Splashdown Park with a Toddler

It has been years since I last went to Splashdown Park when I was in youth group. So when the opportunity came to get to go with other #YVRbloggers I decided to go for it. I wanted to see what the park would be like with a toddler. Evie and I packed up our water gear and drove out to Tsawwassen, I was really surprised at how little time it took to get out there, compared to the other water parks in the Lower Mainland area, this one is definitely the quickest to get to from our home. Splashdown does have life jackets that you can borrow, you check it out with your ID (such as a drivers license), but many families simply bring their own life jackets for their little ones to wear. Which is exactly what I did because I wanted to know I had a life jacket that fit my daughter well. If you don’t own one though, this is a great option.

Evie was very eager to get into the water as soon as she saw all of the pools when we entered. We still had to get changed into our swim gear though so we were off to find the change rooms. I couldn’t find a family changing room, so we went into the women’s changing room. Unfortunately there was no changing stalls big enough for me to bring the stroller in with me, but we made it work. I’d love to see Spashdown add a bigger stall in here to make it a bit easier on moms.

There are several picnic tables, and some covered areas available. For our group that was there a covered area and bbq had been made available for us. Many of the other people visiting Splashdown that day simply brought their own pop up sun shade tent to claim there area on the lawn. We put the stroller, and all our gear in under the covered area, and we headed to the water. The toddler splash area was perfect. There are little pools that form for toddlers to splash about in, and lots of different water features for them to run through. We really liked the feature on the left (in the above photo) Evie loved that she could try and catch the water as it was coming down.

There is also the children’s slides that consist of 5 slides, with 6 little pools. They aren’t to fast so it’s perfect to get kids used to going down the slides. I did notice that even for some older kids that the odd pool in this area was a bit deep in areas so it made it hard for them to touch the bottom. Please make sure you are with your kid, and pay attention to the signs that say where adults need to be, and for what age. Safety first!

Evie and I decided to go down the slide (in the photo below) she sat on my lap as we went down. It is a whole lot faster than it looks! Thankfully that didn’t frighten Evie she was quickly signing and saying “MORE! MORE! MORE!” once we slid into the pool at the bottom.

Splashdown has many more slides that are great for older kids and adults. There is a river you can float down in inner tubes, and even some slides that are pitch black so you just never know which way you are going to turn. I am looking forward to coming back in the future, especially as Evie gets older. If we make it out that way again this summer I would definitely want my husband or another adult with me to help with Evie, this way on the children’s slides we can have one adult go to the top with her and another at the bottom waiting so that she can try sliding on her own.

A friend of mine, who was also at the event, mentioned that you can get a coupon for Splashdown in the Entertainment Book. Check out her post here. Louise shares all about her kids top 3 rides. This family also has me wanting to get a GoPro now!

When we were getting ready to leave a staff member noticed I had the stroller with me and pointed me to where there are wheelchair access change rooms/washrooms! Much better for dealing with a toddler and stroller. If you need access to these just check in a customer service as you may need to get a key if they are not open.

We had a great little visit, and are looking forward to going back.