Orange County: Big Splash Adventure Indoor Water Park and Resort
When I discovered there was an indoor water park in French Lick, I knew we had found our activity for Orange County. Turns out some of our friends were vacationing in French Lick over their Spring Break so we decided to hit up the water park with them.
We left Columbus about 8:00 am on Monday, March 19. After about a 40 minute flight, we arrived at the French Lick airport. Isaac had to check out the old fire truck, while Caleb fueled up the plane.
Unfortunately, there is no shuttle service to Big Splash Adventure, but there is a taxi service (more on this later). However, we lucked out and the airport manager offered us a ride in the airport’s Suburban. About 15 minutes later we were at the water park.
Our tickets were purchased the week before. Big Splash sells a limited number of day passes so they do sell out from time to time and the recommended that we purchase them ahead of time instead of take our chances. This wasn’t quite necessary the day we choose since it ended up being in the 80’s, but it’s good tip especially if you’re going during a busy time of the year.
We headed up to the second floor to the entrance to the water park. There was only one person “checking people in” so the process took a few extra minutes. We also rented a locker for the day. The locker key was a bracelet similar to your typically water park bracelet and much nicer and almost impossible to lose unlike your typical rental lock key.
By this time, Isaac was itching to play in the water. He headed straight for Buccaneer Bay.
Isaac was pretty amped up at this point in time so I put my iPhone away and joined Caleb and Isaac in the water.
Another one of Isaac’s favorite spots was the Splish Splash Pool; the area designated for those under 40 inches. Unfortunately we didn’t get any pictures of this area but there was a little slide, some bouncy swings and a few water fountains.
Around this time Caleb decided to check out some of the big slides. Caleb rode Silver Beard’s Revenge which he said was quite fun and another slide we he mentioned was pretty intense. I opted to steer clear of any water rides on this trip because I’d rather have the baby in the hospital in Columbus than at the French Lick water park.
While Caleb was checking out the slides, Isaac and I took a whirl on the Lost River aka the lazy river. Isaac was required to wear a life jacket in the lazy river which he wasn’t too thrilled about and we had to have an intertube with us. So this trip in the lazy was a bit short lived because Isaac was much more interested in swimming.
By this time is was about 11:00 and we decided it was time to eat. Caleb and I opted to order a pizza. Either I was really hungry or the pizza was really good…I’m guessing it was a bit of both. But just make sure you like cheese when you order the pizza because there was close to 3 pounds on there. Insider tip: order the pizza early because they make it fresh and it does take 20 or so minutes.
After lunch it was time to hit the water again. We’d noticed some pretty small kids riding two of the water slides on Buccaneer Bay. Since Isaac is a pretty big daredevil, we thought we’d send him down the slide and see what happened (safety rules stated there could be only one person on the slide at a time). Caleb went with him to the top of the slide and I stood below to “catch” him. Isaac loved the slide! …about 25 times.
There was a similar sized blue slide on Buccaneer Bay but Isaac enjoyed the yellow one more.
Around 1:00 we decided to start the process of heading home. One of the issues with having a day pass is we didn’t have a place for Isaac (and probably me) to take a nap.
Transportation back to the airport was provided by Tall Guy’s Taxi. The taxi arrived about 10 minutes after we called and the driver was quite friendly. Interestingly enough, it was a medium sized woman, and not a tall guy, driving the vehicle. Although, the taxi ride was $16, I’d highly recommend Tall Guy’s to anyone needing to get around the French Lick area without a car.
Isaac must have had a great time at the water park because he fell asleep as soon as the plane was in the air.
If your kids love water, I’d highly recommend Big Splash Adventure. I have a feeling we’ll be visiting again.