Swimsuit Up this Winter & Year-round at Grand Prairie’s EpicWaters Indoor Waterpark

This is a guest post about EpicWaters right here in Grand Prairie by Heather Buen for Dallas Single Mom. This is a great winter fun alternative that is family-friendly and easy to enjoy. Don’t miss the picture gallery at the end of the post! ~ TBC

Do you have family coming into town for the holidays? Do you need an activity for the kids on holiday break? Get your swimsuits and flip flops out of storage this winter and head to Grand Prairie where you will find North America’s largest indoor waterpark under a single retractable roof. If you are looking to entertain others or to be entertained than travel to the center of the DFW Metroplex to Grand Prairie, Texas and get acquainted with an epic water adventure known as EpicWaters Indoor Waterpark.

Opened year round including holidays, EpicWaters features three first in industry water slides aptly named: The LassoLoop – tallest indoor Aqualoop at 69 feet, the Yellowjacket Drop, and the Aquanaut. There is also the Prairie Plunge and the Texas Twist. You can race your friends, up to four lanes, on the E-Racer with an over 60 ft freefall. Many of these water slides have a height requirement of 48 inches with a few allowing a rider that is 42 inches. Also check for weight requirements. The Prairie Plunge and the Lasso Loop have a weight minimum of 100 pounds. Other features include the first Constrictor and Boomerango fusion waterslide-inner tube ride in the US. These features earned Epic Waters a Leading Edge Award from the World Waterpark Association.

When you enter the doors of EpicWaters the first things that my kids did was look up and all around. From the outside the large glass structure is visible from the President George Bush Turnpike with its colorful slides that meander in and out of the building making up the façade of the building. What is impressive is the retractable roof – suitable in warmer weather, the retractable roof with 40 blue panels helps to save on energy costs but it creates a lot of great natural light into the facility and energy savings of 27% versus traditional waterparks. The colors and the sounds and the big digital display board above the FlowRider make for a visual experience.

It is located next to The Epic, a 120,000-square-foot fitness, arts, and entertainment destination part of Grand Prairie’s $94 Million EpicCentral Grand Prairie development. Epic Waters Indoor Water Park is a part of the 172 acre park system that is a unique partnership between municipal government, corporations and the community to provide a centralized recreation and entertainment location for residents and guests.

Upon entering you will get your tickets and check in near the gift shop entrance which to a 45-game arcade area. The gift shop has towels, beachwear, flip flops, sunscreen and everything you need for the waterpark that you have forgotten. My daughter outgrew her swimsuit and it was difficult finding a swimsuit in November so we got her one here for $20. The arcade was perfect if you get tired of the water activities and want to play some skeeball or other games to earn some tickets for prizes.

Next to the arcade is the Hungry Wave Café. I thought the food was reasonably priced featuring burgers, hot dogs like the Epic Dog, pizza and Pepsi products. We ended up getting an entire pizza and a pitcher of soft drinks, with cheese nachos for around $27.00. You can also make your way to Longboards, the full-service bar with televisions for sports watching and entertainment.

After you get your tickets and make it through the arcade you can head to the changing rooms, rent a locker or if you are having a party or event – you can head upstairs to one of the full service party rooms with packages from $250 to $600.

Renting a party room or even renting a cabana for $200 is a great way for your family or your group to set up a spot. We had a complimentary cabana set up by The Swimming Hole. The Swimming Hole was a standalone pool that had a water basketball set up and a floating shark.

A short walk from the Swimming Hole is Rascal’s Round Up. This children’s area is equipped with an aquatic fort, geysers, a giant water bucket, water guns and fun sized water slides just for the little ones. Rascal’s Round-Up is a true centerpiece of the waterpark with the looming waterslides towering above it. A haven that is accessible to parents in case they need to help their small children. On certain days, it is toddlers only and parents can bring their extra pint-sized guests for uninterrupted play.

You can also try your luck at the FlowRider surfing simulator. This highly physical activity comes with a trainer that can teach you how to boogie board. Lastly there is the Rio Grand lazy river where you can float along the longest indoor river in Texas with free tubes. There are still plans to expand the park even further. “Epic Waters itself is already expanding. Construction is underway on a 10,000 sq-foot outdoor wave pool, with wave generating equipment provided by WhiteWater. Plans include extending the roof over that part of the park in the future with room available for additional expansion outside the park for more slides and attractions.” Continual expansion is in the works for this Grand Prairie feature and you can learn more about it here in inPark Magazine’s story entitled “WhiteWater: Of Epic Proportions.”

Plan your next adventure and purchase your tickets at EpicWaters Indoor Water Park.