Splish Splash is an extremely underrated water park that I think is one of the best in the world.
Located on Long Island, this park is a triple threat. It has great operations,
a nice atmosphere, and one of the deepest lineups of water slides anywhere.
Find out why this water park is an absolute must in this review.
Splish Splash opened back in 1991. The park was originally built by the owners of Adventureland,
which is the largest amusement park on Long Island. Unlike Adventureland,
which is severely landlocked, Splish Splash has an abundance of land. It’s one of the largest
water parks in the world, spanning 96 acres. The park had a lot of potential, which is why
it was purchased by Palace Entertainment in 1999. They have owned and operated the park ever since.
Palace has continued to grow the park. You see some similar attractions to their other
parks such as Dragon’s Den, but this park has many unique slides such as the Bootlegger’s
Run water coaster. Plus you have one of the best settings for any water park.
This is one of the most shaded water parks I have ever visited.
Usually I have to worry about getting burnt to a crisp, but not at Splish Splash. Most of the
park and slides are located under a dense tree canopy. This also makes the pathways comfortable
to walk barefoot even on stifling hot days. Even from the top of the park’s tallest slide towers,
you can barely see any other attractions. There are that many trees around you.
The back section is more open and this is unsurprisingly where most of the park’s newer
attractions have been placed, but the slides back here still have covered queue lines.
But beyond the shade, this park looks really nice. Many slides feature bright and vibrant
paint schemes plus really cool logos. None of the attractions looked rundown at this park. And I was
pleasantly surprised to find that many of the park’s recent additions received some theming.
You won’t mistake this place for a Disney park, but you have some details and thematic
structures in the queue. The Hollywood Stunt Rider even had an animatronic in the line!
Then the park has also rethemed a few of their older slides in recent years.
Splash Landing was one of the original tube slides and it was transformed into Dinosaur Falls.
You have some Jurassic Park theming in the queue and multiple dinosaurs you
pass during the ride itself. For 2022, the park converted the Abyss tube slides into Hyperlight,
which is a multisensory experience with music and lights now. By improving their oldest attractions
while also adding new rides, Splish Splash has a very strong lineup of attractions top to bottom.
I’m struggling to think of many parks that can match this park’s depth.
As a result, you do need to pay quite a bit to enter. Daily admission costs $70 at the gate,
but you can save $10-15 if you buy in advance online. You also need to pay $25 to park.
Or you can purchase a season pass, especially since the top ones offer free parking.
I visited with a Palace Platinum Pass that also gets me into their other properties
like Lake Compounce and Story Land. And if you buy a Platinum Pass with Splish Splash
as your local park, you get free locker rentals, which is a really cool perk I
wish more parks offered since lockers cost $10-$20 depending on the size.
Speaking of which, you have two banks of lockers. One at the front of the park by the entrance
and one up the hill by the Kahuna Bay wave pool. I recommend using the latter. They’re
in a more central location if you need to access your stuff during the day and less crowded.
This park does get pretty crowded if the forecast is nice. I was a bit nervous visiting for the
first time on a sunny Saturday, but this park handles crowds about as well as any water park.
It certainly helps that they have so many slides, but they dispatch people like an assembly line. On
many water slides, they’d send the next party the second the prior one hit the final pool. The park
had plenty of staffing on each attraction. And there was no shortage of rafts. Many of the family
raft slides had nearly a dozen on the conveyor belt at once so there was always one to load.
The staff also managed to be friendly while maintaining that level of efficiency.
Many employees were playfully splashing guests whenever a slide started.
Most lines were manageable. The body slides were near walk-ons most of the day.
The tube and raft slides had their lines split into two parts. The employees let roughly 10-15
minutes worth of people onto the slide towers at a time. For the 1 or 2 person tube slides, you need
to wait by the splashdown pool for a raft before heading up the tower. These slides have separate
queues for single or double tubes, and sometimes one line is noticeably shorter. Once you grab your
tube, you usually only have another 10-15 minutes at most. The one exception is Dragon’s Den,
which took double that once we got our tube. The lines are set-up in this manner to maximize
the effectiveness of the H2GO skip-the-line pass. This costs an extra $50-$120 per day
depending which tier you purchase. If you buy this, you can skip the line at the base
of the tower. This only seemed to save time a significant chunk of time for three rides.
Alien Invasion, Dr. Von Dark’s Tunnel of Terror, and Bootlegger’s Run are the park’s three most
popular attractions and can garner waits around 45-60 minutes midday. You can avoid
long waits for these if you arrive at opening. I recommend starting with Bootlegger’s Run.
This water coaster is the park’s best attraction and its location in the very back of the park
should allow you to experience multiple times with minimal wait. I would then
hit Alien Invasion since its relatively close and the park’s second most popular attraction.
If you’re lucky, you still have minimal waits when you hit Dragon’s Den and Dr. Von Dark.
Although you can comfortably hit the major slides in a half day if you arrive at opening, I
recommend a full day at this park. There’s so much to do here and most slides will give you a reason
why you’ll want to reride them later in the day. Now let’s talk about that slide lineup. This park
really has something for everyone. The large raft slides are the most exciting attractions.
Just note that you need at least two riders to experience these.
Bootlegger’s Run was the main reason I wanted to visit this park and it did not disappoint.
This ProSlide hydromagnetic water coaster features three drops. The first is one of
the best on any water slide. It’s tall and steep, offering some freaky floater airtime. Then the LIM
uphill ascents are smooth and swift, allowing the slide to maintain its pace.
