The best water parks in the USA to beat the heat

Best for: Thrill seekers

Amenities we love: Dedicated kids areas, cabanas, ample dining options

Atlanta’s muggy summers are no match for this water park, part of the Six Flags network of theme parks. Like the other Six Flags water parks, this one also boasts a large collection of slides and pools. But unlike the others, White Water is a stand-alone park, so no efforts have been wasted on rollercoasters. The Typhoon Twister ride features a toilet bowl-like swirl, while the Atlanta Ocean Wave pool serves up regular swells.

Address: 250 Cobb Pkwy N, Marietta, GA 30062

Opening hours: Seasonal; Opens May 10, 2025.

Best for: Chilling out

Amenities we love: Several swim-up bars, picnic areas, cabanas

Schlitterbahn’s original water park is a soaring maze of water slides, wave pools and lazy rivers. It’s so big, in fact, that showing it requires two full maps on their website. Schlitterbahn rates its slides by their degree of scariness, similar to ski slopes. Serious thrills abound at rides like the Boogie Bahn, Backsplash and Deluge. The park also features multiple calm pools for chilling out. 

Address: 400 N Liberty Ave, New Braunfels, TX 78130

Opening hours: Seasonal; opens May 3, 2025.

Best for: Disney World fanatics

Amenities we love: Dedicated kids' areas, sandy beach area, surf lessons 

Walt Disney World features two separate water parks at its Orlando HQ, and both serve up a dizzying amount of soggy fun for the price of one ticket. Blizzard Beach is where water slide lovers can experience the thrill-ride drop of the Summit Plummet and Slush Gusher. Typhoon Lagoon emphasizes its enormous surf pool—the largest in North America—where six-foot swells and smaller bobbing waves pop up all day long. Both parks are ringed by their own lazy rivers, which transport riders to and from various attractions.

Address: Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

Opening hours: Seasonal; May 1, 2025.

Best for: Tunnel slides

Amenities we love: Cabanas, interactive play area

Six Flags operates Hurricane Harbor water parks across several U.S. states, including Arizona, New Jersey, Texas and California, all of which feature a vast array of water slides. The Jackson, NJ, park caters to crowds from Philadelphia and New York City, and in the summer months, it provides a refreshing cool-off from the muggy East Coast heat. The park has more slides (20!) than anyone can do in a single day, including the funnel-like Tornado. We recommend visiting Hurricane Harbor on a weekday, as lines can become exceptionally long on weekends.

Address: 1 Six Flags Blvd, Jackson Township, NJ 08527

Opening hours: Seasonal; Opens May 17 2025.

Best for: A fun, retro theme

Amenities we love: Cabanas, dedicated kids' areas

Cowabunga Bay Water Park is one of the largest water parks in the United States, featuring over 12 levels, 300 interactive water toys and 11 water slides. If you're looking for the most thrilling ride, head to the Mondo tube slide, which features more than 800 feet of twisting and turning in total darkness before it shoots you out into the water below. The whole park is a '60s theme, decked out with surfboards and a VW bug that will splash you. 

Address: 12047 S State St, Draper, UT 84020

Opening hours: Seasonal; Opens May 24, 2025.

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Best for: multi-generational families

Amenities we love: Adult-only area, dedicated kids spaces, cabanas 

Carowinds is among the country's best amusement parks, so it should come as no surprise that their water park, Carolina Harbor, made this list. This summer, the water park will debut an adults-only section with cabanas, a swim-up bar and a sparkling pool. However, the water park also offers plenty for the kids—and the kids at heart—including Barracuda Blasters, dual long, twisting tunnel slides, the Boogie Board Racer, which touts itself as being the "longest mat-racing water slide in the Southeast," and Blackbeard's Revenge, which spans six stories. There are several splash pads for the little ones, each offering interactive fun. 

Address: 14523 Carowinds Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28273

Opening hours: Seasonal; opens May 24, 2005.

Best for: Thrill-seekers

Amenities we love: Cabanas, adult-only area, indoor and outdoor spaces

Spanning 100,000 square feet, the indoor water park at Oklahoma City's newly opened OKANA Resort is built for year-round fun, kept at a steady 82 degrees even in winter. Inside are over a dozen waterslides, a lazy river, a wave pool, and Soothing Springs, a quieter hot springs area reserved for adults. In the warmer months, the action moves outside, where you'll find nearly 200,000 additional square feet of aquatic adventure opening just in time for the summer 2025 season. The star of the show is a 4.5-acre adventure lagoon—one of the largest pools in the country—complete with body slides, a floating obstacle course, a swim-up bar and a sandy beach lined with cabanas.

