Mama Nomad’s parents came to visit us in the Shenandoah Valley. They own time at a resort and are able to make trades or secure discounted or last-minute deals. Mama Nomad’s Mama is an expert at this and she landed some time at the Massanutten Resort – A Four Seasons Resort. Along with their accommodations, they scored 4 passes to the Massanutten Water Park. It was an adventure the boys and I could not turn down.
The water park has both indoor and outdoor amenities. Due to the season, the outdoor was closed. But, there was still plenty to do indoors. The place was a balmy 84 degrees Fahrenheit. It had the baby splash pool, lazy river and plenty of seating. In the center of the place there is a structure that has multiple slides of varying lengths, turns and height. All of theses were open slides.
On one side you will find five flights of stairs that climb to the top of 5 different enclosed water slides. Two of them you traverse down without tubes and the other three require tubes. One of the enclosed one would allow up to three on a tube while the other two maxed out at 2 riders per tube. The line to go without tubes is much, much shorter and moves along at a quicker pace.
One other unique feature was the Flowrider. This is where you have water rushing art you as you drop into a man-made type wave on a boogey board. We waited about an hour and a half for our turn. However, it was quite enjoyable to watch the others try to balance and do tricks. The staff actually try to help teach you tricks, which was both helpful and made the experience more enjoyable.
All in all the water parts of the water park were very fun and entertaining. There were all ages there and it felt like all ages were actually kept safe. The only real issues I had with the place was their pricing model.
The park passes were $38 per person for an all day pass. I would expect to pay this at a full-blown outdoor park. I polled the other Nomads and we unanimously agreed that the value for us was around $15 each. Want to know how to save the $38 per person? It will cost you two hours and a free lunch. When you check in they will ask if you want to sit through the presentation to possibly become an owner there. They will give you lunch and grant you 4 water park passes for free. Mama Nomad’s Mama arranged for this to happen and we came away with free passes.
Also, if you do not want to participate and just want to observe, you have to do it from a few stories up behind glass. The only way you can be at the water park level and observe is to pay $10 additional. If you have two younger kids and paid $38 each for them, you have to kick out $10 just to watch them. In addition, if you want a locker, they charge you $20. However, they will refund $15 back when you give them the key back. $5 total cost was not too bad. Also, they have no towels. I asked if they could provide me a towel and I was told I could buy one. I felt like I was being nickeled and dimed at every corner.
I am thankful that Mama Nomad’s Mama got us those free tickets. At the end of the day, the Nomads only had to pay for the $5 for the locker. So, we had hours and hours of fun for $5. We made out like bandits and had a ton of fun. If you are planning on going, sit through the two-hour presentation, eat a free lunch, bring your own towels and kick in the $5 for the locker. Then you too can also make out like a bandit and have a ton of fun. Safe travels.
