Big Splash Adventure Review
Disclaimer: I was given 4 day passes to Big Splash Adventure in order to conduct my review. However, I was not influenced by the promotional materials. All opinions and insights are my own.
I have been trying to get to Big Splash Adventure, in French Lick, Indiana, for over a year now. This past weekend we loaded up our 3 year old great-nephew and headed out on our adventure.
It was rainy and dreary outside, so I didn’t get any outdoor pictures, but it was warm and inviting inside. The lobby is decorated with children in mind.
There are a couple of activities for the children to participate in while registering.
It’s was the weekend before Thanksgiving so they had all ready started decorating for Christmas. Children could even get their pictures taken with Santa Claus during special hours. We got a little busy with our activities and forgot to stop by and get Jeremiah’s picture taken.
While you are registering, make sure everybody stays close because each person will need to come to the counter and have their special bracelet put on them. This was my first experience with this type of system and I loved it. The bracelet not only got us into the water park but it was also our room key and our ticket to the free breakfast buffet.
Our hotel room was clean and spacious. This was Jeremiah’s first stay in a hotel and he wasn’t really on board with the idea at first. He was worried about our home without us there. The things he comes up with just makes me smile.
Jeremiah was aware that we were there to go to the water park so he was ready to get his trunks on and head to the Adventure. We had taken him to a water park just a few weeks prior to this trip but it was nothing like Big Splash Adventure. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so let me just show you some of the awesome water activities you can enjoy.
Buccaneer Bay
This is a three story structure with ten platforms and nearly 50 interactive play features.
Buccaneer Bay has two slides. There are no height restrictions for this area so everyone can enjoy it. This was Jeremiah’s favorite section.
Splish Splash Pool
This area is for the little swimmers. Children must be less than 40″ tall to play in here. There is a slide and some really fun tree bouncers for the little ones to relax in.
Lost River
One of my favorite spots was the Lost River. I didn’t get to spend nearly enough time in there. Jeremiah wasn’t too crazy about it. He was small enough that he had to wear a life jacket. For smaller children on the Lost River, there are special tubes that have bottoms in them so they can basically sit on top of them as they ride around.
Pirates Plunder, Scallywag Scuttle & Silver Beard’s Revenge
These 3 slides were too big for Jeremiah and my husband and I are not that adventurous anymore so we didn’t go down them. Although, they look like they they would be a lot of fun. You can learn more about each of them by clicking on their names above.
You can bring your own towels, if you would like, but Big Splash Adventure has towels right there for you to use. That was a great amenity because now all I had to worry about was getting wet suits home not wet bulky towels too.
Right outside, and connected to the water park, is a snack bar and arcade. As a matter of fact, you have to pass through the snack bar to enter the water park. You could order burgers, hotdogs, pizza and other items. It was convenient because you could order and eat in your swimming suits. You could take the food back into the water park and eat poolside or sit in the snack bar. It’s a bit noisy in the water park, with all the running water, so we chose to stay in the snack area. You can only carry food and drinks you bought at the snack bar into the water park but if you have one of their hotel rooms you could keep your own food in there. The hotel, water park and a couple of dining areas are all connected so you never have to leave the building once you enter.
We decided to go for a bit more substantial meal on Sunday so we visited the Boatyard Restaurant. It sits on the main floor just off the lobby. Pat and I shared a ribeye steak, baked potato and tossed salad. Jeremiah chose a grilled cheese sandwich and applesauce. We were all very pleased with our meals. The waitress was very sweet and the atmosphere was quite relaxing.
Between the lobby and the Boatyard Restaurant is a little gift shop called the Seaside Market. It has a lot of cute little water and beach themed trinkets, as well as souvenir t-shirts. If you forgot and left the kids swimsuits at home, you can pick up some of those too.
As soon as Jeremiah’s feet hit the floor, Monday morning, he was ready to head to the water park. We insisted on breakfast first, both for nutrition and energy. Although, Jeremiah does not lack energy! The breakfast buffet is included in the price of the hotel stay. In case you have any preconceived ideas, this is NOT one of those “continental” breakfasts you find at other hotels. This is an honest to goodness breakfast buffet. Items on the buffet included biscuits and sausage gravy, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, crispy fried potatoes, pancakes, french toast sticks, oatmeal and toast. There was also a line with dry cereals and fruit. We had orange juice, white milk and chocolate milk to drink, which was served by our waitress. The total of our breakfast bill came to $0 but we were sure to leave our waitress a tip for taking care of our drinks and checking on us.
I thought that the prices seemed kind of high for staying in the hotel, but when I was breaking down all you get, it’s actually an awesome deal. There are several packages that include 2 days at the waterpark and the free breakfast buffet for 4 people. If you figure what it would cost to go to the park for 2 days ($21.95 per adult per day) and I estimated what a breakfast buffet would cost elsewhere (approx. $8 a person), you would be spending next to nothing for the actual room.
Big Splash Adventure has many special activities and pricing throughout the year so keep an eye on their website. We happened to catch special pricing on a Sunday/Monday stay which included the ability to purchase tickets for the Polar Express Train Ride. By the way, I had all ready checked the Polar Express website and found out that they were sold out for this year. The only tickets available were through some of the local hotels, which included Big Splash Adventure. You will hear more about that part of our weekend in a future post.
In summary, our weekend was a blast. Everywhere we went things were clean and tidy. The staff was polite and friendly. If you are planning a vacation, to Indiana, or a staycation, I would recommend checking out Big Splash Adventure and all the great things the French Lick area has to offer.
