Cowabunga Bay Water Park – Thumbs Down
The Cowabunga Bay Water Park recently sprouted up near my house. It is on a frontage road in Draper, UT, just north of 123rd South. It looked like a lot of fun, with a giant maze of a tower and multicolored sliders sprouting in all directions:
Unfortunately it isn’t nearly as fun as it looks.
First a couple of disclaimers. We could have gone on a hotter day, but it was about 85 degrees which should be fine water park weather. Second, my kids decided very quickly that they didn’t like the slides at all, which limited the fun the adults could have somewhat.
The park seems to suffer from two fatal flaws. Both could potentially be corrected, so I offer this post both as a warning to anyone that might want to try it out, and in the hope that somebody from the park might read this and fix the problems.
The biggest problem is that the slides are way too slow. The two shortest slides, meant for small children, are the only slides that don’t suffer from this problem. The giant six story high tube slides seem to be the worst. At first I thought that they need to be steeper, which is probably true, but not a problem that is likely to be addressed. But thinking about it more, the real problem for me was that they don’t send enough water down the slides. I was barely moving until the end of the two largest slides, when they get a bit steeper. If I’m going to wait in line for several minutes for a slider I want it to be thrilling, not an exercise in frustration.
The second problem, which is what I think scared my kids off, is that the water in the slide area is cold. Really cold. This might have been ok on a windless day, but Draper is famous for its wind. That’s why it is one of the top hang-gliding and para-gliding spots in the world. The wind blows nonstop. Combine this with cold water, and then hundreds of features on the tower that spray water at you as you climb, and you have a recipe for hypothermia.
The water in the wading pool and lazy river area is much warmer, which was a welcome relief. Unfortunately that area is crowded with teenagers who a roughhousing to a degree that my kids (6 and 4) didn’t feel safe there. The lifeguards were totally oblivious to this behavior even after witnessing 16 year olds landing on small children.
So would I go back? Nope. Frankly the slides at Classic Skating, while not nearly as interesting visually, are a whole lot faster and the water is warmer, and other water parks that are a bit further away are much better as well. If someone tells me that they’ve heated the water, and that they’ve started putting a lot more of it down the slides then perhaps I’ll reconsider.
Posted on July 30, 2009, in Pop Culture. Bookmark the permalink. 77 Comments.
Steve Evans
RJH
Scott B.
John C.
Susan M
Aaron Brown
ninemoons
arandomjohn
kulturblogadmin
Kyle M
Brad
KulturBlogGuest
MCQ
Wm
Rebecca
Ivan
Geoff J
btdgreg
Clark Goble
Aaron R.
Tim J
Draper is Suburbia run amok (and I like Suburbia!). I remember when it was just a single exit and a VH Factory Outlet.
BTD Greg,
Cowabunga is actually located in the parking lot of the VF Factory Outlet. As far as I can tell the Factory Outlet is either closed or a ghost town. Oddly, norther Utah’s first In-and-Out Burger is going in right about there as well.
But what about the giant bucket of water? Or is that just like taking a cold shower?
It’s interesting that they seemingly haven’t put any market research into this. From what I hear, local community rec centers are jazzing up to include lazy rivers and slides (in particular, Lehi and South Jordan)
Haven’t been to a water park in years, but it would have been Seven Peaks or Lagoon. I still had a good time, but my wife hates the slides.
Too bad. My son really wanted to go.
My family is visiting grandma in Utah and went to Seven Peaks today (I had to stay back for work). They tell me they are loving it.
(It is a strange coincidence you published this post today.)
FHL,
Lehi has a splash tower with a giant bucket of much warmer water. Its slide is also much faster than the Cowabunga slides. I understand that Lindon has a new pool with a perpetual wave that looks like a lot of fun.
Clark,
Take your son out in the yard and dump a bucket of cold water on him. If he enjoys that, then go. Or wait for a 105 degree day, at which point the park will be very very crowded.
I must live in outer darkness, because we have no water parks. My sorry kids have to settle for a sprinkler in the backyard.
Lucky dogs, getting an In-N-Out.
Cowabunga Bay totally bites? Bummer, dude.
Cowabunga is way boring. The slides get old really fast, and it definitely is not worth the money.
