This Saturday, my family was invited to Media Day at LanierWorld, the water park located in Lanier Island. We'd never been, and my daughter is a highly anxious child who is terrified of going under water (but loves playing in the water). We’ve been working with her at swimming lessons with Sean Gillan and talking about in general what to expect, and despite my concerns that she would be too short or scared to ride anything, the entire family had a great time.
But as a parent with a child who fears the big water slides, I thought a walk-through of safe spaces in the park might come in handy for other parents like myself. This is also handy for parents of children who are under 42” tall.
The moment you walk into the park, you’re greeted by the ultimate safe space. A splash pad called the Fun Zone. There are tiny water slides, bubbles, sprinklers, and a shallow wave pool. This is a fantastic place to set up camp under a nice shaded umbrella and let the grown-ups and big kids trade off on the more adventurous nearby slides.
The slides near the Fun Zone are…
*Unless otherwise indicated, the height requirement is 42” and there is no possibility of lap riding.
The Splashdown, a super fun slide where you go down head first using a mat. Features sharp, fast terms. My personal favorite on this side of the park.
The Double Down, a two lane slide you can race down with your friends. Features bumps and twists and turns.
The Black Out, a tunnel slide filled with twists and turns. This one goes really fast.
From the boardwalk, you can head to the beach. You can grab a beach chair and let your little one splash around in the lake or play on the sand while watching movies on a "The Spectacular Screen." There are several nearby attractions for the more adventurous members of the group.
The Wibit, a giant bounce house located in the middle of the lake. There’s a trampoline, a water slide, climbing challenges or more. It requires a life jacket and 42” of height. My child was fine on this for everything except the slide. If your kid is prone to freaking out, I recommend jumping into the lake before you reach the slide and just swimming around it. Because once you go up, there’s no climbing down. My daughter could slide down on her dad’s lap though, so that may soothe scared children.
Battle Ball, Giant plastic balls that allow you to roll, flip, and bounce across the beach. Technically requires 42”, but they will allow shorter if the child is paired with a parent.
From the beach, we went to the board walk. I would skip this area entirely if your child is under 42” tall and head straight to the Fundunker-Playhouse. If your child is 42” tall but just scared of fast slides, I recommend setting up at the Typhoon. Two people can ride per float, and while it’s fast, it’s not too intense when riding double. My daughter rode this one over and over and over again as we traded off grown-ups to check out the other slides. Here’s what’s nearby.
The Thunderbolt Triple Zip, a zipline that takes you right back to the first batch of water slides. This one costs extra, so you must have the fast pass or the adventure pass, which we didn’t. It looked fun though. Riders are strapped in and dangle 50 feet in the air as they zip across the beach and the lake.
The Twister, a ride that allows you to use an inner tube to go around a big circle then shoot out the bottom of the slide. Single riders only and very fun.
Cat 4, this is an intense ride. Riders sit in an single inner tube either forward or backward and the platform drops out from under them sending them down a super steep incline doused with foam and into the lake below. I’d recommend going down backward because you get less foam in your face. Make sure you’re balanced as you go down. My brother-in-law flipped right out of his inner tube when he hit the lake and my husband went skidding right over the yellow line. Both had a blast. It was super fun! Just know that it’s really fast. Note: It requires riders to be 48” tall.
The Intimidator, a super steep water slide. You will go airborne. It is very fun. Not for the faint of heart.
The Triple Threat, similar to the Intimidator except that it breaks the sheer drop into three hills. Still super fast and fun.
From the boardwalk, we went to sunset cove and set up at one of the nice sets of chairs around the fire pit (unlit until evening) and took a break while my daughter played to her heart’s content at the Fundunker- Playhouse.
The Fundunker-playouse is a massive, multi-level spashpad. Buckets of water are dumped over children’s head, water squirts out of maze like walls. Pulleys and levers can be used to shoot water at other children, and at the center of the playhouse is a massive water slide that loops around and around before dropping riders into the pool. *48” height requirement just for the slide.
Also nearby is the inexpensive beer ($3, very good to know), a volleyball court, a mini-golf course, and kayaks and paddleboards for rent. We had lunch (expect to pay between $15 and $17 a person if you choose a sit down restaurant. Hot dogs, tacos, and burgers can be found for between $8-12 at stands around the park).
After lunch, we headed to the family fun park and enjoyed the wave pool and the foam party and tackled the very last ride.
The Raging River…
This is another ride that can be taken alone or in pairs on a giant inner tube. Take it in pairs. My daughter and I went multiple times and had a blast. It’s very similar to the typhoon, but it lasts longer, so she was thrilled. But every single pass I saw someone tumble out of their single tube. It is not a pleasant ride to fall out of. You will get hit by the next person coming down. The water moves fast, but it’s not deep, so when you fly out of your tube, it will hurt when you strike the ceramic sides. If you are unfortunate enough to miss the sides and hit the friction pads, you will leave hair behind. I saw people comparing wounds. Ouch.
All throughout the park, there were sidewalk stations set up with chalk and other fun, dry activities to keep little one’s occupied while parents shopped or snacked. There were also mushroom sprinklers for the kids to splash in throughout the park. At seven, you can watch a live performance on the stage and on select Saturdays they offer fireworks viewing. Their Fourth of July schedule looked amazing. Check it out on their website here.
