Big Splash Adventure Park: Know Before You Go

Big Splash Adventure

We decided to play hooky and head over to French Lick, IN to visit the Big Splash Adventure Indoor Water Park. French Lick is about 1.5 hours from Evansville, making it the perfect day trip!

The park opens at 11 EST. We arrived at about 11:30 am and stayed until almost 5 pm. It was a great, fun-filled, exhausting day and I am going to share it all with you!

Quick Tips: Know Before You Go

Big Splash Adventure is an indoor waterpark, but also has an outdoor section open during the summer months!

There are 4 large water slides, a lazy river, a baby pool, an outdoor pool, a play structure with a few smaller slides, and an adult-only section. There is something for everyone at Big Splash Adventure Park!

BYO snacks & drinks
Bring a bag for our wet clothes
Goggles
Sunscreen for outside
Waterproof phone case
Small locker rental for phone/keys/wallet only

You can check out their full website here!

Know Before You Go

Hours

Big Splash Adventure Park is open from 11 am – 8 pm EST. We arrived shortly after the park opened and it was pretty crowded. Not crowded to the point that it wasn’t fun, but definitely full. However, we found that after lunch and into the late afternoon the crowd dies down by a lot!

Discounts

There aren’t any special discounts listed on the Big Splash website. However, I emailed the company and was told there was a military discount. Perfect!

The only problem is the website recommends purchasing all day-pass tickets online because they only allow a limited number of day pass tickets to be sold each day. So, I purchased our tickets online (per the recommendation) and figured I could be refunded or offered something to honor the military discount.

Well, when we arrived I asked and the person at the counter said they have a military discount, but that it wasn’t that much…

(insert crickets chirping)

I was taken aback and the kids were chomping at the bit to get into the park that I didn’t really press it. So, long story short, I have no idea what the military discount is.

Lockers

Big Splash has wonderful lockers at several different sizes/prices available.

We opted for the XL locker and it was big enough to hold an XL Tote Bag. If I had to do it over again I would have purchased the smallest locker and only put my money, phone, keys, etc in it.

Towels

The website says day-pass guests should bring their own towels, so we did. However, the staff said we were able to use the hotel-provided towels too!

Restroom/Changing Room

There are lots of restrooms available both inside the water park area and in the lobby. They even have a family restroom available, which is really nice if you have young kids.

In addition to the restrooms, there are also 4 dry changing rooms in the lobby.

Food/Drinks

Its impossible to spend a day at a water park without snacks. Impossible!

Big Splash has a pretty decent snack bar with a great selection, they even have alcohol available for purchase! However, it is a little on the expensive side.

We got a pizza and a chicken sandwich. By far, the pizza is the best deal available!! It was really tasty and definitely hit the spot after a few hours in the water. The chicken sandwich was $9 and the size of a glorified chicken nugget.

One thing we learned during our visit that we will definitely take advantage of during our next visit is that they allow guests to bring their own food and drinks. This is a game-changer for sure! I saw people with bags of chips, juice boxes, cookies, etc. Next time we will bring a few snacks and drinks, but probably buy a pizza from the snack bar because, like I said, the pizza was really good!

Safety

The lifeguard situation is great at Big Splash Adventure. There are plenty of lifeguards and they are very attentive.

They have life jackets available for anyone who needs them. They also require children under a certain height wear a life at all times in certain pools.

It is noted on the website that during the winter months, when the windows have to be shut, there are elevated levels of chloramine gases. Prolonged exposure to these gases can casue flu-like symptoms. They recommend taking frequent breaks from the waterpark for fresh air.

Slides

There are 4 big slides to play on. Two for inner tubes, 2 without.

The line situation was a little complicated/anxiety-inducing at first, but once I got the hang of it it was great. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a slide.

I recommend bringing goggles for the slides. If you have kids who don’t like getting water in their eyes like I do, the goggles were a game-changer!

You can check out a detailed description of each attraction here.

Day Pass vs. Hotel Stay

Big Splash Adventure is also a hotel. If you are a guest at the hotel you have access to the waterpark. If you are not a guest at the hotel, you have to purchase a day-pass for entry.

Arcade

Inside the water park lobby is also an arcade. I managed to avoid having to play arcade games with the promise of ice cream and slushies on the way home, but I doubt I get that lucky next time!