us we needed to wait another 15-30 mins to get in the water! Waited about an hour of us just waiting and waiting time. We live about an hour away and called in advance about any restrictions and the refund policy for them to just continue to denial a refund! I think it’s very important for staff to be taught the necessary training to taught with the right information to inform the customers in a more professional manner.