Splish Splash is New York’s largest water park. Featuring 96 acres of family-friendly fun, Splish Splash features 20 water slides, rides, and attractions, including two wave pools, a large Kiddie Area, a lazy river, and a number of new additions currently making a splash: Hyperlight, Bombs Away, and Riptide Racer. There are a number of special events, great family dining options, various gift shops, and a large catered picnic area for group picnics and family reunions.
Splish Splash has also just partnered with the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) to achieve recertification as a Certified Autism Center. It first received this designation in 2019, becoming the first water park in New York State to do so.
Mike Bengtson, general manager at Splish Splash, has been in the waterpark world for three decades. He tells blooloop:
“I started in high school at Wet’n’Wild, Emerald Point in Greensboro, North Carolina. I went to college in North Carolina and lived there for a little while. Someone turned me onto the waterpark, and I started as a ride operator there in 1992. I became a lifeguard and then became a lifeguard supervisor. When I graduated college with a political science degree, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. But the park had a full-time aquatics manager position open there, so I took that in 1998.”
A career in water parks
He stayed with the park as aquatics manager, operations manager, director of operations, and then assistant general manager:
“Initially, it was privately owned, and then it was bought by a couple of different companies. Finally, it fell into the hands of Palace Entertainment,” he says. “They had an opportunity for a general manager position here at Splish Splash. Chip Cleary, who was the senior vice president of Waterparks at the time, brought me up here.
“I’ve been here for the last 18 summers, working as the general manager. Since 2021, I’ve also been group manager for the water parks in the US and Australia for Palace Entertainment.”
He adds:
“I’ve mostly been on the aquatics operations side throughout my career. I’ve been a director at our lifeguard risk management program, and director at our safety school each year. I’ve been a member of the IAAPA Water Park Committee. I’m on the Government Relations Committee with WWA (the World Waterpark Association) now, so there have been a bunch of different things along the way, too. It’s been fun.”
What makes Splish Splash unique?
Splish Splash, he explains, is an unusual property:
“The park was built in 1991, originally on a 32-acre piece of property on the east end of Long Island. It’s about 50 miles from New York City and is very much more rural than people would think out here. The piece of the property that it was originally built on was literally in the middle of a forest: lots of trees, lots of hills.
“Most water parks begin with everything that is there being knocked down so you have a flat piece of land, and you put some slides or whatever on that. It’s a big concrete jungle. That tends to be the model not just in the US but in Europe, and now Saudi and everywhere else.
Here, however, it was different:
“The first attractions here were ProSlide attractions. They worked with ProSlide to build slides through, around and between the trees. They used the natural landscaping of the property, which makes it pretty unique. There were 32 acres in 91. We then bought another 32 acres, continued to grow and expand, and then a further 32 acres. The park now sits on 96 acres of property, and it has certainly grown and developed over those intervening years.”
Innovative attractions
The attractions were, Bengtson explains, innovative at the time when they were first built:
“And they have remained innovative. At that time, people tended just to put in rides right out of the box. Here, it was decided that there needed to be more of a story.
“Splish Splash was the first to take a simple ride and transform it with a Hollywood Stunt Rider theme, and to create a dragon’s den complete with a giant fire-breathing dragon, and an alien invasion theme where aliens crash landed years ago on Long Island, leaving this crash site there with mist and fog and smoke. Those are typical of the concepts that could be found here, and are part of what made it so unique.”
The trend has continued, he adds:
“We have grown and added new rides like Bootleggers Run [ProSlide] or Riptide Racer and Bombs Away [both WhiteWater] and have then come back, in recent years, to rebrand and re-theme some of those original attractions with dinosaurs, lights, sound, and a variety of things. We’ve tried to continue that innovation here, which you don’t see all the time in a waterpark environment.”
Family fun at Splish Splash
The visitorship is drawn predominantly from Long Island, New York City and the tri-state area.
“There are quite a lot of competitors in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and upstate New York,” Bengtson comments. “We really have to be as innovative as possible, and that’s what makes this park so unique. The guests here don’t realise how special the storytelling they’re experiencing is until they go somewhere else, and it just doesn’t have quite the same feel and look.”
Splish Splash is, at heart, a family park:
“Generally, it tends to be families with kids in the 8-12 range. Monday through Friday is normally season pass-type visitation. Then on weekends, which are still covered by the season pass, of course, people from New York City come out to explore a little bit. So, we’ve always tried to create a nice balance between children’s attractions, mid-teens attractions, and then those high-thrill attractions, too.
“That’s why it’s been so important for us to keep telling those stories: people don’t want to see Shrek 1 over and over again. They want to see Shrek 2, and Shrek 3. It’s important to keep adding those things in there.”
