As a family with younger kids (ages 8 and 3), monster-sized amusement parks can be overwhelming to us when we visit. While on vacation in Western Michigan, however, we were thrilled to visit Michigan’s Adventure Amusement Park, one of Cedar Fair Properties smaller parks. But don’t let it’s smaller size fool you into thinking it is small on fun! Michigan’s Adventure packs a powerful punch when it comes to rides, attractions, games, and a day full of fun for the whole family! And, because its smaller-priced, $27/person admission fee gives you access to both the Michigan’s Adventure amusement park AND the Wildwater Adventure water park, you walk away feeling like you really got your money’s worth. 🙂
The day we visited Michigan’s Adventure, it was a HOT 92+ degrees! We started out our day on the Michigan’s Adventure side of the park – we figured we’d get good and hot on that side, and then cool off in the water park. First on our girls’ list: Bumper Boats. Both Alyssa and Lila were in heaven bumping into other boats on the water.
For me, I had been eyeing the Logger’s Run flume ride since we entered the park. Since childhood, this has always been one of my favorite rides. Alyssa, my 8 year old tried it with a bit of trepidation. Once down the steep final hill, she was smiling and laughing, and couldn’t wait to go on it again!
We hit many other rides, including some of the kiddie rides for Lila. No lines there, so they were quick, easy, and brought lots of smiles. I think we rode the ferris wheel at least 5 times – the girls were thrilled with the view from up high.
The roller coasters looked like lots of fun, but with the heat, we headed for the water park after a couple of hours of fun and some tasty burgers at the 50’s style diner inside the park. And while I’m on the topic of food, I should mention that the portion sizes were large, and the quality of the food was quite good.
Michigan’s Adventure Wildwater Adventure Water Park
My husband and I were really impressed with the variety in this water park! With over a dozen different attractions, we could have spent the whole day just in the water park. And although there were plenty of folks keeping cool by staying wet, the lines weren’t bad. The longest wait was for the Funnel of Fear that my husband just had to try. 🙂 He said it was totally worth the wait!
We really liked how many different sections they had for younger kids too. At some parks, it seems like the non-swimming kids are just an after thought. Not so here. One section, Half Pint Paradise, was designed especially for kids under 48″ tall, and had a cave to walk through, two tot-sized slides with lifeguards stationed at the bottom of both, and lots of space to splash and play in the 1.5 feet of water.
One of the other areas my kids really loved was the Beach Party Section, complete with a giant tipping bucket, tons of slides, sprayers, and rope bridges. We spent quite a bit of time here and at the kid-friendly wave pool across the way. As a parent, I was very reassured by the number of life guards and staff I saw in the park. At one point, I lost Alyssa for about 15 minutes. As my mind raced about her safety, I was encouraged to see life guards every which way I turned. Thankfully, Alyssa appeared as I was telling a guard I had lost my child. When we found eachother, Alyssa was on her way to our “safety spot” we had decided upon before entering the water park. I was so happy to see her, that I forgot to thank the awesome lifeguard that calmly pointed me to the first aid building, where she said staff would help me look for my daughter.
Another cool feature of the water park was that it had THREE wave pools, each with different maximum depths of water, and differing sizes of waves. We loved all of them! And, because Wildwater Kingdom has life jackets there to borrow, it was something we could all do together, including little Lila. She thought is was totally awesome to be hanging out in the wave pool with all the big kids!
Our final two family favorites in the water park were the Lazy River (what’s not to love about slowly floating in an innertube?), and Slidewinders – serpentine shaped, super-speedy waterslides that got my heart pumping! I spent the last third of the fast slide ride backwards, laughing because it was fun, and just a touch scary. 🙂 Alyssa couldn’t get enough of these slides, going back again and again and again!
We all but closed the water park that day. I couldn’t believe how long we had lasted there – about 5 hours in the water park alone! We were having so much fun, that the time just went by too quickly.
All in all, we felt Michigan’s Adventure was a very good value for the money, and a perfect amusement park for families, especially those with tweens and under. If you are looking for a vacation spot less than 6 hours from Akron, check out my reviews of things to do in the Grand Haven, Michigan area, including Michigan’s Adventure Amusement Park! It’s definitely a trip worth taking.
Michigan’s Adventure
4750 Whitehall Rd
Muskegon, MI 49445
231.766.3377
Regular Daily Admission: $27.00
Children under age 2 are free.
This was not a paid post. My own opinions were used based on my perceptions and experience. Thank you to Cedar Fair who provided the tickets for review.
