Nisswa Family Fun Waterpark — Attraction in Nisswa

Today's visit to Nisswa Family Fun Waterpark started rough but ended on a beautiful note. As my daughter Willow gets older, it becomes more clear how much better her experience is when she has kids her age to play with. I try to help by encouraging social moments.

While we were playing, we met a boy named Austin. When I complimented him, he unexpectedly replied, “You’re very fat,” then splashed water in my face, knocked my sunglasses off, and punched me in the jaw. I didn’t react—I knew Willow was watching. But when he raised a pool noodle to hit her, I firmly intervened. My “no” was loud and serious—enough that Austin started crying, and his dad and uncle quickly stepped in. I told them I didn’t care what happened to me, but no one was going to lay hands on my daughter. They agreed, and the situation de-escalated.

Shaken, Willow asked to leave. I realized this wasn’t about ego or “winning”—it was about creating good memories. So we left the kiddie pool and went to the hot tub, where she met another girl, Emerson. Just as they started to bond, Emerson had to leave. Willow was heartbroken again.

Then came Gale and her three grandkids—Everett, Brenna, and their three and a half year old brother (sorry I can't remember his name.) They completely turned our day around. Brenna, patient and sweet, invited Willow back to the kiddie pool and helped her down the slides. Gale, full of kindness and energy, even loaned us a life jacket. While the kids played, I had a lovely conversation with Gale about her life here in the Northwoods.

To top it off, the owner Steve made us a delicious pepperoni pizza, which we shared with our new friends. Classic '80s rock played over the speakers while Willow and I shared a blue raspberry slushy. The kindness from Gale, her family, and the entire staff truly erased the earlier drama.

Admission for the two of us was only $26—a small price for such a meaningful experience. You can tell Steve and his wife aren’t just in it for the money; the atmosphere they’ve created is all about family, inclusion, and community.

Pro tip: visit on a Wednesday if you can—Gale told us they hold turtle races in Nisswa’s town square! Next time we visit (and there will definitely be a next time), Willow and I plan to check those out before heading back to the Waterpark.

One note—It's important to mention I didn’t report the incident with Austin, to the staff. I’m confident the staff would’ve handled it if needed, but I didn’t want to stir up more tension. In the end, the memory we left with was one of joy, community, and kindness. Huge thanks to Gale, her grandkids, and the Nisswa Family Fun...

This waterpark does not have the large pool that it looks like it has in pictures. The two big slides are great, but otherwise the only swimming pool is for little kids—about knee deep on most adults. If you’ve only got kids like 6 and under, or you’ve got older kids who really only care about the slides, this place would work fine—it’s really affordable too, with pricing options for slides and all, swimming only, or lounging only. But if you’ve got older kids/teens who want to swim, this place will be disappointing! I still cannot figure out how they got the photos that show a large pool on their website or in the photos shown here. I pulled up the pictures while we were there and there’s a whole big pool in the photos that is just…not there, and the other one that looks decent in the pictures is only an offloading zone at the bottom of one of the slides. The only thing I can think of is maybe those pictures are old and were taken before one of the pools was removed or something. Just an important thing to note before you go! Overall great place for...

Literally no way for adults to swim, or wade for that matter, e.g. no pool. The "pool-like" area they have is maybe 15" deep. They have microscopic poor excuses for hot tubs that could maybe fit 2 adults, and the only area that's remotely deep enough to swim in is at the exit of a waterslide with kids exiting constantly. Their "fun for the whole family" slogan is a lie. I could have saved 11 bucks and went to the beach.

Edit: the one positive thing I can say is that I was greeted by who I assumed was either the owner or manager, and he was EXTREMELY NICE. Super pleasant, kind and helpful. To put my experience in perspective, I will just say that I'm guessing that simply put I'm not the target demographic. If they had a full (or even half) sized adult swimming pool, I would probably go...