Raging Rivers Waterpark, Grafton

 

Location: 100 Palisades Pkwy, Grafton, IL 62037  618.786.2345

Website: https://www.ragingrivers.com/

Amenities: In addition to the water park they have concessions and a gift shop. 

This waterpark is one of the most expensive around, but if you go after 3pm you can get a discount. Their normal hours are 10:30 am to 6 :00 pm.  It costs $5 to park. 

They have 8 attractions:

1. Breaker Beach Wave Pool- An 18,000 sq ft. wave pool that creates waves up to 4 ft. high. It seemed like the waves didn't happen as often as the waves at Six Flags. I feel like the kids were constantly waiting for the waves to start. I can't find anywhere what the times are. It felt like it went for 10 mins and then 20 mins off. Just in case you're curious this wave pool is half as big as Six Flags Hurricane Bay. 

2. Cascade Body Flumes- 500 ft. dual water slides that twist and turn down the big hill. 

3. Itty Bitty Surf City-  This area for littles features a small water slide, rain tree, splash pool, and tunnel. 

4. Treehouse Harbor- An interactive play area that has a bucket that spills water, has a tunnel slide, and lots of ways to manipulate the water. 

5. Endless River- 700 ft. long lazy river. It's not very deep and it's slow and relaxing. You must be in a tube. 

6. Shark Slide- You must have a tube, and you enter the shark's mouth and fly down a 45 ft. tunnel into a pool of water at the end. 

7. Runaway Rafts- A 600 ft. long slide through swift water and wild rapids to 3 pools. I didn't get to ride this because it's a 12-5pm attraction so keep that in mind. We got there right at 5 and they said sorry we're closed. I was pretty upset because no one told us that and we would have ridden it when we got there if we knew that it closed early. 

8. Swirlpool- Ride the tunnel flume into a giant vortex and then get dropped into a deep pool of water. One is enclosed and one is open. 

Height Restrictions:

Breaker Beach Wavepool - No height restriction.
Runaway Rafts - Must be able to carry own tube. One person per tube.
Shark Slide - Must be able to carry own tube. One person per tube.
Treehouse Harbor - Fun for all ages. Slide only for children.
Swirlpools - Must be 48" and taller and a strong swimmer. Deepest water in park, 7'.
Itty Bitty Surf City - For our small guests 42" and under.
Cascade Body Flumes - Small children may ride on parent's lap without a tube. Single riders may ride with or without a tube.
Endless River - Fun for all ages. Small children may ride with parent.

Here's my personal opinion on Raging Rivers. It's very overpriced. There are only 8 attractions, and we couldn't do 2 of them, so there were only 6 things to do, and we paid $67 to get in and $5 to park. There are several other places that have a wave pool, including the Lodge at Des Peres, Collinsville Aqua Park, and Six Flags. Just about every pool around has a lazy river and flume slide so they didn't really offer anything unique that would command such a high entrance price. It also took over an hour to get there from my house. I'm glad I can say that we've been there but we'll never be back. There are much closer, much more reasonable pools in the area for us to visit.  

I sorted pools by price last year and Raging Rivers is the 2nd most expensive behind Six Flags. The way they do pricing here is everyone over 48" pays $30 to get in. Most kids hit 48" around age 7. I had an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old so I would have paid $90 for the 3 of us for the normal daily rate, but we went after 3pm so we paid $22 per person instead of $30 per person. So we got 3 hours of fun on 6 attractions (one was closed and one was only for kids under 42"). The kids had a great time but the wave pool was really the only place they wanted to be. Keep in mind this place is built into a hill so it's a very steep walk to get to the slides.  They didn't want to keep walking up the hills.  It was very clean and the employees were very polite. I supposed if you live in the area and get a season pass it may be more reasonable, but for a one-day pass it's not worth it in my opinion. 

Six Flags, Eureka

Location: 4900 Six Flags Rd, Eureka, MO 63025

Website: https://www.sixflags.com/stlouis

We all know Six Flags is great for tweens and teens, but what can they do there if you have little guys? Well, I will break it down for you now! First up are all the rides in Bugs Bunny National Park (specifically for little kids), then gentler rides in the park, then Hurricane Harbor rides & slides.

Kid Rides:

1.)Bugs Bunny Fort Fun- a huge play structure. Must be 42" to go down the slides, 54" max. There is a person inside who will measure the kids. There are several slides, chain climbers, bars, poles, bridges, mesh floors to walk over, and more. 

2.)Bugs Bunny Ranger Pilots- Airplanes that go in a circle. If you push your propeller forward you will go up in the air a bit.

3.)Daffy Duck Stars on parade- Gentle swings

4.)Elmer Fudd Weather Balloons- This seats 4 people and you spin around and go up in the air. Probably one of the scarier kiddie rides.

                                         

5.)Marvin The Martian Camp Invasion- This is a rocket-looking ride that goes up in the air in a circular motion.

6.)Taz Twister- Teacups that spin. Must be 36" to ride this one.

7.)Tweety Twee House- This is a bouncing tower lift that raises you straight up and drops you down.

                                              

8.)Yosemite Sam Tugboat Tailspin- A boat that zigs and zags back and forth.

9.)Foghorn Leghorn Train- Very slow and just goes around in a circle. Not scary at all.

