It’s that time of year. Spring fever is spreading with a vengeance, but many days it’s just too chilly to do many outdoor activities for long. When you’re tired of being cooped up in the house and you’re ready to burn some energy, make the short trip to the Water-Zoo Indoor Water Park in Clinton.
You may have visited other indoor water parks before, but the Water-Zoo is close enough to make this an easy day trip from Oklahoma City. From Bricktown, it took us about an hour and fifteen minutes on I-40 to get there. It’s close to the exit, so it’s very easy to find and to get back on the highway when it’s time to return home.
Easy and Accessible
There are a few things you should know before visiting the Water-Zoo. First and foremost, you should know that this is a surprisingly easy place to visit. Because of my husband’s work schedule, I often travel alone with my eight year old and three year old and sometimes that can make things a little hectic. Add in trying to remember floaties and towels and keeping an eye on our stuff by the side of the pool, and I get a little nervous at the thought of swim trips. Never fear, though, because they’ve thought of pretty much everything. There are life jackets and tubes available so you don’t have to worry about dragging those things along in the car, and if you forget your towel, they have those, too. Lockers are available and are coordinated with your wristband so you don’t have to keep track of a key or remember your locker number. Even the layout of the water park allowed me to keep an eye on my eight year old while I went to different areas with my three year old. So if you hear the words, “Indoor Water Park” and panic, don’t.
Also, if your children aren’t strong swimmers, there are still plenty of ways for them to have fun at the Water-Zoo. There are slides, playgrounds and a splash pad-type area that are great for kids who haven’t yet learned to swim. In most pools the water is three feet deep or less, and the deepest water I noticed was four and a half feet, so if they are eight or older they probably can reach the bottom everywhere. If they do have trouble, lifeguards are positioned all over the park and they seemed very attentive to the patrons.
If you’re planning to spend the day at the Water-Zoo, you should also make plans for your meals. No outside food or drink is permitted but there is a snack bar that offers pizza, hot dogs, chips and candy. My kids and I ate lunch there and spent about $20 for all three of us. If you do want to leave the facility to eat, you can return as long as you keep your wristband on your wrist.
Fun For All Ages
So what is there to do at the Water-Zoo? Plenty! My son’s favorites were the water slides. There are three lengthy water slides that start inside the building, wind outside and then end up back inside. One of them lets you travel in a “Tornado Bowl” several times before you exit, something I had never seen in a water slide before. We found that as the day went on, the lines for the slides got longer and longer, so get there early if you want to minimize your wait time. Riders must be at least 42 inches tall to ride these large slides, and if your child is tall enough but unsure about going on his or her own, you can use a double tube to go down with them. This might be a good idea since the slides are long and fairly dark in some places.
The basketball pool was a big hit with both of my kids. Toward the middle of the pool is a three-sided basketball goal and the pool is around three feet deep in this area, so bigger kids can play without wearing themselves out treading water. One end of the pool is a little deeper and my three year old loved using this area to practice jumping in and going underwater.
The wave pool and the Lazy & Crazy River were my favorites. You can access the river at several different points around the park and enjoy floating in a tube or swimming along with the current. The Lazy & Crazy River also crosses the wave pool. This is a zero-depth entry pool that is like a regular pool until the horn blows—then come the waves! Again, the water in much of the pool is shallow enough that my youngest could walk in most of it and enjoy jumping in the waves without being scared of going under.
For younger kids or non-swimmers there are still plenty of options for fun. The Cub’s Cove is a splash pad-type area with a small slide and several spray toys downstairs. Upstairs is a huge water playground with slides, buckets, showers and a 600-gallon tipping bucket that douses guests with water periodically. You can see almost the entire water park from the playground area, so it’s a great place to let your younger kids play while also keeping an eye on your older kids playing in other areas.
Water-Zoo Indoor Water Park
1900 Boulevard of Champions, Clinton
580-323-9966, www.water-zoo.com
Jennifer Geary is a homeschooling mom from Broken Arrow, formerly of OKC, who loves to have adventures with her family.
