Deep River Waterpark, Family Fun & Giveaway

Are you looking for a fun place to go, for a last hurrah of the summer, with your family? Last Friday, my family and I got to visit “Illinana’s Largest Waterpark,” Deep River Waterpark, in Merrillville, Indiana. We had been wanting to go to a waterpark this summer and heard great things about this one.

As we drove in the parking lot and our kids caught sight of Deep River Waterpark, our 10-year-old son Sean exclaimed, “Whoa! This place has everything!” I think that my husband Bob and our 4-year-old daughter Abby were equally impressed.

One of the first things we noticed, having recently been on our annual summer trip to Six Flags Great America, is that unlike Six Flags, Deep River has FREE parking! We also discussed how, living on the southwest side of Chicago, it is significantly closer to our home than Great America.

We were impressed with the customer service from the time we picked up our passes and wristbands from will call (see the disclosure at the end of this post) around 12:30 p.m. until we closed the park down at about 6:00 p.m.

Note: Deep River Water Park is open Daily through Sunday, August 17th from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and then Saturdays and Sundays only from August 18th – September 1st.

After we entered the park, we asked where was the best place to put our beach bag and such, before checking out all the attractions Deep River has to offer. We were encouraged to find lounge chairs near the zero depth entry wave pool, which is located in the center or the waterpark.

Bob and I weren’t surprised that our kids wanted to start out there, as having been to the ocean earlier this summer on Hilton Head Island, SC in June and making frequent visits to the beach/Lake Michigan with my parents when we visit them in Evanston throughout the summer, as well as spending many weekends at my in-law’s lake house in Sister Lakes, MI, we know how our kids enjoy just swimming around and jumping waves. I have to say that the wave pool was one of the highlights for me too!

Our son is pretty fearless when it comes to roller coasters and water rides, so it wasn’t long before Bob and I had to divide and conquer with our kids! We took turns going with Sean to ride or watch him ride some of the bigger and more daring water rides at Deep River. Then whomever was with Abby would take her to the areas of the park more focused on younger kids. Though we did try to do things such as the lazy river together as a family at least once.

We had eaten our packed lunches before entering the park, but it was great to know that we could have brought our own food and drinks into Deep River (with the exception of glass bottles/containers). I don’t know if we would have gotten snacks, having just eaten. But since we were given four wrist bands, with five tabs attached to each one, with a value of $1.00 each, for a total of $20.00, we did enjoy some sweet treats throughout the day. We got a kick out of trying Dippin Dots, “the ice cream of the future!” It was a bizarre consistency, but as it melts in your mouth, truly tastes like ice cream and isn’t nearly as messy.

After spending a lot of time on our feet, in the wave pool and waiting in lines for the water rides, Abby and I especially enjoyed floating together in one of the lazy rivers at the waterpark. Interestingly, Deep River is so big that there is a section we never even made it to, which includes the Double Dueling Cannonbowl and another lazy river. Though we were given a map of the waterpark when we entered and there are big ones posted around Deep River, I didn’t notice, until I sat down to write this, that in addition to the Bayou River ride that we went on a few times, they have another one called Mid-America’s Great River ride. We will definitely have to check that one out next time!

Both Sean and Abby loved Deep River Waterpark! It is truly family friendly and has attractions for all ages. Sean spent much of the day trying every water slide he could. There was only one that he was too intimidated by, one of the Dragon speed slides. But he went on the other one multiple times. Abby really enjoyed the areas designed for younger kids, including Paddles Playzone and Mayor Byrdovich’s Courthouse.

One of Bob’s guilty pleasures is to eat a funnel cake, at least once a year. Usually he gets one when we go to Six Flags Great America. However, this year he didn’t end up having one that day. So he (and we) were pretty excited to find out that Deep River sells them at Milo’s Ice Cream Shop! Though is certainly not the healthiest snack option, we all shared it, along with some Funnel Cake Fries (little funnel cakes in the shape of fries). Who knew there was such a thing?! And they were pretty delicious!

Which brings me to Sean and my FAVORITE water ride/part of our day at Deep River… With about an hour left before the park was scheduled to close at 6:00 p.m. Bob returned to the Paddles Playzone with Abby, while Sean and I made our way to the Whitewater Run tube slide. We were surprised and ecstatic to quickly find out that there were only a few others in line/riding the same ride at the time. So we proceeded to go on it together five times in a row, with little to no wait, in between each ride! It was pretty good exercise too, as with such a short wait, we weren’t hanging out of the many flights of stairs to get up to the top, we were climbing them quickly.  So if and when you make your way to Deep River, you may want to consider staying until closing (if it works for your family), as a lot of watermark patrons seemed to have cleared out by later afternoon.

It’s probably obvious at this point, how much fun Bob, the kids and I had at Deep River Waterpark last week! But in case it isn’t, we highly recommend Deep River for a fun family or even an adults only outing!

We had been pretty disappointed that we didn’t fit in the adjoining Six Flags waterpark into our Great America trip earlier this summer. But now we are thinking we may do an annual trip to Six Flags focusing just on Great America (versus trying to split our time with the waterpark there) and an annual trip to Deep River Waterpark!

A note for the many Chicagoans who have or visit summer homes in Indiana and/or Michigan… Part of how we ended up going to Deep River, was that we were looking for a waterpark that we could go to en route to Sister Lakes, MI, where were then spent the weekend. Though it isn’t totally on the way, it isn’t that far out-of-the-way either.

After Deep River closed, we were hungry for dinner and asked friends for a recommendation in Michigan City, IN (where they vacation every summer), which isn’t far from the waterpark and is on the way to Sister Lakes. Our friends suggested a place called the Tree House Cafe.

We absolutely loved it! It was such a fun place to go for dinner and the food (we ordered pizza)/drinks (including craft beers) was good too! Bob and I felt like we were in a time warp… So laid back, everyone was friendly, and the kids were playing (sans electronics) old school games — like pick-up wiffle ball and ping-pong! It was a cooler summer night and thus perfect for eating outside and allowing the kids to run free. We found it very relaxing and stayed almost 3 hours, much longer than we intended!

From spending the day at Deep River Waterpark through to dinner and hanging out at the Tree House Cafe, it was such an awesome experience for my family and me. We will definitely be doing it again next summer! If you have the time and are looking for something fun to do with your family and/or friends before summers’ end, check out Deep River Waterpark!

Now for the giveaway details!

To enter to win 4 complimentary day passes to Deep River Water Park:

Leave a comment here letting me know if you have been to Deep River Water Park before. 

If you have, tell me what you liked best about the experience.

If you have not been to Deep River Water Park before, please let me know what you are most looking forward to doing, if you win and/or when you go there.

I will be choosing the winner, using Random.org, on Thursday, August 14th at 7:00 p.m. CST and will update this post with the winner’s name, as well as contact you to arrange for you to get your complimentary tickets at Will Call in the Group Sales Office at Deep River Waterpark, the day you visit. You may only comment/enter once, but you are welcome to encourage friends/family members to enter on your behalf.

Disclaimer: My family and I received four complimentary passes to Deep River Waterpark, along with wristbands (valued at $20.00) to redeem on Food/Beverage or anything in the waterpark, to write this review and host this giveaway, but the opinions expressed here are my own.

Update (8/14/14): Congrats to Granny NeNe on winning the 4 complimentary day passes to Deep River Waterpark! The Random.org number generator choose #16. Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway and shared what appeals to you about Deep River Waterpark!