Waterville USA a Simulated Beach Right Next to the Real Beach
Waterville USA is just simply the funnest water park around here!
Located in Gulf Shores, AL., less than an hour away from both Pensacola, Florida and Mobile, Alabama, the attraction is actually more than just a water park. It’s actually two parks in one, a wet and wild water extravaganza and also a more traditional ride-oriented site. The ride site features the Waterville 500, at which you can race Nascar-style go-carts for a full five minutes. The carts are full-bodied replicas of some of your more famous Nascar racers complete with logos and color stylings. This part of the park also features a 36 hole miniature golf course and a 10,000 square feet arcade with over 70 different games, including the newest and most to up-to-date along with the traditional arcade favorite skee-ball. And just like at Chuck-E-Cheese, you can win tickets to cash in for prizes. There is also a section for the little ones, the Fun Depot, featuring scaled-down rides for those not yet ready for the prime attractions.
The prime attractions are the Cannonball Run and the Ejection Seat. The Cannonball Run is a throwback to the Coney Island days of wooden rollercoasters. Reaching a height of 70 feet on an 1800 feet long track, this clackety thrill ride will take the older visitors back to the days of their youth and show the younger ones what rollercoastering was like before technology turned the rollercoaster into a geek industry. While standing in line at the water park you can hear the coaster coming and turn to watch it as it makes it circle back toward where it began.
Also available as a visual treat from inside the water park is the Ejection Seat. I personally don’t go near these kinds of rides. As I was telling my son, a rubber band is designed to keep hair in a ponytail, not to launch two people 150 feet in the air. But that’s just my opinion. Judging by the constant stream of people taking that 150 feet dizzyingly rotating flight into the stratosphere, there are apparently many people who have no problem converting the properties of elasticity from its more mundane uses to its more heartstopping uses. If you are the type who wonders what it must feel like to be a bullet shot out of a gun, then the Ejection Seat is certainly for you.
The Amusement Park section of Waterville USA is open daily from early March to Mid-August. The rest of year it operates on a more limited basis, so be sure to call first.
It is the Water Park that is the real attraction of Waterville USA, however, and it features more than enough attractions to keep you busy for a whole day. Upon entering the park, the first thing you’ll see is the Shrimp Boat Village. There is something here for every age group in your party. It’s basically a central operating system surrounded with lounge chairs and sun umbrellas where you can either enjoy small tubes and slides, shoot water cannons, climb up nets, and soak people by pulling on ropes that dump buckets of water onto their unsuspecting heads. Good times.
If this is too crowded but you’re still not ready to test your blood pressure, take a trip over to the wave pool. 25,000 square feet and holding 500,000 gallons of water, this is the next best thing to actually going to the beach. (Which is, again, less than a mile away!) Pick up an enormous inner tube and while away the hours untilâÂ?¦you hear that horn blast. And once you hear that horn, be prepared for the waves to start. They aren’t huge at just three feet high, but they aren’t little either. And as Pee Wee Herman might say, they keep coming, and coming, and coming! If the wave pool is empty be prepared to bump into or even roll right over some people. Hey, you might even meet the girl or boy of your dreams here. One word of advice, though. There will be a massive congregation of people down at the far end of the pool once the horn starts, but the best play to really enjoy the waves is near the middle of the pool, closer to the shallow end than the deep end.
Now it’s time to start challenging yourself, to ride those rides that are the whole reason water parks exist in the first place. We’ll take a mini-tour from the least heart-pumping to the most.
Rainbow Falls: Three vibrantly colored twisting and turning water slides that one person goes down at a time all by him or herself. Fun and exciting, but really just an appetizer.
The Jet Stream: Rainbow Falls when it grows up. Again you are alone and without a raft, this time down an enclosed tube for 350 feet. Exciting, but no one can hear you scream.
The Hurricane: Take a friend and pick up a raft, you are both going down an enclosed translucent tube and when you hit the water at the end, hold on or one of you might fly off.
