Kemah Boardwalk in Kemah, Texas is an entertainment complex on the Texas Gulf Coast.
This complex is home to hotels, shops, restaurants, games, a marina, and an amusement park.
In this video, I will touch on the complex as a whole, but this review will mostly delve
into the small amusement park, which is home to Boardwalk Bullet.
Kemah is a coastal town roughly 30 miles southeast of Houston.
Kemah Boardwalk is located on Galveston Bay, so the complex has a wonderful atmosphere.
You get a refreshing breeze and both the boardwalk and rides give gorgeous views of the water.
The complex is owned by Landry’s.
This company was founded in the 1980s and they have since expanded to own several notable
restaurants such as the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Rainforest Café, and Morton’s
Steakhouse.
While their portfolio is most well-known for their restaurants, they have also expanded
their offerings to include hotels, aquariums, the Golden Nugget casinos, and two amusement
parks.
Kemah Boardwalk was their first amusement park.
In 1997, Landy’s purchased property on the Kemah Waterfront and the complex opened in
1998.
Their second amusement park is located just 26 miles south in Galveston Island Historic
Pleasure Pier.
That one opened in 2012 and it shares a lot of similarities to Kemah Boardwalk- both in
terms of set-up and their ride offerings.
Both are extremely compact parks on the Galveston Bay surrounded by entertainment districts.
And both have a ride lineup focusing mostly on flat rides with one signature roller coaster.
Despite how Houston is the fourth most populous city in the United States and despite how
their climate supports yearround operation for amusement parks, Kemah Boardwalk and Pleasure
Pier are the only two amusement parks in the area.
The area used to have Six Flags Astroworld until it closed after the 2005 season.
Houston deserves a major park, but at least Kemah Boardwalk has a ride that can compete
with the big parks in Boardwalk Bullet.
I have a separate review on Boardwalk Bullet, but this Gravity Group wooden roller coaster
is fantastic.
This wood coaster occupies just one acre, which is remarkable considering the scale
of this coaster- it’s 96 feet or 29 meters tall and has 3236 feet or 986 meters of track.
Gravity Group accomplished this by having the ride crossover itself a record-breaking
42 times.
The layout is masterful.
It’s fast-paced, lasts far longer than you’d expect, and the ride offers a wide range of
sensations- mostly airtime but you have some positive Gs and laterals sprinkled in as well.
It’s a top 15 wood coaster for me and the reason I think enthusiasts should plan a visit
to Kemah Boardwalk.
Boardwalk Bullet is located in its own little area, separated from the park’s other attractions.
The park has a dozen other rides in a small cluster, with roughly half of them coming
from Chance Rides.
Despite the park’s size constraints, the park has a balanced mix of kiddie rides, family
rides, and thrill rides.
You have some observation rides, some spinning rides, some pendulum rides, and a drop tower.
Both the Century Wheel and Observation Tower give breathtaking aerial views of the park
and bay.
Just know that the Ferris Wheel does not allow single riders and the Observation Tower is
often closed due to maintenance.
You also have a unique train.
Most of the amusement rides are contained in their own area, but the train gives a complete
tour of the Kemah Boardwalk complex.
You get a narrated tour of not just the rides, but you also pass the restaurants, shops,
and hotel.
I was surprised how much of the boardwalk this train covered.
And as an added bonus, there are a few tunnels, including one by Boardwalk Bullet with some
animatronics simulating a gunfight.
The one flat ride of note is the 14 story Drop Zone, an ARM/Larson drop tower.
These are some of the most forceful drop towers on the market.
The drop packs a wallop, giving sustained airtime and a gut-wrenching stomach dropping
sensation on the way down.
And this one gives a great view because of its proximity to the water.
Kemah Boardwalk is a rare free admission park, so if you want to ride the attractions, you
have two options.
You can either pay-per-ride or purchase an all-day wristband.
The rides cost $4-6 each or you can buy an all-day pass for $25, as of early 2021.
You also have the option to buy a combo pass that includes all of the Landry’s attractions
in the area including Kemah Boardwalk, Pleasure Pier, and the nearby aquariums.
