About 35 miles from Dayton off I-75, Great Wolf Lodge in Mason has more than a dozen rides and slides, plus arcades, family-friendly dining and spa treatments for parents and kids. The water park is part of a well-established international group with eleven lodges in the U.S.A. and one in Canada. The park is only open to overnight guests at the all-suite lodge where accommodations are geared toward family fun, so make it an overnight trip to Mason. Treats for children include bunk beds enclosed in make-believe caves, tents and log cabins with their own TVs and Nintendo.
Fort Rapids is an "Old West" themed resort and conference center with 338 rooms and a 60,000-square foot indoor water park. A limited number of day passes are issued to non-guests depending upon availability. Four tube water slides that launch from a 40-foot-high tower zip in and out of the building, adding speed as they round corners and twist through funnels. The park has gentler water rides for younger children and an adults-only hot tub for parents to relax in. Fort Rapids is about an hour and twenty minutes from north Dayton, off the I-70.
CoCo Key is a tropical themed water park, part of an established national group with 10 other locations around the country. In addition to day passes issued based on park capacity, overnight packages can be arranged with two north Cincinnati hotels. The park's signature rides, in common with other CoCo Key water parks, are body and raft water slides for adventure seekers with names such as Shark Slam, Gator Gush, Barracuda Blast and Pelican Plunge. Attractions also include slides and pools for younger children and a swim-through passage connecting the heated indoor and outdoor whirlpool spas. Private and group cabanas can be rented for chill-out time between thrill rides. CoCo Key is about 40 miles south of Dayton off I-75.
