River Ranch Water Park — Attraction in Phoenix

I don't really know where to start with this review.. this place was just.. odd?

We bought a Resort Pass for this place, which would have been a great price of $25/person, but we purchased the tickets day of, making it $35/person. But that's on me, not necessarily the water park or Resort Pass.

First of all, finding this place was just kind of wild. There's so much construction in the surrounding area so it's just hard to access unless you already know where you're going.

Upon arrival, we checked in and were given wristbands by the two people at the front counter, but they were very clearly not interested in engaging with customers. They genuinely just gave us the wristbands, asked if we needed towels, and then returned to talking to one another without giving us any lay of the land or sharing any information.

We then walked around to better understand the area--there are two larger pools, the water slide, and the lazy river. None of the pools are connected to one another, which is totally fine, but they're located in areas that aren't very easy to find unless you just walk around everywhere and find it. Some signage would probably be a great addition.

As we went to set our stuff down, we couldn't find any chairs that weren't worn down, ripped, sun-faded, etc. All of the umbrellas and cabanas were also this way.

The water slide wasn't working and just had a sign there that said you had to ask an employee to operate it if you wanted to use it.

The staff truly didn't seem to care what was going on because there was a group of kids/teens running around and breaking a bunch of rules, climbing on things they shouldn't, etc. but the staff just turned a blind eye.

The lazy river passes by a worn down mini golf course - not sure if you can use it, but it just felt weird. It also passes a super run down.... mining town set?

At one point, an employee walked over to us at the lazy river and told us that they close in 3 minutes. Which we're totally happy to scoot when the time came around, but having more than a 3 minute warning would have been super nice. We didn't know what time it closed going into it because it's not posted anywhere and no one told us. The only thing in the Resort Pass info was that the slide was supposed to close at 6 (which, lol because it was actually never operating).

We got out of the pool, sopping wet, with no time to dry off. We stopped by the restrooms on our way out and they were also (surprise!) run down and kind of gross.

But then my favorite part: the gate we came in through was locked from the inside, the gate next to it was unlocked but chained up, and there were no staff present! We started to consider calling the resort/water park, jumping the fence, etc. because we weren't given any instruction, no signage anywhere, and we couldn't ask for help from staff. Eventually, we bumped into a staff member (1 of 3 we saw the whole time we were there) and they (begrudgingly) told us where to exit, but just vaguely pointed in a direction instead of walking us over there (it was a weird location so it was kind of hidden/tucked away so not super obvious).

Basically, it was all just kind of eerie, bad customer service, and weird vibes. I wouldn't return, nor would I recommend to anyone else. It's pretty expensive for what you're actually getting out of it. I feel like I'm writing the most insane review ever, but it was just...

Came here for a day during summer break with a group of mom friends and their kiddos. We all got a Groupon and thought we'd give it a try! Last summer we did the indoor water park at Great Wolf Lodge, which was an awesome experience! I mention that so I can provide a comparison. This was half the price for the day (with the Groupon) but didn't include food, and they don't allow outside food, so keep that in mind. We came on a weekday, right when they opened, it was basically empty so we grabbed a row of pool chairs right where we wanted. The slide and lazy river didn't open for an hour so we all just swam around and played in the waterfall, which was a nice little feature! It overall felt "small" for a water park but actually perfect for our younger kids (5-7 years old). It was easy to keep an eye on everyone since there wasn't a ton of space. Between the pool, waterfall, slide, and lazy river, it was just enough to keep the kids entertained for the entire day! One of my friends also ended up purchasing a beach ball and some other water toys from their concession stand. We got smoothies and lunch which ended up costing quite a bit but their portions were big so it didn't feel like a waste. They had servers who walked around and took orders and brought them to us so that was a nice perk! We stayed and played for over 5 hours! It did get busier as the day went on, but it never felt too crowded. It also didn't seem as rundown or dirty as some reviews have said, but maybe weekends are a different story. I would totally come back next summer! It was a good mix of fun and relaxing! Between myself and my daughter, including food, the day cost me $115. It ended up being around the same cost as the Groupon for Great Wolf Lodge last summer, which included pizza and drinks. Both are fun water parks but very different! Great Wolf feels like Disneyland + it was busier and more chaotic = more exhausting for the mamas 😅 Tons of fun but a lot! River Ranch was still fun but more relaxing, BUT outside so most of our crew ended up...

Overall, we had a fun time and I still enjoy this lazy river as much as I always have. That said, I had to go with the 4-stars because of overall cleanliness of the River Ranch. It needs some help. Want details? Dive in below…

We were visiting during the 4th of July weekend so we knew it would be more crowded than usual. The pools themselves seemed pretty clean with the exception of stepping on a few clear plastic cups that people lost to the bottom of the pool. The trash cans were all overflowing and it was hard to get rid of any trash from food or snacks. Even the bathroom trash cans were horrible.

As others have mentioned, the prices are pretty high for what you get. We decided to do a cabana one of the days and the snacks that came with it were very limited. The food from the poolside cafe was okay but nothing we were overly impressed by for the $100s we spent.

We heard they were closed for two years to update the water park. The new pebble tech, or whatever it is that felt similar, was nice but we were sad they got rid of the water spouts across the lazy river. We were also sad that it didn’t seem like they took that two years to update anything else. The mini golf and old town along the lazy river could have used a little love.

In general, I would usually compare this Hilton Resort to that of the Desert Ridge Marriott and the Arizona Grand. Right now, this property and water park would rank #3 for me though. Only a few years ago I would have put it at #1, they had so much going for them.

Also, I know it’s probably tough to pull off on a holiday weekend but, what happened to the duck races around the lazy River? I loved writing my name on a rubber ducky and hoping I won one of the prizes! And does anyone know if they do any night movies in the main pool? None of the team members I asked seemed to know.

Anyway, should you visit this resort and water park, I hope you enjoy and have a cleaner experience...