Raging Waters Los Angeles

DSCN3293 (Medium)It was wonderful to spend a day at California’s largest water park! Raging Waters Los Angeles recently changed its name from the previous Raging Water San Dimas name, and added the high-tech water coaster slide Aqua Rocket last year! The park is beautifully situated on a hill side surrounded by nature, offering a very unique park layout, slide collection, and shade-filled environment for a day of fun. 


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In this Raging Waters Los Angeles post we’re basically going to do a little walk-through around the park, noting some highlight features and areas, and then reviewing each slide, attraction, or kid area. We want you to get a general idea of what the highlights at the park are, what makes the park stand out, and everything else we find important to throw in there. 🙂

Let’s start off with a quick map for those of you that are unfamiliar with the park’s layout:RWSD_2015_05_15_WebMap_2500x1510px (Large)

Download the PDF: Raging Waters Los Angeles – 2016 Park Map

Let’s start off with the fact that the park, though not busy during this particular visit, can get very busy! This park, unlike some other water parks in the state of California has a Q-bot system in place, appropriately called the H2GO Pass. This pass can significantly shorten the lines you’ll have to wait in, and is recommended on any busy days. 20160615_150340 (Medium)We used it and it was very user friendly, in addition there are plenty of reservation kiosks around the park. The attractions have clear separate lines for H2GO and staff at the H2GO center as well as at the slides were very helpful. So may you have a little bit extra to spare and are short on time, this is a wonderful solution!20160615_150326 (Medium) Let’s now talk about food. If you’re looking to grab food at the park, know there’s a lot of variety! From Jamba Juice, Yogurtland, Breyers, Rita’s, Pink’s, Carl’s Jr., etc. All of these food locations are near the entrance to the park in the general area where you also find gift shops, lockers, cabanas, etc. 20160615_141907 (Medium) 20160615_141908 (Medium) There’s also plenty of seating upstairs.20160615_141921 (Medium)


Lockers

Lockers are all over the entry area and food courts, and as at any water park; it’s a good idea to acquire one to store your belongings during your trip to the park. Here are the locker prices and dimensions for your convenience:

Large lockers rent for $20.00 per day
Large lockers Dimensions: 16L x 22W x 17D

Standard lockers rent for $15.00 per day
Small lockers Dimensions: 13L x 17W x 16D

Regular lockers rent for $12.00 per day
Small lockers Dimensions: 10L x 14W x 16D


The slides and attractions at Raging Waters Los Angeles!

Let’s now start moving around the park looking at… slides and attractions! The park has an incredible line up of slides, missing favorites like a drop-capsule slide, but featuring other unique attractions such as the High Extreme slides, Aqua Rocket, Dr. Von Dark and more! 20160615_143353 (Medium)Let’s start with Speed Slides! The Raging Waters Los Angeles Speed Slides are a set of two slides that are a bit older, and in this case older equals intenser. The slides have drops interrupted by sharp turns leaving riders high up on the slide walls during the turns and off into the air during the drops. The slides are considered smooth, yet may not be the right slides if you’re just starting off. If you’re looking for an intense diverse experience, Speed Slides are a ‘must’ when at the park!20160615_142422 (Medium) The slides were closed during our particular visit to the park but are expected to have reopened soon!20160615_142515 (Medium) Near Speeds Slides we find another unique attraction. The park’s Vortex body slides. Which consist of two spiral slides that start of with wide turns that become increasingly tighter as you go down. Creating an illusion of speed and acceleration not seen on many other slides.20160615_142135 (Medium) Once sliders exit the helices of the ride, there’s a quick drop in the dark before hitting the pool below! 20160615_142201 (Medium) These slides, along with Dropout, are some of the brightest looking ones in the park. 20160615_142219 (Medium) Near Vortex some of the park’s children play areas are located. Unlike many other parks, this park has an arsenal of attractions and slides for the younger guests. Including Shipwreck Slides seen down here. DSCN3257 (Medium)Volcano FantaSea seen below.20160615_142010 (Medium) And a very large, interactive, and slide filled children section called Splash Island Adventure.20160615_142157 (Medium) Next up… a personal favorite of ours, the towering mega structure… High Extreme!DSCN3263 (Medium) This slide once opened as the world’s tallest toboggan water slide and has since been turned into a crazy, insane experience that makes us refer to the slide as the X2 of Raging Waters. The slide structure is the tallest in the park and features 2 identically mirrored slides. These slides feature four drops, two of which deliver significant airtime, and a set of helices and quick transitions. This rather intense layout is accompanied by incredible speed, making it hard to breathe in certain sections of the slide. All while… sliding down head first holding onto a mat hugging and chasing the slide’s walls.DSCN3250 (Medium) The slides are over 10 stories tall, 600 feet long and riders fly down the drops at 35 miles per hour, face first. It’s one of the most exhilarating and awesome water park experiences around, and we dare even state the highlight attraction at Raging Waters Los Angeles, if you’re looking for an awesome thrill. 20160615_110637 (Medium)Watch our on-ride video of High Extreme below!

