Amusement Parks & Waterparks
Beckoning families year after year, Virginia's amusement parks and waterparks offer memories that will last a lifetime! Choose your next family adventure from mega-parks like Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens to indoor and local waterparks. Want to know which ones are close to you? Check out the map below.
Kings Dominion & Soak City
A 400-acre theme and water park, Kings Dominion, is home to more than 60 rides and attractions, including 13 world-class roller coasters known to international coaster enthusiasts. Located just 20 miles north of Richmond and 75 miles south of Washington, D.C., this Central Virginia theme park opens its gates to more than 13 million visitors a year.
Located within Kings Dominion, Soak City is 20 acres of aquatic fun that is included with the price of admission. The world's tallest enclosed dark tube slide is a highlight of the park, as well as a giant water-powered playhouse with a swinging bridge. Hurricane Heights is a 65' slide complex with three experiences and Splash Island is the perfect play space for young children, which includes small slides, water sprays and more.
Busch Gardens® & Water Country USA
The European setting of Busch Gardens® has been voted "The World's Most Beautiful Theme Park" every year since 1990, and proves to be a delight for adults. But it's the rides that thrill the kids and give it another distinction, "The World's Favorite Theme Park!"
Visit England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy without the hassle of passports, customs and language barriers. Every country at Busch Gardens showcases popular foods, landmarks, gardens, shops and entertainment that put you in the middle of a particular European village. Hit the roller coasters of each country, too. Pantheon, one of the newest of Busch Gardens' nine coasters, is rated in the Top 50 in the world!
Virginia's largest family waterpark, Water Country USA features plunging water slides, twisting flumes, a free-floating river, surf-boggans, waterfalls, caves, water curtains, lagoons and a huge Surfer's Bay with real surfing waves. Make a bee-line for Vanish Point, the drop slide that's actually four -- two super loop slides and two free-fall slides!
Great Wolf Lodge
Great Wolf Lodge is a 67,000-square-foot indoor waterpark that has been named the Number One Pool in the USA by TripAdvisor, and is a year-round favorite at a warm 84 degrees! From twisting tube slides that are both indoor and outdoor, to the family flume, tornado funnel, lazy river and children's leisure pool, Great Wolf is a family getaway for the memory books! In warmer months, the fun continues outside at the Raccoon Lagoon with fountains, water basketball and more!
Keep the kids entertained all weekend long with indoor activities including a ropes course, 3-D movie theater, bowling alley, arcade, and even a Build-A-Bear Workshop.
Massanutten WaterPark
Open year-round and always heated at 84° F, Massanutten's Indoor WaterPark features a unique multi-story interactive fortress with eight massive water slides, a giant tipping bucket, water falls, cannons, a lazy river and FlowRider – the largest surf simulator in Virginia!
The fun doesn't stop inside! The Outdoor WaterPark is open Memorial Day through Labor Day, offering the perfect spot for cooling off in the mountains this summer. Race down the 40-foot water slide, kick back in a private cabana or at the White Caps Wave Pool – small beach with simulated waves.