Earlier today I had the displeasure of visiting Rapids Water Park in West Palm Beach with some family members of mine. Admittedly, after visiting a Disney water park, everything else pales in comparison. We arrived at Rapids at around 9:30 am, the park opens at 10am. In the early morning everything was fine, we enjoyed some of the slides (which I admit are quite good) and floated around in the lackluster wave pool. My first complaint with this park is that it is very small and unattractive, there is no theme like the Disney parks, so it is all bare concrete with faded paint, and it is very overpriced, the water was filthy too!

One of my other main gripes is about the staff. All were very unfriendly and some were even downright rude! No one had a smile on their face and they did very little to stop the roughhousing that was getting extremely out of hand, which brings me to my final point:

The crowd was unbearably aggressive and low-class! The lazy river was not enjoyable due to the many people - who were actually gang-members, I could tell this by the way they were flashing signs and they all had the same tattoos - punching each other and pushing small children and elderly people roughly out of their way, this type of behavior continued in every other area of the park as the day went on. We actually feared for our safety and high-tailed it out of there shortly after my 78 year old grandmother was pounced on by a few large aggressive males in the wave pool. The place was absolutely unacceptable and we will never, ever return there, and I strongly advise anyone against visiting there!

We live in Ft. Lauderdale and usually go to Rapids Water Park (50 minutes) only about twice a year because of the expense. It's currently $31.95 a person (no kids rates), but you can often find a coupon somewhere. Parking is another $5 per car so you'll need to bring a little cash.

It's fun for all ages, but best for kids over 6, although they do have a toddler/little kids area.

It's a fun place to be because of all the great slides. Mom's favorite is the double tube slide - completely in the dark except for the periodic little skylights. We all like the bowl rides - especially the red one where 2 can go in one tube. The green tube ride is a family ride where all 4 go in the same tube. Be prepared - you will climb a lot of stairs. Mary (11) likes the rope challenge in Alligator Alley. The lazy river is a favorite in the afternoon, but also serves the purpose of transporting you to other slides around the park.

We never rent a locker. We just bring a bag with towels for after. Leave your shoes in the car - you won't wear them in the park. You can check out of the park mid day and go eat at the picnic tables in the parking lot. We usually bring a cooler with sandwiches and fruit (that we leave in the car) to avoid the costly and non-nutritious offerings at the food shacks.

It's always a great day and a great place to bring out of town guests. But don't forget the sunscreen! And, remember to reapply mid-day.

Avoid the weekends if at all possible. You'll have a better time when the lines are shorter during the week.

Have a great time. We do!

I took my family to Rapids Waterpark as a last little getaway before school started. The rides were fun however there is a minimum heighth restriction of 48" on most of the rides. I have a 6 year old who is an excellent swimmer but wasn't allowed to ride on a lot of the rides because she is 5 inches too short. The park is open from 10 am to 5 - 7 pm. I would suggest getting there as early as possible since lines are long and you will need the entire day to ride most of the rides.

The rides were AWESOME and was tons of fun! I reccomend everyone go there because the price is lower than most water parks but it has waay more thrills and adventures. The only problem we had was that it was so big it was easy to get lost, the lines are pretty long (20 min wait?) and there aren't many food options.