Part of our gift to the girls this past Christmas was a day trip to Massanutten Indoor Waterpark. Aaron and I agreed that an “experience gift” rather than more toys or “stuff” would be nice for a change. (And a change that we plan to keep going forward!) We had planned to take this trip the day after Christmas during Winter break, however since Josie had a little slip that broke her elbow on Christmas Eve, we decided that holding off on this until after she was cast-free was the safest route to go.
Josie didn’t get that pretty pink cast off until a couple of weeks ago, so we could finally look at the calendar to make plans to go on a day that Daddy had off work. That day finally came yesterday and it was a really fun time!
The girls were SO excited when we told them the news! I actually told them about 12 hrs too soon if I’m being honest. Isla whined the entire afternoon before and asked about 52.5 times when we were going. Tomorrow, Isla Belle. TOMORROW. Ha! After our trip to Great Wolf Lodge back in August, we knew this would be a great place to try that was way closer to home.
Isla’s suit // Josie’s suit
When we arrived….
The park opened at 10am and we arrived around 11am after about an hour drive and a quick stop for donuts. Had to sugar them up for the day! We walked right in and hopped in the ticket line. It moved pretty quick and I discovered that you have to wait in that line regardless of whether you pre-purchase your tickets online or not. Just an FYI if you are thinking of going that route as a time saver–it isn’t.
We immediately headed to our locker to change/drop all our stuff. Another tip, you have to bring your own towels. They aren’t provided like GWL. They do have safety vests, so that’s one less thing to worry about if you have littles. Though, we brought Isla’s puddle jumper anyway just in case.
::The park::
The indoor park is a great size and has lots to do! A huge climbing tower with lots of slides, water sprayers, and other stations/activities to walk through, a toddler area where I spent a LOT of time with Isla, a lazy river, wading/swimming area, hot springs (tub), wave rider, and several awesome slides for the older kids which is basically where Aaron and Josie were the entire time. Unfortunately, we were split up a good portion of the day, but it was fine, and that’ll change as the kids get bigger. There were really no complaints though. Everyone got to enjoy a section of the waterpark and we had a lot of fun!
::Time to eat::
About an hour and a half in we were ready to eat! There are a couple of dining options, but we chose to stay in the waterpark snack bar area and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. Burgers + fries for mom and dad, personal cheese pizza for Isla Belle, and a hot dog + fries for Josie. Non-prego Jamie would’ve totally ordered a beer, but I stuck to diet coke (my daily treat!). Apparently, we chose to eat at the exact same time as everyone else in the place so it was BUSY. And the tables were hard to come by. But after politely hovering over a family for a good 10 minutes as they finished up, I found us a spot. Hey, you do what you gotta do.
After lunch, it was back to the water for a couple hours. I didn’t have my phone on me so I barely took any pictures throughout the day, but the girls had an absolute BLAST. I was kinda bummed that we didn’t get a family pic, but no biggie.
::Packing up::
We were all waterlogged and exhausted by 4:30 so we got changed and packed up and headed upstairs for a sweet treat and some arcade time. The locker rental is $25, but when you turn in your key you can get a $10 credit or $15 credit for the arcade. We went the arcade route and I’m pretty sure Isla touched every dang button and controller in that place. Then after taking approximately 25 minutes at the desk to cash in our whopping 62 tickets, my two princesses finally decided on a couple of bouncy balls (and a few other tiny crap toys that will soon go in the trash) and we got the heck on outta there. Lord help me!
::New additions for Summer::
We are hoping to go back over the Summer when the outdoor waterpark is open as well. AND! they are expanding the outdoor area with a new toddler/splash pad, new slides, cabanas, and an outdoor bar/eating area. Sounds really nice! I think next time we’ll try to go on a weekday instead of a weekend when it’s less busy–it was SO BUSY! But it honestly didn’t ruin our day in the least.
Oh, and I loved that they offer a discount to military families. Always a plus in my book.
We hit up good ol’ Taco Bell for a quick (and nutritious, ha!) dinner and immediately bathed everyone as soon as we got home! Though I have to say, our day trip to Massanutten Waterpark was a really fun family day. I truly think our girls will remember experiences like this over any toy they could’ve opened on Christmas morning. Already looking forward to planning our next adventure!
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