On the back side of the High Extreme structure, we find a smaller slide structure… Bermuda Triangle is the same set of slides that once stood as the Reptile Ridge Slides (soon to be Python Plunge) at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. For those unfamiliar, this structure contains an enclosed drop slide, with two enclosed helix slides on either side. Don’t let these smaller slides fool you, though, as they pack a punch! The helix slides are extremely fast, whipping you around their turns and splashing you down in the pool before you even know what hit you, and the middle drop slide offers riders a drop that has them off the slide for the entirety of the drop.  As an added bonus, these slides usually have a very short line. These are a must-ride during any visit to Raging Waters Los Angeles!20160615_142949 (Medium) Adjacent to the Bermuda Triangle slides is the Wave Cove. The Wave Cove is a great way to spend some down time during your day at Raging Waters Los Angeles, without completely killing your adrenaline buzz. This is because Wave Cove, as its name suggests, intermittently has 12 minute wave cycles, producing 3 foot wave after wave. Another plus of this wave pool are the free tubes for patrons to use to enjoy the motion of the surf. These are available on a first come first serve basis, however, if all tubes are taken, you may rent tubes for an additional fee.  20160615_142814 (Medium) Across from Bermuda Triangle and on the opposite side of the Wave Cove two more children areas are located. The Kid’s Kingdom (as seen below) and Little Dipper in the background. 20160615_142952 (Medium) Ever dreamed of boogie boarding on the perfect wave? Now you can make that dream a reality on the Flowrider, which has reopened for the 2016 season. Riders climb the stairs alongside the artificial wave before being handed a boogie board. They then jump in, head first, into the rushing whitewater, and have a minute to shred the wave. DSCN3245 (Medium) Your time stops if you wipe out, thus you’re guaranteed a full minute on the wave. This ride offers a thrill seldom experienced anywhere besides a beach, 40 miles from the coast! And unlike other locations that may have a similar attractions, it’s included with your admission for no extra charge!DSCN3246 (Medium) Now feel the Fury of King Neptune himself, as you rush down this 600 foot long rapid slide… in the pitch dark. Neptune’s Fury has up to 4 riders board their raft at the front of the park, and has them snake through the ride down the side of the parks hill landscape at 30 mph, before splashing down in a pool at the back of the park, 60 feet below its start. And don’t worry about carrying your raft all the way back up the hill. The ride has a conveyer belt lift system that takes each raft back up to the top of the slide for the next riders.20160615_143152 (Medium)In general Neptune’s Fury is a fun ride to ride with friends or family but may host long lines, the thrill factor is hard to find as only the last turn or two are somewhat exciting/forceful. Nonetheless, the ride’s pitch black for the entirety of the ride, offering an alternative fun experience. DSCN3294 (Medium) Next up is the park’s lazy river attraction… the Amazon Adventure! A typical lazy river with a kick, Amazon Adventure features waterfalls, bridges, and seating areas on its inner banks. The river itself is 18 feet wide and 3 feet deep, and can hold a maximum of 600 riders on tubes. Like the Wave Cove, this ride offers free tubes in the water on a first come first serve basis, however, if all tubes are occupied, you may always rent tubes for an additional fee.   DSCN3270 (Medium) Bordering the Amazon Adventure is the park’s newest addition and star attraction… Southern California’s only Water Coaster Slide: AQUA ROCKET! Before we even dive into the ride experience, the theming of this attraction works out great. Being located away from the hill side and trees, the park went with a more industrial and space-like theming complete with soundtrack around the queue. DSCN3238 (Medium) 20160615_143942 (Medium) We already mentioned that High Extreme is the park’s best attraction for pure thrill, but if you’re looking for a very fun experience that beats any other attraction at the park, it must be Aqua Rocket. The ride features three rather steep drops and inclines (launches) using hydro-magnetic technology. The turns in-between the drops are fast due to the launches into them, and are enclosed, as where the first three drops and launches are outdoor. DSCN3243 (Medium) The Aqua Rocket rafts seat up to four people (minimum of two) and reach speeds of 30 miles per hour going down the drops. The ride’s color scheme is actually awesome, but that’s nothing compared to the ride experience itself. The ride is continuously paced with the launches maintaining the speed very well. So well, in fact, that the rafts hit the elevated turns at great speeds offering a thrillingly fun experience.20160615_144127 (Medium)In general we were laughing the whole way through, constantly. It’s one of those very enjoyable rides that doesn’t necessarily offer the ‘hardcore’ thrill some sliders are looking for, but it offers an experience that’s re-ridable, unique, and fun. The lines for Aqua Rocket may get long, but unlike some of the other attractions at the park, this is a must-experience when visiting Raging Waters Los Angeles. The boarding and unloading procedures are easy and with a lengthy conveyor belt lift they can operate with a multitude of rafts making the line move quicker than you may anticipate at first. Besides it being a totally fun experience, it’s also a unique water coaster slide attraction, a definite MUST. 20160615_094550 (Medium)Watch our on-ride video of Aqua Rocket below!

