Day Three Part I: Splashdown

I originally planned for us to stay in the Grand Prairie while we were in Hutchinson.



At first, I was planning on going during the week on our Spring Break, to avoid crowds. Fortunately, I stumbled on an online review of the place. Several reviews, actually, all negative but one was downright nasty, including claims of bedbugs and faulty plumbing.



But what really pissed these people off: they were staying on a weekday and the water park features were turned off. They're only on during the weekend (apparently it costs a lot to run the pumps and staff adequately with lifeguards. You can swim in the pool, such as it is (none of the pools are deeper 4', clearly a wading situation more than a swimming one). But if you want the whole water park experience, you deal with the crowds.



Having seen the hotel in person now, I can guarantee you there's nothing wrong with the plumbing and it would be truly surprising if the beds are buggy. I know it happens, but I can tell the reviewer was really saying, 'Did I mention the staff wouldn't turn on the damn water park????'



I'm glad I read the review, though, because I would have been pissed off as well. I told them when I called to make sure I had good information that their web site ought to have a large, animated banner screaming 'DO NOT COME ON WEEKDAYS IF YOU WANT THE WATER SLIDE AND LAZY RIVER!!!'



But it got me thinking in terms of including a weekend in the junket, but I farted around too long figuring out which weekend I'd be coming and if I'd arrive Friday evening or Saturday, etc., and the Grand Prairie sold out of rooms. Actually, I think they were already sold out for the second weekend of the Spring Break bracket before I called because of a big junior college basketball tournament, but by the time I figured out what I wanted to do, I was ass out.



However, they do sell admission just to the water park. They even have locker rooms you can change in and all that. So that's what we did.



It's not cheap, $28 for the three of us (it'd have been less if I'd known to lie and say I was from Reno County), but it is worthwhile.



You can see it kind of ties in with the Cosmosphere, thematically if not in actual terms. I learned of the place in a Kansas travel magazine spread on Hutchinson, with pictures juxtaposed in such a way that it appeared the hotel and water park were actually connected to and affiliated with the Cosmosphere.



It appears to be an old Holidome with the NASA theme superimposed on it. It's in excellent shape, I don't mean it's old that way, it's just the 1970s Holiday Inn architecture (and the Holiday Inn Express next door reeking of New Hotel).



To my delight and amazement, after only twenty or so trips up the steps with Mo to do the water slides, Em grabbed a two-seat tube and took Mo on the slide with her. This freed me to play with my camera and catch my old man breath while the kids continued cavorting. This is the longest leash I've let Mo have in anything like a pool, and she did great. It was also the best I'd seen the two of them get along in I can't remember. I was struck at how much both my kids had matured in the past two years.