I have an entire review on this attraction, but it’s an above average water coaster.
Alien Invasion is a ProSlide Tornado. This ride looks downright imposing.
It was brilliantly positioned so the giant funnel is facing the midway.
You just hear the screams of riders echoing as you walk towards it.
The main drop is great, especially if you take it sideways or reverse. It’s steep and offers a
little airtime. Then you get some weightlessness rocking back and forth in that funnel.
I admittedly skipped Dr. Von Dark’s Tunnel of Terror at Splish Splash because I’ve ridden an
exact clone of this attraction at one of Palace’s sister parks in Water Country…and it was the worst
water slide I’ve ever experienced. While the pitch black spiral and mini funnel sound cool on paper,
the rapid transition led to me violently smacking heads with my riding buddy.
I’d say maybe I got a bad ride, but my fiancee’s family had the same issue as well. If this one
is better, let me know down in the comments. Hollywood Stunt Rider is another dark raft slide.
This one is pretty short, but you rapidly build up speed for a double down.
If you have a heavier raft, you can get some shocking airtime on that final drop.
It was one of my favorite rides in the park. Mammoth River is a long family raft slide.
This one is located on the hill in the center of the park…like many of the park’s older rides…and
you methodically wind your way down it. You have some small dips,
but the best part of this slide are the directional changes
which can cause a heavier raft to slide pretty darn high up the side of the slide.
For tube slides, you have three options. Dragon’s Den is the bowl slide.
This one only allows you to ride in pairs, which is a policy found at other Palace properties. The
initial descent is long, which builds good speed as you enter the toilet bowl. I love the wild
first lap. Then you calmly spin in a circle around the water-breathing dragon statue in the middle.
Hyperlight is the recently rethemed duo of tube slides. The lights and music give this attraction
a club-like atmosphere, which transforms a decent slide into an above average one.
Both sides have a series of small dips and tight turns, but I recommend the right side
for the wilder ride since there’s this s-bend towards the end that really made the raft sway.
Dinosaur Falls is a trio of tube slides right by the main entrance.
Depending if you’re in a single or double tube, you get two different experiences.
Single tubes tend to spin during the descent, so you often find yourself going backwards at points.
Double tubes hold more speed and really head up some of the turns.
Then everyone can appreciate the dinosaur statues added along the windy course.
The lone mat slide is Riptide Racer, which is your standard mat racing slide. It’s an
off-the-shelf layout found at many other parks. This attraction shares a tower with Bombs Away.
This is the park’s most thrilling attraction. These trapdoor slides feature a short,
but exhilarating initial plunge as the floor falls out. You get a nice but brief freefall
sensation. Then you head around a 360 degree spiral. The green slide seems tighter and has
more force to it, but both are fast and smooth. Across the park are some other speed slides.
Barrier Reef is a steep 360 degree spiral. You gain a considerable amount of speed,
so you get some Gs by the end of the helix. Then the splashdown is ultra disorienting
since you shoot through a waterfall and skim across the surface of the water.
Max Trax is a duo of 5 story tall speed slides. The blue side is the better of the
two. You have three dips on the way down the tower. You get no airtime,
but it’s fast and reasonably smooth. The red side has a larger initial drop,
but it’s pretty shallow for a speed slide and the pullout is pretty bumpy on your back.
Shotgun Falls is a short slide. The slide itself is tame and over in 3 seconds. But
the thrill is when the slide ends in mid-air and you’re launched into a 10 foot pool,
which is a rare sensation on a water slide. Make sure you can swim for this one.
The final major slide is Giant Twister, three serpentine body slides.
The course has some small dips and fun turns. Then if you ride on the right side, you get a fun
double down at the end before hitting the pool. Kids benefit by many slides having 36-42”
height requirements, but there are some areas designed specifically for them.
Two of the better ones I saw were Pirates Cove, which allows kids to climb on a ship
with some slides and sprayers. Then Soak City is a miniature action river nestled among the trees.
Adults who want to relax have a long lazy river. The first section is setup
like a typical lazy river and is pretty shady, but the second half is this awkwardly wide
straightaway that looks more like a pool. You coast through this section so slowly that many
people have to propel themselves through it. One other thing I noticed was that this ride
had a dedicated queue line, so it’s possible you may have to wait for it at points during the day,
which is weird for a lazy river. The park also features two different wave
pools on opposite ends of the park. Surf City only opens on busy days if the park has enough staff,
but Kahuna Bay is open regularly. Both produce a flurry of small waves after an alarm goes off.
For food, you have a few options scattered about the park. My top choice is Johnny Rockets. It’s
a fast food joint with quick service and it’s by the back lockers and lounge chairs.
Food is about on par with other theme parks, where it’s a bit overpriced.
But I was pleasantly surprised how short the food lines were compared to most parks.
So do I recommend Splish Splash? I sure do! I think this is the best outdoor water park
in the northeast. This park’s setting, operations, and extensive slide lineup
make it a standout for the genre. The amount of quality attractions here really make this water
park one worth experiencing. I’d take this over most theme parks in the northeast to be honest.
I know Long Island is a little annoying to visit given its location and propensity for traffic,
but Splish Splash is worth it. It’s a must if you’re a water park fan
and it’s easily the best attraction on Long Island.
So those are my thoughts on Splish Splash, the massive water park in New York.
What are your thoughts on this place? Do you agree it’s one of the best water parks out there?
Let me know your thoughts down below. If you enjoyed this review, I’d appreciate it if you
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more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!