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Rapids Water Park
Categories: Active Life Amusement Parks Hotels & Travel Tours Amusement Parks, Tours [Edit]
6566 N Military TrlWest Palm Beach, FL 33407
(561) 842-8756
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
18 reviews for Rapids Water Park
18 reviews in English
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Review from Rachel M.
9/8/2011 1 Check-in Here
Water, Water, Everywhere!!!!!
I love Rapids Water Park... Love it! My old roomies and I feeling the creeping effects of aging, decided to utilize Labor Day and engage in PLAY; what better place then a WATER PARK!!!
At approx. $40 for an adult ticket, its well worth the money... there are plenty of slides filled with plunging drops (many in darkness), the excitement and rush you feel on these rides is fantastic!
The lazy river is a great way to get from one side of the park to the other or to chill out while your heart rate returns to normal after a sudden plunge.
As for the facilities: there have been additions made over the years: new rides but the oldies are still my faves! The staff for the most part are somewhat chatty and efficient, you're in out and better yet... alive!
The lockers are about $8 for a small I think but you do receive a $2 return on your way out. The food is unimpressive and overpriced but you're not here to eat, you're here to soak up some sun and enjoy the water!
Go! Now! Enjoy! Bring a friend, come alone... just be sure you Gooooo! -
Review from Shandi B.
7/31/2011 1 Check-in Here
I LOVE water parks. Every ride is like a roller coaster, except there are no seat belts or restraints - which means at any given moment you could be a bump or turn away from disaster. Oh, and there's water everywhere, so you don't feel like you might pass out if you don't make it to that one shady spot in the corner with the mister, calling you like a bug to the zapper.
Yes this place is expensive - but so is Wet n' Wild, or Blizzard Beach, or any other water park. But Rapids happens to be much closer, and in terms of rides, I think Rapids has a lot to offer. Black Thunder is AMAZING. Grab three friends, hop in the four-leaf clover raft, and pray that you aren't the one who ends up plunging backwards into the funnel.
Get up early, grab breakfast on the way, and leave by 3pm (yes the food is expensive, but this is basically a theme park, why would you be surprised?) Grab a slushie while you're there, and stop at Sonic on the way home (once you've come this far, how could you pass up a chance at Sonic?). Don't go on the weekend unless you have a death wish, or if it's going to rain. They close the rides due to inclement weather, but when they reopen, the lines are always way shorter. -
Review from Scott M.
Chicago, IL
7/15/2011
The Rapids used to represent a day in summer camp in which, as a 12 year old adolescent, you could enjoy the view of young girls in bikini's, eat overpriced hot dogs, and ride down a plethora of water slides.....and Im sure its still the same way, but no longer a place I am interested in going.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the Rapids. But like all red blooded men, I decided to preserve the park for the little ones....and I dont regret that decision at all.
The park has grown tremendously, in fact they seem to add a new slide/ride every summer. However, I liked the Rapids when it was just 4 slides, and each one of those puppies each had character!
The parking is overpriced, the food is overpriced, and although I'd like to say the cost to get in is absurd, the value that the Rapids opens now, at least seems to justifiable based on what they are providing....pure. fun. -
Review from Brenna R.
Any adult who says they hate this place is a liar. You can't not just fall in love with your inner child while here. (Yeah, that needed a double negative)
I have only gone on "off days" - you know, during the week (especially the week school is back in session), so my wait times for riding anything have always been very minimal.
I had the joy of getting my slide on here two weeks ago. I had so much freaking fun. Pretty much you get to play on slides, wave pools, and lazy rivers all day with your friends. It is simply fantastic.
Locker prices are expensive. I think it was $8 for a small and $10 for a large, but they give you $2 back when you return the key. The small size was plenty of room for two people's stuff. The food they serve is also like school cafeteria food, but hey, you aren't here for gourmet dining.
I wish I could come here more often. I wish even more they were open during my birthday month as I would totally get my fun loving, youth grasping self to make my friends join me here all day (damn you December for being too cold/out of season).
Simple tip, ladies: Wear a bathing suit top that won't budge!! I had what could of been an extremely embarrassing moment on the Baby Blue slide (aka: toilet bowl style dumping you into a deep pool of water) if it weren't for my quick reaction time. We all want our "girls" to stay covered. -
Review from Abel R.
Miami, FL
7/10/2011 1 photo
This place has a weight limit for those who are chubby. You can't exceed over 250 lbs for single riders. Luckiy for me, I was below the weight limit and got to ride all the rides. This is my second time attending this water park and I have a blast every time. Is fun if you come with a large group.
