Deep River Waterpark — Attraction in Ross Township

We purchased the "Family Fun saver package" prior to arrival. Online, it states "On the day you arrive you can pick up everything at any ticket booth or in Will-Call at the Group Sales office". Well, we showed the voucher at the ticket booth, and the girl working it simply said we were good to go; so, we waited in line, got through bag/cooler check, presented the barcode at the gate just to be told we needed to head to Group Sales. When we asked where that was, the girl just vaguely pointed and said, "it is that way". So, we turned around and headed "that way". We eventually got to group sales; it was a smaller indoor office, so my husband and two children decided to wait outside due to the number of people already in there. We got to the point of obtaining wristbands and now am being told they HAVE to wrist band everyone themselves... so I turn around, push through the other people waiting in this tiny office, gather my family and come back inside to get everyone a wristband. We go back over to the gate to get in, another young girl working there looks at my daughter's life jacket and says "you have to take that out to your car, she can't wear that" I told her it was US Coast Guard approved (as per the website requirements) and tried to show her the stamp on the life jacket however she didn't even look just proceed to say we could not use it. Cool. We get in (after trying to get in for the past 15-20 minutes) and spend some time at the Kid's area. Now we want to visit the wave pool, EXCEPT my 4-year-old no longer has her life jacket. We head to guest services for one and low and behold THEY ARE ALREADY OUT OF YOUTH SIZES - it is only 11am, the park has only been opened for one hour. So, we head to the lazy river instead... We get done and see a smaller life jacket hanging up, so we grab it and now want to attempt a slide. When we get to the slide, there are NO size requirements posted at the bottom of the stairs. We find a lifeguard to ask if our daughter will be able to ride. The young man kind of scoffs then goes "I really don't know. They can tell you at the top" then walks away. Now, I am sorry, but why would we walk all the way to the top to see if she can ride it? It is 90+ degrees outside, barley any shade in the area and at least 3 sets of stairs... we decided not to chance it as we did not want to have to come all the way back down if she couldn't ride it. We looked at the wave pool, but that was so full we decided to avoid it. So, I take my daughter back to the kid play area, and my husband and son proceed to ride some slides. Needless to say, we were pretty much restricted to the "courthouse" water play area, the "paddles play zone" and the lazy river (if we could find a tube). please communicate the process for "packages" a bit better. better training for the employees, more information on the website, or even some signs directing people would be appreciated - we were not the only family who had this same experience that day if we can bring in approved life jackets, please make sure your staff will at least check the item before turning it away. The life jacket we had was much safer than the arm floaties and puddle jumpers we saw on other kids in the park a limit to the capacity would be great - there were no life jackets for kids an hour into the park being opened, the wave pool was so full it looked dangerous, and the lazy rivers had almost no tubes available. overall, our kids had fun in the areas we could access. however, with the money spent and the drive time put in, I am not sure we...

We visited the park yesterday knowing it would be one of the busiest of the season. We appreciated the ticket booths opening up early and letting people in before 10:00am. The whole process of getting into the park was quicker than I thought. We arrived 45 minutes early and it took us about 15 minutes to get in. When the park was built it would have been nice to put the lockers and bathrooms right next to each other for convenience sake. The only reason I can't give 5 stars were three reasons.

After paying around $30 each to get into the park, the Mid-America's Great River Ride and the Double Cannon Bowls were both closed. The Cannon Bowl ride was one of the main reasons we wanted to visit the park. Because the Great River Ride was closed, it caused the other lazy river to be overcrowded.

The second thing was the park does not provide enough tubes and mats for rides. For this being a busy day, there should have been more available. Long lines formed just to wait on a tube or mat. On the blue tube ride, people refused to give up their tubes to people who had been waiting for some time to get one so they could also ride. An employee showed up while we were waiting for a tube and just stood there doing nothing. Why wasn't he directing people getting off the ride and getting their tubes and handing it to those waiting letting everyone know if they wanted to ride again, they'd have to wait for a tube to make things fair? Again, wouldn't even have been an issue if more tubes had been available.

Lastly, the bathrooms.... I had to go into 4 different stalls before I even found toilet paper during my second visit to the bathroom next to the dippin dots. But the bathroom were a LOT worse next to the entrance gate. Wet toilet paper all over on the floors, no toilet paper in the stalls and the napkin holder fell off the stall wall and was left on the floor. Finally an employee showed up to put toilet paper in 3 stalls and she didn't latch the button and so the cover kept falling off when I was trying to unroll and get some paper. Inexcusable and obviously she was not trained properly for this to happen. But what appalled me was the fact she walked right over garbage on the floor and ignored the napkin box on the floor and didn't clean anything up. Whomever replies to these reviews keeps harping that when there's a complaint a manager should be notified. Well I tried. I spoke to 3 different employees about the disgusting conditions of the bathrooms and only got a deer in the headlights look. I asked to speak to a manager about it and their reply, "Well we don't know where he his". What a pathetic response. It's very sad that reviewers again and again complain about the conditions of the restrooms yet nothing is ever done about this problem. My husband told me there was some kind of pad or adult diaper stuck behind a urinal in the men's bathroom. All of this happens because no one is hired to actually clean them (or teen employees paid extra to do it). As long as this issue continues, we will probably not return to visit the park.

EDIT: 1. Staff told us they were closed because of mechanical problems not because of being short-staffed. 2. There's no way having more tubes would overcrowd rides. Lines were already long. 3. So because the park is overcrowded you keep making excuses for having nobody clean...

My daughter wanted to celebrate her 14th birthday with a few of her closest friends about 2 weeks ago. I called to inquire about getting the birthday package & the absolute angel at Deep River Waterpark that answered the phone asked me a VERY IMPORTANT question: what were the ages of the kids coming. When I told her a bunch of 13-14 y/o kids, she offered this up to me: she said from her experience in witnessing a birthday party there for teenagers, she noticed that 9 times of out 10, the kids can't sit still for 45 minutes for the & cake , thus wasting a bunch of money. She told me I'd save a good amount of $ if I had 15 + kids/adults for their group pricing. However, for personal reasons I wanted to keep the kids to 9-10 max. I know I could of saved a ton more money coming in on the special days earlier in the week, but, Friday just worked out better. I was able to save $2 off per ticket for being an Indiana resident. The head count for all involved was 11(including 2 adults). I brought a large wheeled cooler packed with bottled water & 3 different sodas, a family size package of Ruffles & Doritos, & a 35 count of Hostess cupcakes & Twinkies. Wel also ordered 3 large pizzas & were able to get $2 off per pizza as well. Overall, the 7 hour stay there was quite pleasant, unhectic, & the kids had a blast on the many slides & especially the wave pool. The pizza was a hit & lo & behold, the Deep River Waterpark angel I spoke to a few days before, was RIGHT! The kids ate for like 15 minutes & ran right back into the water or slides ASAP! She saved me money & dissapointment. Only 2 negatives I ran into: 1.) my daughter got a bit overheated I couldn't buy ANY medication whatsoever on the grounds, not even in their medical services area. All they could do was give her air conditioning in a room to sit in & a bag of ice on her head & face. So be prepared & bring a first aid kit (thankfully I remembered I had Dramamine I bought at a gas station a few months before at the bottom of of my purse! It helped save the day!). 2.) one of the lifeguards I spoke to was pretty rude at acknowledging that I was even speaking to him as I asked him a simple question. I understand his job is to keep his eyes on the kids in the pool at all times but all he had to say was "yes" without looking at me. He gave me my answer & thanked him even though he never so much glanced at me for...