07/23/08

Not a Bad Waterpark - But Could Be Better

by dansatx

My family attended Schlitterbahn Waterpark on a Tuesday expecting to find shorter lines; however, the lines were still long. The staff, though, was helpful and polite. I had no complaints with their service. The price of admission, for me, was a little more than it should be considering the long wait times for the rides limit what you can do at the park. One problem I had with the waterpark is it is spread out over three locations. A shuttle bus (tram) takes you from the east side to the west side and back. The east side is broken into two parts that are separated by a large parking lot. Therefore, if you want to see all of the park, you have to sacrifice some of your park time to wait in line for a tram, take the tram to the other side, and walk to the third area. This can amount to two or more hours of your time at the park. If you don't see all of the park, then, you are paying for more than you use. This is a major problem for Schlitterbahn. Another problem with the park is it's maps. The park has nice colorful maps. However, the maps only show you where each ride is in the park not where the entrance to the ride is. Often, you have to walk around to find this entrance. Again, this uses up park time. Also, another item that disturbed me is the park has no policy to discourage people from "cutting" in line. People "cutted" in line on every ride I attended. Even at the tram, this happened. Sadly, this, I think, is more a reflection on our society than on the park. Those "cutting" in line even defended their actions. The park needs a policy that removes those who do this, they need to post this policy everywhere in the park and they need to strictly follow the policy. Finally, the food prices in the park were high. But, you can bring your own picnic. People leave their picnic items on the numerous picnic tables within the park. We chose to eat our picnic at our car. I wasn't convinced that unguarded items were safe from others.

• Pros: Many Fun Rides, Friendly Staff
• Cons: Expensive, Long Waiting Times, Park is in 3 Separate Locations, No "Cutting" in Line Policy

07/14/08

WARNING: CITY issues PARKING TICKETS in parking lots!!!

by vmquinn

We paid $7.00 to park in a City (municipally-owned) parking lot and got a receipt. We were TICKETED for "parking more than 18 in. from the curb." What??? What kind of a chicken-sh** charge is that??? Parking is just a revenue-generator for the City! New Braunfels has three months to raise the revenue for their municipal operations for the entire year, and they do most of it during the SUMMER. Be careful!!! Our advice is DON'T GO! it's WAY too crowded anyway!! And if the City has this kind of attitude toward the people who come there (who are trying to parking legally) they don't deserve the tourism!

• Pros: close to san antonio and austin
• Cons: Too crowded, City issues tickets on municipally-owned parking lots

06/22/08

Bad crowd control

by Calingaladha

Perhaps I'm biased, having been since my childhood to the Disney World waterparks, but Schlitterbahn simply did not thrill me. The long lines weren't too much of a problem, and for the large rides, were expected, but there was one major throwback for me: In the middle of the day, a storm came through, and lightning caused a temporary park shutdown. I can understand this, for safety percautions, but could all the visitors take it as adults? Apparently not, because a loud storm of cursing and disgruntled strings followed as we all made our way back down. I can understand disappointment, but these people acted like toddlers throwing tantrums. We were escorted to what was called 'a covered area', even though it only consisted of a wall, to wait for the rides' reopening. A crowd began to gather and, as predicted, a stampede occured when the 'all-clear' whistle was blown. I'm glad there weren't any young kids in that group, because otherwise someone would have been hurt or worse. I had someone dash past me and cut my hand with their watch, which mostly just suprised me, even though it was painful. Adults as they were, it would have been much better if we'd all walked back up, single file, with our finger to our lips like in elementary school. That 3-minute period of a kindergarten episode took the visit down a notch.

My other problem was simply that none of the rides were very thrilling. I myself like the poo scared out of me when I go to amusement parks. Summit Plummet at Blizzard Beach had no comparison at Schlitterbahn.

Schlitterbahn is good for kids, as there are plenty of less-thrilling rides, and for adults there is a swim-up bar in one of the newer park sections.

• Pros: parking, tram, splash cash
• Cons: small lockers, poor crowd control, long lines