Tracy,
Are you kidding? Splash Down is on I-90 right before the Pines exit. And Wild Waters in Coeur d’Alene. And while In-N-Out is good, Spokane’s got Zips, Ron’s and Dicks, all very good without the hype.
I like Zips and Dicks, but Ron’s doesn’t do anything for me. Have you been to D-Lish’s? Oh, the onion strings are divine.
I had never heard of Wild Waters, truthfully. I’ve seen the other one from the freeway, but never gone. It looks small and kind of dumpy…
We made indoor waterparks a yearly tradition (in March) when we lived in western NY. Splash Lagoon and Great Wolf Lodge were both fun—and warm.
we went there while in ut for family reunions. it was lame. i’ve been spreading the word to any and all utahns that will hear. my 3 year old still talks about the giant buckets of water that dump on you, though..
Funny story the water actually is heated but we clean it so much that the circulation cools down the water if you go in the morning the water temp. is actually about 100 degrees also the lazy has the best lifeguards on them i shoul know since i am the supervisor there they are the best in the state by far. I have a family with the age ranging between 4 and 35 and they all love it there with the water being warm or cold crowded or not crowded out of the thousands of people that have gone there we have only had two people tell us to our face that they thought it was boring everyday i work i have kids running up tp me saying this place is so much fun i would defintly recommend coming to cowabunga bay just to try it out.
Hey actually I think you might have been a little too wide for that those waterslides. They’re definitely not fat friendly. I’m a pretty slim guy and I thought they were pretty fast. It’s not worthy to be a major tourist bringer, but if you wanna go just for a little bit, I thought it was worth it for me and my family since we all had season passes. I asked the manager a few weeks ago to what they were adding on for 2010, and they said a bunch of new slides on a new structure, and a new indoor building with a wave sim. Should be cool.
Dude,
I can assure you that I am anything but wide. Nobody in our party was “wide” and everybody thought that the slides sucked and were too slow and too cold. Also, I think you are a plant. If not, then I feel badly for you that you bought season passes.
As one of the owners of Cowabunga Bay I am always sorry to hear if someone did not have a great experience at our park. We have set out to create a unique waterpark experience at an affordable price. I’d like to address two of the complaints you had about our park:
First the speed of the slides. Each one our slides was tested and water amount calibrated to allow for the safest ride experience. Some of the reasons you may have had a slow ride may be due the material of your bathing suits or the position you rode the slides. I have ridden each and every one of our slides and found them to not only be fast but pretty exciting.
Second, the temperature. I was extremely dissapointed with this past summer. In the many years I have lived here in UT I can not remember a colder summer! We dealt with wind, rain, hail, thunder and lightning in June. July brought us only one day that broke the hundred degree mark and August brought us back to temperatures in the mid 70′s. I will admit at times the water did get cold, we were clearly aware of that and to compensate for the awful weather and chilly temperature of the water at 60 feet in the air we cranked up the heaters of our other pools. Our lazy river was constantly kept in the 90′s to compensate for the lower teperatures on the slides.
I hope next summer will me more of a typical summer for Utah and you will give us another chance.
My husband and I took our granddaughter to Cowabunga Bay this past Sunday. All three of us quickly found out that when you are “screaming” down the water slide and hit standing water at the bottom on the slide, the force can really hurt…bad. We only tried 3 slides with the same result on all (my husband was done after the first slide). I still can hardly walk because of the force of that water between my legs. So we will NOT be going back EVER. Very poor design. The water slides should empty into a pool of water, not standing water.
Cowabunga Bay is hereby declared an enema of the state!
BTW, I don’t get what you mean by “standing water.” Can you describe this? How is that different than a pool of water?
In response to MCQ……
When you land in a pool of water you tend to sink and that stops that full force…brick wall sensation. And your comment about “enema of the state” does not apply here. That is not what I was getting at. When you hit the standing water at the end of the slide, it hurts and it feels very different when the slide ends in a pool of water. Also the lazy river was just packed with people, with hardly anyway to float around without people all over you.
