Earlier this summer, we visited Schlitterbahn New Braunfels. We visited Texas back in 2012 and considered going to Schlitterbahn but just didn’t have the time. We had a little bit of extra time this summer and we decided to take a few hours out of one of our final days in Texas to experience Schlitterbahn New Braunfels. We’ve heard so many wonderful things about Schlitterbahn in general and we wanted to head out to Schlitterbahn and check it out for ourselves.
We arrived first thing in the morning about thirty minutes before the park was scheduled to open. Since the park wasn’t open, we decided to drive around the park a couple of times to get a good look at the park before we headed in. We could only think of how small the park was and how we’d be able to see the entire park in just a few hours. Little did we know, Schlitterbahn New Braufels is broken up into “East” and “West” portions of the park.
The “West” side of Schlitterbahn New Braunfels was the original part of the park. As the park grew and became more popular, they expanded the park by opening the “East” side of the park. Although they expandaded the park, they expanded a few streets down, making it seem like such a small park. Schlitterbahn New Braunfels offers hours upon hours of thrills. In all actuality, you could spend at least full two days at Schlitterbahn. You could easily spend a day in the East, a day in the West, and a day to experience things you really liked or what you missed. There’s so much to do at Schlitterbahn, you can actually make an entire vacation out of it. The park even offers on-site accomodations for their guests, some of which are located inside the park, which gives guests the opportunity to come and go as they please. The great news is that Schlitterbahn offers a free shuttle for their guests, so no matter which side you start your day at you can always travel to the other side without having to get in your car and find another place to park.
Video: BTT Weekly #24 – Schlitterbahn New Braunfels
We started in the East. The East offers plenty of thrill rides, pools, water play areas, and even a lazy river. The most iconic location in the park (besides maybe the Skycoaster in the park) is Blastenhoff Tower. As you approach the park, Blastenhoff tower is literally the first thing you see from the outside. Blastenhoff Tower offers three different thrills: Master Blaster Water Coaster, Black Knight, and Wolfpack.
Video: POV of Master Blaster
Video: POV of Wolfpack
Video: POV of Black Knight
Each of the attractions at Blastenhoff Tower are very family friendly and can be enjoyed together. Of the three slides, Master Blaster is the only slide with a height requirement, however it has a pretty low height requirement of 42″. Master Blaster and Black Knight all seat two people (a rider in the front and a rider in the back) while Wolfpack can seat a few more as it has very large family rafts.
One of our absolute favorite rides on the East side of Schlitterbahn New Braunfels was Dragon’s Revenge. Dragon’s Revenge is very well themed and has one of the coolest queue lines we’ve seen at a waterpark so far. Schlitterbahn takes you back to the medieval times with Dragon’s Revenge from start to finish. There are plenty of surprises on the slide that you probably can’t see very well in our video, but the surprises were very good! We won’t ruin them for you as you should experience them for yourself, but Dragon’s Revenge is hands down one of the best themed water slides I’ve ever been on.
POV: Dragon’s Revenge
The East side has plenty more attractions that you’ll want to see, including a lazy river which creates fun waves, the Aquaveyer – which connects you to The Falls, and more. But Schlitterbahn offers so much more than just the East side! The Falls/Aquaveyer is a very cool concept. The Falls is the world’s longest waterpark ride that’s filled with thrilling rapids, serene waters, scenic views, and more. One of the best parts about The Falls is that the ride is never ending, which is made possible by the Aquaveyer, a conveyer belt that carriest guests to the mouth of The Falls. You could literally stay in it all day without ever having to leave your innertube.
We headed over to the West side of Schlitterbahn after spending a good portion of our morning at the East side. Even though we were only at Schlitterbahn for a few hours, we spent the majority of our time at the West side, simply because there are more attractions and some of the attraction are quite a bit longer. In fact, there’s one attraction that takes about 45 minutes in total to ride from start to finish!
The West portion of Schlitterbahn New Braunfels is pretty unique. The waterpark is fed with water from the Comal River. Because the park is fed with water from the Comal River, the water isn’t overly chlorinated and is quite pleasant. The water also stays at a fairly solid temperature of 72 dergrees Fahrenheit. While that sounds like perfect swimming weather, it’s actually fairly cold and it seems that the hotter it gets the colder the water feels. With such chilly water (though it may feel wonderful) it’s important to take the occasional break to find a warm heated pool to relax in for just a few minutes to warm back up. Schlitterbahn offers plenty of heated pools, many of which are accompanied by swim-up bars.
The iconic Schlitterbahn castle is located within the West side, and believe it or not you can pretty much walk right up to the front of the castle! It’s no castle that you can walk through, but there is an attraction that starts right at the foot of the castle and takes riders through many turns, twists, and offers a few drops here and there. Being one of Schlitterbahn’s shorter attractions, this is a must do! It’s also quite the sight to relax on your innertube as you admire the beauty of the castle as you drift away.
Unlike newer attractions that are being built all over the world, Schlitterbahn offers a different type of thrill rides in the West side. Many of the attractions are actually cement slides, giving them a completely realistic feeling as you’re floating right next to the Comal River. While they do have few slides that aren’t made of cement, the majority of them are. It was quite a shock to see waterslides built like this, however, the created some of the most unique thrills I have ever experienced in a waterslide.
Tips for visiting Schlitterbahn:
- Take occasional breaks in a heated pool (this applies mainly to the West side)
- The West side utilizes the same tubes for most of the attractions, so hang onto your tube
- Wear watershoes – your feet will thank you at the end of the day
- Stay on-site at Schlitterbahn for early access
- If you start at the East side, head straight to Blastenhoff Tower first and ride Master Blaster, then the other two slides to avoid standing in long lines later
- Schlitterbahn allows coolers – bring your own lunch if you’d like, However the in-park food is pretty good.
- Check out their ticket packages before you head out to the park as Schlitterbahn offers great bundels (some of which include a towel or drink refills for the day)
The day we visited the park, the PR manager gave us a tour of the park and showed us the best-of-the-best at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels. We were really impressed with Schlitterbahn. After driving around the park first thing in the morning, we thought it would be a pretty small park that we could see in just a few hours. We were completely wrong. You need at least a full day at Schlitterbahn just to see several of the best attractions, but at least two to see everything that Schlitterbahn has to offer.
We really enjoyed Schlitterbahn and the park completely exceeded our expectations. I’d put Schlitterbahn New Braunfels in my Top 10 visited water parks. We eventually plan to go back whenever we return to Texas, but after visiting Schlitterbahn New Braunfels, we really look forward to Schlitterbahn opening in South Florida in the future. Being within just a few hours driving distance from Orlando, I could see it easily becoming a vacation destination in Florida. It’s likely that Schlitterbahn Fort Lauderdale will open in 2017. Be sure to stay tuned for future updates on Schlitterbahn Fort Lauderdale.
I highly recommend Schlitterbahn New Braunfels, but I’d also recommend visiting other Schlitterbahn parks if you can. Schlitterbahn currently has five properties: Galveston Island (Texas), South Padre Island (Texas), New Braunfels (Texas), Corpus Christi (Texas), and Kansas City (Kansas).
With just a few weeks of operation left for Schlitterbahn New Braunfels before they close for the season, be sure to check out our brand new theme park guide dedicated to Schlitterbahn New Braunfels before you plan your next vacation.
Schlitterbahn New Braunfels will be open daily through September 1st before they go to weekend-only operation. From Setptember 6th to 21st, Schlitterbahn New Braunfels will be open on Saturdays and Sundays only.
For more information about Schlitterbahn New Braunfels, visit the official website by clicking here.
