Being from Wisconsin, I always knew we could drive a couple of hours and stay in a super tourist town if we wanted water park fun. However, I didn't know that Illinois's largest waterpark was right in my backyard! Raging Waves Water Park is right here in Yorkville, IL (which is about an hour drive from my house). There are 45 acres of pure fun!
My kids were raring to go the morning we left. We packed up a bag of towels and off we went. Now, you can rent lockers at Raging Waves. However, I just carried the duffel bag around. When we go again, we are getting lockers. We never really needed the towels and our wallets were in there (and that just made me nervous).
I'll be honest. This is how I like to spend my day at a water park. My kids, not so much. 🙂 Their first piece of business was to measure themselves to see what they could all go on:
We started off in Kangaroo Falls. These types of structures tend to be Will's favorite. They kids ran around in here for over an hour.
They had plenty of food there too. Will was even able to get pizza for lunch and we had an ice cream snack later in the afternoon. They were even able to work with Bill and mine diet (meat and veggies basically).
If you go to Raging Waves, make sure you see the High Dive Show! The pirates come right into the audience and talk to you!
They also do quite a few amazing dives:
Yes, that second dive is from 80 ft in the air. However, the finale from the 4 pm show is the best. The kids totally loved that one of the pirates was set on fire:
We even checked out the pedal bikes:
Madison went down quite a few of the slides. However, this is the first time we went to water park and the kids actually liked the wave pool!
You literally can spend the entire day here. We found the prices very reasonable. Parking was free (unless you park close, and then it is $7). I also forgot to pack myself a shirt to change into after our day (yes, everyone else had all their clothes to change into except for me.) I was impressed that I was able to walk into the gift shop and buy a t-shirt for around $10. I didn't feel like I was being price gourged and I cannot be the only person that this has happened to.
Raging Waves Waterpark is amazing. My family and I had so much fun that we will go back! You can literally go there from open to close and never be bored. We did the lazy river several times (no pics sorry!) and they have two huge sand beaches to play in also. Also, the water here is the same ph as your eyes. You don't have to worry about your eyes being all red and stinging after the day is over. Another thing that Bill noticed is that they are heavy on the lifeguards (as he was a lifeguard himself back in the day). I love that the put an emphasis on safety. You also always saw staff walking around cleaning. It was one of the cleanest parks we've been to in a long time.
Now, I know you totally want to go check this place out. If you want to reach out to them on social media, here's where you find them:
You also can find some great deals on the web. Here are a few of the ones I found:
Ultimate Family Four Pack:
Four Over 48? General Admission Tickets – $119.96
Four Tube Rentals – $20
Four Hot Dogs – $11.96
Four Regular Fountain Drinks – $11
One “Bucket O Fries – $6.49
Grand Total = $169.41
OR
Purchase them all together in our Ultimate Family Four Pack for $129.99! This ONLINE ONLY deal saves you over 23%, and takes care of your tickets and lunch!
You can also get from Costco 2 Day Passes & 2 Tube Rentals for $39.99!
Hope to see you there later this summer. You know you've had a good day when this happens on the way home:
PS – Don't use two year old spray sunscreen when you come here. You can guess why. 😉
That looks like so much fun! My kids would love it there.
What a fun place to go. I loved the pictures of how tired the kids were at the end of the day. haha Always a tell tail sign that it was Awesome. I adore lazy rivers so even I would love to visit. Thank you for sharing.
This looks like the perfect summer day! I have not been to a waterpark in years and now I really want to go. I would love to soak up some sun and watch the high dive show.
Ha ha! Love the pictures! And that pirate show looks like so much fun!
Fun water park….I checked out where Yorkville is…not that far from me. I live in Wisconsin on the border. This would make a great day trip for us.
Looks like an amazing time. Love how you wore out the kids.
It looks like you guys had a really fun day. I think I would be hanging out in that wave pool all day 🙂
When we go back, I’m sure that’s where my kids will be all day long. 🙂
What a great park! We went to Raging Waters this weekend and anytime I tried to post Raging Waves kept coming up! LOL! So glad to run into your post to see what kind of place it is. It is always a win when kids fall asleep!