Where to next? Thunder Rapids? Ragin’ Racer? or The Dark Hole? – How about all of them 😛DSCN3271 (Medium) Let’s start off with Thunder Rapids. Thunder Rapids is located next to Aqua Rocket and is the park’s other giant raft slide. Allowing for groups of 2 to 5 people to ride! 20160615_143855 (Medium) We thoroughly enjoyed Thunder Rapids, as the layout was filled with turns and the rafts highly banked onto the walls. There’s also a variety of turns where water runs through at a quick rate, reaching high up on the walls of the slide completely soaking you. Similar to Aqua Rocket this is just a very fun slide. DSCN3249 (Medium) It isn’t too incredibly long, but the layout is diverse enough for it to feel significantly longer and justify a possible longer wait time. The slide has a length of 550 feet, but with all the turns and rapids this feels much longer. Raging Waters thus proudly claims for it to be the wildest slide of its kind in the western U.S. 20160615_144528(0) (Medium)Watch our on-ride video of Thunder Rapids below!

Up next is another guest favorite… the Dragons DenWhat’s more terrifying than dropping 45 feet into a 35 foot wide bowl, and going around said bowl in multiple revolutions? Doing it while being stared down by a 9 foot tall dragon. Dragon’s Den offers all of these thrills in one intense experience. Riders sit two to a tube, and drop into the bowl through a pitch black tunnel, before entering the true lair of the dragon. They then make 2 to 3 passes around the dragon, before dropping underneath, forward or backward, to the skim out at the end of the slide.  DSCN3288 (Medium) Now we’re headed to the very lowest section of the park, where Ragin’ Racers is located. This slides features 8 lanes on a drag-race themed racing slide down the hill. And the slide definitely looks milder than it truly is! 20160615_145237 (Medium) After trekking up the hill alongside the slide, your lifeguard will place you in your lanes, and count you down before blowing his or her whistle to start the race. After the first three drops, many riders feel that they have this beast figured out, but it has a trick up its sleeve before the final drop. Right before its finale, each rider passes through a geyser, followed by a teaser skim out, before making its final descent.  We call this a teaser, because after the first drops and geyser, riders cannot see very well, and may hit this straight section of slide and believe the ride is complete, but then are thrown down the last, significantly taller, drop. Overall it’s a very good slide combining air with speed in a face-first experience. 20160615_144844 (Medium) Right next door we find… The Dark Hole slides. DSCN3285 (Medium) The Dark Hole slides are a set of two mostly-enclosed black tubes that simulate a black-out experience as your tube navigates the slides. Both slides are a 500 foot long voyage through the dark hole. Two riders per tube are a dropped into the dark enclosed tubes, and meander 52 feet down at 26 mph before emerging into the light for the ride’s finale, a rather steep drop that dives under a bridge of onlookers its pool.  20160615_145207 (Medium)20160615_144941 (Medium) Next up is the freshly gel-coated DROPOUT! The slide many fear. This slide