You also have two additional attractions not included on the wristband.
First, you have the Iron Eagle zipline.
This attraction lifts you atop the parking garage and flies over the roadway and parking
lot on its way back to the ride area.
Second, you have the Boardwalk Beast high-speed boat ride.
This is similar to the one I experienced at Pavilion Park in Myrtle Beach last summer.
The Boardwalk Beast is a 25 minute thrill ride giving a high-speed, 4 mile cruise on
Galveston Bay reaching speeds up to 40 mph or 64 kph.
Kemah Boardwalk is open daily year-round.
But there are three things you need to watch out for if you’re planning a trip to this
park.
First, since the park is open year-round, rides undergo annual maintenance.
The big one to watch out for is Boardwalk Bullet.
This coaster typically undergoes winter maintenance in the first quarter each year.
If you’re planning a visit towards the very end or beginning of a year, I’d recommend
reaching out to the park to verify Boardwalk Bullet’s rehab isn’t coming up.
Second, the park sometimes has reduced ride offerings on weekdays in off-peak periods.
Occasionally, the park will only run the ferris wheel, carousel, and train on these days.
That means Boardwalk Bullet may be closed.
When I visited on a weekday in December 2020, I could purchase tickets online for these
three rides, but nothing else.
That led me to believe Boardwalk Bullet was only operating on weekends, but I called the
park to verify it was open.
I recommend you do the same if you’re visiting on an off-peak day and encounter something
similar.
Third, the park may have rotating ride operators on off-peak days.
From what I saw, Boardwalk Bullet is fully staffed all-day since it requires 2 operators
and is on its own area.
The other rides would share operators, which was perfectly acceptable on such a light day.
One benefit visiting on a day like this is that parking in the nearby lots will be free.
Dispatches can be slow at this park even if a ride is staffed, as the restraint checks
for each ride, particularly on Boardwalk Bullet are tedious.
Thankfully, I’ve never seen lines get horrendous here.
The worst line I saw was roughly 20-30 minutes for Boardwalk Bullet on a summer Saturday
when it was running one train.
One other note on Boardwalk Bullet.
In my 2018 visit, the ride was brought offline for 1-2 hours midday to clear out the queue
and perform a safety inspection.
I didn’t notice this in my 2020 visits, but the park had much shorter hours on those
days.
Typically, Kemah Boardwalk is open quite late on weekends and unlike most parks that clear
out as the day progresses, Kemah Boardwalk gets busier.
This is because the park is in an entertainment district loaded with restaurants.
When Kemah Boardwalk is busier, the park can feel very congested.
The boardwalk as a whole is 60 acres in size, which is bigger than Disneyland.
However, a majority of that land is occupied by the parking lots, restaurants, shops, and
hotel.
Only a small fraction of that land is for the amusement park.
This is why the park crams so many attractions together so if the park is buzzing, you’ll
be shoulder to shoulder with people on the midway.
Beyond the rides, you have a dozen different food offerings in the complex, several of
which are Landry’s properties.
For this reason, the amusement section doesn’t really use space on restaurants or food stands.
Towards the back of the complex, you have an aquarium plus several shops and the Boardwalk
Inn hotel.
I have not visited anything beyond the amusement rides, but these seemed to be quite popular
with families.
So do I recommend visiting Kemah Boardwalk?
If you’re in the Houston area, absolutely!
The complex has something for everyone from rides to food to shopping to a pleasant atmosphere.
If you’re a coaster enthusiast, Boardwalk Bullet should be on your bucket list.
Kemah Boardwalk is roughly 4 hours from the other major parks in Texas, so while it is
a large detour, I’d argue Boardwalk Bullet is worth it.
Especially since you can pair Kemah Boardwalk with Galveston Pleasure Pier for a full-day
of fun.
So those are my thoughts on Kemah Boardwalk, the amusement park and entertainment district
on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Have you been to this park?
What are your thoughts on Boardwalk Bullet or anything on this boardwalk?
I would love to hear your thoughts down in the comments.
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