If you're working on your summer bucket list, these water parks in NY and nearby deserve a prime piece of real estate on your roundup!
At these summer favorites, kiddos will love tackling the adventure that awaits: 350-foot slides, 50-degree drops, and adrenalijne pumping twists and turns. But you don't have to be a teen or tween-age daredevil to have a blast. At each park there are plenty of more mellow options like lazy rivers, wave pools and water jungle gyms for staying cool in the summer sun. Keep things relatively local with a visit to Long Island's Splish Splash, a 96-acre park with tons of slides and pools, or head out of state: You'll find everything from Sesame Place, a watery haven for the littles, to Dorney Park, which has 25 slides and a kid's cove. If you've got a family of water babies, go all in on a season pass. It'll keep you coming back week after week without breaking the bank.
However you hope to beat the heat, the best water parks in NYC and the surrounding areas have everything you'll need—and then some! After you've scratched them off your to-do list, mark your calendar for a visit to New Jersey's inflatable water park or book a stay at New York's largest indoor water park. It's never too early or too late to start planning those summer day trips and family vacations! If escaping the city is too much of a challenge, head to the best water playgrounds in NYC, instead. Your kiddos are sure to have a blast.