offers a great illusion that tricks riders. The staircase up to the top of these slides seems rather low. Yet once you’re up top you will see, this ride doesn’t just hurl you down a the height of the stairs at a near vertical drop, but rather, down 70 feet into the carved out side of the hill, at 40 miles per hour. Dropout offers one of the quickest and most terrifying thrills at Raging Waters Los Angeles, being the second tallest and the fastest ride in the park.DSCN3293 (Medium) 20160615_145730 (Medium)Located right off to the right of Dropout is Dr. Von Dark’s Tunnel of Terror. Sure is a very interesting name, but an even more interesting slide!20160615_145900 (Medium)Riders will spiral around a 360 helix in their own two person raft (where they face one another) in the pitch dark before being thrown up the wall of a 40 foot tall funnel, then down and back up on the other side of the wall, then down into another 360 degree helix. Though the slide layout may seem simple, this slide, like several others in the park, takes place in the dark, making the ride disorienting and making the funnel come as a total surprise. DSCN3266 (Medium) With that surprise element and swinging up and down the funnel in the pitch dark, this slide really offers a fun experience that shouldn’t be skipped while at the park! DSCN3268 (Medium) The slide ends in a pool that’s slightly elevated from the Neptune’s Fury pool and slightly declined from the Dropout skim outs, really showing off the wonderfully hilly and nature-filled environment the park is located in. 20160615_145857 (Medium)


Overall!

Raging Waters Los Angeles is a very fun park, it sets itself aside with their interesting and very diverse line-up of attractions, though it is missing a drop-capsule ride if you ask us. Either way the park is most definitely worth a visit. With the incredible amount of greenery around the park, lots of natural shade is provided and the feel of the park is definitely adventurous and nature-filled, unlike some of the other local water parks. In addition the park features rides that are exclusively to be experienced there, such as High Extreme, and attractions that are incredibly unique on the west coast, such as the fun Aqua Rocket.

We truly recommend you visit the park, beat the summer heat, and just have a fun time all around. You can visit the park with an incredible deal California Coaster Kings and Raging Waters Los Angles offer, taking $14 off every ticket you purchase online, and they’re valid during the week AND weekends! Visit their website and enter the special California Coaster Kings promo code: CCK16 to save $14 on one-day tickets, and get every ticket for just $28.99, which is the best deal out there!  DSCN3273(edited) (Medium)


Thank you for checking out our look at California’s Largest Water Park: Raging Waters Los Angeles. We currently have lots more Californian water park walk-throughs and reviews on our Water Parks page!

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2 Replies to “Raging Waters Los Angeles”

  1. Hello,
    Was wondering if there was any modifications done to dropout, other than new gel costed? And when ? Please let me know and thank you

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