Rock River Rapids Aquatic Park — Attraction in Derby

I’ve been coming here with my kids and friends their entire lives, over 10 years. While we love an excuse to come to Derby, it has gotten less and less enjoyable to visit Rock River Rapids due to their ridiculous prices and rules. We’ve been to several water parks, and this is definitely the least desirable.

First, it just seems like such a greedy facility. $10/adult and $9/kid over 2. I took 4 kids + myself today. That was expensive. It seems to increase every year. But whatever. It was 100 degrees and the only thing outdoors that felt safe to do was be in water. It was completely OVERCROWDED. Speaking of prices, they charge $1 for a CUP of ice water at the concession stand. Despicable. When it is that hot, they should provide free water like any other theme park or water park that I’ve ever been to. Not Derby! To get 5 cups of water and 1 snack each, it was over $25. The most expensive pool snacks I’ve ever had! The girl ringing us up in the concession stand was not friendly either. Also, unrelated, but my kids competed in a 6 team swim meet for swim finals last week. This is not our first time doing league in Derby. Again, this program and facility seems so greedy. Our pool and my hometown pool always close down during a swim meet. Not Derby! It’s loud, chaotic, and again, super overcrowded during our big swim finals. They even had signs everywhere that if you were there for the swim meet, you’d be towed for parking in the parking lot. SERIOUSLY?! TACKY. We always accommodate visitors even the meet is in our hometown. On day 2 of finals, we arrived at 6 a.m. - they don’t even open until 1 p.m.! So visitors from 5 other towns were forced to park at the high school and walk with all of the necessary items for a full day of a swim meet. Not welcoming in the least. And they were super picky and rude about where visiting teams had to use the bathroom - they had one gate blocked off with a worker sitting there guarding, so not all bathrooms were available. So dumb. There were 2 women's restrooms for 6 swim teams. Our club alone has 100+ swimmers plus families & friends who come to watch. Also, Derby RRR does not have enough shade/trees on premises.

Other lazy rivers like White Water don’t make you ride a tube. At White Water, the lazy river is SO fun as you can walk through it, which feels like flying. Even at Volcano Bay at Universal, they don’t require tubes. The kid working the lazy river who helped us get off of the lazy river was a nice guy though. Usually the workers aren’t the friendliest, but he was super helpful.

Lastly, and speaking of unfriendly staff, my friend and I (moms) wanted to go down the blue slide with a tube. They have ridiculous slide rules. Although the rude girl worker didn’t see my friend’s earrings, or either of our wedding rings, she asked me if I would remove my (expensive diamond) earrings to ride. Uh, no. Forget it. Too much trouble and they make it a hassle. I’m not leaving my earrings behind. NEVER EVER HAVE I HAD ANY WATER PARK ASK ME TO REMOVE jewelry!!! Especially on a tube. So weird and picky! ALSO… if your kids have any metal on their swim suits, which most swim trunks do, they MAKE you PURCHASE these plastic covers called BUNKZ to ride slides. Again, never ever ever have I had any water park ever ask for this. I think it’s just another way for them to charge money. If they require it for kids to ride slides, they should provide them for free, but instead, they charge $.75 Per piece. It’s such a rip off. And if you want to ride without a BUNKZ, the only way they will let you is to cut your swimsuit, which in turn ruins it. This is insane - my kids couldn’t believe they saw them do that to a kid in front of them - they cut out the metal part, totally ruining a swim suit. I am done with this place. I’ve spent so much money there over the years and their rules, like everyone else says, and greedy nature, cause this place not to be worth the hassle and as much fun as it could be. Don’t get me wrong, we all had a great time, but it’s so overboard. We will go somewhere...

TL:DR Rude staff, too many changing arbitrary rules, too much money, not fun for families with kids of various ages. Go to one of the much better water parks in OK. After spending hundreds of dollars on season passes and tickets for friends I must say I will be spending my money elsewhere next summer. Every visit the experience just gets worse and worse. I understand with Covid19 that safety theatre is important, but the rules keep changing and getting more arbitrary after every visit. There are no concessions, but outside food or drink isn't allowed. None of my kids can enjoy the lazy river with me anymore, even with coast guard approved life jackets or a swim test. Two of the best big slides are shut down. Something magical happens at 48" and kids become excellent swimmers so even with a swim test at 47.8" my 9 year old is limited to the kiddie slides and small diving board. No splashing, no jumping, no stepping on the water sprayers ON THE GROUND, no cotton material, no water toys, and so on. My 2 year old, freshly painted with sunscreen and a life jacket goes in the pool and I get scolded because he reaches the water before me as I'm taking off my shirt. Every time I come there's a rule change and trying to explain this to children every time we visit is a huge pain. More tears this year than I've ever had a place that's supposed to be fun for kids. I can spend about the same money at a water park in Oklahoma or any of the other smaller water parks in KS and have a way better experience. If you're a Derby teen then this is a great place I'm sure, but no longer would I consider this a family friendly experience. I hate that I feel the need to drive further to have a good time...

We went when it was over 100°. There are long paths to walk on between attractions and the cement gets hot, there aren't a lot of places to redip your feet either. They added some dark blue mats in some areas, but even those were hot.

Their lifejacket policy seems backwards to me. If my child is wearing a lifejacket they need to be within arms length of me, but if my child is not wearing a lifejacket they can be wherever. I prefer to have my 5 year old wear a lifejacket when they are not right by me for additional safety, and this was not an option here. The lifeguards are watching this closely and removing kids from the pool who were wearing a lifejacket and not near an adult.

The snack and drink prices were very reasonable.

The showers have no privacy so the family bathroom was being used by a single person to shower off after swimming. The family bathroom was extremely hot and muggy while getting our kids changed into their swim suits.

They had people helping to get in and out of the lazy river which was very nice. My 10 month old needed a lifejacket since they were under 48", however their provided lifejackets were too large. There was a person who came over as I was looking for a lifejacket and after seeing the lifejacket on my child agreed that it was too large and said they didn't need to wear it since they would be on my lap. The encounter was very pleasant and they seemed to truly care about the wellbeing and comfort...