Six Flags Hurricane Harbor has opened a "family water playground" in part of the park. "Splash Island" opened Tuesday.
Splash Island covers 58,000 square feet and includes 17 water slides, 110 other water features and a splash pad. A 50 foot structure is billed as one of the tallest play structures in North America with ten slides of its own.
"They all have a different experience," says Park Manager Heather Blair. "Parts of the slide are translucent so you'll be able to see the rider come through. We've got little peek-a-boo openings, so you'll get a great view as you're sliding down. We've got all different shapes, decor and lights inside the tunnel, so every ride is going to be a different experience."
At the top of the structure is a bucket that pours 1,000 gallons of water.
"No play structure would be complete without a Texas-sized 1,000 gallon water bucket to cool you off this summer," Blair says.
For younger kids, a splash pad is available, and smaller slides are available for novices.
"If they are a starter in the swimmer world, we've got our mini-tornado and mini-wave which is going to give you just a little taste and mini-thrill," Blair says.
Splash Island also has cabanas and a restaurant with a new menu. Smokehouse on the Water serves brisket smoked in-house.
"Our own seasoning blend mixed together, rubbed fresh daily, smoked 12 hours really low and slow to get a really good, tender, fall-apart brisket," says Executive Chef Nicolo Vitale. "You won't even need a fork for it."
Smokehouse on the Water also serves French fries, mac and cheese, baked beans, chicken tenders and hot dogs. Vitale says they also serve turkey legs and pulled pork "for anybody who doesn't like brisket, but we're in Texas. Everybody loves beef."
"We want to try to set it apart from other parks, really putting time and effort into the food to create an experience guests want to keep coming back for," Vitale says.
Wilma Rivera, who works with Six Flags Over Texas, says Splash Island can provide a variety of activities to keep a family engaged.
"We are super excited because this is a long time coming," she says. "Splash Island is definitely changing the footprint of Hurricane Harbor."
Rivera says the variety can keep families entertained for an entire day.
"The smaller slides, you can have your toddler on your lap and go down the slide, training them for the bigger ones later on," she says. "We have the double-decker cabanas. Families can book cabanas, order food and drinks from here and keep an eye on the little ones."
But she has also been seeing more adults coming on their own.
"The bucket is obviously the centerpiece of the treehouse," she says. "You'll be surprised at the number of adults who line up waiting for that bucket. The other day, I looked over and saw three kids. Everybody else was an adult."
Hurricane Harbor is open daily through Labor Day.