I’ve talked to 3 people since our visit that have felt the same way, and that was just from work. It’s not just adults, it is kids as well. My granddaughter is 11 and she was ready to leave after 30 minutes. Cowabunga is very expensive with kids over 48″ being charged as adults. There is no shade to speak of and the food prices are way high. All in all it was a very expensive and painful experience and I would not recommend it to anyone.
Oh, so standing water = water that is not deep enough to be a pool? Meaning it’s shallow so you just continue to slide along until you stop?
Correct
MCQ,
The slides don’t empty into a pool. They simply flatten out and there is standing water at the end of the slide.
Frankly I’m surprised that Sharon and her family members were able to get going fast enough for this to cause discomfort. In my experience the slides are all so slow that hitting the water too quickly is the least of the problems at the park.
For those in the area, may I suggest Classic at 90th South? With mats the slides are very fast, the park is crazy cheap (summer pass is $10 and then $1 a visit) and food is cheap. Also, the slides drop you into an actual pool.
How about Raging Waters or Seven Peaks? Lagoon also has a water park that’s pretty fun, as I recall.
I went to Seven Peaks for the first time a couple of weeks ago. (I’ve lived in Utah how long?) Lots of cold water there too. I’m told that this is true of most of these sorts of parks due to the size of the tanks they use. I don’t know if it’s true. It wasn’t unbearably cold but I definitely gasped when jumping in, unlike the typical pool. Probably not that bad on a really hot day though. But if it’s less than 90 I bet it would be hard. The kiddie pool is warm though.
It’s been years since I last went to Lagoon’s. Probably nearly a decade. I don’t remember the water being nearly as cold there.
I probably haven’t been to Raging Waters in 8 or 9 years. My recollection is that it isn’t nearly as cold as Cowabunga was.
Unfortunately we had the same experience at Cowabunga Bay last year. The water was FREEZING and the lazy river was CROWDED beyond use. Literally shoulder to shoulder with nearly naked strangers. Add youngsters jumping around like crazy animals and it wasn’t very fun. The lazy river needs to be much bigger, maybe circling the entire park like, say, Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard beach in Orlando.
On a more positive note we did enjoy the slides, I didn’t feel like they were too slow. We also thought the ability to dump water on people below was kind of fun. (Unless you’re the one getting dumped on) I would agree that exiting into an actual pool is more enjoyable than simply coming to a halt on the slide.
Also, my 8 year old son slipped going up the stairs and landed hard on his back getting large scratches. He had to go to the first aid and get a big bandage applied.
For the price I doubt I would ever go back to CB. Our family bought season passes this year to Seven Peaks in Provo and that seems much more enjoyable for everyone.
I should have listened! Everyone I talked with had something negative to say about the Cowabunga Bay water park in Draper, but for some reason I just had to go and waste a $100 bucks and 4 hours of what should have been a beautiful day.
Like most of the above comments, we found the water park to be lacking in every area. It was expensive for what you were getting (4 hours of “fun”). Any child over 48″ tall was charged as an adult, regardless of age. The slide water was too cold. The slides were too slow and when you did speed up at the very end, you slammed into a trough of water that stopped you WAY to fast. Most of the boys that went down the slides can now sing soprano.
The lazy river was an absolute joke. There were way too many people in it and absolutely no one supervising the wild kids and teenagers. I felt truely sorry for the parents with small children. They weren’t having much “fun” at all.
The park is entirely concrete, which is not very attractive and there is a very limited amount of shade. Of course if you want to get out of the beating sun for a few minutes, the park is more than happy to rent you a “Cabana” for $20 bucks an hour.
They do not allow any food or drink to be brought into the park, so your only option is the high priced snack bar. They even managed to hide the only drinking fountain, so you have to ask someone where it is.
Every theme park has an issue or two that someone will dislike, but like everyone tried to tell me, Cowabunga Bay is a BUST on all counts. I don’t recommend it and my family will NOT be going back. There are plenty of family attractions in Utah that are more enjoyable and a much better value.
I am shocked and amazed at all of the negative reviews about cowabunga bay! My family, friends, and I always have a great time there and I’ve never experienced any of the problems listed.
@ Sharron, “Shut Down Lanes” at the End of Slides can be found at Most Water Parks and are much safer than Exit Pools. I’ve never found Cowabunga bay’s Shut Down Lanes any harsher than those on all of the others slides I’ve been on. Exit pools are places where people drown, not shut down lanes.
