Located directly adjacent to interstate 90 in western Pennsylvania is a water haven generally known as Splash Lagoon. During my many travels to and from the Niagara region my attention was always pulled to the southern edge of the Erie exit by the huge billboard promising a warm polynesian retreat, bowling, slides and a wave pool only rivaled in size by the huge lake in which the town is named after.
A typical Winter day in Erie which underscores the need for a paradise like Splash Lagoon!
The Tank has arrived after battling the elements!
Mother nature can't stop what's inside!
A typical Winter day in Erie which underscores the need for a paradise like Splash Lagoon!
So fast forward several years and just as many freezing winters later and the chance has finally arrived for us to pull off the exit and escape the cold... Exit Antarctica, Enter Polynesia!
Accommodations
One of 3 on site connected hotels.
Mj relaxing in the lounge.
Here is where you would enter / exit to and from Splash to the Comfort Inn and Residence Inn Hotels.
One of 3 on site connected hotels.
As with other Indoor Waterparks, Splash Lagoon also has overnight accommodations for those wanting to enjoy the complex for more than just a day, however, Splash has a unique arrangement. Where other establishments are a combined hotel and waterpark, the lodging here is comprised of 3 hotels (Holiday Inn Express, Residence Inn and Comfort Inn) all connected to Splash so you never have to go outside (which in Erie is a blessing especially during Winter months).
We stayed in a one bedroom suite at the Holiday Inn Express which was plenty of room for us all. Consisting of a kitchenette with a full size refrigerator, a living room with a pullout sofa bed and fireplace and 2 queen beds in a seperate bedroom.
With the hotels and waterpark functioning somewhat separately, there are a couple different ways when booking that you can design your trip. One day passes to the waterpark can be purchased along with your stay or you can book a package which will allow you to enter the waterpark the day of your stay and the day of checkout. I would say the barometer you should use when deciding which way to go aside from the cost, would be if your sole purpose of visiting Erie was the waterpark vs if you planned on venturing out to see what the city has to offer.
Tiki Treehouse
The girls planning on what to attack first!
Much more than just your typical tree house...
One minute your dry, the next your being washed out!
The girls planning on what to attack first!
With almost every waterpark, indoor or outdoor for that matter, there has to be a water playhouse with a dumping bucket. It's as much a centerpiece as a cornucopia is on a Thanksgiving dinner table and Splash Lagoon is no exception. Not to mention this is the sole thing that Vegas looks for at every waterpark and prior to any trip, all week long all Vegas does is watch "water bucket" videos on Youtube 🤣😂
Aptly themed and named, the Tiki Treehouse is 5 stories high with 12 different play levels! As i'm sure you know if you've followed this site for any amount of time, we've seen more than our fair share of these structures and alot of them are just replicas of each other. This one breaks from the cookie cutter as where most have just a few water toys, Tiki Treehouse is loaded with water cannons, spray guns, geysers, individual pails of water and so much more which allow you to soak not only people on the treehouse, but around the treehouse as well! No One Is Safe!
And of course, I cant forget the main main attraction, the Tiki Tipping Bucket! As with the prior statement, the only similarities it shares with other waterpark structures is the fact it's a bucket.
It is in fact a bucket, a very LARGE bucket and although we don't have any information on it's actual size, I would be willing to bet a ride on the Aqua Tumbler that this is one of the largest. Most tipping buckets appear big but have false bottoms reducing their volume to about half their actual size. Not here as This one holds ONE THOUSAND GALLONS! It takes a little longer than usual for the bucket to fill (much to the aggravation of Vegas) but once it spills, anything 10 feet or so outside the "Splash Zone" will need a towel!
The Slides!!!
So imagine a plate of spaghetti in front of you (Strange I know but follow along), look at one end of a strand and visually try to follow it all the way thru the pile and fine the end by just looking. Very difficult right?
Well that's a fair comparison of the water slides here because there are so many (9) with some of the craziest twist and turns as they wind in and out of each other (not to mention in and out of the building), it can sometimes be hard to see where each slide starts! But let us help you with this a bit.
The Tiki Treehouse is the "launch point" for Maui Wowie (Chipmunks favorite) and The Black Hole (enclosed), these are fast moving slides but still calm enough for the mild thrill seekers.
For the more adventurous ones out there, Big Kahuna, Black Hole, Python Plunge (which speeds you thru a set of python fangs as the grand finale and Shark Attack should keep your adrenaline pumping and wanting to ride more. A funny thing about Shark Attack is that Munchie has been an avid Shark lover her whole life and has set her life goal to be a Marine Biologist, however due to Mj telling her that this ride was actually filled with Sharks, she absolutely would not get on! The fact that part of the ride has you sliding right past a Shark as it is about to clamp down on the tube didn't help at all. Since she didn't ride it, we can't actually confirm if there are in fact Sharks inside the ride, if you've ridden this, please let us know for Munchie's sake 👌🤔🤔👀
And finally for those who prefer nothing but the craziest and fastest around, Line up for Hurricane Hole, a slide that culminates with you being dropped into a big "bowl" where you speed around until momentum (and gravity) drop you out of the bottom into a pool below! Last but not least, The Cyclone which shares it's name with the legendary Coney Island landmark and pushes you to what will seem like the edge of your life! Hows that for adventure?!?
Monkey Shines Island Kids Area
The water slides are perfect for kids
Two mini slides that were perfect for Sydney
Little dude just couldn't get enough!
The water slides are perfect for kids
For the little ones that haven't stretched out vertically and met the height requirements of the bigger slides, Monkey Shines Island is for them! Complete with 7 slides, a zero entry pool and their very own playhouse topped with a small water bucket! Vegas must have "slid" on each slide 20 times without stopping to take a breath as Sydney giggled and tried to keep up.
Also on the "Island" is a Splash Pad with geysers and two small Frog slides encircling a large smiley face.
The area is small enough where you can keep an eye on your child from one of the many loungers around the pool, yet big enough to where the kids can play without bumping into each other, which let's face it, kids will do anyways, on purpose.