Whale's Tale - Small But Nice Water Park in the White Mountains
Written: Sep 02 '07 (Updated Nov 05 '09)
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Pros: bring own food in, no charge for tubes and rafts, variety of slides, hot tubs!
Cons: small, some age groups seem shut out, food venues not open consistently or at all
The Bottom Line: A nice place to spend a hot summer day if you're visiting the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
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| AliventiAsylum's Full Review: Whale's Tale |
We wanted to go to a waterpark one hot summer day, but we didn't want to head to one down in Portsmouth that we'd heard got very crowded. Although I liked Funtown Splashtown, I didn't feel like driving more than two hours to get there, plus the expense.
Many years ago, I had visited Whale's Tale with my family. At that time, it had both land rides as well as water attractions. In the years since, it had been converted to just water rides and only open for the two months which comprise the summer season up here in the north.
LOCATION, PARKING & ADMISSION
Whale's Tale Waterpark is located in North, Lincoln New Hampshire. It's about a mile north of exit 33 off of I93. This is about an hour and half north of Manchester, New Hampshire.
Parking is free - yay! The lot is small, but that goes along with the small nature of the park itself.
Regular admission for Whale's Tale Waterpark is $28 for the days it is open from 10 AM to 6 PM. Saturday nights in the summer it stays open to 10 PM, and admission increases to $32. Those 3 and under or 70 and over are admitted free of charge. There are also reduced rates for shortened sessions. 3 PM to 6 PM is just $20. I don't feel this is worth it for just those couple of hours, although the Saturday evening 6 PM to 10 PM rate of just $13 is definitely more appealing.
Although not anywhere on the website, we did find when we arrived that our AAA card took $3 off of each admission when we paid the $28 price.
ATTRACTIONS
Our first stop was Whale Harbor. This kiddie area was definitely for little kids only! I had two 7 year-olds with me and they were just about too big for it. This had 4 small slides, a see-saw, and numerous fountains. It seems geared toward the toddler and pre-k set. If your kids are older than this and not ready for full size slides, they will have plenty of swimming opportunities at Whale's Tale Waterpark, but few sliding ones.
On the extreme left as you enter the park are a series of four slides. Two are The Plunge and two are Downpour. The Plunge are speed slides where riders can go up to 40 mph. Downpour is a bit slower with twists and turns galore. Both are accessed through a 50 foot high tower with stairs you must climb to begin either slide.
Next to this, as you venture toward the other side of the park, is Willie's Wild Waves; the wave pool. Tubes are provided here free of charge for bobbing in the waves (there's no additional charge to rent tubes anywhere in the park) or you can swim without them. The waves are on for about 10 minutes, then off for 10, giving people who enjoy them and those that don't an opportunity to swim.
Next to this is Castaway Cove. This is a fish-shaped swimming pool from 3 to 5 feet deep. There are also three hot-tubs in this area, set at about 104 degrees. I spent a good deal of my day here while the kids ran around. The hot tubs were relaxing and enjoyable, especially once the camps had cleared out for the day. The only problem is that there's no way to reach Castaway Cove without going over a bridge. This presented us with a problem as we had bought a wagon with us and we ended up carrying it over the bridge to get here.
Castaway Cove is surrounded by Jonah's Escape, a 1/4 mile long lazy river. I floated in that a lot as well. It was very relaxing and I wasn't getting doused with water constantly from waterfalls, sprinklers or fountains.
Continuing in this direction are Harpoon Express and Beluga Boggin. Harpoon Express sends up to three riders down a twisty slide in an inflatable raft. Beluga Boggin sends individual riders down in inner tubes. Both are accessed through a tower with stairs to climb, and you have to carry your raft or tube up as well.
Next is Eye of the Storm, a funnel-type ride where riders enter what appears to be a giant drain and spin until they reach the center where they drop 4 feet into the pool below. Speeds here can reach up to 35 mph and this is a real thrilling ride.