@ Sharron and MCQ, A Majority of the Water Parks across the country charge admission based on height, not age, so I don’t understand the problem. The food prices match the quality of food you get. I don’t know of any other water park where you can get a Panini Sandwich, Wraps, Salads, etc. that taste as great as the food at cowabunga for the price. Last Time I checked, Lagoon wanted $9.50 for a dried out piece of burnt meat on a bun.
@ dissatisfied customer, would you prefer concrete covered in that fake grass carpet from the 70s? I find there to be a lot of shade at cowabunga, especially in front of the pool. My 1 yr old Niece and 2 yr old nephew LOVE the river and I’ve never seen any unruly behavior that the lifeguards didn’t immediately stop.
I know cowabunga heats the water and also has a state of the art filtration system that uses UV Filtration and clark is right about the tanks. The water is plenty warm in the morning.
I’ll be spending $250 for a Cabana at Mandalay Bay in September, but $60 for 4 hours is well worth it at cowabunga bay.
Last time I was at cowabunga, the other week, we left and got lunch at IN-N-OUT, but still enjoyed cowabunga buffalo wings that were fairly priced. We also take our mugs from last year to fill with water at the food stand for free.
Cowabunga is a GREAT Value! The last time I took my mom, sister, niece, and nephew to a movie, it cost me 40 bucks, for 2 hours of entertainment. I can spend that much at cowabunga and get more than 4 hours of fun plus treats for everyone. I love cowabunga bay!
I’ve found so many people in Utah that have bad attitudes where ever they go, just because of something bad someone said about a place. I don’t care what other people say, I go to a place like cowabunga to experience it myself without any pre-conceived opinions. I also find it funny that people in Utah will pay $70+ to get into Disneyland just to wait half the time in lines, but won’t pay 16 bucks for 4 hours of great fun at cowabunga.
linearinduction
That’s a good point. It’d be like all the miniature golf places in Provo with the worn out astroturf. Ugh.
Seven Peaks definitely was looking pretty worn when I was there last week, although my kids had a blast. They’re all too young to go on the big slides anyway. Seven Peaks does have some amazingly cheap season passes though.
I have a feeling you are one of the owners of Cowabunga Bay.
But seriously…..I hope you not comparing Disneyland to Cowabunga Bay, please!
@linerinduction……I’m with Sharon. Your posting sounds a little to “scripted”.
I did like the part about the food stand giving you water for free! What a novel idea. I sure hope Disneyland doesn’t find out about this.
Have a great “Cowabunga” summer!
@ Sharon, I WISH I was an Owner of Cowabunga Bay! Comparing Cowabunga Bay to Disneyland is actually accurate, because if you talked to the builders, each would say they built their parks because of what they didn’t like about Traditional Amusement Parks and Water Parks.
@ Dissatisfied Customer, I’m just a Roller Coaster, Amusement Park, Water Park Industry Enthusiast who uses google. I’ve also worked at Cedar Point, in Sandusky, Ohio, in many different positions, including admissions. I don’t know why you are so bitter towards a local company that actually cares what their customers say. Perhaps if you would have talked to the Owners of Cowabunga Bay, you might have discovered how much they care.
FYI, Disneyland still gets ALL of their Coke Products for free and still charges you $4 for a Soda.
linearinduction
@ linerinduction, I think your passion for amusement parks has led you off the reservation a bit. No one’s bitter! The good folks posting these opinions are simply stating that there were negative aspects of their Cowabunga Bay experience.
Those that enjoyed their visit will return.
Those that didn’t… won’t.
As my final note to this interesting banter….Every time you compare Cowabunga Bay to Disneyland, poor old Walt is doing flip-flops in his grave! Let’s give the old dead guy a break; he worked awfully hard to bring us Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. He really deserves some rest.
I just wanted to say thank you for all the info. I promised my son we’d take him to Cowabunga bay sometime but last summer I was pregnant. Now that I am not we were looking into going but I am thinking I’ll tell him about all the negative reviews and see if he’d rather go to a different park. The prices for Seven Peaks, Cowabunga Bay, and Raging Waters are all comparable, you can easily find many discounts to SP and RW that make them much more worth while.
