Catch a Wave

Best Dallas waterparks to keep you cool during summer 2025

Fireside Surf

If anything is guaranteed in Dallas, it's that summer will be hot. Maybe that's why waterparks and other splashy entertainment venues are so massively popular here. Just say the word water, and step aside for the throngs.

Fortunately, Dallas has it all: from glitzy indoor waterparks to wave machines to municipal parks adding slides and other amenities to get in on the fun, there are plenty of options for those looking to splash around — some of which are opening for the season this Memorial Day weekend.

Here's our list of the great waterpark options available in Dallas during the summer of 2025.

Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark
Not only does Epic Waters in Grand Prairie offer some of the best waterpark options in the area, it's also one of the few indoor venues, allowing visitors to avoid UV rays while having fun. It boasts a bunch of slides with a range of thrills, a large lazy river, a FlowRider surf machine, an outdoor wave pool, and more. And unlike outdoor waterparks, it is open year-round, letting visitors splash around whenever they want. Open daily at 10 am; closing time varies by day. Tickets range from $34-$54; annual passes available for $199.

Get Your Surf On
Two venues offer the opportunity to get on an actual surfboard and tackle waves as high as six feet: Both Goodsurf Beach Club in Deep Ellum and Fireside Surf in The Colony have a Citywave surf machine that allows visitors to show off their surfing skills on a never-ending wave. Both offer surfing lessons for the inexperienced. If you'd rather watch, both have cabanas, bars, and restaurants to sit back and watch others hang ten or wipe out. Goodsurf Beach Club is open 10 am-10 pm on Sunday and Tuesday-Thursday, 8 am-midnight on Friday and Saturday. Surfing starts at $45 per person. Fireside Surf opens for the season on June 1. It will be open 11 am-7 pm daily. Prices TBD.

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor
The biggest waterpark in Dallas-Fort Worth, located in Arlington, features 12 thrill rides, most notably Der Stuka, a free fall slide that's not for the faint of heart. New for the 2025 season is Splash Island, a multi-level interactive play structure with a 1,000-gallon tipping bucket, colorful water slides, cabanas, and more for families to enjoy. With a lazy river, Surf Lagoon, multiple other slides for less adventurous people, and more, there are plenty of options to keep visitors busy all day long. Opens for the season on May 24; season runs through September 1. Open daily at 11 am; closing time varies by day. $20 and up for daily passes when purchased online; season passes start at $65.

WorldSprings
Not a waterpark in the regular definition, WorldSprings at Grandscape in The Colony features more than 40 mineral hot springs with temperatures ranging from the mid 80s to the low 100s, as well as cold plunges at 55 degrees. One is called Dead Sea, a hypersaline pool that allows guests to float effortlessly. Visitors can also enjoy saunas, fire pits, a cafe and bar, and poolside drink service. Most of the areas are for adults only, but those under 18 are welcome at the Globe Pool in the South Pacific Region. Open 10 am-9 pm Sunday-Thursday, 9 am-10 pm Friday and Saturday. $49-$85 for adults, $24-$29 for kids under 18.

Hawaiian Waters
While not as big as Hurricane Harbor, the two Hawaiian Waters locations in Garland and The Colony offer plenty of amenities that make them great waterparks. They each feature thrill rides like Waikiki Wipeout & The Flyin' Hawaiian, the Oahu Bay wave pool, the family-friendly Keiki Kove, the Kona Kooler lazy river, and more. Open daily from May 24-August 9, Saturday and Sunday only August 16-September 27 (September 20 in Garland). Opens 10:30 am most days; closing time varies by day. $24.99 and up for daily pass; $39.99 for season pass.

Great Wolf Lodge Water Park
More indoor waterpark fun can be found in Grapevine at Great Wolf Lodge. And their version tries to offer a little bit of everything, with options including thrill rides like Coyote Cannon and Howlin' Tornado, family-friendly areas like Fort Mackenzie and the Crooked Creek lazy river, an outdoor lagoon, and two hot springs - one for adults and one for families. Open 10 am-8 pm Monday-Friday, 9 am-8 pm Saturday and Sunday. $35 and up for day pass; $29.75 and up for half-day pass.

The Cove at the Lakefront
What, yet another inside waterpark? Little Elm gets in on the action with The Cove at The Lakefront. Though not as big as the other versions on this list, it still features the Tower Slides that take visitors on a twisty ride in and out of the facility, another slide above the lazy river, a FlowRider, The Dock play pool and Spray Ground for the younger set, and even rock climbing. Open 4-8 pm on Monday, Thursday, and Friday; 10 am-6 pm on Saturday; and 12-6 pm on Sunday. $11-$18 for day passes.

City waterparks
In addition to the standard swimming pools at city recreation centers, many cities in area have smaller waterpark options that include slides, lazy rivers, splash areas, and more. Among the options are Bahama Beach in Dallas, Jack Carter Pool in Plano, Frisco Water Park, West Irving Aquatic Center, and Rowlett Wet Zone.

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Movie Review

Film sequel Avatar: Fire and Ash is a technical and visual feast

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

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