This post is brought to you by Splashway Waterpark. All opinions are my own.
One of my favorite ways to help is you is to tell you about hidden gems around our city. I also love when I find a place that’s great for small children because I know so many of you are in the same boat.
A few weeks ago, I was invited to visit Splashway Waterpark in Sheridan, and I knew I had to come out of summer hibernation to share my experience with you!
*To give you some persepctive on how much we loved this place, I have a 3 year old (she’s actually 4 now….waaahhhhh!), and a 9 month old, and we stayed all day long- from 11 am – 6 pm.
This is Ray. He’s the mascot, and makes appearances every now and then!
When we arrived, we were give our information and taken to our cabana. Now, if you can, I highly recommend getting a cabana. They have comfortable seating, and a box to lock up your valuables.
Once we got our belongings/bottles/water cups/lunch boxes squared away, we headed out to enjoy the park.
I also want to point out that Splashway lets you bring your own food in! They are a family water park, so no alcohol, knives, etc. They also ask that you don’t bring glass containers, personal grills and electronic cooking devices. They do, however, have grills available to rent at the park!
Ok, back to the fun. The thing I love about Splashway (and I’ve been to my fair share of water parks), is that they have an amazing kids area. I truly don’t think I’ve seen a park that has as much for little kids to do.
From my perspective, the park is divided into areas that have a progression depending on the age of your child.
There’s an area for infants and toddlers. The water is just a few inches deep, and this area isn’t very big, square footage-wise, so you can see your little one from all vantage points. This area is also great for preschoolers who might take a while to warm up to playing in the water or with slides. We spent some time here so my oldest could get used to things.
The next area is perfect for preschoolers. We spent most of our day here. (This is a stock photo because there were just too many kids around for me to feel comfortable taking a bunch of pictures, but the water is about 1.5 feet deep. It has slides of varying heights, and plenty of room for kids to play. I’d even say less adventurous elementary kids would have a great time here! It was really enjoyable for me because I could sit and enjoy the water while my daughter ran around and did all the slides.
This area also feeds into the Lazy River, so we had a playtime/lazy river rotation to keep things interesting.
If your kiddos are older and like more adventure, the Kids of the Caribbean area. Our cabana was right by this area.
The slides here are higher, and there’s lots of splash areas. They also have those buckets that fill up with gallons of water, and dump the water out when they’re full. There’s no “pool” surrounding the slide area. But the paved area has plenty of fountains that spray water to keep your feet cool. This area also backs up to The Lagoon Pool. You can easily live the dream, and relax by the pool while watching your kids play on the slides.
That’s the Lagoon Pool back there!
Now for the big slides. Since I was with my husband, we took turns riding all the big slides. Between the two of us, I think we got them all! They have a great combination of fast and slow slides, tall and winding slides, big drops, little drops, and everything in between. Splashway also has the racer slides, where 5-6 people can race at once. The bigger rides are also all in the same area.
My favorite was the Midnight Storm (the dark one).
We also did several trips around the Lazy River. My favorite part of this was the inner tubes they had. There were traditional inner tubes, and ones that didn’t have a hole in the middle. Those were perfect for my kids, who were too little to hold themselves up. They could just sit and enjoy the lazy river, while we steered their floaties.
We ended the day at the wave pool, which is really big. I didn’t venture out toward the back where the waves get big, but watching people yell when the waves started was pretty entertaining!
Things to note:
*You can bring your own food, but they also have restaurants available. So, pack a lunch or buy food there. The choice is yours! The food did look really good, but we brought our own food since we needed formula and food for our picky eater. If you decide to get a cabana, you can order food right from your area and they bring it to you!
*Crowds- We went on a Tuesday, and the crowds were really light. I imagine it’s busier on the weekends, but we were able to do everything we wanted to do multiple times in a row. So if you can go during the week, consider doing that.
*From Katy, it took us about an hour and fifteen minutes to drive there. The drive was really scenic, and it was nice to get out of town.
*They have a campground! If you have a camper, you can come and camp out to enjoy the water park for several days in a row.
*Zip Lines- Splashway offers dry adventures, too! You can zip line around the park, and see the sights from above.
Things I Love:
*Around 1 pm every day, they have a moment of silence and play the National Anthem.
* They had a Cupid Shuffle dance party with Ray, the mascot.
* The staff was so friendly, and life jackets were provided for kids who needed them.
*There was something for everyone. Since this is a family water park, they truly think about every age, and have something for every one.
*There are plenty of tables and lots of seating around the park. There are also shoe cubbies all around so you can wear your shoes to your next stop and your feet won’t burn.
We had the best day, and will definitely be going back…hopefully this summer!
Be sure to find Splashway on Facebook, and check out their website for pricing and more info on the attractions.
The post Staycationing: Splashway Waterpark appeared first on Katy Moms Blog.