For those of you looking for a great water park to take your kids to I’d recommend Raging Waters. I’ve loved it for years and it has just the right mix between adult and kid slides. While a lot of the pools at the end of the slides are cold, they do have a warm lazy river and also a hot tub. I absolutely love Raging Waters and you can always find good discounts on the back of Shasta cans. One thing I especially love about RW is their thrilling slides. Their 2 biggest slides are such a thrill–instead of going on your back with your arms and legs crossed in such a way you cannot see a thing, you go face first on your stomach on mats. It seems like it’d be much more dangerous but ends up being a much smoother ride and a lot more fun. Plus (especially for girls due to their swimming suits) it takes away that extremely painful enema feeling you get when going down other thrill slides on your back (like the ones at Seven Peaks or Lagoon).
As for Seven Peaks, it’s a lot of fun too and has different things to offer. While I do not love it as much as Raging Waters, and it is a little run down, the crowds there seem much cleaner–probably due to it’s location vs. the location of Raging Waters. So when we had a ton of kids going for our family reunion, we chose Seven Peaks over Raging Waters just for the crowd value alone.
And as for Lagoon-a-Beach, I hadn’t been for YEARS until last year and was pleasantly surprised at how fun it was. Lagoon is outrageously expensive (comparable to Disneyland prices and it definitely does not hold a candle to DL), and I would definitely not pay admission just to go to Lagoon-a-Beach, however, it was fun. You have to rent a tube to go on most of the slides though, and that costs even more.
Thanks for all your info, I don’t think we’ll be visiting Cowabunga Bay any time soon, as you are not the only negative review I’ve heard. Maybe we’ll try those Classic Skating slides–my son always thinks they look fun too! And did you really say it’s $1 a day?! That’s amazing!
I love all the astroturfing we’re getting. At least one of the commenters has admitted their connection to Cowabunga Bay. Good for them. The rest of you need to take a lesson in PR.
Ever heard of, “The customer is always right?” It applies here. Shrugging off or even contradicting complaints about the park just makes you seem tone deaf.
If the water is too cold you blame the weather. Ignore the fact that you built in a place that is famous for its constant wind. Also ignore that the water is in fact too cold.
Your slides are too slow at first and people don’t like how they end. Blame your customers! They are too fat or wear the wrong swimsuits or simply don’t get it.
Your lazy river is out of control and your lifeguards couldn’t care less. State flatly that the lifeguards are the best in the state (hardly) and ignore the fact that it is a dangerous place for children.
Your pricing is unreasonable so compare yourselves to Disneyland and blame the people that feel like they didn’t get a good value for their money for being cheap. Linear Induction goes so far as to state that he can get five people in for $40 and buy them food. Maybe if you are all under 4 feet tall and you go after 5 pm.
So far all I see are excuses. No attempts to satisfy upset customers, no pledges to improve or change. People feel ripped off and so you blame them for being dumb enough to have given you money. Lovely.
Heather,
A season pass to Classic is $10. After that it costs you $1 a day to do the waterslides, but you can do most of the stuff they have there for free once you have a pass.
@ a random John, thank you for the clarification. That really is a great deal for a $10 membership being able to go back for $1 a day. I’ll definitely have to look into that for my kids next summer.
There’s always the Provo river too… Although it is pretty cold also. Probably worse that Cowabunga. (grin)
I think that the owners of the Provo river would take issue with that statement!
@ Dissatisfied Customer, I respect what those who have had bad experiences have said, but those who have had a positive experience should also be able to share their thoughts without being accused of “working” for the park, just because we enjoyed cowabunga bay. Being a fan of roller coasters, amusement parks, and water parks gives me a much different perspective than those who don’t. I notice much more than an average guest would, such as why shut down lanes are safer than exit pools and why slide manufacturers are using them more. I’d rather pay $16 bucks for four hours of fun, not wait in lines, and get tubes for free, than visit parks with old slides and inferior filtration systems, but that’s just me. =)
As a person with more than a healthy addiction to all things Walt Disney, I would have to say that the “concept” of Disneyland and Cowabunga Bay are Similar in why they were developed.