The Great White: Much like the Hurricane, except it’s longer and you will get swallowed by a shark!
The Gold Rush: Here’s your chance to invite that special someone you found at the wave pool to enjoy a ride with you and your friend. Two and three person rafts are available for this open tube ride. Don’t ask why the three person raft is more fun than the two person. Just experience it.
The Black Widow: Much like the Hurricane. Only this time the tube isn’t translucent. It’s completely black for 450 feet. You can’t see anything! You can’t see your hand in front of your face. You can’t see your partner’s head in front of your face. Fly through this nightmare and scream as loudly as you can. It’s the most fun you can have with another person at Waterville USA.
The Kamikaze: The most fun you can have alone at Waterville USA. No tubes, no rafts, just you and 55 vertical feet of slippery thrillseeking excitement. One caveat for the females: If you weren’t wearing a thong when you start this ride, you probably will be when you finish, so make sure to check before getting out of the pool. (And if you do wear a thong into the park, you’ll be asked to leave, so avoid all the trouble in the first place. There are plenty of kids present, after all.)
And there’s even a place for the littlest of them. Wa Wa World is just for children under 42 inches tall. It features a pirate ship and slides in the images of ducks and frogs, etc. Also featuring shaded chairs for parents so they can keep an eyes on their young ones.
Finally, after a long day of thrills and waves, you’ll probably want cool down and relax on the Crystal Waters, a slow, meandering river ride that takes you to swimming holes and waterfalls and marks a perfect end to a perfect day. Or, you might want to visit this at your midway point so you work up the energy to tackle the lines at the more anticipated rides. Actually, the lines usually aren’t that long and they involve climbing up stairs so you at least can get a nice view of the entire park while you wait.
No food or drinks are allowed into the park, but there are two fast food concession stands that serve up hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, pizza, nachos, french fries (dusted with a quite delicious spicy seasoning), etc. at reasonable prices. As for beverages, it’s Pepsi, no Coke! Only Pepsi products and even though Mountain Dew is served, I really hope they’ll start serving Code Red soon. Lifeguards are on duty at every ride and a first aid station is readily available. No amusement park worth its salt would be without a souvenir store and Waterville USA is no exception.
The water park is usually open on a daily business from late May through mid-August and then on weekends only till early September. Ticket prices are a complex thing here. You can purchase a Super Park Pass that allows entry into both parks and unlimited rides except for the Ejection Seat (1 ride only).
If you just want to enter the Water Park, then there is an admission price, but you have unlimited freedom on all of the rides. The price varies according to time of entry and you can even pay a lower observer price if you are just there to watch and don’t play to ride any of the rides. Actually, you are warned that you can’t even put your feet in the water. They mean it, folks. In addition, groups of 15 or more can enjoy special reduced rates.
Entering the Amusement Park is free, but you will have to pay every time you ride a ride, from $5 for the rollercoaster to $17 for one person on the Ejection Seat. A group discount is also available here, but once again it doesn’t apply to the price of the Ejection Seat. Man, that ride must be popular! One good idea you should definitely look into is purchasing tickets online. On really popular days, there is a significant wait to purchase tickets outside in the blazing sun.
If you live in the area, you might want to check into getting a season pass. 2005 prices for these are $145 for a single and $340 for a family of four.
Waterville USA located on Highway 59 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. You can get there by taking the Foley exit off I-10 and driving straight through the town of Foley. Or you can there from the beach in Gulf Shores or Orange Beach or Perdido Key in Florida. Once you hit Highway 59, you can’t miss it. You’ll see the brightly colored tubes and the skyrocketing Ejection Seat. If you want exact directions, go to one of the map services on the internet or else call Waterville direct at 251-948-2106
Waterville USA, a better simulation of the beach just a half mile away from the real beach. Jean Baudrillard would be proud.
www.watervilleusa.com
www.al.com/gulfshores
http://maps.yahoo.com