Splish Splash: a Certified Autism Center
In its continuing commitment to inclusivity, Splish Splash Water Park has partnered with the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) to achieve recertification as a Certified Autism Center.
Splish Splash was the first water park in New York State to receive the designation, in 2019. It has since continued its commitment to accessibility by implementing the IBCCES accessibility card, sensory guide and ride accessibility program, reaffirming the park’s dedication to creating an inclusive and accessible environment for autistic and sensory-sensitive individuals and their families.
As part of the recertification process, Splish Splash Water Park’s team members underwent extensive training to enhance their understanding of autism and sensory awareness.
In 2019, Splish Splash introduced sensory guides developed in partnership with IBCCES. These provided information about the impact on the five senses of each attraction, allowing guests to choose their own adventure throughout their park visit from an informed position.
Fun for everyone
“It was a journey, and it evolved over time,” says Bengston.
“When these attractions were first built, people with sensory issues, or people who couldn’t wait in line, just weren’t considered. You picked up a tube, you walked up a tower, and there was only one entrance. We had to turn to those guests and either tell them to come when it’s really slow or suggest that maybe this isn’t the place for them. Now, understanding of the autism spectrum has evolved so much.”
“When we figured out we could start to accommodate such people a little better, we began with virtual queuing, creating new queue lines and new areas.
“Having done that, we realized we could accommodate people in a lot of ways. We had always had an arrangement with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. We would open the park early to those guests so they could enjoy the park by themselves. So, we decided to partner in a similar way with some local autism associations here on Long Island to see how we could make things better. One of the things that they suggested was a morning that was set aside for these particular guests. It really started there.”
Inclusivity is important
Having done this for several years, they partnered with IBCCES:
“Some of the theme parks had started doing so, but none of the water parks. We realized this was a way to grow what we were doing. What they really did a great job of was educating the guests before they even came here. One of the things we kept hearing was: ‘If only we’d known the best time to come, the best attractions for my kids.’
“They facilitated that and created a really good journey for those guests. That partnership has really grown over the years. As we’ve added new attractions, we’ve brought them in to do an analysis and an assessment of those attractions. It’s been a great partnership.”
He adds
“While autism is our focus, we want to accommodate all differences and abilities. We’re not professionals in that area. But we wanted somebody who was to create that guide for us so we could say, ‘Hey, read this; this is the best way to come to this park and get the most out of it.’
“Inclusivity is important.”
Storytelling and theming are key
Identifying the elements that set Splish Splash apart in terms of atmosphere, Bengston says:
“The location, the natural landscaping, and the ambience make it feel as if you’re not in New York City anymore – but we are in New York, so most of our clientele is essentially New York-based. We know that for those guests, it doesn’t matter if the ticket price is $50 to get in, New Yorkers want to get $80 worth of service, and they’re going to tell you if they don’t.”
Accordingly, he says:
“One of the things we’ve really tried to do, as time is so valuable to people these days, is to be so much more accommodating for all of our guests.”
“Firstly, we have a great portfolio of attractions from children’s areas to giant lazy rivers to two wave pools, to all these great experiences. We know the attractions are number one, we know those are the best.
“The surroundings, the theming, and the storytelling are excellent.
“Next, we have all these VIP experiences that are affordable for everybody. We went to a cashless system, to make that easier on the guests. We offer mobile ordering, kiosk ordering, brand-new turnstiles, multiple-level cabanas, different experiences, and our virtual queuing pass to get through attractions much more easily. There is a range of food outlets, and we have expanded our menus over time, too.
“We have a little bit of everything, and the feel of the park is very different from other places.”
Looking to the future at Splish Splash
Additionally:
“It keeps changing all the time. Since COVID, so many things have changed in terms of the way people view their dollars. Sure, our costs are going up too, but New Yorkers can see right through that, so we’ve tried to make sure there aren’t those pain and pinch points so it’s a much easier experience for them.”
In terms of future plans, he says:
“Thinking about the future is always the best part, right? For us, it’s a combination. We put in a new experience last year where we took an ageing attraction and created a new experience with lights and sound. In the short term what we want to do is take some attractions that have been cornerstones of what we do, and amp those up a little bit, taking them to the next level.
“We’ve also got some plans to add some new attractions and some new facilities over the next five to 10 years, too. The park sits on 96 acres, so we’ve got plenty of opportunity to grow.
“We are phasing that in. It slowed down a little bit because of COVID, so we’re trying to come through with all these smaller things that really add value and get those season pass holders to say, ‘We love it there.’”
