Schlitterbahn East — Attraction in New Braunfels

I’ve been coming to this water park for over 15 years as a native New Braunfels resident and today 06/10/2025 was the first day I’ve ever felt unsafe and extremely disappointed. Myself (23) and my younger brother (12) were riding the dragons revenge ride around 6:35pm. While on the ride, on an incline, our tube stopped in place for at least 1 minute with water blasting extremely hard and fast right behind us. While we were trying our hardest to keep moving along, our entire tube did a 180 and now I was in front while my brother was behind me. We were trying our hardest to stay safe and keep breathing with water blasting all over us, our faces, and over our heads. Another ride goer, riding solo, had bumped into our tube, her tube and her fell back, the water pressure shot her tube and her right back into mine and my brothers tube. It took a collision for the ride to stop, meanwhile my brother and I had already been there struggling in place for a minute or longer. Once the collision happened and we realized there was a collision, some time had still gone on, until the water finally stopped. Once the water had stopped I was able to stand up and turn around to the ride goer behind us, I had seen there was a lifeguard directly in my line of sight. The 3 of us waited there, trying to hard to catch our breath, for lifeguards and medical personnel to arrive. The other ride goer was completely sweet and only concerned for our safety. Luckily no one was extremely hurt, my brother and I were unhurt besides trying to catch our breath for a few minutes. The other ride goer was calm until help arrived and asked about our conditions and what happened. That is when the ride goer, a mother, had started crying, stated that she didn’t want to worry my brother and I or her family, but she was injured and her back was in severe pain. Wow I felt so bad, she wanted to be strong in front of us and didn’t want her family to worry but was also concerned with her family’s whereabouts as her 2 daughters were in the tube in front of my brother and I; they had made it off the ride safely. Once we explained what happened and the supervisors and medical personal had taken our information, I voice my 1 concern. My brother and I were stuck struggling for what felt like forever, meanwhile there was a lifeguard right behind us. It took an actual collision with another tube and ride goer for somebody to notice and finally stop the ride. The supervisor stated to me that he understood and that the lifeguard on duty was relived from her station and would receive a write up and go through their entire training again. Okay. So then we start walking down and before we part ways I make to tell the ride goer behind us to get some rest and recovery. We gave each other a hug and told each other God bless. I get back with my 2 younger brothers and let them play for the last few minutes that the park was open. I found 1 of the 3 supervisors who had spoken to us about the incident, the same one I had previously voiced my concern to. I had explained to him and question “I am not okay with what happened. How are we to feel safe going on rides again?” For us to be struggling so long and in need of help, while a lifeguard right behind us was there but not ensuring the safety of ride goers including my brother, the lady behind us, and myself. He had explained again that the lifeguard on duty would go through full training and get her write up, if there were to be another write up, its termination. STILL, to go through another training, HOW ARE WE TO FEEL SAFE. That lifeguard HAD her full training and we still went through a terrible accident. A second training is going to guarantee she does her job correctly and completely? NO. THE FIRST TRAINING SHOULD’VE EQUIPT THE LIFEGUARD WITH THE TOOLS SHE NEEDED TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF RIDE GOERS. But that didn’t happen, so now it will after a write up and the same training?? I hadn’t said that to the supervisor, I just said “ok,” and walked away feeling entirely defeated. Schlitterbaun, this...

Schlitterbahn's East Side is home to multiple amazing attractions. By itself, the East side makes for a fun summer day in the water. When combined with the West side (located a short tram ride away and accessed by the same ticket), it's easy to understand why this park receives so much critical acclaim.

The West side has two main areas: Surfenberg (featuring a surfing simulator, an uphill water coaster, swim up bar, kiddie areas, and a continuous lazy river with some wave action) plus Blastenhoff (home to Master Blaster and other high thrill rides on a tower surrounded by a wave river and smaller rides for kids of all ages, another swim up bar, and more) connected by a walkway that runs parallel to The Falls (branded as the World's Longest Waterpark Ride, sadly closed presently for extended repairs). Some rides have weight limits, some have other rules, and some need tubes -- which are conveniently provided near the ride. (You don't keep your tube and carry it with you on this side, as you usually do on the West.)

All around the park there are free picnic tables, most of them shaded. Plus, the park offers more premium cabanas for rent. Bring a cooler and pack your own lunch or buy food on-site (most of which isn't very good, especially not for the price).

During July and August, lines for the major rides get long early in the morning and stay long pretty much all day. So the best way (other than buying an expensive Fast Pass) is usually to arrive early or stay late -- or come on a weekday in May/June. Resort guests can get early access to certain areas on certain days; refer to their website for the latest since this affects those staying at the park and day-guests alike. Thankfully, both the Torrent River and Kristal River hold large crowds well so there's always something to do if you don't want to wait in line.

The tram stop to the west side is located about halfway down the walkway between the two sections. Lines for the tram get really long in the early afternoon. For that reason, when we come on busy days we like to stay on just one half of the park. But most visitors hop from side to side.

Premium parking is offered here; the lot routinely fills up on hot days and weekends. But if you arrive early, parking is free and available. Early summer always brings school groups, and late summer brings more families.

Changing rooms are available but are kinda limited on this side of the park. There are multiple shops selling souvenirs plus essentials.

I've been coming here for 25 years, which is through multiple eras of growth and ownership. The East side (as I still call it, the "new" side) still offers amazing rides, even if a few little things change every year. Staff are always attentive to safety and are always helpful and are also often friendly. I wish the Falls were operational this summer since it's an amazing ride, but even without it, this is...

We have been for Labor Day 2023 and also on Sunday the week prior. We always have fun at Schlitterbahn. However, a number of popular attractions are closed, such as the Falls - please do maintenance between the seasons. Also, I haven't noticed any new attractions and the last time we were was in 2018.

On the plus side the lockers are now completely self-serve, but the phone app for that has ways to improve in ease of use, such as fingerprints for authentication and the lack of park area name signage on the locker bank when starting the process of renting the locker - you have 2 areas starting with the letter M which is confusing when you're in the hurry to get ready for the fun activities once you passed all the obstacles to get in. Put the whole area name near the controlling touch screen of each locker bank!

The bad: on both occasions there weren't enough shuttle buses between the two locations. We had to wait more than 30 minutes for the ride. Also, why don't you put some shades over the shuttle wait line at the original location? Something simple like masts and tarps like over the top of Master Blaster would be perfect. But schedule more buses when you know or sense there will be enough people to warrant it.

The horrible and simple to fix: the changing cabins I used in both old and East locations have broken or completely missing hooks for things such as backpacks and the locks are not functioning because of shoddy work. How did this pass a simple quality control inspection?

Finally, why don't you make a water attraction like the Falls connecting both parks in New Braunfels? There's even a river connecting the two one way! Such a thing would be an immediate hit with the visitors and maybe the longest amusement park water ride...