We survived our first water park! It was a fun weekend, but after one overnight and 2 days at Zehnder’s Splash Village, I think we were all ready to come home for some down time.It was Snowfest weekend in Frankenmuth and the city was BUSY. Our friend organized a weekend here for her daughter’s 2ndbirthday. This is my idea of party planning – just tell everyone where you’ll be and they can book their own ro
oms. Easy enough!
Zehnder’s Splash Village (not to be confused with Zehnder’s restaurant, totally different location) is next to Bronner’s (the Christmas store!). There are two main water parks right next to each other and a separate outdoor pool. My friend Erin wrote an article called ‘Surviving a Waterpark with a Toddler,’ which I read again immediately after I found out we were going. During her stay the new park, Atrium Park, was under construction. It was fully open this weekend and it was pretty awesome.
Both water parks have a shallow kiddie area, a 3 – 4 feet area with volleyball and basketball, a lazy river, slides and a jacuzzi. The newer water park has more ‘adult’ slides (one of which my husband, the daredevil, wouldn’t do). Apparently you stand there at the top and the floor gives out and you drop – not my idea of fun. The original park has a great ‘windy’ slide that my son was able to ride on my husband’s lap. He did this 5 times! He loved it.
Here are the top highlights:
- This was my first water park, so I don’t have much to compare it to, but for the most part, it was pretty clean in terms of the pool area and changing rooms.
- This weekend was super busy because of Snowfest, and the hotel was booked. I thought for sure we wouldn’t get a seat, but we were able to find plenty of tables and chairs for our large group. The majority of seating is in the new area, and there is a lot of room.
- There were always plenty of towels in both parks. They are small, but you can grab as many as you need.
- There are two little cafes that serve the pool areas. Snacks include pizzas, sandwiches, burgers, chips and dips and huge donuts. They also serve beer and fruity alcoholic drinks.
- There’s a decent sized arcade that we took advantage of after dinnertime. The prizes are horrible (20 tickets for a plastic ring!?) but provided a good hour of entertainment for my toddler.
- The rooms are dated but clean. Pretty standard amenities. We got the most basic room, the Dragonfly Room, and it had a fridge, microwave, coffee maker, soaps/shampoo/conditioner and this adorable kids tear-free wash, which I thought was adorable.
- The pizza at the Elk Hollow Cafe is delicious!
…and the lowlights:
- It’s not cheap. Our basic room for this weekend was around $300. I can stay a night in Hawaii for that cost. The prices were probably a bit higher because of Snowfest. I hear they go down in the Summer and during the week.
- Only one real restaurant. I like to have options!
- The hotel is not lenient on checkout times, which is really hard with a toddler that still takes two naps a day.
Advice:
- Bring snacks. The food wasn’t bad, but this will save you money and time waiting at cafes.
- They have life jackets you can borrow but I’d suggest bringing your own so you know you have the right fit.
- If you “think” you may need a late checkout, ask when you check in. They only allow so many (or so they told me).
- If you want to dinner at Zehnder’s or Bavarian Inn, they have shuttles to and from the restaurants, so you don’t have to drive.
- Take advantage of the water park both the day you check in and the day you check out. I think Max had more fun the the day we checked out since it didn’t’ take him as long to get use to it.
Overall it was a really fun time. I’d definitely go back with family and friends!
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| Snack break |
I've been to Snowfest before there, it's fun. Also the adult slide sounds amazing but also pretty scary 🙂 though I'd probably try it. I love water parks!
It's nice to hear that we have another great water park here in Michigan. What a great way to escape our winter weather. I have to admit I found water parks a lot more enjoyable once my daughter was a tween. Then I could actually relax too. 😉
It's nice to hear that we have another great water park here in Michigan. What a great way to escape our winter weather. I have to admit I found water parks a lot more enjoyable once my daughter was a tween. Then I could actually relax too. 😉
Sounds like a great time. I didn't know they had a new part of the park. The last time we were there my youngest wasn't born yet 😀
Great tips! We're heading to Great Wolf next week…My kids are little too, so it's nice to have a \”vacation\” without a plane or obnoxious car ride. Frankenmuth is so magical 🙂 …and now I am craving some buttered noodles!
Wow that is expensive. Hawaii sounds much better in my opinion. Lol
This is one of the few water-parks that we have not been to yet. I'm not sure if we'll ever make it there.
I've stayed there before. That's crazy on the price. We paid no where near that.
Sounds and looks awesome! Love to spend a day or two at this place.
I think that will be the case for us too. Although we had fun, it will be better with our son can play with the other kids in our group 🙂
I think Snowfest did us in on the price. I've heard a lot of folks say they've gotten much cheaper rooms.
Have fun at Great Wolf lodge! I've never been but heard great things.
I know, right??
We go up to Frankenmuth all the time to eat but haven't stayed overnight with the kids. Thanks for sharing your experience about the water parks we've driven by it many times wondering if we should plan a visit sometime.