What a cute water park!!
the pictures at the end of your kids passed out are hysterical hahaa
we enjoyed our stay too
Your kiddos are so cute! And that place looks like serious fun!
That sounds like fun!
this looks like a fun family waterpark! I haven’t been to one in ages
Wow looks like you all had a great time and the bonus…the kiddos were plum tuckered out!
My girls LOVE the waterparks!!
Sounds like a blast!!
Now that the kids are older, they are definitely ready for water parks.
Looks like they had an amazing time! That high dive show looks awesome!
Sounds like a really fun place for the kids. That last picture is adorable.
sounds like fun! 🙂
This looks like a great place to visit with family! We love going to water parks in the Summer time. Glad you guys had a wonderful time.
oh wow! That looks like SO MUCH FUN! My kids love water parks now, and I love wave pools! We’re visiting one nearby us in CT soon!
Oh SO MUCH FUN!! My boys would LOVE to go here 🙂
What fun, my kids love water parks, and that is about what they look like at the end of the day!
Such a blast! I wish we had a water park near to us.
Looks like so much fun! We wanted to go that day, but we had other plans. 🙁
We love waterparks. We went to one in South Dakota this summer and it is one of the best memories of our trip!
What a fun day! And how exiting that it is not that far away from you! The pirate show looks like a blast and I am sure my girls would love that! One of my daughters and I took some trampoline classes — she did a LOT more than me and is truly impressive. We did some stunt work falling and climbing walls (huge mats on top of one another) it’s really HARD! Those pirates are impressive! Thanks for sharing. Enjoy a fun filled summer 🙂
That pirate show looks pretty awesome. I love the look on your son’s face for being tall enough to go on the rides!
That pirate show looks pretty awesome. I love the look on your son’s face for being tall enough to go on the rides! Boy did they look wiped out after a fun-filled day!
It looks like you all had a wonderful time. The pirate diving show looks amazing!
My nieces love this park! They go once or twice a year.
My nieces love this park! They go once or twice a year.
Definitely a place my kids would have a blast at, so wish there was one closer to Florida!
What a neat place to spend the day! My kids love water parks, but we have never been anywhere to see a show like that. Wish we were closer to check it out.
That looks like such a fun place. I love how the kids are both knocked out on the way home. Lol!
Looks incredible. I wish it were around our area. My son would LOVE this.
The pedal bikes look like a ton of fun! So does the water park, but I am not really a water park person!
My kids would love that! There aren’t many water parks in my area, but this seems like a lovely one. Great post!
My kind of fun!
The dive show looks amazing.
We haven’t taken the kids to a water park yet. I am sure they would love it.
The show looks like it was so much fun!!
Looks like a lot of fun, Lisa.
Water parks are one of the best things of summer. This looks like a really great one!
What a fun day! We have a water park here but it is always so crowded with tourists – imagine Wet Disney LOL
How fun!
This place looks like such a blast and the kids seem like they had a lot of fun!
What did you think about the Lazy River? I remember my Dad taking my brother and I ever summer to a water park and goodness we spent a lot of time on the lazy river, I think mostly so the parents could relax.
I love the last pictures the most! Looks like they just had way too much fun! They were exhausted!
Now this looks like a place that my whole family would enjoy..> We love, love, love water parks and this one sounds amazing
I am a Chicago area resident, and we love taking my nieces to Raging Waves! They always have so much fun.
My kids would love this place. SO glad you had a great day! Bungee jumping looks so scary!
We’ve gone to 2 different water parks this summer, one very similar to this one and then this past Saturday to one closer to our area… the latter wasn’t nearly as big or nice (although it was plenty fun) but the admission is only $10 per person, so it was pretty good. 🙂 My son loves water parks. If I’m ever in that area in the summer, we will definitely go!
Looks like fun! I haven’t been to a water park in forever!
That wave pool sounds like so much fun! I know what you mean about the kids crashing at the end of the day — fantastic sign!
Oh wow looks like soo much fun! I’ve never been to a waterpark but hopefully one day I can go.
Looks like fun! My kids would absolutely love this!
It looks fantastic my kids love water parks so happy we have hurricane harbor 25 mins away
Sounds awesome!
This would be such a blast!
This would be such a blast!
We love waterparks! Looks like you guys had an awesome time!