Taking the Kids: Heading to see what's new at theme parks
Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Mo., (www.worldsoffun.com) celebrates its 40th anniversary with the completion of the largest expansion of the Oceans of Fun water park in the attraction's history -- six new slides are housed on a 65-foot-tall complex overlooking "Surf City Wave Pool." At the top, you can climb into the "Aqua-Launch," a chamber with a floor that suddenly drops out, sending you down slides into a high-speed near vertical drop.
And in San Diego, Calif., there's the new Aquatica San Diego (www.seaworldparks.com/seaworld-sandiego/aquatica-california) with a 500,000-gallon wave pool, water slides and Loggerhead Lane where you can float down a 1,250-foot lazy river watching more than a dozen Caribbean flamingoes. Pretty nice on a hot summer day!
Turn your water park adventure into an overnight stay at one of the Wisconsin Dells (www.wisconsindells.com) water park resorts or at one of the Great Wolf Lodges (www.greatwolf.com). When the kids get tired of the water slides at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio, there's "Howl at the Moon Glow Golf" -- indoor glow-in-the-dark mini-golf that takes you through a "forest" filled with woodland creatures (www.greatwolf.com/mason/waterpark).
But no matter how fantastic the attractions, the kids are still going to beg for souvenirs. Starting a collection can solve that problem, some of the kids I met suggested. "Collect pins," said Tressa Stevenson, 12, who is from Arizona. She said her older sister, mom and grandma also collect them. "You have the memories of each time you came, and you can trade with other people," she said.
One 11-year-old visitor thought an autograph book with the autographs of all your favorite characters in it is a much better bet. "You get to show everyone at school and it is a keepsake you can keep until you are grown up," she explained.
Just make sure to keep your pen handy, the kids said. Cameras too. And see as much as you can because you don't know when you'll be back!
Snacks make theme park memories too -- churros and Shamu-shaped ice cream bars, giant turkey legs and "especially frozen chocolate covered bananas," said John Matthew Rogers, 12, visiting Disney's California Adventure from Little Rock, Ark.
Save one for me.
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For more about theme parks this summer, check out the TakingtheKids "Guide to Summer Fun" at http://www.takingthekids.com/seasonal-travel-tips/our-very-best-family-summer-vacation-ideas-2/ and also follow "taking the kids" on www.twitter.com, where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.
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