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If you’re planning to purchase Michigan’s Adventure Tickets and want to know how to have the BEST DAY EVER you’ve come to the right place! Sharing all of my tips from our family’s first visit to this West Michigan gem.
Michigan’s Adventure Tickets
Michigan’s Adventure is a West Michigan destination for FUN! There is a theme park and water park (WildWater Adventure) combined into one fun location. While you only need 1 ticket to access both parks, they do have separate hours from one another.
We took our family of 6 (kids ages 11 to 2) to Michigan’s Adventure for the first time ever and had a great day in the sun. We went on rides, had tasty treats and made memories that will last a lifetime…. or at least until we go back in a couple weeks.
Based on our experiences I’ve come up with the best advice on how to make the most of your visit to this West Michigan gem and also take advantage of available ticket discounts.
Michigan’s Adventure Tickets : Everything You Want To Know Before You Go.
Below I’m answering all of your Michigan’s Adventure questions and sharing tips we learned from our first visit. If you want to know anything else, leave your question in the comments below!
1. Michigan’s Adventure Tickets
If you’re here you’re on your way to planning out an amazing Michigan’s Adventure day and are ready to talk all things tickets. Tickets for Michigan’s Adventure are available online or at the window when you arrive. I highly suggest purchasing before you go to take advantage of discounts available online. You are also able to purchasing a parking pass when you purchase your tickets. I highly suggest this as it makes it easier getting into the parking lot.
Ticket Discounts
There are multiple different ways to take advantage of discounted tickets (please note these are the prices at the time of writing this post). Purchasing online will save you anywhere from $18 to $28 per ticket depending on which you choose. You can purchase a single day ticket, 2 day ticket, season pass or military discount ticket all at https://www.miadventure.com/daily-tickets for less than what you would spend at the park. Yes, Michigan’s Adventure does offer military discounts on their tickets online! All you have to do is verify your military status through ID.Me and you’re able to purchase up to 6 tickets for yourself, family and friends. We paid $34.99 per ticket rather than the standard $41.99 online or $59.99 at the gate.
It is also worth mentioning kids 2 and under get in for free. If you’re wondering, yes, there are a ton of fun activities for 2 year old’s to enjoy so it’s definitely worth your time to take advantage of the free entry before your child turns 3.
2. When To Arrive
The early family gets first dibs! 🙂 It pays to arrive to Michigan’s Adventure early. We visited on a Tuesday and the theme park opened at 11am. It was 10:15 when we parked our car (front row parking BTW) but we were not the first family there. We took this time to take our kids to the bathroom (restrooms are available next to the entrance but outside of the park), get our sunscreen on and get in line for entry.
The park employees ended up letting us through the gates at 10:30 and we were able to explore and take our 2 young children on a couple small rides near the entrance before access to the entire park was granted at 11am. I *highly* suggest arriving early and enjoying some rides before the rest of the guest arrive for the day.
Bottom line, getting there early is well worth your time. I would suggest getting there 30 to 45 minutes before the park opens to score the best parking, have time for a bathroom run and get ready for early entry.
3. What To Bring
Okay, I feel like we aced this part of the day…. almost at least! The only thing we missed was bringing reusable (empty) water bottles into the park so we could fill them at the fountains with water. Check out everything else below!
- A packed lunch – We brought sandwiches and snacks for lunch so we didn’t have to spend a ton of money on food. You are able to get a ren-entry ticket when you leave the park for lunch so it’s not a big deal at all to go back to your car and rest for a bit. Our kids enjoyed a break in the air conditioned car while we filled our tummies and got ready for more fun.
- A Fanny Pack – Thank goodness these are coming back right? I used my fanny pack to hold our phones, ID’s, credit card, sunscreen and chapstick. I was able to wear it on all the rides around my waist without any concern.
- Re-Usable Water Bottles – You are going to get thirsty so it’s a great idea to bring water bottles that are empty into the park and fill them at the fountains. These can easily be thrown in a drawstring backpack or in the bottom of your stroller.
- Stroller – It’s a must if you have little ones with you. My 2 year old and 5 year old took turns in the stroller during our trip.
- A Packed Beach Bag – Towels, sunglasses, additional sunscreen, etc.
4. Michigan’s Adventure Water Park
This is a part of our day I would do entirely differently. We enjoyed the dry theme park until we were ready for lunch, went to the car for lunch and then headed to the water park. By this time it was almost 2pm and the water park was PACKED. We did find chairs but they were in inconvenient locations and they weren’t lounge chairs.
Next time I plan to head to the water park as soon as it opens and lay out towels to claim chairs close to the kids play area in the water park. This way, we have a place to rest that fits all of our family members and a designated meeting place. My husband took the older kids on water slides while the little one stayed with me in the kids area.
Be sure to check the Michigan’s Adventure website to see opening times for each area on the park. The gates opened at 11am when we went but the water park area didn’t open until noon.
5. Other Helpful Tips
I enlisted the help of my kids to come up with these additional helpful tips and useful information. These are things we learned on our trip that are good to know before our next visit.
- Life Jackets are available once you enter the water park so there is no need to bring one of your own.
- Dippin Dots is a must while at the park! These are located within the water park area and the main theme park
- Don’t buy a slushie at the park (even though the cup is cool) because it is *HIGHLY* over priced. We paid $10 for one tiny slushie at the park for my youngest girls to split. On our way home we stopped at the gas station and purchased 5 large slushies for $9…. so just plan to grab slushies on the way home.
- Thunderhawk was voted the best dry ride by our family.
- The water park is the best part of the day!
- My little girls LOVED the petting zoo. The bunnies was super cute
- Camp Snoopy has a playground that wasn’t crowded. This was a great place to let the little kids run free for a bit to burn off some energy
- The ground gets EXTREMELY hot in the waterpark area. Plan to carry little ones when the ground is dry and potentially invest in water shoes.
- There are two water slides (corkscrew and carousel) that require you to carry a heavy & awkward tube up stairs to get on the ride. WORTH IT! But seriously, those things are EXTRA heavy. Also, they can only hold 3 people at a time.
- The lines are short in the dry theme park area BUT the waits can be long because there is only 1 car going at a time.
- Checkout the downloadable map before you go!
This post was all about Michigan’s Adventure Tickets and everything you need to know to plan for the best day ever. Have a great time visiting this super fun theme park in West Michigan!
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