Get ready to spend $$$ in this park for is not cheap. Parking is $10 plus the locker is another $10. The park entrance is almost $40 per person. I don't even wanna mention the food prices because your jaw will drop. The lifeguards or co workers in this facility are all DICKS / ASSHOLES. They have no courtesy or customers skills. Like I said before, this is my second time coming to this place and both time I had an altercation with someone who works there.
Other than that, just try to have fun with your group and don't forget to put some sun block or you will look like a lobster by the end of the day. -
Review from Jesse J.
Mountain View, CA
6/14/2011
We went for 1/2 day on a Monday and got in for $15 each. Parking is $10 and pretty close to the park since they weren't too busy. We paid to get in and then another $10 for a locker. Wish lockers and parking would have been half priced too!
We never had to wait in any lines which was awesome. The park is pretty huge and they have a ton of options for the whole family.
The staff was pretty nice and funny. Pretty chill place, if I'm ever out at West Palms again, I'd probably go back. -
Review from Heather c.
Palm Beach, FL
12/12/2010
Every year it seems the rapids adds a new slide or a new something or other. It's a great place to go in August. however.... remember that episode of South Park? About the Water Parks?
Yeaaaahhhhhh. It's like that.
http://www.youtube.com...
It's chuck full of all walks of life (usually very overweight) wearing t-shirts that are soaked and little chubby kids who really need to exercise more. There is nothing healthy to eat here. Pizza, fries, and chicken wings and soda. I think they serve bottled water for twice the price of soda, to make money off the healthy mom's and dads who know that the kids should be hydrating while out in the sun- not drinking soda which causes DE-hydration. gheesh.
The water & the slides of course, are and is the main attraction for this park.... but they really need to start offering better food choices for an all day event. You're NOT allowed to bring in a healthy lunch. Nope. You must fork over 5.00 for a thing of fries, 7.50 for a hotdog or burger, and pizza? thats 6.00 a slice. I'm sorry- but at those prices, I'd sneak a home made chicken wrap with some sliced apples, in for my kids, in my huge berkin bag. Parents are just too damn lazy and un-creative these days I guess.
They COULD start selling chicken wraps, fruit and the like, but I doubt it.
Maybe then there would not be so much puking going on from anxious kids, scarfing down pizza fast, then hopping on super water speed slides right after eating. pizza the second time around is not what I call a happy afternoon. the park attendants do clean things up quick though.
It makes me sad to see this, and seeing the parents not setting a good example. these kids obviously eat like this all the time. It's one thing to eat like this on a fun summer day out with the family, but clearly... there are some serious take-out problem moments here.
Over all- it's a great place around 3 in the afternoon- on a monday. hardly any kids, and some adult fun can be had. The lazy river is quite that. Lazy ... and relaxing after a hard week of working. -
Review from Tania G.
7/24/2011
entrance - overpriced at $38.95 pp (weekday rates are $4 cheaper, joy!)
parking - $20 for the 'preferred' lot or $10 for the not so preferred lot. i went for the $10 parking
food - extremely overpriced. a small bottle of water was $3 and change.
lifeguards - rude, unmotivated, and useless
slides - fun but not exhilarating
the thing is, for the amount of money it costs to come here, i don't think it's worth it. however, i had a great time and was in good company. maybe that made it worth while. -
Review from alice s.
New York, NY
4/5/2009
"Oh hellllllllllllll no. No he di-n't."
-"what you mean just because i weigh more than 225 I can't ride this slide? mm mmm."
The tides were turning at Rapids Water Park. Security had been sent to extradite 2 large men from the line at one of the premier slides. Their group of 20 started to hoot and holler. A weave was dropped 3 floors. The ghetto had been brought. And I couldn't have been happier.
Apparently you have to weigh less than 225 lbs to ride some of the more ambitious slides at Rapids Water Park. All for safety reasons, I'm sure since your body is flipped up and down and around like a floater in a commercial toilet.
Now, 225 lbs is not an unreasonable weight for men. I know a lot of big guys that weigh more than that. And boy was I glad that there were 2 in front of me. The commotion made for the best wait in line EVER.
As for the rest of the park, meh. There was one slide that was very fun and the rest were just ok. The lazy susan river is a little dirty. But since I am sans children, my review is a little biased.
If you have kiddies this place would be great for a saturday outing. Get there right at 10am. The park closes promptly at 5, and you'll wait in lines for everything.
