Aquaboggan is the oldest water park in all of Maine. This family-owned water park is
located in Saco, Maine and it has been making family memories for over 40 years.
This park has a modest collection of slides,
but it’s a lot of fun…as long as you don’t visit on a Monday. Find out everything you
need to know about Aquaboggan including why you should avoid this park on a Monday.
Located just down the street from Funtown U.S.A. and a short drive from Old Orchard Beach,
Aquaboggan has a laid-back feel. This is one of those parks that openly encourages guests
to bring in food and drinks, so a lot of people come here for family outings.
This is one of the cheaper water parks in the area. As of 2021, Aquaboggan cost just $28 per
day. That will grant you access to all the park’s slides, pools, and mini golf course. Then for $10
more, you can add the Go Karts and Bumper Boats. If you’re not interested in riding anything, the
park offers a $15 spectator pass that still gives you access to all the pools and mini golf course.
As for which day to visit, it’s backwards with Aquaboggan. Crowds are manageable 6 days a week.
The park actually states their least crowded days are actually Saturday and Sunday,
which is something you rarely see for an amusement or water park. But if you visit Tuesday through
Sunday, you won’t have many lines to deal with. So why are Mondays so busy? It’s bargain day.
Everyone pays just $15 for admission. The difference in crowds between a Monday and any
other day is eye-popping. Just look at the line to get into the park this past year on a Monday.
And I arrived a half hour early! If you do want to visit on a Monday,
make sure you arrive early so you’re one of the first ones in the gate.
Then I would recommend hitting the Stealth half pipe slide. It’s the park’s most popular slide
and it’s close proximity to the main entrance causes it to build a line sooner than the others.
Then I would hit the Yankee Ripper sled slide on the backside of the hill.
Then you should be able to hit the remaining slides on the front side of the hill
before most crowds have entered the park. Most days, most slides will be no more than
5-10 minute waits at worst. But on Monday, the lines can stretch to the bottom for each slide.
The crew sends rafts as quickly as they can, but a few slides like Stealth and Yankee Ripper
have rather low throughputs. That’s not an issue most days, but it can be on Mondays.
Aquaboggan has an older appearance. While most water parks nowadays have bright and colorful
water slides, most of Aquaboggan’s slides are either painted a mundane white or a sky blue.
While the park isn’t flashy, the park looks fine. It’s clean and well-landscaped.
Now let’s talk about the slide lineup. The star is easily Stealth. This Water Fun Products half
pipe slide has a thrilling initial plunge. It’s very steep for a tube slide and the
drop is gut-wrenching, especially if you go backwards. Aquaboggan allows you to ride their
tube slides backwards, so I strongly recommend taking advantage of this rule. The rest of the
half pipe offers some mild weightlessness, but this slide is all about that initial plunge.
If you’re a fan of tube slides, you may be out of luck at Aquaboggan. There’s only one other one in
Totally Tubular. This one winds down the hillside. There are no notable drops, but you can really
slide up the walls in a double tube or if you ride solo, the ride may spin you during the descent.
On the same hill are a trio of mat slides named Pipeline.
The middle is the wildest in my opinion, as you really sway through the trough as you pass through
a tunnel and zip around the subsequent turn. Next door is Turbo Drop, which is the park’s
duo of speed slides. The drops on this one are pretty gradual, but the slide is smooth
and you get some moderate speed by the end. The final slide of note is Yankee Ripper.
On the backside of the hill, this slide was previously removed from the park roughly 2
decades ago, but it was reintroduced for the 2019 season. Riders lug a heavy sled atop the hill.
And then they plunge down a sizable drop and skim across the water.
The drop is fun and then it’s a challenge maintaining your balance so you don’t wipeout. I
go into more detail in a separate review, but this is probably the park’s second best attraction.
For kids, you have a smaller play area and the popular Aquasaucer. The latter is an
inflatable dome kids can climb and slide down. If you want to relax, you have the obligatory
wave pool but you do not have a lazy river. It always surprised me Aquaboggan didn’t have one.
They’re a staple at most water parks. Complimenting these slides are an ok set
of go karts, a set of bumper boats with an odd shaped area, and an ok mini golf
courses. These aren’t musts, but they’re good if you want a break from the slides.
I’ve never gotten anything to eat at Aquaboggan since I usually eat at Old
Orchard Beach afterwards and from what I’ve seen, most visitors seem to pack their own lunch.
So do I recommend Aquaboggan? It’s probably New England’s best value water park. The park is
fairly priced and crowds are manageable most days. While the slide lineup isn’t gigantic, Stealth
and Yankee Ripper bring the thrills and then you have a few family slides as well on the hillside.
I think Splashtown U.S.A. just down the road is a little better for slides,
but Aquaboggan has a more relaxing atmosphere. And then I would take a few other water parks in New
England over Aquaboggan for sure like Whale’s Tale, Hurricane Harbor, and Water Country,
but Aquaboggan is always fun for a few hours. So those are my thoughts on Aquaboggan,
the oldest water park in Maine. What are your thoughts on this park? Have you been there?
Let me know what you think of the place down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
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lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!