Finally, there's Banzai Pipeline. This takes riders in a raft down a tubular slide around several curves and then a steep plunge to an open, flat slide below. There, the speed forces them up an embankment. Once momentum has run out, they plunge down this second slide to the pool below. I didn't brave this, but the 12 year old and 15 year old did and proclaimed it a lot of fun.
FOOD
We brought a cooler with sandwiches and drinks with us, and was I glad I did. First of all, despite there being numerous food stands there, many were closed on the Monday we went. The one that was open for lunch type food had typical theme park fare such as hot dogs, burgers, fries, etc. and was expensive. My kids wanted to get ice cream from the Dippin' Dots booth, but that seemed to open and close on the attendant's whim. One minute you would see someone in there and the next they were gone. In fact, my kids had passed it and it was closed. They passed it not ten minutes later on their way to the bathroom and it was open. By the time they were out of the bathroom it was closed again. It just made no sense at all.
The souvenir shop had candy in it in addition to souvenirs, so they satisfied their sweet tooths here.
I was pleased that there was a bar! Nothing really huge, but it sits next to the wave pool where there's a bandstand for the concerts held on Saturday nights. I bought myself a $6 drink, which I didn't think was too bad, although I could have bought a six-pack of Mike's Hard Lemonade for that price at a convenience store. Still, you are a captive audience in the theme parks and this is what they do.
FINAL THOUGHTS
We had a good day at Whale's Tale Waterpark, even with a 45 minute rain shower. Everyone from ages seven through me liked it. We weren't inundated with rides, but what was there was fun. Mom got to do more than just sit on a bench with the wagon next to her since I enjoyed the hot tub and lazy river. I felt safe letting the kids run around by themselves.
They could do a little better in regard to the food selection, or at least have more stuff open and regular hours. The park was very clean, as were the restrooms any time we went in them.
People with kids of an in-between age where they aren't really doing "big people" slides but are taller than the 48-inch height maximum for the kiddie area might have a hard time. Other than the wave pool and Castaway Cove, there's not much for them to do. If all you're going to do is Castaway Cove, they can just swim in a hotel swimming pool and not pay this much for sure.
The price is a bit high, but I didn't feel gouged. It's nice not to have to worry about paying additional money for the rafts and tubes. I felt there was plenty on hand. I like that we can bring in our own food as well. I would definitely go back here next year.
Other sites to see in New Hampshire:
Attitash Bear Peak Ski Resort ~ Bretton Woods Ski Resort ~ Canobie Lake Park ~ Cranmore Mountain Ski Resort ~ Franconia Notch State Park ~ Kancamagus Highway ~ King Pine Ski Resort ~ Loon Mountain Ski Resort ~ Madison Boulder Natural Area ~ Mount Washington Cog Railway ~ North Conway, NH ~ Polar Express Event ~ Shawnee Peak, Bridgeton ME ~ Six Gun City ~ Story Land ~ White Lake State Park ~ White Mountain National Forest ~ Wildcat Mountain
Some places to stay in New Hampshire:
Attitash Mountain Village - Bartlett NH ~ Comfort Inn & Suites - North Conway NH ~ Hampton Inn - Concord/Bow NH ~ Yankee Clipper Motel
Places to eat in New Hampshire:
Bea's Cafe, Conway NH ~ Cafe Noche, Conway NH ~ Decades Steakhouse, North Conway NH ~ Delaney‘s Hole in the Wall, North Conway NH ~ Harts Turkey Farm, Meredith NH ~ May Kelly's Cottage, North Conway NH ~ Merlino's Steakhouse, North Conway NH ~ Moat Mountain Smokehouse, North Conway NH ~ Muddy Moose, North Conway NH ~ Peach's Restauran, North Conway NH ~ Red Parka Steakhouse & Pub, Glen NH ~ Yankee Smokehouse, West Ossipee NH
Books about the area:
Appalachian Mountain Club White Mountain Guide ~ 50 Hikes in the White Mountains
© 2007 Patti Aliventi
Recommended:
Yes
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AliventiAsylum
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Member: Patti Aliventi
Location: Mount Washington Valley, New Hampshire
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