West Chester Splash Pad
Located Across the Street from Beckett Park
There has been A LOT of social media buzz about this. It all started with the delay in getting this thing up and running (by an entire summer!) and then reports of injuries, overcrowding, and dangers galore – I had to see this place for myself.
Full disclaimer – I visited this park on a Monday morning around 11:00am. I have not visited on a weekend but I have read enough facebook posts to know that weekends tend to be very busy at this park.
The Good
This is quite a Splash Pad. It’s hard to believe access to this thing comes without any cost. There are several slides and at least two dumping buckets. Plenty of ground level splash features for the younger ones.
Easy access to bathrooms – There are only two stalls in the women’s restroom. Considering this is a very busy splash pad (aka soaking wet kids) – bathroom was clean and well-stocked.
Parking – we visited on a Monday morning – it was busy! There was still plenty of parking available and the lot is easy to navigate.
Fun – this place is fun! We visited on a whim. Kids wanted to go to Soak City. I didn’t feel like doing all of that. Decided to check this place out. A+ on the fun meter. A 7 and 10 year old spent well over an hour with zero complaints of boredom.
The Bad
Location
It is not located next to the dry playground. This is a major fault. Many splash pads in the area have a dry playground located right next to the wet area and it’s very convenient to go between the two. Sometimes kids get chilly and want to continue to play, but not directly in the water. Beckett Park playground is a decent walk and across a busy road – so if you’re doing the wet playground – you’re just doing that.
They do have a “natural playground” next to it – but it’s a mound with some rocks and one tunnel – not much to write home about there.
Some splash pads with a dry playground
Some Things to Consider
This park has a short enclosed slide that lands into an splash pool – much like traditional water slides at water parks do.
This is not staffed.
The slides are amazing, but just be aware of them and have a conversation with your kids about water slide etiquette. Some things I witnessed:
- Kids just hanging out in the enclosed landing area of the slide. This means kids are sliding into them which could result in one of the kids being hurt. Not a great place to sit. Saw a few tears shed with kids getting crashed into.
- If a kid is waiting for the child in front of them to clear the slide – don’t yell at them to “JUST GO!!”. I saw kids trying to push other kids down the slide because they weren’t moving “quick enough”.
Ages
My kids are older now – almost 8 and 10 and I found this park to be perfect for them. As I sat there, I watched how younger kids were navigating it. I’ll be honest – if I had a smaller toddler – this one would have made me a little nervous. On Monday morning, most of the crowd was 5+. A few younger ones got inadvertently trampled over and the structure leading up to the slides gets CROWDED.
There are plenty of ground level fun activities for the young ones – the dumping buckets, sprayers, an adorable little frog but if you’ve got a toddler who’s going to want to do the whole thing – dress yourself to get wet too – because you’ll want to be standing near by the slides and main structure.
Dangers
There are two ponds located in close proximity to the splash pad. They are not right next to the water feature, but close (think similar to say..Cottell Park). Know your child and know your limitations. Do you have 5 toddlers to watch by yourself? And are any of them wanderers? This may not be the best place to go.
Visibility is good here. I sat on one of the stone walls next to the splash area and could see my kids most of the time and definitely would have noticed them wandering toward a pond – but if you’ve got several small ones to watch – be strategic of where you sit. I saw a few families brought foldable chairs and parked themselves in the grass – genius idea.
Overall, I found this to be a very positive experience. It sounds like the landing pads were extended as kids were sliding further than originally anticipated and getting some scrapes and bruises.
A lot of fun features. Easy access. The general atmosphere of the park is quite beautiful with a small picnic shelter, two ponds, pretty flowers and landscaping and a few tables and benches.
This is a fantastic free place to visit during the summer. Bring a picnic lunch and spend an afternoon!
