Sometimes when you’re on vacation with family it’s hard to balance out everyone’s needs: your family’s need to see you and spend time with you (after all, you love one another, right?), your need to decompress and actually have a vacation (novel thought), and the assembled kids’ needs to be entertained and diverted and cared for at every turn.
Kalispell, Montana, isn’t exactly a tourist destination, but it’s close enough to Whitefish (home of a big fat lake as well as a ski resort that does lots of summer hiking) and Glacier National Park as makes no difference. It also happens to be where my father’s house is, so that’s where we land when coming to my home stomping ground.
Luckily, it’s also a fantastically functional family-friendly city. Half of our family was recovering from jet-lag on Monday, and half recovering from nasty debilitating colds. Too tired and ill, collectively, to take an all-day hike in Glacier, or wishing to shiver at the lake, we still needed something active to do with the kids — which was how we ended up spending over two hours here, at the Woodland Water Park right in town and an easy walking distance from our house.
The waterslides and “lazy river” were great additions to the full-sized swimming pool and pulled in plenty of adults, older kids, and teenagers. With my 5-year-old niece and 2-year-old son, though, the biggest attraction was the full-sized kiddie pool, open only to kids up to 7 (non-swimmers must be accompanied by an adult). I loved the idea: a pool that goes from about 0 inches to 2 feet, where my niece could show off the fruits of her dedicated swimming lessons, and my son could fall absolutely in love with being in the water (“Out, John?” after 30 minutes — “NO!” Glad we got that straight).
The water park is actually contained in Woodland Park, a huge open city space with trees and plenty of quiet areas, birds, a river, and playground. Next to the water park itself is a large skateboarding park, making it an all-round family fun spot.
Great lesson to me that day: when traveling with kids, sometimes it’s a good idea to research the towns neighboring the area you’re traveling to. They might not have the best attractions for adults, but that’s what cars are for, and you might find yourself in a place overflowing with lazy between-times entertainment for the little ones.
What a lovely setup for a family (especially traveling with young kids when you want to do something that keeps everyone happy for hours THEN EXHAUSTS THEM SO THEY SLEEP.) 🙂
It’s a good thing you found the water park! It sounds like a great time!
You hit it right on the nose, Sheila, as usual! They slept well that night. And yes Deb, we all actually had a really good time!
Kalispell is one of the great water parks for kids .kids enjoy water a lot it is the best thing in summer to prevent from heat and have a fun time .
Being with a family is a best thing when you all are united together for vacations its a good time you spend with your loved ones.
I heard great things, and the pool area looks awesome. The price is very competitive, and we were very excited to attend the park today. However, we had a terrible experience. We were there for under an hour, and the weather was overcast. Someone heard thunder and they closed the pool first for a half hour, and then for the rest of the day. Our large famly of 8 was just under $50. Even though there are no refunds, there should be something for not even getting a chance to swim. Coupons, free passes for another time. We attended with another family of 7, and 3 of the 4 adults had not even gotten wet yet. This is our second complaint…. We were over at the swim test area, our 6 year olds, who are great swimmers, and could do the length required, were not passed. The lifeguard was being way too picky on their form, and breathing patterns. I think that this is totally wrong. The whole purpose is so that the kids don’t drown, they can swim. Relax on their form (and they were not dog paddling either!) You should offer the swim test before you make us pay. It was a terrible experience for us and we do not plan on returning, or recommending it to our friends. We deserve a refund. I wish it was different, because the pool “looks” like alot of fun. We’re glad that you’re concerned with safety, but today, you were way overboard. We did not enjoy ourselves. Four out of six of my kids should have been able to slide… two never got a chance. Your should have some give on your strict weather — no refunds policy.
I would love to talk to a manager …. 403-892-3582 Christie