Parking is $10 (rip off)
Lockers are $5 (another rip off)
admission- $37 (i was there for a mere 2 hours, so this ticked me off a bit)
Pack a cooler- the food is expensive too. -
Review from Mizz V.
Hollywood, FL
8/12/2009
Visited Rapids this past Monday after hearing about it for years. Already knew it was an older park (built in 1979) and on the smaller side (not like the Orlando super-parks), but still heard it was lots of fun.
Went as a group with 3 boys (8 yr, 15 yrs & 19 yrs old) + hubby and 60 yr old mom. EVERYONE had fun.
At the entrance we paid $31.95 per person and in exchange we received a FREE ticket to return before the end of the season.
This is a current promotion you can see on their website and the only black-out date is Labor Day Weekend.
Don't look for a children's rate or student discount - no special rates exist, but the coupon we received is a huge $AVER.
We also paid $5 for a locker and $10 for parking.
NOTE: The locker fee is refunded to you upon leaving the park when you return your locker key.
The lockers are small so a group of 4 or more may require two.
Again though, your locker fee is refundable, so no worries.
For some reason the entrance to this park SMELLS very bad.
Bad as in your septic tank is about to overflow.
The only thing I can compare it to is a public toilet I used in Mexico. Enough said.
Anyway, the smell passes after you enter, although throughout the park you catch occasional whiffs of it. We were told its due to the canal that runs alongside the park. (The day was 91 degrees and the canal IS visible from the high stairs and very dirty, so this is possible - but the smell still gives the perception of dirty water within the park).
The maps to the park categorize the rides as Wild, Moderate or Mild and offer descriptions of each which is nice when in a group with different ages. The WILD rides were fun for all of us, but not so terrifying an 8 yr old or an active 60 yr old were uncomfortable.
If you go with small children, note that most rides require a minimum height of 48". Our 8 yr old had no trouble, but people with smaller children felt overcharged when their kids couldn't ride.
I say, 'Do your homework before you go".
Our first ride was "Black Thunder". It was categorized as WILD and it was. We rode 3 persons to a over-sized tube and had a blast. You are plunged into complete darkness with only the occasional light strip to keep you from complete panic. Then you are pushed into a swirling funnel and swish from side to side eventually being dumped into a pool. Way fun!
We rode every single ride except for the 2 where you ride mats down the tube as some of us have had prior falls on those and no one was really interested.
As it is summer, the park was very crowded even for a Monday as local day-camps were there. They cleared out by early afternoon though and we only waited on one line for a long (30 min wait).
The reviewer who said he spent 2 hours there would definitely feel ripped off as it took our group a good part of the day to ride every attraction. We also ate lunch and took some free time near the wave pool. We left when the park closed at 7pm and never felt rushed.
The Lazy River was very crowded during the morning, but really cool in the afternoon as a last ride before leaving and the Wave Pool was lots of fun. (Weak swimmers should stay behind the 3' blue line as the current is VERY strong the further you go out).
Food cost us about $50 for 5 adults and one child. I had a grilled chicken sandwich combo for $6.99. The sandwich wasn't great, but not much park food is. The fries were crispy and the iced tea cold - so I was fine.
I agree with the other reviewer who mentioned the hair everywhere. I'm sure I shed some myself swimming all day, but it can get a little creepy when you see large pieces of wet-weave on a step! Aside from the lazy river, I didn't see any debris in the water and I think that what little I saw there was only due to the mulch alongside a portion of the river.
Check it our for yourself. If you don't focus on the age of the park or everyone else around you, I'm sure you will have just as a fun a day as we did. Full of laughter, memories and more than a few screams. -
Review from Jessica A.
Miami, FL
7/5/2010
we went here for my husbands birthday and had a blast. There are plenty of rides to choose from, including my favorite, which is like a human toilet bowl.
The food is mediocre and you may be better off bringing a picnic lunch (although you are not allowed to bring outside food into the park there are a few picnic tables outside the entrance.)
Parking is a bit expensive, combined with entrance fee, you are looking at about 50 bucks for the day. It's worth it if you can get there sorta early to enjoy the day and I recommend going when school is still in session, ideally on a weekday, to avoid the crowds. -
Review from Jennifer S.
11/12/2009
I'm going to have to give this a 5 star! I've been here with my sisters kids when they came for a visit. And we had a blast! Tho best to go during a weekday if you can get the day off work. Weekends are miserable and the lines are long.
They have the best lazy river!
We stayed from 10am till 9pm. No way were we bored! Plenty of slides to choose from for people all ages. And when your legs grow sore from running up steps, have a chill in the lazy river! -
Review from Al A.
