Sunday, August 28, 2011

This is one WET and WILD experience!

Another winner! Wet n' Wild Phoenix is one of the best water parks I've been to! The only water park I think is a rival is SeaWorld Aquatica (Orlando, FL). My only real complaint is that Arizona heat, which did bring down the experience just a little (sometimes you could feel the heat in the enclosed tubes). other problem is it took a bit of time to get here (especially from the airport). Other than that, I enjoyed every minute I had at the water park! The crowds aren't too bad either, longer than I was used to, but then again, the last time I went to water parks were off-season periods.

I didn't go on the Tornado, Mammoth Falls, or Raging River since I was on my own (part of the time I was at the water park, they shut these rides down anyway). However, every ride I did go on was great!

The rides are:

The Constrictor - A fast tube ride. Imagine being inside a snake and going downwards.

Phoenix Flyers - fun tube rides that banked up and down, and went really fast.

MAXIMUM VELOCITY - best ride ever of any water park (that I've been to)! I wasn't sure what to expect, since the Master Blaster let me down in SunSplash, but this more than made up for it! Lots of thrilling bumps! It's a water coaster, like in Noah's Ark, except designed for one or two people. Oh, and it takes your picture during the ride, but you have to pay to see it.

Desert Racers - another mat racing slide. As usual, these are great.

Serpentine Complex/Super Bowl - some tube slides, one has you going down the "toilet bowl" (yes, I know that's not an appealing way to put it, but trust me, it is fun!). Only problem is, although I was going by myself, I still had to carry a heavier double tube up. Still, lots of fun.

Overall, a fantastic water park with great rides. My favorite water park so far.

Food: Snack bars with the standard stuff are here, but the food is a bit pricey.

Transportation: Fly into PHX (Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport). Bus Route 35 (35th Avenue) will take you to the water park, which is on Pinnacle Peak Rd. The buses announce what street it's crossing, so you shouldn't miss it. Be prepared for a bit of a walk though.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Some Serious Sun Splashin'

Mesa's (Part of Phoenix) Golfland SunSplash is a decent waterpark, although a bit crammed (not in the sense that it's crowded), but it can be difficult to navigate. It's part of an entertainment center, with mini-golf and laser tag.

The water park itself doesn't have much of a theme, although the whole place has a medieval theme.

As I went alone, I didn't go on the Thunder Falls or the Storm Rider, although both looked fun but had longer lines. I also didn't go on The Cauldron. It looked pretty much like the Hurricane Hole in Splash Lagoon (Erie, PA), and I didn't feel like getting dunked into six feet of water that day.

The rides I did go on include:

The Sidewinder - a half-pipe ride, which was one of the scariest things I've been on. It looks like fun (and is), but the initial drop is really scary. You get on a tube and fall down, then go up, repeat in slower movement, until the ride ends.

Splash Water Harbor Slides - Some pretty fast tube slides which were fun, although I did notice quite a bit of dirt on them when I was there, but it didn't interfere with the ride. Still, they probably should clean it up.

Master Blaster Water Coaster - I was looking forward to this ride. I remember doing a similar ride in Wisconsin Dells' "Noah's Ark" (I haven't posted this one because I don't remember it well enough). I was disappointed with it, however. It wasn't that fast, just felt like a bunch of bumps up and down.

Dragon Tail Slides - good body slides, but at the end, water can get up your nose.

Bonzi Speed Slides - also body slides. They go straight down. Pretty exciting.

Overall, it was a decent water park, but it got tiring after a while because the body slides kept getting water up my nose and some of the rides were either too intense or not intense enough. Additionally, the Arizona heat makes the ground really hot, so wearing sandals is mandatory if you don't want to burn your feet.

Transportation: Fly into PHX (the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport). A number of busses can take you to the water park, such as 112 and the AZ Avenue Link Bus, depending on where you're starting from. (If you're near PHX, take the light rail to the last stop (eastbound), and then the AZAV bus.) You can also fly into IWA (Phoenix-Mesa airport), but I'm not sure what the transportation situation is like there since I haven't used that one.

Food: Has a snack bar that's inside, that has pizza, nachos, hot dogs, etc.


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.