When winter just won’t quit, indoor water parks can be just the thing you need to recharge and help you make it through a couple more months. The truth is, indoor waterparks make a great destination at any time of year because you’ll never get rained out, it’ll never be too hot or too sunny and you are always guaranteed a huge amount of fun. If you are looking for a great destination for the family, each of these has one or more indoor water parks that can help you put together a great family vacation in the winter, and maybe even outdoors for a little winter weather fun. Here are our picks for winter water park destinations for the family.
Branson, Missouri is an all around family friendly destination, with parks, family theaters, music venues, the classic destination attractions and small town charm too. Two indoor parks, Castle Rock Resort and Grand Country are open through the winter months for anyone needing to feel like they are back in summer. The best part, the entire town transforms around Christmas time, so you can plan for holiday fun and get a little wet and wild.
Wisconsin Dells claims to be the waterpark capital of the world, and indeed there are more waterparks here than you could easily count in one drive through town. Set pretty far north, many waterpark owners saw the benefits of creating indoor or both indoor and outdoor parks, to bring more guests in year round. Among the biggest water parks to enjoy during the winter months are Mt. Olympus, Wilderness Lodge and Kalahari. In addition to the water parks,
Wisconsin Dells offers days worth of additional family friendly entertainment and dining options.
If you want to get away from the cold weather, and experience a little bit of summer, Orlando, Florida is the destination for you. Disney World operates two outdoor water parks- Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon and Disney’s Blizzard Beach. Both are right in the middle of what is likely the family entertainment capital of the country, and not just on account of Disney, there are several other entertainment attractions nearby and hotel accommodations in just about every budget range. Disney water parks are open year round and charge about the same amount as water parks in other destinations do.
Traverse City, Michigan is a great winter and summer destination, and Avalanche Bay is an interesting Bavarian themed water park spread out over 80,000 square feet that features a lazy river, a water roller coaster and tamer family and children areas for little ones. There are several nearby resort lodgings and budget hotels, as well as the outdoor recreation and ski options for families wanting to fit it all in on a single vacation.
Alaska might not sound like the place to go in the middle of winter, or a water park destination, but anyone that is already headed for an Alaskan vacation and residents of Alaska wanting a warm water break. In Anchorage, H2Oasis is part of a small entertainment zone, where hotels, family fun centers, live music venues and restaurants are clustered. While temperatures outside are pretty frigid, nearby Denali National Park is an entirely different place than it is during the summer and spring months, and season celebrations are thrown to celebrate the culture, area and time of year.
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I have never been to Branson, Missouri, but I have heard so many great things about it! I really want to do an Alaskan cruise. Some friends of ours just did one over the summer.
Honestly I would love to do Alaska in the winter. It sounds like the perfect getaway and probably less crowded than most other places. Plus my hubby has always wanted to visit.
We love to hit up the water parks when we travel. We are going to Florida this winter and the kids are so excited for the water parks and Disney.
We live fairly close to Branson but have yet to go there. I need to bring this up to my husband. It would be a nice getaway.
How fun! We have quite a few within driving distance in the Poconoes and my kids absolutely love them!
I love the thought of visiting a water park during the cold winter months! I will be keeping these destinations in mind as we plan our holiday travel.
What a great idea for a winter break! I lived in Michigan for 12 years and didn’t even realize that Traverse City had an indoor water park!
Crazy enough, we’ve never been to a water park! I remember going to a theme park that had a water park attached to it when I was about 12 years old, but never just to a water park. We even live in a town with one! Haha.
Omg, I practically live at Wisconsin Dells when I lived in Chicago. It was soooooo much fun!
These are great suggestions. These places sound super fun. We love going to water parks.
I would love to go to Anchorage Alaska, that’s in our bucket list. We’ve only been to Orlando Florida from your list.
H2Oasis sounds fun! I’m always looking for somewhere to go in winter, we usually go to great wolf lodge but I’ll be checking out Alaska this year, thank you!
I love this, and I love water parks! I’ve never thought of going to a water park in winter, but these places sound like a perfect vacation.
We aren’t huge fans of going to the water park. Thankfully, we live near an indoor water park and went one year when it was cold outside. My kids had a blast.
LOVE this list. Who doesn’t want to visit a waterpark in the winter instead of trudging through the snow!? I can’t wait to visit some of these.
I live semi-close to Branson, I will have to check out the indoor water parks there. I love a good water park any time of the year!!
We’ve gone to both the Disney water parks and the Universal Volcano Bay and had a great time at all three! Also been to Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City and it was a very nice trip as well. There are also three great water parks in Sandusky Ohio run by Ceder Point, Great Wolf Lodge, and kalahari resorts.
Water parks are a great way to spend the time with your family and have tons of fun but I’ve never been to one during winter though. However, I’d like to visit these places and give them a try.
I really want to take the kids to Wisconsin dells. I have heard such great things about that park. Maybe I will plan a surprise trip this winter.
Wish we had a winter water park nearby. We’ve never been to any of these places, but I would love to visit Alaska with my boys one day.
I don’t want to be “that” blogger, but Avalanche By is actually in Boyne City, MI at the Boyne Mountain resort, and that is about and hour from Traverse City. Traverse City is home to Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park. I just wanted to point that out because it will confuse some people who might be traveling here and don’t know the area. This is a great list, there were a few you listed that I never even knew of.
Awesome to see Traverse City on this list – we live near there and it is an amazing destination, year round.