Encino, CA
7/24/2009
To be totally honest with you, I thought this place was awesome. I didn't go with high expectations because of some the reviews I had read on yelp. I must say I was pleasantly suprised at how well this place was run.
Now, don't get me wrong, it is South Florida, so of course you will run into the occasional hazard(rude people). With that said, I took my family there and we had an awesome time. I was a little bit bummed however at one of the attendants because my daughter is literally 46.5 inches tall and the kid was such a stickler he wouldn't let her ride... Which was totally rediculous. Especially when another ride let us with no hassle.
So in short, this is a great place to come and cool off and have fun! Rapids is awesome, so stop hating!!! -
Review from Jenny Q. V.
Hollywood, FL
9/7/2010
Only water park close to dade/Broward county. I haven't been to it in over 3 years, but last time I was there it was a lot of fun. There is plenty of slides and even slides you can go with a few friends which is always exiting. Expect to have a good time here.
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Review from Stephanie L.
Miami, FL
8/25/2009 2 photos
Gosh, I love water parks!!
I went to Rapids with my usual crowd of coworkers on a sunny Sunday and had a BLAST!
There are rides for every type of person: the lazy who like farniente, the adventurous who likes to jump into a black hole, and the semi scared who tries a ride feeling it could be the last thing he does... I am with the third type and managed to do everything except one... ouf!
Seriously, this is a fun park! I even did the kids ride because they looked so cool!
So many tubes and pools. The only problem is that it gets crowded very quickly. We waited 45 mn for one ride. The best time is to arrive early and do all the "big" and "scary" rides first... than eat while everyone is in line or chill-out in the lazy river and then go do the other rides.
I liked the yellow tubes... looked very scary from far but very nice once you are in them. I forgot the names of all the rides but they are all nice especially if you go as a group.
Like everyone mentioned in their reviews it is a bit dirty, the waves pool and the lazy river are the dirtier... the rest is good except the restrooms..
The lockers are 5 dollars and the food is ok for the price. You can bring you picnic with you too. You can really have a good time there. -
Review from Dan B.
10/25/2008
It's not often that I can find a water park I don't like. But I don't like Rapids. The slides are incredibly slow and winding. None of them will offer you a thrill. You will also be painfully uncomfortable most of the time because every water depth is only 3 feet so you have the upper half of your body out of the water at all times. It is cheap, but you get what you pay for. Maybe it's because I'm used to Orlando powerhouse water parks but this is an experience I would like to never repeat.
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Review from Jenny C.
Palm Beach Gardens, FL
8/20/2008
i love this place however it is very dirty there are random hairs attached to you at all times the lazy river is dirty with debris and the steps to all of the attractions are always filled with bandaids and weave!! It is also expensive for what you get in my oppinion you need about 100 for 2 to get in and eat, they only have junk food the chix strips are some of the best ive ever had lol the rides are really fun as long as you dont get a mouth full of hair or shit!!
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Review from Zoe W.
CA
4/4/2008
Man, waterparks are expensive! I suggest you bring your own food here but they have strict policies on not bringing ice-chests and the like so I suggest you check their website or call before you go in and spend $6 on cheese fries or whatever. This waterpark is fun and the lines are nothing compared to Raging Waters or Hurricane Harbor so I like that part already. They have this new ride which is totally crap-your-pants (bathing trunks, bikini, tankini, speedo, whatever) worthy called BLACK THUNDER. It's a totally 100% in the dark, tunneled, multi-person raft ride that drops you into those funnels where the raft works like a skateboard on a half-pipe, launching itself back and forth high into the air. I was screaming for my life because of course I went backwards the whole time and on those high, fast ascents up the funnel sides I was getting launched and had to cling on to that raft or else I'd be thrown off and slide down solo, bruising my butt along the way. Try getting your scared mom to get out of the lazy river and to go on the rides, it's pretty funny. We tried making my mom go on Baby Blue, we told her the ride was for babies ("Baby Blue") and that it was gentle and we all stood attempting to obstruct her view of your fate at the ride's end (launches you into a toilet bowl where you spin around and drop out the bottom into a pool). She finally got a clue and screamed "YOU LIED TO ME" and ran down the stairs. The lifeguard yelled at her. We eventually got her to go down Riptide Raftin', a multi-person raft half-tunnel/half-open ride. The whole time she was yelling "I'M NAUSEOUS! STOP KICKING ME! SH**! F***! *Heavy breathing trying to control herself*. Four stars for funny reactions alone. I like the wave pool too.
