SAN ANTONIO – The Texas heat doesn’t appear to be going anywhere with more forecasted 100-degree days in our future. Luckily, Texas has several indoor water parks where you can escape the scorching sun.
There are tons of lakes and rivers you can visit in our area but this year isn’t just hot — it’s dry. Record-breakingly dry.
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Some rivers, like the Frio and Guadalupe, have even measured at zero-flow, which is not great for cooling off.
Indoor water parks might be the way to play this summer.
Here are a few locations for indoor water parks in Texas:
- The Cove at Lakefront in Little Elm - This 42,000 square foot park is housed under a glass roof and is a great option for families with younger kids. It’s located in the Dallas area and is a five-hour drive from downtown San Antonio.
- Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark in Grand Prairie - Epic Waters is an 80,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor water park with a retractable roof and has been referred to as a “cruise ship on land.” The drive from downtown San Antonio is roughly four and a half hours.
- Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine - There is 80,000 square feet of indoor water park at this North Texas resort. It’s just under a five-hour drive from San Antonio and offers an array of activities for families.
- Kalahari Resort in Round Rock - This 350-acre resort complex has 223,000 square feet of water park, making it one of the largest indoor water parks in the U.S. It’s also one of the closest locations to San Antonio and takes just under two hours to drive there from downtown.
- The Splash Shack in Cedar Park - This is a micro-indoor water park designed for kids ages 1-10. The Splash Shack is 10,000 square feet and has a 30-foot tall play structure with a large dump bucket. It’s located roughly two hours from downtown San Antonio.
- WaterPark at the Villages in Flint - This 19,000 square foot, glass enclosed park is climate controlled and has a retractable roof. It’s located in Flint, near the larger city of Tyler. It’s a 5 hour and 30 minute drive from downtown San Antonio.
Texas is expected to add another Great Wolf Lodge location to its ranks sometime in 2025. A report from KSAT’s sister station KPRC states that the indoor water park will break ground in 2022 in the city of Webster, just south of Houston.
It should be noted that there are also other water parks in Texas that feature indoor areas but the ones in the above-mentioned list have the majority of the park located inside.