water country is arguably the most
well-known water park in all of new
england
located in portsmouth new hampshire this
26 acre park originally opened in 1984
but for the past two decades it has been
operated by palace entertainment which
is a subdivision of parque's rayonidos
while this water park is now owned by a
chain
it still feels like a family park in a
lot of areas
in this video i'll be reviewing water
country and explaining why this is a
very cool spot when the sun is blazing
and the summer gets hot
if those words sound familiar that's
probably because you've heard this
park's infectious theme song featured in
all of their commercials
if you've never heard it here you
[Music]
not to be confused with virginia's water
country
the portsmouth new hampshire one is one
of the pricier water parks out there
daily admission without any discounts
costs roughly 45 dollars as of 2021
although you can get a discount if you
buy in advance online
or you can do what i did and purchase a
palace entertainment platinum pass
because it also gets you into a few
other parks in new england such as
storyland and lake compounds
on top of the entrance cost you also
need to pay ten dollars to park
and the road into the park is quite
interesting
after paying to park you drive down this
swampy dirt road through the woods
it feels like you've taken a wrong turn
but this is in fact how you get to the
parking lot
and fittingly the general parking lot is
an unpaved field of grass and dirt
the woodsy feel is maintained in several
areas of the park
the outer perimeter of water country is
extremely well shaded
it is rare to see that many trees in a
water park
the park as a whole looks good
it starts with the entry plaza
the park sign is framed next to a
waterfall from the lazy river
and then the slides look decent too
the park is a mix of slides both old and
new
and in general the slides get newer as
you progress further into the park
some of the older slides do have duller
paint schemes but they have been
repainting the older slides one by one
with more vibrant paint schemes
and i suspect this will continue which
will only give the park more life
one of the best parts about water
country is the staff
they are among the friendliest i've
encountered anywhere
all of them were smiling and joking with
guests
they all seem to be genuinely happy to
be working there
in fact they were a little too friendly
to a fault
there was one situation on patriot the
park speed slide where a guest stood at
the top for 10 minutes frozen with fear
the employee spent all that time
encouraging the guests to try patriot
which caused the line to grind to a halt
that really isn't something you'd see at
a larger park where they would have
ushered that guest away in order to keep
the line moving
but thankfully why i saw a patriot was
an isolated incident
in general the staff working the slides
were very efficient
they'd have the next guest ready to
dispatch as soon as they got the all
clear i've only visited on hot summer
weekdays and most slides have no more
than a 10 to 15 minute wait
but there are two exceptions
dragon's den which is the park's bowl
slide and dr von dark's which is the
park's funnel slide
will have the two longest lines by far
these slides have had 30 to 45 minute
waits whenever i visited
but since they're in the very back of
the park right next to each other it is
possible to ride them with no weight if
you had their first thing in the day
and one other note in these two slides
is that you can only ride in pairs
just keep that in mind if you're
visiting solo or with an odd numbered
group but to be honest i would not
recommend riding dr von dark at all
is my least favorite water slide of all
time
i've run a few of these mini funnel
slides before and i've enjoyed them but
this one is different
this one is brutal
the initial turn is great it pulls some
good g's
and then you rapidly speed into darkness
usually i like when a sly is pitch black
but here it causes pain
if you've never ridden these mini funnel
slides you suddenly decelerate when you
enter those funnels
the change in motion in the funnel is
extremely abrupt and violent
i've ridden this slide twice and both
times i've collided heads with my fellow
rider and it wasn't a light tap either
it was a hard slam
my fiancee's family had the same issue
with the slide so it's not an isolated
incident either
i will never ride the slide again and
take caution if you decide to ride the
rest of water country's slide lineup is
pretty good and well-rounded they have
slides for kids
families and thrill seekers
and they have most major slide types too
the only major slide style they're
missing is a water coaster and i'm
hoping that's something the park
considers in the future because a few of
the palace water parks have them already
and they're great rides there
my favorite sly water country is patriot
the aforementioned speed slide
this slide stands 58 feet or 18 meters
tall
while it's not as tall as some of the
other free fall slides out there it's
pretty steep and you can momentarily
feel yourself lift off the slide
the ride is over in an instant but it's
a fast adrenaline rush
and it's one of the smoothest speed
slides out there too
which does make sense because it's new
for many years patriot spot was home to
a nearly identical free-fall slide named
double geronimo which as the name
suggests consisted of two water slides
side by side
when water country replaced the aging
slide with patriot they only installed
one slide
while it is a bummer to lose the racing
aspect the extra capacity definitely
wasn't necessary based on my visits
lower down and patriots tower are a trio
of body slides uncreatively named the
triple water slides
these are some of the park's oldest
slides and you can definitely tell
they're slower paced and you can really
feel the joints in between slide pieces
next door of this tower is the double
dive boggan which is an older dual mat
raising slide
this one has larger and steeper drops
than the newer ones so while it is over
in a flash you get some fantastic speed
the rest of the slide lineup is
dominated by tube slides
dragon's den is the best of the bunch
this tube slide has a great initial
plunge as it's decently tall and fast
and then you spin around a misty toilet
bowl with a menacing dragon above the
exit
i love how water country plus this
otherwise common slide to make it
memorable
shoot and screamer are two additional
tube slides with large drops
screamer is an open slide that goes
straight down
is one of the largest drops you'll find
on any tube slide
meanwhile shoot is an enclosed double
down
neither slide offers air time but the
speedy drops are quite zippy
another slide tower has black hole and
warp 8
black hole is a weird one
it's another pitch black slide that has
a solid spiral at the start
and a decent drop at the end
but the middle has these weird bumps
that splash you and slow you down
they feel like pseudo trim breaks to be
honest
meanwhile warp 8 is your average tube
slide with some decent turns and small
dips in a translucent tube
towards the main entrance you have some
open tube slides in plunge and racing
rapids
both slides are rather slow but the wide
turns have a tendency to spin your tube
backwards
and plunge has a decently large drop at
the end for some variety which is why
it's called what it is
lastly you have the family raft slide
tower with thunder falls and wild canyon
thunder falls is the open one
it starts slow but it has some wild
turns later in the ride where it feels
like your raft will flip over because of
how high you slide up the wall
unfortunately i have not ridden the dark
one in wild canyon
it has been closed in all of my visits
if you want to relax you have a sizeable
wave pool and a decent lazy river
towards the front plus several lounging
areas either out in the sun
or in the shade depending on your
preference
for kids you have a variety of kiddie
pools and water play structures
scattered throughout the park
i like how they aren't in a single area
so families can progress through the
park together and still find attractions
suitable for the youngest kids
i've never gotten anything to eat at
water country but most of the food
stands are towards the lockers which
logistically makes sense
of the new england water parks i prefer
whale's tail and six flags new england's
hurricane harbor because both those
parks have better thrill slides but i
think water country might be new
england's best water park for families
given how plentiful and deep their slide
lineup is
it's a solid water park if you're in new
england but not want to prioritize if
you're coming from a distance
so those are my thoughts on portsmouth
new hampshire's water country what are
your thoughts on this water park
how do you think it compares to the
other water parks in new england
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