Water Country USA in Williamsburg, Virginia

My boys love water parks. We’ve visited several water parks over the years, and every summer, they beg to go to a water park. This year, we visited a new to us water park, Water Country USA, located in Williamsburg, Virginia. Water Country is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The water park is located near Busch Gardens Williamsburg but at the exact same location. The park opened in 1984 but has since undergone a large expansion in the 90s and multiple refurbishments. It is now the largest water park in Virginia and one of the largest in New England.

We we very surprised at just how large and spread out the park is, especially with all the beautiful and lush landscapes between each attraction. The large size of the park made for a lot of walking but also provided a lot of space for people to hang out and plenty of shade from mature and well-maintained foliage.

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We arrived at the park a few minutes after they opened, but the line to get into the parking lot was backed up to the road. Typically, they charge for parking, but because the traffic was so bad, they just let everyone park for free, which was nice. We went on a Saturday and the first Saturday of summer 2021 when they didn’t require a park reservation, so I think it was busy because of those circumstances. After we parked, we had to wait in a long line that stretched far into the parking lot. This line was to get through security and admission. There were only two security lines and maybe six admission points. I was very surprised at the limited number of security stations and entry points for this size of the water park, especially compared to other, smaller water parks we’ve visited.

After we secured our spots, we headed right into the wave pool. It was one of the hottest days of the year, with a heat index of around 100 degrees, so we really needed cool off. Then we went in search of food. We ate lunch at Boardwalk Southwest Grill. The food was OK, and we had something for everyone.

Once we got in we made our way to the changing room/bathrooms to get ready since we drove 3 hours from North Carolina and didn’t want to wear our bathing suits in the car. After putting on our suits, we easily found a few chairs near the wave pool. If we had known the park better, we would have tried to get seating near one of the smaller kid areas that offered more shade, but we didn’t spend much time near our seats, so it wasn’t a big deal.

We went with some friends so our oldest (13) could go off with a group of teenagers and do more big rides that the younger kids didn’t want to do. We did purchase a Quick Queue Pass for our oldest (as did the other teens), so they didn’t have to wait in long lines. This was very helpful as we went on a very busy day, and the lines were extremely long. Even with the Quick Queue Pass, they still had to wait awhile at some of the rides for tubes to become available. My oldest loved the Cutback Water Coaster and other rides like Big Daddy Falls and Malibu Pipeline. He wasn’t particularly fond of Colossal Curl; it was a little too intense for him. The big drop slide, Vanish Point, was closed for most of our visit, so they didn’t even get a chance to try that slide.

While the teens were off riding the giant slides, Joe and I took the younger 3 boys to do some of the calmer rides. We went to Rock ‘n Roll Island, where we floated around the lazy river several times. It was very crowded so you occasionally had a stranger’s tube float right up on you. The kids liked the Corkscrew slide and Log Cross, and 2 of the boys even waited in a really long ride to do the Jammin Jukebox slides. They said the slides were worth the wait. I took our little one to Kritter Korral, and he loved all the small slides that were just his size. Then we stopped at the Cow-a-bunga area, where the kids played and rode a fun 2 person water slide. Then, we headed across the park to Hubba Hubba Highway. I think this was everyone’s favorite area except all of us ended up with skinned knees on the fast-moving lazy river. Finally, we ended our day back in the wave pool.

It was getting close to dinner time, and we were all getting exhausted, so we packed up our stuff and headed to our hotel. I’m really glad we decided to stay at a local hotel rather than drive back. A full day of fun in the sun really wears you out. We stayed at the Residence Inn Williamsburg which is just a short drive from the water park and located near a lot of shopping and dining. We ate dinner at Anna’s Brick Oven Pizza, which was delicious and I highly recommend it. The kids really loved staying in the hotel, especially the continental breakfast.

Overall, we had an enjoyable trip. The water park was bustling, and it took a long time to get there, but once we were in, we had a great time. I would suggest going on a weekday or possibly a less busy summertime. We didn’t get to see or do everything in the water park, so it would be nice to go back sometime.

Watch the video of our trip to Water Country USA Williamsburg