Destination 4: Schlitterbahn - The World's LARGEST Water Park

When I found out we were going to the water park, I hesitated. In fact, I always hesitate with water parks because sharing the same water with children who think it's OK to pee and with THOUSANDS of others just isn't my definition of fun. I get grossed out thinking about other people's flakes of skin attaching to mine. I imagine athlete's foot running rampant on the ground, seeping into my pores. It's terrible, I know.

But once we stepped into the park, my 21-year-old neurotic self went out the door and I instantly became a 12-year-old child again. It was a lot of fun. In fact, the night before the big day, Robert was dancing around in his boxers, moving his arms in a scissor motion, singing "uh huh! uh huh! uh huh!" Everything he anticipated about the world's largest water park happened and more. I think it's safe to say that our day at Schlitterbahn was the best day of Robert's life.

[Of all the things at the park, Robert's favorite
attraction was the pirate water house with the canons.]

To provide a little background information for you, Schlitterbahn is the largest water park in the entire world. There are a few that are smaller in parts of Texas and in Kansas, but the big one is in New Braunfels, TX and consists of 3 separate parks. We headed there around 11 a.m. When we parked, an employee advised us to go on the high-thrill slides first because the lines usually got really long as the day progressed. So the moment we got into the park, we put our valuables in a locker and made our way to the highest slides. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my parents went down both high-thrill slides. I kept asking them, "Are you sure?" "Are you going to be OK?" They responded coolly with a "Yeah (duh)." The slides featured some steep drops and fast spins but Mom and Dad were right there with us, Mom shrieking like a 12-year-old girl all the way down :)

[We did the black and blue slides]

[It was the perfect day to go...blaring sun and blue skies :)]

[The pirate water house]

After some time there, we hopped onto the shuttle and went to the second part of the park, which is the original and oldest part. This park actually uses the river water from the Guadalupe River. It was nice to see that they were using water from a natural resource! These slides were much more mellow. Mom and I decided that two particular slides weren't designed very well (or perhaps we were just too big and we simply blamed the slide's design for our own emotional sake). We kept getting stuck and what was supposed to be a 5 minute slide ended up being 15 minutes of trying to get unstuck and positioning ourselves in a way to get bumped by the person behind us. Nonetheless, it made for a good laugh :D

[I love these goofballs]

I think the family's general consensus is that the first park was fun and the second park was relaxing. By the time we moved on the third (yes, third!) park, we were so exhausted, we moved around like zombies. We no longer ran from ride to ride but instead walked...slowly. Very slowly. And we only went into the wading pool. Around 6 p.m., we called it quits and before we could even leave the parking lot, Mary and Robert were out. I followed soon after into a very, very deep sleep.

It was so fun being a kid again and playing with the kids who experienced pure ecstasy and joy. Their smiles, laughs and giggles said it all.

But I don't think I'll be going to another water park anytime soon...at least not without the kids.

(Sorry there aren't a lot of photos. Water park + camera = disaster)


Until next time, ciao!