Is the Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station something worthwhile, for which I should plan to bring extra clothes? There will be a 1.5 yr old, 3 yr old, 6 yr old, 7 yr old, two 9 yr olds, etc up until 13 yr old in our group.
Is there any way around needing a change of clothes for this (that would be a lot of clothes we would need to bring)? Or is it something most people walk by and kids usually seem content to skip?
Depends on your kids.
If I wanted to let my kids spend a decent amt of time there, I’d definitely bring crocs or flip flops, and probably a change of clothes, OR, I’d plan it near a leaving time. I’d say that the 9 yr olds and the 13yr old will probably not care too much about it. The 6 and 7 yr olds MIGHT find it fun for a few minutes, but the smaller two might spend a decent amt of time there if you let them. It’s in the area with some smaller kiddie carnival rides like Dumbo and Barnstormer, so it might be worth a trip to that area to keep the smaller kids engaged, but the 13 and 9 yr olds might get bored quickly
It’s cute and fun for littles. I’d personally only do it if the family needed to cool off - a real need May-Oct! There are more novel things to do in MK.
I’ll play (slightly) devils advocate here. My DD’s first trip was when she was 3, and one of her favorite parts of the trip was the splash pad area of Epcot. I’ll spare everyone my trip down Nostalgia Lane, but will say that I loved watching her play there. Depending on the time of year, the littles could get completely soaked, but dry off relatively quickly walking in the sun afterwards (which is what we did), necessitating only flip flops/change of shoes. The break from being “somewhere” and letting her just play for 25 minutes was fantastic. I still have the pics of that little escape.
1 Like
Might be a good feature for the littles to enjoy while the bigger kids go on bigger rides. A change of shoes is a must, and I usually have a change of clothes for 1-3 year olds anyway. Very tough to pull the kids away though (similar to the dumbo play land) so you have to have a pretty enticing next stop or risk a meltdown when it’s time to leave!
When we went in the winter, we skipped it. When we went in the summer, my kids loved it, ages 1.5-12. I brought extra clothes, but the older ones refused to change. They dried pretty quickly in the heat though.
It’s a very cool splash area; as an adult I appreciated the detailing. But it’s a soak-a-thon - most kids will be only slightly wetter than if they jumped into a pool fully clothed. I think it depends on how well they deal with being wet…
I have seen parents bring swim suits for the kids. That way it takes up less room in your bag and the kids can change back into their dry clothes afterwards. There is a rest room right next to the splash zone where you can change.
1 Like
When we went three years ago, my kids (aged 6 and 4 then) absolutely loved it. It was August so we just let them play in their clothes and they were dry about 15 minutes later. They say it’s one of the things they are most looking forward to this year as they’re not normally allowed to get wet in their clothes. They spent about 30 minutes there, just having fun.
We didn’t put it into our Touring Plan, we just adjusted around it.
We were there last week with DS8. It was hot and muggy, he spent probably a good 15 minutes getting completely soaked. Then wanted a towel to dry off, but didn’t need anything else. It will probably depend on the time of year and how comfortable your kids will be air drying - DS was fine with it. But it it is the second time we’ve bought a towel in that area!
I know my story is an anecdote and probably won’t happen to anyone else. My plan was to take my 4 year old to the Splash Station right before nap time (around noon). So, I didn’t bring any extra clothes. I’d just change him once we got back to the resort for naptime.
Welp. My kid hit his head on something at the Splash Station and started bleeding profusely from the top of his forehead. I was afraid he’d need stitches, so we high-tailed it to the front of the park where the medical clinic was.
Note: I didn’t actually see him hit his head. My husband and I were sitting near the Splash Station looking at the map when he came running up to us and crying.
The nurse had him strip down to make sure there were no other bleeding parts. She said she would call for a van to take us to an Urgent Care place off-site. While we were waiting, my son was freezing cold in the room. But I didn’t have any other clothes for him. The nice nurse (bless her heart) got some underwear and a shirt for him from a nearby store (I was expecting a smock or something similar).
Anyway. Lesson learned. Bring extra clothes.