Christmas is right around the corner. With all the hustle and bustle it’s a great time to take a day to relax and have fun with the family! Start a new holiday tradition with Schlitterbahn!
Disclosure: I received complimentary tickets to facilitate my review. Regardless, all opinions are my own and those of my family.

Schlitterbahn Galveston

Schlitterbahn Galveston is a short drive from Houston and offers a fun way to celebrate the holidays with the family! Enjoy festive Christmas music, beautiful trees and decorations, and even surf with Santa! The best part is, most of it is indoors and heated which means you get to enjoy some of the great waterpark attractions while staying comfortable! There is nothing like saying you had fun at a waterpark in the winter!

I love how Schlitterbahn creates a festive atmosphere for the holidays. The decorations were gorgeous and even included ornaments made by children at the park! One of the things we loved the most was the “snow.” Snow in Texas! We were greeted by snow at the entrance, and even got snowed on while floating down Torrent River!

One of our highlights was definitely the Boogie Bahn. Our older two children both decided it was something they must do. I’m a bit of a worrier, so I was a little nervous. The staff was extremely helpful, though, and they not only gave them detailed instructions but were also there to help if needed. They did great and has a lot of fun!

Of course, we had to also go back to Surf with Santa at the Boogie Bahn when he was there. First he put on an amazing performance.

Then, it was time for the kids to Surf with Santa! He took each child out for a good amount of time! It was so much fun!

Our preschooler particularly enjoyed the Wasserfest Kids Area. It has warm shallow water and a Pirate ship to play on with slides. There is even a big frog with a tongue slide! This is a great area for the younger kids, but even our daughter and oldest son (ages almost 7 and 8) enjoyed it, too!
It’s a great area to take a break for lunch as well. There are many picnic tables available as well as lounge chairs to just sit back and relax while the kids play.

There is one big fun ride that is open during the winter season called the Guada Loopy and Loopy Luge, which we enjoyed a few times! We went on a Sunday so it was less crowded, which we discovered has one down side – there are no lines for the ride so you don’t have a chance to catch your breath when you go up the stairs! Ha! They are so much fun!

Of course, you have to take a ride down the Torrent River! Simply sit back and enjoy the huge waves!

If you have a younger child that doesn’t like the waves like our little guy, there are two play areas for younger children with slides. This was great for letting him play and switching out to take turns going down the Torrent River. I’m pretty sure he went down those slides close to 100 times! He loved it!

Our fun at Schlitterbahn lasted until well past lunch, and we did some shopping at the Gift Shop and then the kids went on the Holiday Bounce Houses outside on our way out!

Moody Gardens Ice Land

Schlitterbahn Galveston is conveniently located to other great family fun attractions at Moody Gardens. To round out our family fun weekend we went to Moody Gardens Ice Land, which is a spectacular display of ice sculptures of Sponge Bob and friends.

Because we went on a Sunday, it was not at all crowded, and we basically walked right in! (If you have children with special needs like ours this is definitely ideal!) We went over some fun Trivia then stood in line for parkas for less than 10 minutes, got our picture taken, then went inside for the fun!

The details in the sculptures are absolutely amazing. Even the stairs were ice with the metal handles built into it. They also had things like the fun ice slides!

Of course, it was obviously cold at only 9 degrees, but you can see and do everything in a pretty short amount of time as it’s not very large. The kids even braved sitting in ice seats for a picture!

We really enjoyed looking at all the sculptures. It is just absolutely amazing detail! It was a great way to wrap up our fun family weekend!

Accommodations

If you are visiting from out of town or have a little further to drive, there are convenient accommodations at the Moody Gardens Hotel, which is within walking distance of both locations. It is a beautiful hotel with amazing amenities and you definitely can’t beat the location close to all the family fun! You can purchase a “Stay and Play” Package to include your Schlitterbahn tickets with your accommodations!

We’re moving up to Ohio this weekend, so this was also a great way to have fun with my mother in-law as well before we go! I know when we come back for our holiday visits, this will definitely be included in our holiday tradition!
Are you ready to start a new holiday tradition? Take a day off from the hustle and bustle and make a holiday splash at Schlitterbahn with your family!
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