Dennis and I were trying to figure out what we should do for the long 4th of July weekend (we both got Friday off). I contemplated going to Lake Travis for a dip and a picnic, but then heard that the lake was down so much, they were even turning boaters away. I thought about tubing down the Guadalupe and that was an option, but then I remembered Schlitterbahn that is only 45 minutes away and voted the number one water park in the nation. www.schlitterbahn.com
Now, normally I don’t like crowds and especially on the weekend of the 4th, but for some reason I thought we should go. Dennis was in, so we headed down to New Braunfels Friday morning for some relaxing tubing and water fun. It took about 45 to get there, but another hour just to sit in traffic and get to the parking lot. So, we got to the park around noon. $40 a person later, I was ready to hit the rides. I had forgotten that you had to get your own tube first and had a mini freak-out session that we were 2 hours into this madness and couldn’t find the tubes!! We finally did and made our way to the line for the new Congo Adventure tube ride. About 30-40 minutes later from standing in line, we hit the water and it was awesome!
They use water from the Comal River which is spring fed, so it is cold! But very welcoming on a 100+ day. No chlorine which is nice. We floated around through misty tunnels, down shutes and eventually finished down a big waterfall. It was great.
We did several other rides throughout the afternoon: whitewater, Der Bahn body slide, Downhill Racer mat slide and two stints on the longest tube chute in the U.S.
It was a great time. We slathered sunscreen on twice and really didn’t end up burned at all. The last time I had been here was around 20 years ago. We used to go annually with my youth group at church when I was in junior high. Boy, was it different! We didn’t make it to “Old Schlitterbahn” until halfway into the afternoon. Then suddenly everything looked familiar! We stayed on the West side and never even went to the other half of the place (east side of the river). It’s amazing how huge this place is!. Sad part is I kept thinking how TCEQ allows them to use all this river water…and we’re fighting the county on using collected rainwater run through a u/v filtration system for a water feature at work. Oh well. I better not think too much…still on vacation. I would encourage everyone to go. Here are my thoughts and tips below:
Get there early (around 9ish to actually get to the gates around 10 when they open)
Get the splash cash (it’s like little debit cards you pre-pay and wear on your wrist)
Get a locker to stash your stuff – warning, they are small. My medium beach bag barely fit.
Either buy swim shoes or plan to wear your flip flops and hold them during the rides. The scorching concrete nearly burnt our bare feet.
Bring a cooler with some food and drinks. We didn’t cause we didn’t want to mess with it, but if you have a family, it could save you some dough.
Try the Bud Light Lime. It’s yummy!
Don’t try the Dippin’ Dots. They are not yummy and a rip off for $6. Get a $3 ice cream insted.
Study the map before hand and see where the tube pick ups are and what you want to ride.
Have fun!!!
