These Are The 6 Best Amusement Parks And Water Parks In Missouri For 2018

Just imagine:

You get off your favorite ride, jazzed up by the excitement, and on your way to get a uniquely American snack at your favorite amusement park.

Alright, now, open your eyes and come back to me for a moment as we go into where best to have that same experience in Missouri. These are the water parks and amusement parks in {state} that have everything you could hope for in a day out with the family.

Using data from The Park DB, we were able to take a look at over 250 amusement and water parks across America, which includes Missouri of course. After pouring over reams of data, Worlds Of Fun emerged as the best park in the Show Me State by a hefty margin.

Here’s a look at the best amusement parks and water parks in Missouri for 2018:

1. Worlds of Fun
2. Lego Discovery Center
3. SEA LIFE Kansas USA
4. Six Flags St. Louis
5. Great Wolf Lodge
6. Silver Dollar City

There are a whole lot of smiles and good memories wrapped up in those parks. Not to mention corn dogs, popcorn, roller coasters, and water slides.

Before you go out and buy your ticket to {first}, let’s take a look at how we ranked the parks on this list and what each of the top dogs has to offer.

If you’re looking for other family friendly things to do, check out the best farmers markets in Missouri or the best cities for families in Missouri.

How We Ranked The Best Amusement Parks And Water Parks In Missouri

If you haven’t check out The Park DB, we recommend it. It has all kinds of data on amusement parks big and small throughout the world.

Fortunately for us, they opened up their data set and let us take a look. So how do you rank the best amusement park in Missouri? We looked at the following criteria:

1. Size (How big is the park and how many rides are there)
2. Price (Perhaps counter-intuitively initially, we did the higher the price the better. More on that)
3. Age of the park (The newer the better)

We know your probably thinking ‘why is more expensive better?!’

Well, we believe in supply and demand and a higher price means that people must really want to go to the amusement park. It normally also means there’s either a strong brand associated with the park and/or plenty of things to do.

We also recognize that many water parks and amusement parks get renovations and additions throughout the years, but we still think newer is generally better.

If you disagree with our criteria, no offense taken. We are just trying to get the ball rolling on great places to spend a day or weekend in the Show Me State.

So, with that out of the way, we ranked each park from best to worst for each of these criteria with one being the best. (If a park was missing criteria, it got the lowest score for that criteria).

We then averaged the rankings of each criteria to create an amusement park score and normalized it to 100.

For Missouri, Worlds Of Fun took the top spot with a score of 57.6.

Here’s a bit more on what the top parks have to offer.

1. Worlds of Fun

Score: 57.6

Worlds of Fun is a 235-acre amusement park in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. The park opened in 1973 and is owned and operated by Cedar Fair, which purchased the park from Hunt-Midwest in 1995. Admission to Worlds of Fun includes access to Oceans of Fun, a water park adjacent to the amusement park.

2. Lego Discovery Center

Score: 57.6

Legoland Discovery Center Kansas City is an indoor family entertainment center located in the Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The attraction includes Lego rides, a soft play area, a 4D cinema and a gift shop. It has also recently added a LEGO model of the Verruckt waterslide at Schlitterbahn Water Park. LEGOLAND\xc2\xae Discovery Center Kansas City is owned and operated by the British leisure group Merlin Entertainments.

3. SEA LIFE Kansas USA

Score: 36.4

SEA LIFE Kansas City is an interactive aquarium located at the Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The aquarium contains thousands of aquatic creatures, plus interactive touch pools and a 360\xc2\xb0 ocean tunnel. SEA LIFE Kansas City is owned and operated by Merlin Entertainments.

4. Six Flags St. Louis

Score: 33.3

Six Flags St. Louis, formerly Six Flags Over Mid-America, is a theme park located in Eureka, Missouri. The park opened on June 5, 1971 and features seven themed areas as well as numerous attractions and live shows. The adjacent Hurricane Harbor water park is free with park admission. The park brands itself as ‘Missouri\’s Coaster Capital’.

5. Great Wolf Lodge

Score: 33.3

Great Wolf Resorts is a chain of indoor water parks. The company owns and operates its family resorts under the Great Wolf Lodge brand. In addition to a water park, each resort features specialty restaurants, arcades, spas, fitness rooms, and children\xc2\x92s activity areas including Yoga and bowling. Great Wolf Resorts is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

6. Silver Dollar City

Score: 30.0

Silver Dollar City is a theme park in the US state of Missouri. Opened on May 1, 1960, the park is located between Branson and Branson West off of Missouri Route 76 on the Indian Point peninsula of Table Rock Lake. The park is an 1880s-themed experience that fits Branson’s vision as a family-friendly vacation destination with down-home charm. Silver Dollar City’s operating season runs from mid-March until late December, with the park closed during the months of January and February. Silver Dollar City is owned by the Herschend Family Entertainment.

Closing Out The Souvenir Shops In Missouri

There you have it — a look at some of the best amusement parks and water parks that Missouri has to offer. The Park DB constantly updates their data, so we’ll update the data as they update theirs.

Now go out there and have as much fun as humanly possible — your favorite ride is always waiting for you.

For more Missouri reading, check out:

• These Are The 10 Most Ghetto Cities In Missouri
• These Are The 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In Missouri
• These Are The 10 Worst Places To Live In Missouri