@ Heather, as of 8/5/10, One Day Ticket Prices for Disneyland Resort Parks are $76 for Ages 10+ (up from $72) and $68 for Ages 3-9 (up from $62). Parking is $15.
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/facts-on-disneyland-prices/
Lagoon’s One Day Passports are $42.95 + Tax for those 51″ to 64 Years of Age, $37.95 + Tax for those 4 Years of Age up to 50″, 37.95 + Tax for those 65 Years or Older, and $27.95 + Tax for those 3 Years of Age and Under. Parking is $8.
https://www.lagoonpark.com/servlet/OnlineSales
Many people forget that many corporate owned parks, (Six Flags, Cedar Fair, PARC Management, Parque Reunidos, Merlin Entertainment, etc.) that are MUCH smaller than Lagoon, charge at LEAST $42.95 + Tax and Charge any where from $10 to $25 for Parking. Corporate owned “Mega Parks” like Six Flags Magic Mountain or Cedar Point charge $59.99 + Tax and $52.99 + Tax respectively.
@ random John, I’m Confused. Just because I like cowabunga bay, I automatically work for the park and my positive feedback about the park is therefore irrelevant, on an assumptive? If I were to assume anyone were an employee here, it would seem you are a disgruntled former employee.
An Owner of Cowabunga Bay took the time to read your complaints and address them LAST YEAR. The Poster, Owner, didn’t “shrug off” or “contradict” what people said. They simply stated that the amount of water running down the slides was determined by the park’s management and slide manufactures to be adequate and safe. I also didn’t read anywhere in Owners reply that they “ignored” the fact the water was cold. I sure haven’t read any reports of injuries or deaths at cowabunga bay in the news. With your logic, they must be covering those up and children must be drowning every day? It must be such a relief that you own a water park and know for a fact that more water should be sent down slides, how you’d heat the water, and kick all of those dangerous teenagers out of your water park. Owner didn’t compare anything to Disneyland, I, as an Enthusiastic Fan of cowabunga bay did.
Ok fine, I admit it, I didn’t spend $40 the other week for 5 people at cowabunga bay. I spent $40 and some change, like 50 cents, on my Mom (Senior – $5.99 + Tax), My Sister and I (Adult – $15.99 + Tax each), a 2 yr old (Free), and 11 Months (Free). Buffalo Wings were an additional $6.00 and we went at Noon when the water on the slides was still warm.
So let’s see, a summer pass to Classic is $10 plus $1 each time you visit? Does Classic have a modern filtration system including UV filtration? Just wondering.
FYI, Mats on Older Water Slides, like those at Classic, are used so you don’t get fiberglass splinters in your butt or back at the slide joints. Just figured you’d like to know.
- linear “Cowabunga Bay Fan” induction
I recently visited Utah from Colorado for my fathers to have surgery. We were there 5 days and spent one afternoon at Cowabunga Bay. We are 48,44,15,14,11,10 years old. we all had a blast. Water on slide area was cold but river was warm. Day was cloudy and 85 or so but we had a great time with the kids anyway. It was very clean, well kept and safe and the life guards were doing a good job keeping the rules. Teans were typical but no problem. I just wish we had something like it in our area.
After reading all the negative comments I almost decided not to take my family to Cowabunga Bay. However my kids had been looking forward to it all summer so I couldn’t bring myself to break their hearts. So we went ahead and went with very low expectations on my part. And I’m glad to say that we had a great time and thought it was the perfect family fun spot! I have no negative comments to post. I’m not sure why there have been so many negative comments, the rides were so much fun, yes the water was cold but it’s supposed to be refreshing when your in 90+ degree weather it’s the perfect cool off! The lazy river was the kids favorite and it was much warmer so it felt so good! The wind picked up in the afternoon and I was worried but it only lasted about an hour and then calmed down. The park was so clean and the employees were all so helpful and kind. We really had such a great time and would recommend that anyone with small children go! We will definitely make this a yearly trip!
Emily,
Do I dare ask how you came across this site? Are you a regular reader?
