Rainbow Falls Water Park

So it's time for my next pool review, and this is the first true 'water park' we have gone too. While a little pricey for just 3 people, and even though it was a little rainy that day, the park we went to was easily the best we had been to yet: Rainbow Falls Water Park in Elk Grove.

1. Location
Rainbow Falls Water Park
200 Rev. Morrison Blvd.
Elk Grove Village, IL 600007
http://www.elkgroveparks.org/rainbowfalls.asp?id=448

2. General Overview
This is a great place for a public pool. With 5 unique slides, a large water playground with a giant water drop bucket, a large pool with a vortex pool inside, a large lazy river, and a little obstacle course, this is one of the better parks run by the park district.

3. Price
8/10
The general admission is 15$, and residents of Elk Grove get a 6$ discount. While this price is a little higher than Otter Coves price, the inclusion of more slides and a water playground make that price worth it.

4. Attractions
9.5/10
Anything more and I would have given this a 10. It might not have as much as Raging Waves, but they are just as fun and the lines are a whole lot shorter. Maybe it was the weather, but I stood in line for maybe 2 minutes the entire day. When you can get a bunch more rides in, it as a blast, especially because on one of their slides, you go down a 30 degree angle right into a toilet-bowl shaped part, and you go out the bottom into a small pool. WARNING: For thrill seekers only! The vortex pool is great for every one, as is the lazy river. The water playground is the best I have seen, with squirters, buckets, and almost anything you can think of to get people wet.

5. General Swimming
5/10
The first water park I have seen that also has a decent pool. This is also the first pool I have gone to this summer that has a nice 6 foot depth. My brother is not a great swimmer, and he found this the perfect place to practice. However, I could not spot a lap pool anywhere, which is not shocking but somewhat dissapointing.

6. Final Rating
Kids: 9/10
This is the place for kids. The best day to come would be on a weekday, and you can have hours of fun with little or no wait. The best part is that you can dump some water on your mom and dad!
Adults: 6/10
This is a good place for adults as well. The lazy river is good way to relax, and the park is big enough to be fun but small enough to be safe. The body slides are good for anyone, and the water playground can be fun when adults are there to help you squirt people in the lazy river.

Coral Cove Water Park

So just today, we went to our second pool, which is brand new for me. Although Coral Cove Water Park is slightly generic, this does not mean that we didn't have a good time.

1. Location

Coral Cove Water Park

849 Lies Road West

Carol Stream, IL 60188

 www.csparks.org/index.php/parks-facilities/coral-cove-water-park

2. General Overview

This is probably a stretch of the definition 'water park'.  The slides, while tall, are nothing special, and the pool is just that - a pool. The diving boards and drop slides our fun, and the splash park and water playground will entertain younger ones, but overall, this pool is somewhat generic and not at all innovative.

3. Price

6/10

The price is actually fairly good for this park. It is 5$ for residents, 9$ for non-residents, and a 4$ twilight rate. This is less than other parks such as Otter Cove, but still is a little much for 2 slides and a pool. 

4. Attractions

5/10

Once again, nothing special. The slides are ok, but one moves extremely slow, and the other rockets you, nothing for anyone who wants a medium-speed slide. The drop slide is normal, the diving board... It just doesn't change anything from a typical pool. For little kids, they have a splash park and water playground. While small, these are still pretty fun to play in for a while.

5. General Swimming

6/10

This is why you go to a smaller pool like this instead of someplace like Raging Waves, and I think it does do this very well. It has a large zero-depth entry pool, and it also has lap lanes and the deepest the main pool gets is about 5-6 feet.

6. Final Rating

Kids: 6/10

This is a decent pool for kids. The splash park and zero-depth entry our good for little kids, and the teens will like the slides. However, almost any pool will have these as well
.

Adults: 5/10

The same goes for the adults. They will have a fine time in the pool and slides, but they could have just as good a time anywhere else.

Otter Cove Review

A couple of days ago, me, my brother, my mom, and my friend Jacob went to the first pool I will be reviewing: Otter Cove Aquatic Park. And I do think we all had a great deal of fun riding the slides and lazy river.

1. Location

Otter Cove Aquatic Park

3615 Campton Hills Road

St. Charles, IL 60175

http://www.ottercove.org/

2. General Overview

This place is one pool geared squarely at kids. The main attractions include a body slide, 2 drop slides, a splash park and small kidie pool, swimming lanes, a general pool, and a tube slide that dumps you out into a lazy river. The lack of a true adult pool and any water depth between 3 and 9 feet is glaringly obvious, as well as the fact this is a full outdoor pool.

3. Price

6/10

The price is 11$ for residents of St. Charles, 13$ for non-residents, and a 4 dollar twilight rate. While this may seem expensive, it is not terrible for what you get. However, I see no mention of a season pass on the site, and it is a flat rate for kids and adults. But for adults, the best thing you will get out of the day is a tan. And is that really worth it? I'll leave that up to you

4. Attractions

8/10

4 slides, a lazy river, and a splash park? What dosen't this place have? Though geared toward little kids, 11-14 year olds will still have a blast on the body and drop slides, and they can relax on the lazy river. They could even have fun in the splash park, which is quite big for a decently small park.

5. General Swimming

3/10

Not a place for just swimming. Aside from about 5 lap lanes, their is just about nothing for any swimmer older than 16 years old.

6. Final Rating

Kids: 8/10

This is a great place for kids, as I have said before. The smaller ones will love the splash park, Tweens will relax on the lazy river, and teenagers will plunge on the dive slides. And what else could you ask for?

Adults: 4/10

Nothing much to say that hasn't been said before. High cost, a small swimming area, and a lot of time watching your kids can only lead to one thing; a tan better then you can get in any tanning salon.

My First Post

Hello everybody, this is the first article in my new blog, and will mainly deal with what I am planing to do with this blog. Every week, me and my family will go to a pool in Northern Illinois area and I will review the it on a 10 point scale in 4 different categories Price, Attractions, General Swimming, and an overall rating. The structure of these will be as follows:

1. The address and website for the pool.

2. An introduction to everything that is their.

3. The price and If it is worth it.

4. The different attractions such as slides, splash parks, and lazy rivers.

5. How good it is for general swimmers.

6. My final rating for both kids and adults.

I hope to have my first review up today as well, and I hope to have more in the future!