WildWater Adventure

After making our way around Michigan’s Adventure, it is time to head into the adjoining WildWater Adventure water park. Open since 1990 and expanded several times over the years, the park offers a good mix of body slides, tube slides, family raft rides, three wave pools, and several areas for younger guests.

We start our lap to the right of the entrance — and immediately come across two slides that take a little courage.

Wild Slide & Ridge Rider

Wild Slide and Ridge Rider are a pair of classic kamikaze slides. The orange lane runs almost straight down, while the yellow one adds a large wave along the way. Just looking down from the top is enough to make you think twice, but once you push off, both rides are fast and over before you know it.

Cyclone Zone

Right next door is Cyclone Zone, a trio of classic tube slides. All three wind their way down in a serpentine pattern, with one of them running completely enclosed as a Black Hole.

Two of the slides finish in their own runout pool, while the third drops you straight into the Lazy River.

Lazy River and Tidal Wave

The Lazy River makes a wide loop through this part of the water park and is perfect for simply grabbing a tube and floating around for a while.

Right next to it is Tidal Wave, the first of no fewer than three wave pools at WildWater Adventure.

Mammoth River and Mine Shaft

Two of the most striking slides in the park are Mammoth River and Mine Shaft. Both are family raft rides built into the hillside, with long serpentine courses that let the large rafts swing nicely from side to side through the turns.

Mammoth River is completely open, while Mine Shaft takes the same basic idea into a dark enclosed tube. Despite the similar layouts, the two slides look and feel very different.

Slidewinders

Next up are the three body slides of Slidewinders. Their layouts are fairly straightforward for the most part, but each one includes two helices before heading down toward the runout pool.

Boogie Beach

Boogie Beach is the second of WildWater Adventure’s three wave pools. Another good spot to spend some time in the water before moving on to the next set of slides.

Snake Pit

Snake Pit features three Black Hole slides, and each one offers a noticeably different layout.

The left lane starts with a short straight section before dropping into a steep final plunge and almost immediately reaching the runout. The middle slide adds a helix before its final jump, while the right-hand course starts with a helix and then winds its way down through several switchbacks.

A really fun trio of slides!

Commotion Ocean

Commotion Ocean is the third and final wave pool at WildWater Adventure. Like the other two, it is another place to spend some time floating around and waiting for the next set of waves.

Beach Party and Kids’ Areas

Beach Party is a large interactive water-play structure packed with play features and topped by a giant tipping bucket that regularly dumps its entire load onto everyone below.

The lineup for younger guests is rounded out by Half Pint Paradise, Paradise Plunge, and Tropical Twist.

Funnel of Fear

Funnel of Fear is one of the park’s big signature attractions. It sits right alongside the main path around the lake, so it is almost impossible to miss and does a pretty good job advertising the water park to everyone walking by.

After a few opening turns, the raft drops down a tall chute into the huge funnel, where it swings back and forth several times before heading toward the exit. I have always enjoyed these ProSlide Tornados, and Funnel of Fear is no exception.

Pictures WildWater Adventure

Conclusion WildWater Adventure

I really enjoyed WildWater Adventure, and for me it was actually the highlight of Michigan’s Adventure. While the amusement park itself was fairly quiet during my visit, the water park was noticeably busier.

What I liked most was the size and variety of the place. Compared with the other water parks I visited on this trip, there was simply more to explore here. Snake Pit and Funnel of Fear were the two slides that stood out most to me.

What’s your opinion on WildWater Adventure? Simply write it in the comment field below the report!

Click here to get to the next report of The Great Mid-Western Road Trip.

Click here to get to the overview page of WildWater Adventure.

After my visit to Michigan’s Adventure, I had a relaxed drive to the Best Western Plus Mishawaka Inn, where I spent the final night of the trip.

The next morning, I made one last stop at the Hard Rock Casino in Gary, Indiana. I try to eat at as many Hard Rock locations as possible, and this was still one I was missing. Unfortunately, I forgot to have my Unity number added, so the visit still does not show up on my map. I did, however, manage to lose the last of my dollars at the casino. I cannot say I particularly liked the place either. It was extremely loud and not really my kind of casino.

From there, I continued to Chicago O’Hare Airport. I returned the rental car, checked in, and thought all that was left was to wait for the flight home. At check-in, however, I was not assigned a seat and was told to speak to the staff at the gate.

I would not have minded another day in the U.S., especially since my birthday was the following day and I would have happily spent it in America rather than somewhere over the Atlantic. In the end, though, there was no real drama. At the gate, they simply asked whether I would be okay with sitting in an exit-row seat.

The flight to London went smoothly. I arrived at Heathrow early in the morning and still had plenty of time for a proper breakfast before continuing on to Hanover. By lunchtime, I was back in Germany and was able to celebrate my birthday with my parents.

The following day, I got back in the car and drove home to Switzerland. And with that, the Great Mid-Western Road Trip was finally over.

Hard to believe that just two weeks later, a completely different adventure in my life was about to begin. Sometimes the best things really do happen by chance — but more on that another time.

The great Mid-Western Road Trip Day 13 – 16

Waves, Slides & WildWater