I’m glad you had fun at the park. Personally my family is never going back, but I can understand how it could be somewhat fun if the weather was really hot and somehow the famous Draper winds were a no-show. Neither of which would make the slides any faster…
Here is another point of view. I ran into a friend that I haven’t seen in about 15 years yesterday at In-N-Out. I asked if he lived nearby and ye said they had driven up to go to Cowabunga Bay. I asked if they had a enjoyed the park and he said yes. He asked if. I had been and I told him my complaints. He replied that he agreed with every one of them but that his kids had fun and they had gotten in free because their friends had a voucher of some sort so it was hard to complain.
@ random John, so what you are saying is that the reason for your bad experience is that you had to pay to get into Cowabunga Bay? I still don’t understand what you don’t understand about water volume and safety. I certainly was flying down mondo and bombora today!
- linearinduction
Linear induction,
I am happy for you and your Teflon skin. May all your rides be just as slick as your astroturfing!
Face it arJ, you’re just not greasy enough. Quit whining and apply some baby oil.
@ random John and MCQ, my Hurley and Billabong Rash Guards work just fine.
- linearinduction
Odd that my dashboard did not. The other possibility is that you are a bit of a wimp and think that those slides are in fact thrilling.
@ random John, no idea what you are talking about, but I never said the Slides were Thrilling.
Darn iPhone converted rashguard to dashboard. Ugh. I apologize on behalf of the device.
I also apologize if I have put words in your mouth. The only slides that anyone here has described as “thrilling” as those at Raging Waters. In my initial review I said that, “I want it to be thrilling, not an exercise in frustration.” You merely said, “I certainly was flying down mondo and bombora today!”
It is possible that you have a different definition of “flying” than I do. I think flying would be thrilling. In any case, can we agree on two things?
1. The slides should not be described as thrilling.
2. The lazy river is so crowded as to be unsafe.
How about it?
Off our summer to do list FOREVER.
First there is a “spectator fee” of $15.00 for any responsible parent that wants to keep an eye on their children, but not swim. They do offer to refund $5.00 but must not have gotten the bracelet wet and stand in line for over 20 minutes to retrieve the 5 dollars.
The women’s bathroom smelled strongly of urine.
The churro’s were delicious.
The lady at the window also blatantly lied to me and stated that the spectator fee is stated on the website. After much review… I can still not locate anywhere it is discussed.
We will not return.
Seven Peaks in Provo has pretty cheap season passes and they work at the various Trafalgas in off season as well.
I took my kids to Cowabunga Bay 2 summers ago, and had a really nice time. My son is having his tenth birthday party there later today. What I like about it is that it is small enough to be able to keep track of my kids and affordable enough that it doesn’t break our budget. As a spectator, I haven’t been on the slides, but my kids had a great time. Most parks charge spectator fees, so that doesn’t bother me. I didn’t have to pay for parking, and the food wasn’t as exorbitantly priced as most other places.
I think it is interesting that anytime someone posts a positive comment you accuse them of “astroturfing.” I am in no way affiliated with any water park, but I think that you might be. Do you work for the competition? Why else would you be so bitterly angry when someone posts an opinion that is different from yours?
Heather,
I have no affiliation with any water park, nor do I even know anyone who does. Some of the people posting here have implied that they do have an affiliation with Cowabunga Bay. The only “inside” information that I do have is concerning an incident in the “lazy river” about a year ago.
I was really hoping that it would be a lot of fun and reasonably priced as it is very close to my house. I was disappointed for the reasons I’ve stated above. Given that you haven’t even gotten wet there I don’t value your opinion much, but if your kids are having fun there then that’s great for you and your family. Have fun and stay safe.
Come on, arJ, she’s onto you, the jig’s up.
The truth is that arJ makes a lot of money as an anti-spokesperson. He trashes the competition of any business that pays him to do so. It’s his negative reviews that have caused many formerly healthy companies to lose their customers, including Sears, American Apparel and Saab.
Raging Waters was threatened by the upstart Cowabunga Bay and hired arJ to take them down. It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it.
If only my ongoing campaign against Cafe Rio were as successful as my other ventures…
Who’s paying you to take down Cafe Rio? Taco Bell?
Bah! Cafe Rio wishes that it could concern Taco Bell.
Do you really not like Cafe Rio? You may need to write a post to explain that.
He’s a Bajio’s man.
