I booked the DreamWorks Water Park located in the American Dream mall several weeks ago as I started planning our Spring Break. NJ still has cross state travel quarantines in place snd our schools are strictly reinforcing (understandably), which meant a Spring Break trip was out of the question. So began my planning of day trips. If your house is anything like mine, a no plan day ends up being harder than actually having a plan in place. So que the cruise director or Franc as some of my friends call me (Father of the Bride reference, anyone?)
A friend of ours had taken her kids to the DreamWorks Water Park and she said it was amazing; and she was right. Full disclosure, this was one of the most expensive day trips I have ever done. It’s absolutely a special event sort of trip and not a regular occurrence for us. It cost us $350 for a 7 hour slot for 4 of us. Makenna was free.
Our session block was from 12-7pm and we arrived about 12:20. We walked right in and were immediately ushered to a kiosk. Since I had prepurchased, check in was easy. They gave us wrist bands for entry and a separate wrist band to electronically open a locker; nifty. We had an option to upgrade to a private cabanna. While it sounded nice, the tickets were already so pricey we weren’t about to do that.
You then have to walk through a changing area to get to the water park. The lockers are housed in the changing areas and they are broken down by “Families” “Women” “Men”. Within the family changing area they then have “Men with Children” and “Women with Children” changing areas. While check in was a breeze this changing room situation made my anxiety spike. There were a lot of people in a very small area. We all had our suits on already but we did want a locker. The locker ended up costing us $20 and it was a waste. Lesson learned, you don’t need the locker. Also, this area was confusing to navigate. They had people in the changing areas directing us because it was not well marked. Out of the whole experience this was my least favorite.
Once we were through the changing area it opens up to vast and sprawling water park. It is fully themed with all your favorite DreamWorks characters. This little blog post will never do the size of this place justice. But it did ignite the kid in me. I was actually taken back by just how large the place is. In the middle is a huge wave pool flanked by water slides on each side. Also the music is LOUD. So loud it drowns out the noise of thousands of people screaming and playing. We found chairs immediately and began getting ready to play. The boys wanted to go to the wave pool first. We headed down the football field length of the wave pool to get to the entrance. To swim in the Wave Pool, every child needs a life jacket; even though my kids are good swimmers. Even the baby was required to wear a puddle jumper and she wasn’t even in an inch of water.
After the wave pool we headed for the water slides. The waterpark is clearly delineated by heigh requirements. For us, JJ clears the 42” mark so he had options in both the “big kid” area and “little kid” section. Westyn literally missed the minimum by a half of an inch which was a little heartbreaking.
The “little kid” area has slides for children as small as 36”. They have larger slides part of tree house juggle gym that my kids could go up and down by themselves. Makenna was too small to go down any slides but was totally content sitting at my feet playing in the 6 inches of water. Once we discovered this area, the kids had a blast. They were able to be self sufficient as we could see them climb the jungle gym up. We then parked ourselves at the bottom of the slide so we were there to greet them.
All in all we spent 4 hours there hopping between the slides and the pool. The kids were begging to stay. However we were joyfully delirious.
Lessons Learned:
If we were to go again, we would park in lot B not C. It just shortens the walk.
We would sit at the shallow part of the wave pool; closer to the little kid area. We sat closer to the bigger slides so the walk back and forth was long. See the picture below for reference.
Snacks. We did pack them and I would do it again. No one checked our bags and my kids are constantly hungry. They do have concession stands but the lines were long and costs high. If we were staying a full day I would even consider bringing sandwiches.
Locker. I would not do this again. It cost us $20 and we ended up taking our stuff out because they were too far away. We kept our stuff with us and we didn’t have a problem. Especially if we were sitting closer to the age appropriate slides. If you do prefer a locker, don’t reserve one in the changing area. Wait until you get out by the wave pool, I noticed some there. This makes your stuff much more accessible.
Come dressed and ready to play. We got lucky this week since the weather is warm and my kids could walk in, in their swim suits. Even if it wasn't I would have dressed them in their swim gear and layered on top.
Visit times and days. I would absolutely go again. However I would not book it during a “peek” or popular time. Since it was a Spring break week, the place was packed. Now, it’s so large that everyone can spread out. But if you’re still very uncomfortable with the COVID situation this is not a place for you. No one is wearing masks because it’s a water park. People did do a fair job socially distancing but it certainly did not look like we were in the middle of a pandemic. Disclosure: we are taking COVID very seriously and follow all the rules to a fault. However we did contract Covid as a family so we do have the antibodies. If we had not had it, I would not have been comfortable today.
I hope you find this helpful!
(In case you were wondering, all of our suits are linked on my @LIKEtoKNOW.it page)
ADDENDUM:
Nickelodeon Universe
For Christmas the boys were gifted a combination ticket to both the Dreamworks water park and Nickelodeon Universe. Since the Waterpark opened at 11, we started there (on a Sunday the rides don’t open until 12). When the kids had enough of the water, we changed them (and us) to then move to the dry rides. Logistically, this was a little bit of a pain since we had 4 kids, 3 adults, and a ton of stuff. Throughout the parks there are lockers to rent, however, our bags were just too big to fit in those lockers. If you’re planning on doing both parks in one day, a trip to the car to drop off your stuff is recommended (park in lot B to shorten your walk).
The Nickelodeon Universe is right next to the Waterpark and the aesthetics don’t disappoint. Just like the Waterpark it really is magical. How they fit so many rides into a corner of a mall will continue to baffle me. In comparison to the Waterpark it is significantly smaller. While they fit a lot in there, the pathways and ride lines are very small and cramped. It was difficult to navigate with a double stroller. The front of the park (when you first walk in) is geared towards smaller kids, 36-42”. If your child is under 36” some of the rides you’re allowed to bring them on with you. They are also themed for the little ones. For JJ, my seven year old (who is also almost 48”) he didn’t want to ride some of them because they were too babyish. My 5 year old, Westyn would have gone on them all. Makenna could have gone on some of them with one of us however she was rebelling her nap in the stroller.
As you progress to the back of the park, the rides get bigger and you have to be 48”+ to ride. These are also for the thrill seekers. Those who love a roller coaster and to go in circles. So. Many. Circles. Which makes sense since those rides tend to be compact.
Both boys were able to ride one roller coaster which was the equivalent of a Run away train. It had one big dip, didn’t go upside down and was super fast. They did need an adult with each of them; thank goodness my sister in law was with us otherwise Jon would have had to go twice.
Overall, the kids had a blast, but they were exhausted. We didn’t spend much time in the Nickelodeon part. Mostly because we were all so spent. But also because the rides seem to be geared towards those who are younger or much older. For JJ he fell in this awkward in between. He was too big (emotionally) for the little rides. And just shy of the height requirement for the big ones. JJ also isn’t my thrill seeker, even if he was big enough he probably wouldn’t have opted for the more intense attractions. Westyn on the other and would have gladly rode all of them, with his hands in the air.
A few other notes:
There are no food concessions inside the Nickelodeon Universe. The adults were pining for a cup of coffee. While the parks allow re-entry, they would not have allowed coffee (or any food) into the park.
While I am not surprised I wanted to note that mask wearing was mixed. Social distancing however was non existent. Even when the lines were short, everyone seems to just push forward rather than spreading out.
Lastly, when we arrived at the mall, the hallways were EMPTY. It was as if the mall wasn’t even open. However by the time we left (3:30pm). The vast halls of the mall were wall to wall people. It was difficult to navigate with all the stuff and humans we had to keep track of. The moral of the story is get there early and scoot as it starts to get crowded.
