Teenagers are a fickle bunch! They can be super accommodating one minute and complaining the next, which can often make it tough to find suitable vacation spots that meet their ever-changing requirements. We recently were invited to Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari to check out their new attractions. At first I was a bit skeptical as I thought the theme park would be more kid-friendly than teen-friendly, but I was way off-base! The parks are exceptionally family-friendly for all ages.
My teens had a crazy-good time and we had a very happy trip that was free of complaints or other typical teen utterances like “I’m bored.” Nope, not once did we hear those dreadful words as my sons had more than enough activities, entertainment and terrific food options to keep them occupied and satisfied day and night. (And I might mention that we spent two full days in the park, from open to close and they were still wanting more. Next time we’ll probably plan for 3-5 days.)
Before I get to their top 10 attractions, I wanted to be sure to share that in addition to having a wealth of family-friendly activities and memory-making moments, Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari also offer some terrific perks like free drinks, free wifi, free parking and free sunscreen. The free drink options also include Gatorade, lemonade, tea and coffee in addition to a variety of sodas. This was a crowd pleaser for our entire family and a wonderful value add to the admission to the parks. My teens normally fuss at putting on sunscreen, but found the sunscreen stations “cool” and readily applied some before and during our time in the water-park.
Plus, they may not admit it, but teens still think Santa is pretty cool and my boys also love the other holiday themes throughout the park, especially Halloween. Food was another hit as the park offers a great variety, including a barbecue, tacos and a restaurant offering a full Thanksgiving dinner. Of course, there’s pizza, ice cream, funnel cakes and all the other theme park goodies you love, too.
I asked my sons to share their top 10 attraction choices from Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari. They had no problem quickly selecting ten and both were in full agreement on them. So here you have it, authentically from the view of 13 and 15-year-old visitors, the top 10 attractions for teens:
Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari Top 10 Attractions for Teens
- Mammoth Water Coaster – the world’s longest water coaster, over 1/3rd mile long!
- Revolution – zero gravity ride that offers a fun way to cool off and to dry off after the water rides
- Thunderbird Steel Roller Coaster – the nation’s first launched wing coaster launches riders from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds
- The Raven – classic wooden roller coaster featuring a 120-foot tunnel and drops of 85 and 61 feet
- Bahari Wave Pool – a giant family wave pool featuring geysers, sprays, and jets
- The Legend – wooden roller coaster based on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- Zoombabwe – world largest enclosed waterslide
- Wildbeest Water Coaster – world’s second-longest water coaster, covering more than 2 acres
- Watubee Family Water Slide – experience nonstop twists and turns on a four-to-five person raft
- Rough Riders – buffalo and horse-themed bumper cars
Have you visited Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari? What attractions would you add to our top 10 for teens?
So there is actually a place that can make teens have enough fun so they won’t say “I’m bored” or “I want to go home” or “This is so lame.” or you get the idea? I thought these places were just legends :))! And the sunscreen stations must be a God send because my teens don’t even want to hear about putting on sunscreen! It’s also pretty “cool” that your kids made this list from their perspective. So, the Mammoth
Water Coaster was their favorite, right?
LOL legends! Hard to believe, Amelia, aye? Totally true, though, my teens were happy all day at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, which of course makes me a happy mom! The list is in order from what they spontaneously listed off and the Mammoth Water Coaster was the first one they both announced as their favorite, so yep, it gets top billing!
Thanks for visiting, Barb – what a great list! Do your teens know that Mammoth was recently certified by the Guinness World Record people as the World’s Longest Water Coaster? Pretty cool, huh?
Uh, where is Voyage?? It should definitely be top 3 on any list!