Raging Waves is the largest waterpark in Illinois, located in Yorkville.
Website: Raging Waves Waterpark
Social media: Raging Waves Facebook page, @RagingWaves on Twitter, Raging Waves on Instagram
Location: 4000 N. Bridge Street, Yorkville
Phone: 630-882-6575
Hours: Daily schedule is available online. 10 am – 7 pm everyday through August 2nd. August 3 through September 1 hours are 10 am to 6 pm.
Admission: General admission for guests over 48 inches is $29.99, and $19.99 for those under 48 inches.
Specials:
- After 3:00 pm, admission prices are $19.99 for guests over 48 inches and $13.99 for those under 48 inches.
- Family Fun Ultimate Value Package – 4 general admission tickets, 4 tube rentals, 4 hot dogs, 4 fountain sodas, and 1 souvenir “Bucket-O-Fries” for $129.99 when purchased online.
Parking: Parking is free in the attached lot. Preferred parking (closer to the gate) is available for $7 a car.
Bathrooms: There are public bathrooms that are handicapped accessible and have changing tables. There are also showers and changing areas.
Nursing Area: There are no designated nursing areas, but plenty of places to sit.
Handicapped/stroller accessibility: Most areas of the water park are smooth or have ramps so the dry areas are accessible.
Food: There are two restaurants and multiple concession kiosks.
Outside food is not allowed. You are permitted to bring in factory sealed water bottles. There are picnic areas outside the waterpark (in the parking area). You can have your hand stamped to re-enter the park after your meal.
Amenities:
- Tube rentals for $5 (not required, but may reduce waiting times, and only rental tubes are allowed in the wave pool)
- Lockers are available for rent. Regular lockers are $10 and larger family lockers are $15. Lockers can be accessed multiple times throughout the day by wristband.
- Cabanas are available for rent starting at $100 on weekdays and $150 on weekends.
- High dive shows will be at noon, 2 pm, and 4 pm through August 24. Shows may be cancelled or rescheduled depending on weather conditions.
Activities:
- Waterslides: Boomerang, Cyclone, PJ’s Plummet, Platypus Plunge, and Tasmanian Twisters require that you be at least 48″ tall. Crocodile Mile and The Three Sisters require that you be 48″ to ride alone, but children 42″-48″ can ride with an adult.
- Kangaroo Falls – Giant Australian-themed water play structure with lots of slides, water cannons, rope bridges and water cannons. When the bell goes off, the giant dumping bucket tips, soaking everyone below. Kids 36″ can ride the lower slides, and kids 42″ can ride the taller slides.
- Koala Kove – Wading pool with tipping toucans and two child-sized slides.
- Kookaburra Kreek lazy river
- Great Barrier Reef Wave Pool
- Brock’s Giant Sandbox
- CNH Industrial Outback Road Rally – race pedal tractors on a twisting track.
- Fifth Third Bank Family Stage – for performances on special dates.
- Sinbad and the Search for the Giant Pineapple – a dive show with a performers diving from up to 80 feet!
We paid: We received complimentary passes to Raging Waves, as well as lunch vouchers. With the Family Fun Ultimate Package and an extra ticket for Campbell, we would have paid approximately $150.
Our experience:
I was pretty excited when I found out we’d be visiting Raging Waves. It looked like so much fun on the website, but with 3 little kids, the oldest only being 6, I figured we’d spend an hour or so in the kiddie pool, watch a show, and have some lunch and the kids would be done by then. Boy, was I wrong! We could have spent a full day there, but with our late start we stayed 5 hours (until they closed).
We got to Raging Waves at about noon and the weather was perfect. The weather report said there would probably be rain so I was anxious to get in the water, just in case we got chased out early.
We rented a family locker for $15 and John and I each got wristbands to access the locker. It was big enough for our 2 small cooler bags (filled with sealed water bottles and ice packs), towels, sandals, clothes, and other odds & ends.
Cooper was really excited to try out the Lazy River so that was our first stop. Cooper sat in one side of the double tube and I sat on the other with Dexter in my lap. The kids loved it and Cooper said he’d like to bring a book and spend the day on the Lazy River. (That’s my idea of a perfect day too!)
We measured the boys and Cooper was tall enough to go on some of the water slides with an adult, but Dexter wasn’t quite tall enough yet. Dexter and Campbell hung out with John by the children’s area. Cooper and I headed to Three Sisters and it was a lot of fun. Cooper was scared/thrilled about being in the dark through most of the ride and probably would have been happy to spend a good part of the day there too.
Campbell and Dexter splashed around in the children’s area and Dexter really wanted to go on the small slides in the children’s area, but it took him a little while to work up the nerve to do it. He got a little skittish about the water that splashed down from the huge bucket over the play structure too, but it didn’t keep him away.
We also visited the small pool and the older two boys went down the slides there over & over again while Campbell and I played in the shallowest part of the pool.
Before lunch the boys spent some time playing in the very large sand area, scooping up sand and burying each other’s feet. Then we went over to the restaurant and ordered hot dogs and hamburgers. The food was better than I expected; the fries were really good! Raging Waves doesn’t have cup lids or straws (because they get caught in pool filters) so I was worried about the boys spilling their drinks everywhere, but they managed okay.
After lunch it was time for another round on the waterslides, and then some more time on the lazy river. This time Campbell joined us (me and Campbell in one tube, and Cooper & Dexter in a double tube). We made it around twice before the boys were ready to leave. The boys heard the announcement about the dive show and couldn’t believe there was doing to be a diver on fire, so I thought they’d really want to see the show, but when it came time to head over to the show they were still too excited about playing in the water to do anything else.
Through the whole day John was stuck on dry land; he just got a tattoo and wasn’t supposed to be in chlorine so he sat out and was a really good sport about helping out with the kids outside the water. He also gave me a chance to check out all the attractions, even the ones we didn’t get to try (this time!).
The park closed at 5:00 pm on the day we visited and, to my surprise, we stayed there almost until closing. The kids were exhausted and happy and we all had a wonderful time. I got some pretty nasty sunburn (apparently I did not apply sunscreen as well as I thought I did), but luckily the boys were just fine.
