My family was invited to the opening celebration of Bob the Builder Water Park – Splash Works as part of a blogger event. Friday, the day of the opening, started off on a questionable note. A peek into the Coleman home that A.M…
I was up early so that I could finish a few things before we left for the day. When Reggie woke up, he asked, “Did you check the weather?” I knew that was code for “You should check the weather,” because I rarely do. When I checked, it said “showers and thunderstorms”. “Oh no!” I thought, because Sean was really looking forward to going to Splash works and I had convinced Michael to be a “good big brother” and come along.
“What do you think? Should we go?” I asked Reggie. (The event was in Fishkill, NY – a 1 ½ hour drive away and I didn’t want to go and have the event be rained out.) “Well, is it raining?” he asked. “Did you say that you were coming?” he continued. Since my answers were “no” and “yes” respectively, then we went. Of course, I had to make one quick call to the public relations contact to make that the event was still happening – rain or shine – which it was. I’m so glad that we did go. We had so much fun!
When we arrived, we attended a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony with Bob the Builder. The park personnel were so excited to house the first Bob the Builder permanent amusement attraction in North America. At 1,600 square foot, the Bob the Builder themed area is not huge (although it is bigger than the average NYC apartment). It is fine that it is compact though, because it is designed for children ages 1-5. With approximately 50 interactive water play features (slides, swings, geysers, etc.), a lot of fun is packed into that square footage!
Now, if you are thinking of going all of the way to Fishkill just for the Bob the Builder portion of the park, I would say “don’t”. It’s much too small to warrant a special trip. However, if you already want to go to a water park, I definitely recommend going to Splash Down Beach and taking your little ones to the Bob the Builder section. You will all have a blast and the kids will be so exhausted that they will sleep soundly that night. (At least that is what happened with my guys.)
We ended up enjoying the entire water park for several hours. My guys were able to enjoy all of the attractions that they wanted to try and to spend some time in the arcade. Our timing was perfect, because the rain started pouring down on our drive home. On the ride home, I asked the kids what they thought about the day.
Michael’s summary: “This was fun! This is my favorite amusement park. (He says that every time that he enjoys himself though.) Sean’s summary: “This was the best day. It was even better than ice cream in November!” (Ice cream in November…I guess that is something wonderful in his 4 year old mind?!) In any event, I think that your little ones will enjoy it.
(For more photos and my friend Suzanne’s thoughts, see her VISITING: Bob the Builder Water Park / Splash Works post.)
Bob the Builder Water Park
(SplashDown Beach Waterpark)
16 Old Route 9 West
Fishkill, NY 12524
splashdownbeach.com
Directions (from NYC, NJ & Albany): splashdownbeach.com/park-information/directions/
Thanks to SplashDown for sponsoring my family’s park visit on such a fun day!