Bajio’s is gone now, replaced by Costa Vida. Or it is mostly going away at least. Most locations near me are now closed or Costa Vida:
http://www.heraldextra.com/business/local/article_4b551077-f2e6-51db-8d9c-1187e9d3210c.html
In Sandy I like La Costa. In SLC the Red Iguana or the taco carts at Sears. In Provo/Orem there is Mama Chu’s. But I would have gone to Bajio over Cafe Rio any day.
I have sinned! I forgot to add Lone Star Taqueria in the Ft Union area.
I like a lot of places better than Cafe Rio, but you can’t compare places like Red Iguana to Cafe Rio. Red Iguana is a real restaurant. Cafe Rio is fast food. In that context they’re pretty good, and certainly better than Taco Bell.
They’re good enough that Costa Vida copied everything they did. Costa is a Cafe Rio clone.
I know! It’s terrible!
Holy crap, I stopped reading this thread originally after about 15 posts and now I wish I hadn’t. It’s awesome.
A quick tip to commenters in the future. I can’t think of a single person who has ever recommended a water park to me because of the “awesome UV filtration system”.
But the single best part of the thread is finding out there is another person in Utah that doesn’t like Cafe Rio. I truly thought I was on my own.
You are not alone. I too do not like Cafe Rio. Just doesn’t do it for me.
Wow! This was a hilariously long read, very interesting. Never been to Cowabunga before, but we’re going this Sunday. I have to admit – with all the negative comments, I’m skeptical & would possibly cancel . . . IF we hadn’t already told the kids who are STOKED!!! Me & my husband do plan to be more than spectators . . . and yes, spend almost $100 to get in (& more to eat) with the hopes we have a great time! I’d hoped to find discount tickets before hand, but have had no luck. Before reading all of your comments I just assumed it was a super fun place. lol Guess we’ll see . . .
kluvbug,
I hope that you have a wonderful time. I also hope that you report back on that time, wonderful or otherwise.
Also, please make sure your children are safe on the “lazy river”. Don’t count on the lifeguards or other visitors to watch out for them, as it gets so crowded that it can be difficult to find a spot to come up for air if you get knocked off your tube.
ok, so better late than never. We went, we ended up having a friend get us a military discount AND we decided just to pay for 4 hours so the total cost was around $60, yay! (Then we bought food…well, there’s another $30)
We arrived right when it opened. It was nice, not a ton of people, we got great seats (to put all our stuff down) my husband ran over for life jackets (which we NEVER used) & began sliding! The kids loved it!!! (They are 5 & 9 yrs old) I pretty much almost freaked out after going down a slide that I did NOT expect to be 100% darkness inside the tube which ended in me gulping gallons of water & a swimsuit up my rear! lol I didn’t try that particular slide again, but we had lots of fun!!! The water was warm, the lazy river was like a huge hot tub (as far as temp goes) & was super relaxing,(me & my hubby could have floated in there all day . . . until the crowds began to flock, of course) we kept going back & forth to it and the slides. We had maybe an hour left & we DID notice the water temp was alot colder than it was just 3 hours prior . . . but it was a super hot day, so we didn’t mind it much. I can see how it would bother some though.
When all was said & done (& paid for) we left & everyone had a great time!!! We did stop at 7-11 for slurpee’s, since they charge a fraction of the price that Cowabunga does! I just remember thinking “No way are they getting any more of our money!” lol
I can definately say . . . IF we ever went back, we’d still just do the 4 hours and definately try for some discount tickets of some sort…NOT that we have any plans to go back. I’m glad we went, but I definately think it’s over priced so we’d most likely go somewhere cheaper (& just as fun) in the future. My kids have just as much fun at our local outdoor swim complex & it costs me MAYBE $30 for our whole family to get in AND eat/drink!!! Who doesn’t wanna save some money when they can, right?
Well, have a great Fall everyone…it’s definately feeling like it’s here already!!!
ps – I LOVE Cafe Rio & Costa Vida!!! Yummy!
pss – I’ve only tried the Sweet Pork Salad. LOL! To each their own.
Kluvbug,
I’m glad you had a fun time and I appreciate you sharing!
My son’s birthday party was a huge disappointment and rip-off. Yes, very cold water with rude staff. We would not recommend it to anyone!!
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