Each summer, I pick one week that I call "mom camp" and I take my boys to various places for summer fun. It is getting harder to agree on places to go as my boys are getting older, but one place that they both agree on is SplashDown Beach. Located about 50 minutes from our area in Fishkill, NY, SplashDown Beach truly has something for every age.
After a quick and easy walk from the parking lot and entry into the park, we headed right to my boys' favorite ride -- Humunga Half-Pipe. For this ride, you can choose between a two person float or a single float which worked well for our group of three. I climbed to the top of the staircase with my son, Aidan, and realized when I got to the top that this ride has quite a drop! Humunga Half-Pipe is New York State's only Zero Gravity half-pipe. You drop straight down and then your momentum takes you high up the other side and back down again. Truly a rush!
After a couple of turns on the Humunga Half-Pipe, we headed to the back of the park to check out SplashDown Beach's newest ride, The Megalodon. This ride shares an entrance staircase with one of my favorite rides, the Arctic Mammoth. We headed up the stairs and stayed to the Megalodon side to wait our turn for this new ride. You get in to a 4 person yellow tube then hold on tight as you head into the ride which includes a near vertical drop. Quite a thrill! My boys went on that ride three times and loved it each time. Children must be 48" or taller to go on this ride. We also went back up the stairs and took a turn on the Arctic Mammoth. You don't realize how high up you are until you look around at the beautiful Hudson Valley from the top of the staircase which is six stories high. Arctic Mammoth is a great family ride with many twists and turns. This is a long ride at almost 600 feet. Kids over 36" can ride the Arctic Mammoth. Next up was the Arctic Plunge Racer which is a mat racer ride. My boys must have gone on this ride 10 times until my younger son finally beat my older son to the finish.
We decided after all of those great rides to take a break and get lunch. There are a lot of options of where to eat ranging from chains like Nathan's Famous hot dogs to local eateries like Cosimo's Pizza. We decided on Iggy's Fresh-Mex and had some delicious soft tacos. My boys also had waffles with Nutella and strawberries from the Waffle Hut.
After lunch, we took a relaxing spin around Croc Creek Wavy Lazy River and the boys enjoyed the Monster Wave Pool. Even though my sons are 16 and 12, they also couldn't resist shooting each other with water at the Water Whirler (which is really meant for little kids}. Then we headed to the other side of the park for the body slides at Cowabunga Falls. Finally, we headed towards the front of the park and hit three tube rides -- the Bullet Bowl, Pirate's Plunge and Pirate's Revenge. At that point, I was beat so I relaxed on a lounge chair in the shade while my boys went on the tube rides.
The park has plenty to do for little ones especially Splash Works, which has plenty of slides, dumping buckets and geysers. This area is only for children under 48".
A couple of tips, get there early to be able to experience many of the bigger rides before the park fills up. When you get into the park, look for a lounge chair to keep your towel and shoes on (and for relaxing later). There are plenty of shady spots which is great for someone like me who hides from the sun. There are also lockers if you want to store your valuables. Also, I recommend that you buy your tickets online in advance. It saves you time when you get there and you get a discount.
SplashDown Beach is billed as America's Biggest Little Waterpark and it really is just that. There is plenty to do, it is kept very clean and it is a fun day for kids of any age.
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Macaroni Kid Chappaqua was given complimentary tickets for the purposes of this review. All opinions are my own.
