Whale’s Tale in Lincoln, New Hampshire is the best water park in New England.
Nestled in the White Mountains, Whale’s Tale does not have as many attractions as
some of the region’s other water parks.
Instead this park focuses on quality.
The signature slides at this park are some of my favorites anywhere and the park compliments
this with top notch customer service.
So in this video, I will explain why you should visit Whale’s Tale if you’re a fan of
water parks.
Whale’s Tale opened over 3 decades ago and this 17 acre water park looks great.
It’s a rather narrow park, but it is very well landscaped.
The North End’s midway circles around a small pond and the park has a lot of green
space where guests can freely relax.
The one odd thing about this park’s appearance are the slide colors.
Outside of a few slides on the water play structure and the relatively new Poseidon’s
Voyage, every single slide is blue.
And it’s pretty much the same shade of blue too.
So I’m not sure if Whale’s Tale’s owners really love that color or they got a great
deal on paint, but it’s weird to have a water park with so little variation in color.
This isn’t really an issue since the slides look good.
It’s just an odd quirk with this park.
Another difference is that Whale’s Tale requires visitors to sign a liability waiver
before entering the park.
This can be done at the park entrance or online before you arrive.
It’s not a big deal for me, but it’s rare to see this done at an amusement or water
park.
I’ve typically only seen these at adventure parks for mountain coasters.
Continuing on the arrival process, you have a few ticket options for Whale’s Tale.
Summer day tickets will cost you $45-50 without any discounts as of 2021.
If you visit earlier or later in the park’s season, admission is usually a little cheaper.
But your best savings will occur if you take advantage of the afternoon specials.
If you arrive after 3 pm, you have two deals.
The first is to visit for that afternoon alone for roughly half the cost of a day ticket.
Or you can visit for the remainder of the day and get the next day for just $5 more
than standard admission.
These two afternoon specials can only be purchased at the park.
And even if you only have 2-3 hours at the park, it’s usually possible to do all the
major slides multiple times.
My most recent visit took place on a sunny summer Saturday and the longest line I saw
was 15-20 minutes for the tube slides.
The extreme body slides were no more than 5 minute waits.
My past visits took place on a cloudy Sunday and weekdays, and I can’t recall waiting
more than 5 minutes for anything.
In short, this is a great park if you hate long lines.
Unlike most parks that have an endless sea of lockers, Whale’s Tale only has a handful.
I’ve seen them run out of lockers on a few visits.
But don’t worry, when this happens, you can check your bags or keys at the gift shop.
It’s a little less convenient than a locker, but I’m glad the park has this policy to
account for this issue.
In general, the service at this park is excellent.
The employees are super friendly and outgoing.
Two experiences in particular standout.
First, Banzai Pipeline is a tube slide where you can only ride in pairs.
I had no luck finding another guest to ride with so the park called a lifeguard to ride
with me.
I don’t know if the guard was on break or not, but I hope he enjoyed his ride as much
as me.
Second, the employee working Poseidon’s Voyage a few years ago was crazy in the best
way possible.
After closing the drop pod, he was pressing himself against the pod and banging against
the glass.
It was a comical sight that I doubt you’d ever see at a corporate park.
Another really cool feature this park offers is the weather guarantee.
If the slides have to close for weather at any point in the day, you have two options.
You can either wait out the storm and likely have minimal crowds the rest of the day.
Or two, you can choose to leave the park and you get a rain check to return based on the
time the attractions close.
So if a storm closed everything at 1:34 pm, you can return after 1:34 pm any day for the
remainder of the season.
Or you can return for a full-day and take the prorated amount off your daily admission.
That beats a lot of parks that close with no compensation.
Moving onto the slide lineup, Whale’s Tale doesn’t have as many slides as the other
major water parks in New England.
But I think Whale’s Tale has the best quality if you like thrilling water slides.
They have the two best water slides in the region.
The best is Banzai Pipeline, a halfpipe water slide.
This slide has a steep plunge into the halfpipe that gives a tiny pop of airtime.
Then you have a frightening climb up the halfpipe.
This section not only has a scary visual since there’s no bumper at the end of the slide,
but you also get some weightlessness on the way down.
And then you fly over this airtime hump.
It looks innocent off-ride, but it delivers a shocking pop of airtime.
Just know you need to ride in pairs as I noted earlier.
The second best slide, by a slim margin, is Poseidon’s Voyage.
This drop pod slide is the park’s most intense attraction and one of the best drop pod slides
anywhere.
The initial plunge is very steep and you get a true freefall sensation.
You then whip around a fast and forceful low-turn.
The whole ride is a blur.
And unlike some body slides, this one is extremely smooth.
On the same tower as Poseidon’s Voyage are two other pairs of body slides.
You have the Plunge, which is a dueling double-down speed slide.
This slide builds up some good speed, especially on the second drop.
The runoff can be a little jarring since you can horizontally slide in the trough, but
it’s thankfully not too bad on your back.
Speaking of awkward runoffs, the king of that is the Downpour body slide next door.
At the end of this slide, you have a wall on one side and then the slide angles diagonally
in the water.
So you sort of slow down and then slowly slide into the water.
I’ve never seen this kind of runoff before.
As for the slide itself, it was much faster in past visits.
In my recent visit, I came to a stop towards the start and struggled to build up any speed
until halfway through the ride.
This changed the slide from one of my favorite traditional body slides to a merely decent
slide.
The final body slide is Eye of the Storm, a body bowl slide.
This one has a fast drop and a wicked turn into the bowl.
You can feel some of the seams on your back, but it’s fairly comfortable.
But the highlight of this slide is the awkward fall into the bowl.
Sometimes you go feet first.
Other times you go head over heels.
This one is for strong swimmers only.
Compared to a lot of water parks, Whale’s Tale doesn’t have too many tube slides.
You have just two in Beluga Boggin and Harpoon Express, which are average for the genre.
For the kids, you have Shipwreck Island, a giant water play structure.
And then for the littlest guests, you have Whale Harbor.
Both areas were colorful and seemed popular amongst children.
For non-water slide attractions, you have a flow rider in Akua Beach.
I’m awful at these, but it’s possible to do spins and barrel rolls if you know what
you’re doing.
Then you have the obligatory lazy river and wave pool to relax in.
In terms of food, I have never purchased anything at Whale’s Tale so I can’t comment how
good it is.
So do I recommend Whale’s Tale?
If you’re a fan of water parks and are in the New England area, yes.
The park is clean, well-run, and the top end slides at this park are great.
Banzai Pipeline, Eye of the Storm, and Poseidon’s Voyage are three of the best water slides
in New England.
The park’s premier attractions are on the more thrilling side, so if you prefer gentler
water slides, I would maybe recommend a place like Water Country over Whale’s Tale.
But based on my tastes, this is easily my favorite water park in New England.
So those are my thoughts on Whale’s Tale Water Park.
What are your thoughts about this park?
Have you been there?
I would love to hear your thoughts about this water park down in the comments.
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