Schlitterbahn

Current locations

New Braunfels, Texas

The first of the parks was in New Braunfels and opened in 1979. The park was named Schlitterbahn ("slippery road" in German) because of the local area's German heritage. It originally consisted of four waterslides. The park expanded three times. Surfenberg was the first part of the expansion and had the world's first inland surfing ride, the Boogie Bahn, in 1992, created the first uphill water coaster, the Dragon Blaster in 1994. In 1996 the next section opened - Blastenhoff - and featured the world's first wave river, the Torrent, and the world's most award-winning uphill water coaster, the Master Blaster. In 2011, the park expanded again, adding The Falls, the world's longest tubing river, featuring rapids and tube chutes.

As of 2022, the park has won Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Award for Best Waterpark for 24 years straight; the streak began with the inception of the award. In total, Schlitterbahn New Braunfels has received 42 Golden Ticket Awards. As of 2014, the park employed 2,000 seasonal workers.

Galveston, Texas

The 26-acre Schlitterbahn park in Galveston opened in 2006. The park features the most thrill rides of any of the Schlitterbahn parks and is home to the world's former record holder of the world's tallest water coaster, MASSIV, as it lost its record to Tsunami Surge at Hurricane Harbor Chicago at 86 feet tall. MASSIV opened in 2016 and features the most current technology including water and power saving features never used before. Although it had lost its record for the tallest water coaster, MASSIV still holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for the Tallest Water Coaster and is 81 feet 6 inches (24.84 m) tall.

On March 5, 2026, Six Flags, owner of Schlitterbahn Galveston, announced it would sell it to EPR Properties alongside six other theme parks, with Enchanted Parks operating the park. The sale completed on April 6, 2026.

Incidents

On March 6, 2013, Nicolas "Nico" Benavidez, a 20-year-old seasonal employee at Schlitterbahn South Padre Island, was fatally injured and a maintenance supervisor seriously injured when a wave generation machine they were inside for maintenance was activated, crushing them between the gate of the machine and the wall. Benavidez was left on life support for organ donation and later died from the injuries on March 11. OSHA investigated and fined Schlitterbahn $96,000 for six safety violations related to the fatal incident.

In June and July 2013, Schlitterbahn New Braunfels employed Devin Patrick Kelley, the future perpetrator of the 2017 Sutherland Springs church shooting. Kelley was employed as a nighttime security guard for five and a half weeks before his contract was terminated. Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio stated after the shooting that Kelley was unarmed during his employment and had passed background checks, as records were never forwarded to the National Crime Information Center regarding his conviction on two counts of domestic violence and a pending court martial in the United States Air Force.

On August 7, 2016, 10-year-old Caleb Thomas Schwab, son of Kansas representative Scott Schwab, was decapitated while riding the Verrückt, a water raft ride touted as the world's tallest water slide. He died before reaching the bottom. Two other unrelated riders in the same raft sustained injuries. The ride was decommissioned and later demolished. The park settled with all parties in 2016, with the Schwab family receiving nearly $20 million. In March 2018, a Wyandotte County grand jury filed indictments against the park and three employees, including the co-owner, Verrückt's designer and a former park executive. The indictment accused the park and its employees of negligence, as well as concealing design flaws and other issues with the ride. On February 22, 2019, all charges were dropped by Judge Robert Burns against the construction company and Schlitterbahn owners due to prosecutorial misconduct.