water shoes at water parks?

[trvlnut]

I tried searching for this, but it wasn't working. Anyway, are water shoes needed at BB or TL? Can't decide if I want to invest in a pair for each family member. Kinda expensive.

 

[checkwriter]

We found that we did NOT need them, at least for our day at BB. The walkways and stairs are kept quite smoth. Others may differ . . . now is a good time to find them on sale at a local Target/WalMart/big box retailer.

 

[KayakDaddy]

I would say that water shoes are optional based on the tenderness of your feet. I always make sure my kids have them on since they aren't as careful where they step as adults are.

As for myself, I do wear my water shoes at the waterparks and I recommend it to others. The only time I really take them off is for the walks up to ride the big slides like Summit Plummet. They don't let you wear the shoes on the big slides - they make you take them off and hold them in your hands as your arms are crossed across your chest. I don't need that additional distraction as my heart is in my throat on the way down the slide.

 

[jchop]

Everyone in my family (2 adults, 2 kids) has a pair of Keens and we all ended up wearing them to the parks by the end of our trip. We spent 8 days at the parks and were certain that our athletic shoes would be worn every day except when we went to the water park. Turns out - our Keen's were very comfy to walk in and they had the added bonus of letting our feet breathe! The other huge benefit was that we were able to essentially walk through any water spray, sprinkle, spout, that happened to spring up - a nice way of cooling off in the sweltering heat. Did I mention that it was really nice to have them on during the rainshowers? Toss on a poncho and you're ready to go! I don't know many people that like to wear wet socks and sneakers - didn't really need to worry about it in our Keens. I have to mention that I saw very few people wearing Keens but they are very popular with the outdoor types here in Austin, Texas.

 

[Amirah95]

We wear ours to the water parks. I like to avoid blisters, scratches and losses of toe nails myself.

 

[Diznotyzed]

I really prefer wearing shoes at the water parks, especially going up the stairways. The stair's non-slip texture really tenderized my feet. Another vote for wearing Keens in all the parks. Lots of protection, great traction and, it bears repeating, breathable. We wear them all the time at home, too.

 

[jchop]

OOps! I guess it was past my bedtime when I responded to this post!

We definitely wore our Keens to the water parks......and we wore them to the other parks too!

Here's another thing to consider when contemplating the shoes v. no shoes issue.......the bathroom floors at the water parks are icky! I walked into 2 of them at TL and was sooooo glad I had shoes on! The floors from the base of the toilet out to at least a 4 foot radius were wet with who knows what.

I was also concerned that if anyone went barefoot and got a cut, blister, pavement rub, etc... it would hinder their ability to wear shoes the rest of the trip...or we'd hear complaints about it the rest of the trip.

Only problem about wearing shoes is that we had to take them off and hold them on the body slides. There is a risk of them catching on the side of the slides and flipping you - kind of a scary thought. Once we knew this we just took them off and left them at the bottom of the stairs. No biggie.

 

[gems_smiling]

We wear water shoes (got ours at BB) at the water parks. I think their really good for when walking to each ride and when in the bathroom. We wear ours from the hotel to the water park so there's no need to take another pair of shoes.

 

[trvlnut]

Great responses, thanks!

I was looking at the Keens because the traditional watershoes have always been uncomfortable and I thought that we could wear them to the parks too. Thought about Crocs, but I don't know how well they will stay on our feet running around the waterparks.

Another issue I have is that my 7yo dd is a girlie girl and her idea of watershoes is a nice pink flip flop. I'm pretty sure the Keens will not fit her idea of "cute". Any other ideas for girlie girl watershoes? I may just buy her cheapo watershoes and buy the rest of us nice watershoes that we can wear in the park.

 

[almacdonald]

We got our water shoes at Walmart for $6. They were worth that and more! I'm not a barefoot person so walking around all day without shoes would have surely caused some whining on my part. Also, the sand gets darn hot, even through the shoes in the afternoon. It's better to have them and end up leaving them under you lounge chair than to not have them, need them and pay $16 a pair at the water parks!

 

[dancin Disney style]

We walked around barefoot and found it to be hot on the cement. I saw people with the cheapy plastic flip flops. When you get on a slide you just hold then in your hands. That is my plan for next time.