Address: 639 First Americans Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73129

Opening hours: Year-round; various hours.

Best for: Kids

Amenities we love: Cabanas

Legoland is heaven for any kid, and Legoland California Water Park is no different. Located in Carlsbad, California, this 10-acre oasis offers a variety of slides, beaches and other attractions suitable for all ages. One of the most unique is Build-a-Raft-River, where you can build your own Lego raft to help you float downstream. Another favorite: Pirate Reef, where you can blast water cannons as you race down the slide.

Address: 1 Legoland Dr, Carlsbad, CA 92008

Opening hours: Seasonal; Opens May 3, 2025.

Best for: Theme park fans

Amenities we love: Cabanas, Ample drinking and dining, sandy beach area

Located at Universal Orlando Resort, Universal's Volcano Bay isn't just a water park—it's a water theme park. Packed with thrills and storytelling details in every corner, a day spent here goes above and beyond an ordinary water park experience. The park's towering centerpiece is the Krakatau volcano, which serves as the base for four different water slides. It also features nearly 20 attractions, including a lengthy lazy river, a wave pool and more than a dozen waterslides.

Address: 6000 Universal Blvd, Orlando, FL 32819

Opening hours: Year-round; Closed on select days in fall and winter.

Best for: Beach lovers

Amenities we love: Cabanas, ample drinking and dining

Not as big as some of the other parks on this list, Myrtle Waves made the cut due to the balance of pools, slides and attractions, as well as its proximity to the sand. The park still serves up plenty of slide fun, including the toilet bowl-like Arooba Tooba and the open-air slides on Snake Mountain. True thrill-seekers need not miss the purple Turbo Twisters slides, which sent riders on a twisting, twirling descent. And when you’re done, the beach is just a short drive away.

Address: 3000 Mr. Joe White Ave, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

Opening hours: Seasonal; May 10, 2025.

Best for: Families of all ages

Amenities we love: Abundant food and drink offerings, shopping, special events and programming, including "sensory days" for autistic and other neurodivergent children

Noah’s Ark is a soaring water park, with nearly 70 acres of space and dozens of different water attractions, including two wave pools. The park has an incredible balance of traditional tube slides, such as the Quadzilla and Scorpion’s Tail, and open-air slides, like the Congo Bongo Rapids and Bermuda Triangle. The park’s pinnacle attraction is the Black Anaconda tube slide, which gives riders a quarter-mile journey from the top to splashdown.

Address: 1410 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy, Wisconsin Dells, WI

Opening hours: Seasonal; May 24, 2025.

Best for: Avoiding crowds 

Amenities we love: Freebies like sunscreen, soft drinks and parking, ample drinking and dining options 

Part of the Holiday World theme park, Splashin’ Safari features two wave pools, numerous tubes and open-air slides and two fun zones for children. The park also features the Mammoth, one of the longest water coasters in the world. The ride propels a tube up and over hills, and then down into splash pools, before finishing with a huge drop. As a bonus, the water rides sit next to the theme park’s roller coasters, allowing water worshippers to gaze upon overheated park guests.

Address: 452 E Christmas Blvd, Santa Claus, IN 47579

Opening hours: Seasonal; May 17, 2025.

Best for: Adventure lovers

Amenities we love: Free parking, cabanas, picnic areas

With 49 total attractions, including the theme park-quality Voyage to the Center of the Earth and Lost River of the Pharaohs rides, Water World is the Mt. Everest of water parks. Visitors often require multiple days to ride each water slide, and instead focus on the park’s various slide clusters. The Mile High Flyer water coaster shoots riders up and over hills. The Screamin’ Mimi shoots riders down a wheeled sled into a splash tank. Finally, Warp Speed combines traditional tube slide action with a virtual gaming experience.

Address: 8801 N Pecos St, Federal Heights, CO 80260

Opening hours: Seasonal; Opening May 24, 2025.

Best for: Visiting on rainy and chilly days 

Amenities we love: Cabanas, arcade

Water parks don’t all have to be outdoors—visit Avalanche Bay and see for yourself. Michigan’s largest indoor water park is located at the base of a ski mountain and provides year-round fun, even when it’s snowing. While the park lacks the size of the other parks on this list, Avalanche Bay makes up for it with innovative, space-saving rides. Don't miss the man-made surfing wave, or the Big Couloir, which provides an unexpected and terrifying drop.

Address: 1 Boyne Mountain Rd, Boyne Falls, MI 49713

Opening hours: Seasonal; May 2, 2025.