Showing posts with label Schlitterbahn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Schlitterbahn. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Family summer fun at Schlitterbahn!

As a part of the US Family Guide mommy bloggers, I was given the chance to take my family to Schlitterbahn New Braunfels for a day. Schlitterbahn has been a family favorite since the very first time we went a few years back. There are so many perks to the park that other parks do not have. Free parking, allowing you to bring your own food (no alchohol or glass containers), and something to do for all ages! The rides use water filtered from the Comal River. This saves water, and cuts back on the chlorinated water use that most parks have these days. I don't know about you, but chlorine dries my skin out and speeds up the burn process for my skin when I'm in water and sun all day. So I really appreciate the river water usage more. They also boast the worlds only uphill water ride! The Master Blaster is amazing. Water pushes you along rather than using an electrical system. 
To prepare for the trip, I purchased and packed a few things to help us get through the day. Sunscreen is the most important item to bring when you know you will be out all day in sun and water. My children are mostly fair skinned and burn easily. We stopped back at the locker we rented frequently to reapply it. The lockers are $8/day plus a $2 deposit you get back when you turn in your key. Like other parks, they give you the option to take cash or to accept a gift. The day we went, they were offering Schlitterbahn reusable bags. 
Another important item to have is a way to keep your phone and money dry. Normally I wouldn't need to carry my phone with me but would instead leave it in the locker or my vehicle. This time, however, I brought it so I could take pictures of our fun for the review. Last time I went, I bought a waterproof disposable camera. I picked this watertight box up from Target. 
For paying only $6, it's amazing! Everything stayed dried and it fit perfectly into the pocket of my fiancĂ©s swim shorts. It's not water proof or promised to work under submersion. But it worked when we rode the wave pool circuit repeatedly. It can be difficult to pop open, but it's worth every penny! 
We brought our picnic lunches. It was easy to pack the kids lunchables and we older ones got the Rev packs.
I took everything out of the boxes and put them into a hand carry lunch box with ice packs and cold water bottles. It stayed cold all morning until we were ready to break for lunch. 
After lunch, we decided to chill in the pools. Mostly the wave pool. My kids loved the wave pool. They used the kid friendly tubes and we formed a human chain to stay together as each wave pushed us around the great circle.
We also went to a couple of the kid-friendly areas where the water is super shallow and the kids could climb on things to play.
The Congo River Expedition was one that my fiancé and I absolutely loved being on!
We have decided that Schlitterbahn is going to be an every summer event for our family from now on. I highly suggest you pay them a visit. They have locations in New Braunfels, Galveston, South Padre Island, Corpus Christi, and Kansas City. Check out their
ticket page for dates that are cheaper.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Summer Time Fun at Schlitterbahn!

If there is one water park I love bringing the family to, it would have to be Schlitterbahn! The rides, the water, free parking, bring your picnic! Need I say more? I think I do actually. They also have great promotions. Which means a lot for families these days. Vacations can be pretty pricey. But staying at a Schlitterbahn resort doesn't have to be. Thanks to my connections with the US Family guide as a mommy blogger, I'm getting to share these deals with you and will hopefully be allowed to share a review post if we get selected to make a trip there. 
Check out the promotions they have running here:
South Padre Island
Galveston
New Braunsfels
I'd have to say that New Braunfels is my favorite! Not just because of how close it is to home, but because we each find things we enjoy there. Plus some rides connect to the river, they recycle the water and cut back on waste. 
Below is fun information that was provided on the various parks.  
Key News for Schlitterbahn:
Every park has a fact sheet on our newsroom, but here are some fast facts.
Schlitterbahn New Braunfels is our flagship park and is America's #1 waterpark for 18 years and has won awards for the best waterpark, best waterpark ride (The Master Blaster) and best new ride (Dragon's Revenge.)
Schlitterbahn has been the birthplace of nearly every waterpark ride innovation including the world's first uphill water coaster and the inland surfing ride, the Boogie Bahn.

Every park has a claim to fame:
- New Braunfels - World's longest tube ride; America's Favorite Waterpark.
- South Padre Island - World's first Transportainment system where interconnected rivers are queue lines for rider, this way you never have to leave your tube!
- Galveston - Building the world's tallest water coaster.
- Kansas City - World's tallest water slide.
- Corpus Christi - Longest river system in Texas.

Green Facts on our South Padre Beach Resort:
Ropes: Over three miles of 3-inch mooring ropes from dozens of former ships have been painstakingly wrapped around giant concrete structural poles on our Sea 4ever 10,000 square foot patio.

Green House: The retractable roof over our indoor waterpark was built from a large greenhouse - an old Schultz nursery.
Lobby Check in Counter: Built from salvaged walnut trees which were pulled from a road project in Kansas.

Parapet Walls: The hatch covers came off a famous US Troop carrier the John E. Pope and are used on parapet walls and also to make tables. Over 500 are on site.

Chandeliers: The beautiful chandeliers hanging in the Sea 4ever event patio were salvaged from an aging Vegas hotel. Our team glued shells to them and hung in the ceiling.

Waterslides: Yes, even some of the water slides were recycled. The water slides in our indoor park came from a park in Cleveland Ohio, were salvaged, refurbished, and re-installed.
Handrails: An old Dutchman Downs Stadium was the source for all the handrails.

Loblolly Pines: In 2011, a major wildfire raged through Bastrop County, Texas in September. Three separate fires started during Labor Day weekend and by the time it was controlled, it destroyed 1,691 homes and burned over 34,000 acres of land including the vast majority of Bastrop State Park's 5,900 acres of Loblolly Pines. The Lost Pines Forest, thought to have originated in or before the Pleistocene era, was also heavily impacted.
For safety, the burned pines had to be removed. These scorched trees were destined for the grinder who would have turned them into mulch. Jeff Henry, with Schlitterbahn, offered to take the fallen trees, then had them milled, beginning the process of transforming the pines from scorched wood to the most dramatic feature throughout the Schlitterbahn Beach Resort at South Padre.

FYI: You'll also find the pines all over Schlitterbahn New Braunfels - look for the pine paneling in the Riverbend cabins and the lovely furniture pieces here and there. We'll try to point them out during your tour.

Where you will find the Bastrop Pines in the South Padre Beach Resort:
- Rooms: In most rooms the cabinets, coffee tables, nightstands, and headboards are made from the Bastrop Loblolly Pines.
- Dining areas: Large tables are made from the Loblolly Pines.
- Lobby: The large tree stump tables by the doors leading to the heated pool are from the fire, as is the siding along many of the interior walls.
- External: The siding on the outside walls of the resort are made from Loblolly Pines.


Something I thought was amazing - It's The Year of Anniversaries!
World's Most Award Winning Uphill Water Coaster, The Master Blaster, turns 20: The Schlitterbahn New Braunfels park is home to a guest favorite, the world famous Master Blaster. Built in 1996, this 2.5 minute ride is over 65 feet tall and sends guests on an exhilarating ride down two, 3 story drops. It is easily the most iconic uphill water coaster in the world. Have you ridden the Master Blaster yet?