Also in Bugs Bunny National Park is the splash pad.

Family Rides:

1.)The Train- There are only 2 stops on the Tommy G. Robinson Railroad, one at the front of the park and one at Bugs Bunny National Park, but it's still fun and relaxing to go all the way around Six Flags on the steam engine. You can even ride in the caboose.

2.)Colossus- The 18-story Ferris wheel offers great views of the park and a nice breeze.

3.)Log Flume- A classic! 

4.)Thunder River- Must be 36" with an adult. It's a white water rafting experience and you will get wet.

5.)Tsunami Soaker- Must be 36" with an adult. Riders sit in circular tubs and spray each other with water canons while turning and spinning in a circle. Passersby can also shoot you and are encouraged to do so! You're like a sitting duck while people spray you and you can't hide. We didn't like it at all.

6.)Shazam- Must be 36" with an adult. A Scrambler ride.

7.)Justice League- Battle For Metropolis- Must be 42" with an adult. This is a 4D interactive dark ride. It's inside and air-conditioned so that's a bonus! You get to sit and shoot lasers at bad guys.

Images from themeparks.about.com

8.)The Buccaneer- This ship swings back and forth almost to the point where you think you're gonna go upside down. It definitely makes your tummy do flip-flops! 

9.)Rookie Racer- Must be 36". Guests are in the driver’s seat as the Formula 1-designed coaster cars careen along the steel track. This rookie circuit is made up of a series of maneuvers including winding curves, drops, and a horizontal loop that is perfect for thrill seekers of all ages.  Another mild coaster that younger kids will be able to ride and enjoy. 

10.)River King Mine Train- Must be 42" with an adult. This was the first roller coaster built in this park, and the end is really fun! It's really like a baby roller coaster.

11.)Pandemonium- Must be 42" with an adult. 4 people sit in a car that spins 360 degrees around and around the track. It's intense!

12.)Screamin' Eagle- Must be 42" with an adult. This is a huge roller coaster that has 10-story drops and goes 62 miles an hour.

13.) Sky Screamer- Must be 44" with adult. Very tall swing and the breeze and views are fabulous!

Lastly, we have the water park, Hurricane Harbor. Entrance is included with your admission to Six Flags. There are several different areas, but the most popular one for the littles is called Adventure Cove. It's a huge interactive play area that includes a pirate ship and a large play structure with 4 different slides that range in height. Only kids under 54" can play here. Max 48" on the pirate slides, and min 42" for the bigger slides.

                              

The old "Hooks Lagoon" structure was replaced in 2021 with the one above. There are 71 different manipulatives that kids can play with on the new structure.  

There is sand here for the kids to play with and a little shower where they can wash it off. They offer free life vests for everyone to use while they are here.

 

Gulley Washer Creek is the lazy river. An inner tube is required and they'll hand you one when you are next in line.

Hurricane Bay is the wave pool. You can recognize it because of the 'volcano'.

They clear the pool out for 10 minutes every hour for a safety check at the wave pool. Small kids should definitely wear a life vest or puddle jumper in here. It gets pretty deep and the waves are strong. The water here is warmer than in the kiddie area so my kids like swimming here. The waves start out strong and you are signaled that they're starting by a loud buzzer. They get weaker as time goes on and then they start over again.


Big Kahuna is a 5 story raft ride. Must be 42" or taller and a raft is provided.

Wahoo Racer is a 6-lane triple drop slide. Must be 42" with an adult. It's 262 ft long and you go 35 miles an hour!

So that's everything that little kids can do here. It's enough to last all day. My daughter turned 4 in May and was able to do all these things with me this summer. We had a blast!

The big thrill rides include:
1.)American Thunder- 2,700 ft long wooden coaster.
2.)Batman- Inverted looping steel coaster.
3.)Ninja- Looping steel coaster.
4.)Mr. Freeze- Linear induction, reversing steel coaster.
5.)The Boss- 5,051 ft long wooden coaster.
6.)Fireball- This is a coaster loop that just goes in a circle several times.
7.)Boomerang- Launch head over heels 6 times forward and backward steel coaster.
8.)Skyscreamer- 236 ft swing ride at 43 mph.
9.)Catwoman Whip- Unique dual spinning ride that catapults guests 164 ft in the air around & around. 

10.)Spinsanity- Lose your mind on this spinning ride. 

11.)Supergirl Sky Flyer- Spin and tilt on this whirling wheel. 

 

In Hurricane Harbor:
1.)Bonzai Pipeline- Twin 290 ft looping slides with launching capsules.
2.)Speed Slides- 2 high-speed body slides
3.)Tornado- 132' funnel slide. Rafts provided.
4.)Tube slides- 4 400 ft slides, tube required.

5.)Typhoon Twister- A 2 in-one hybrid, zero-gravity slide complex. 

Map of Hurricane Harbor from Google Maps

Six Flags is expensive, so we do the Labor Day Flash Sale. You get a gold membership which includes free parking for every visit and we paid about $55 per person for the 3 of us. We got in the rest of last year and all of this year with that. It's normally $36 per person to get in, and parking is $30! So for me and my 2 kids to go ONE TIME, it would cost $138. That's insane.  They have monthly memberships too.