Some Hawaiian Falls water parks in North Texas will host special events this weekend for people with special needs and to celebrate the National Day of the Cowboy.
Locations in Mansfield, Roanoke and Waco will host "Champions Day" Saturday morning. The three Hawaiian Falls locations will open only to people with special needs and their families or caregivers from 9 a.m. to 10 am.
Children and adults with special needs will get free access. Tickets for caregivers will be $10.
"Some of them come, and they've never been to a water park before. They love it," says Managing Director Ryan Forson. "Seeing the smiles on the kids' and families' faces just makes our team's day."
Forson says Hawaiian Falls will have extra staff available to help people enjoy the rides.
"We're all about bringing families closer together," he says. "I can think back to other Champions Days, we've seen everything from some of our team members literally carrying someone up the stairs to a slide to just high fiving everybody at the front to welcome them."
Hawaiian Falls in Mansfield, Roanoke and Waco will also reduce music and festival lighting during Champions Day.
"This a chance for them to come, have some time set aside for themselves, and we work out the environment to make it even more enjoyable for them," Forson says.
Saturday afternoon, Hawaiian Falls Roanoke will also hold its first festival to mark National Day of the Cowboy. Forson says "Aloha Y'all" will combine cowboy and Hawaiian themes.
"We're trying to mesh those two worlds: Hawaii and Texas," he says. "It's not just a waterpark anymore."
Aloha Y'all will include music, hula dancers, "ropin' cowboys" and games. A "Best Cowboy/Best Cowgirl" contest starts at 11 a.m.
Polynesian dancers will give hula lessons, and "Ohana games" will begin at 1:30 p.m.
Forson says attendance dipped during the worst of the pandemic last summer, but business has surged this year.
"People are enjoying themselves. It's like a little getaway," he says. "Maybe they're not yet able to go and travel far, but this is a perfect 'staycation,' giving them a place to stay locally that they trust."
Some people visiting with their kids this week say they are glad to take their families to a water park after record cold this winter and a year and a half into the pandemic.
"It feels great to get out into the sun again," one woman who had brought her family said. "To see the kids happy, playing with their friends again, it's wonderful."
Ticket information for both Champions Day and Aloha Y'all is available HERE.