Splish Splash Long Island 1994 Park Map

For all of you Long Islanders out there, we've got something really special for you today at the blog, a 1994 souvenir park map from Splish Splash Long Island! 

If you call yourself a true Long Islander, you have visited Splish Splash on at least more than one occasion! 

Splish Splash Long Island opened in 1991 as Long Island's first and only water park in Calverton, New York. The park was built by the same family that owns Adventureland, Long Island's only true remaining amusement park. This ownership by Adventureland is something that we will see later on this Splish Splash map.

For many years there were advertisements near the main entrance of Splish Splash for Adventureland that featured the old helicopters ride present at that park. Likewise, there used to be Splish Splash advertisements near the Merry Go Round and outside the rope ladders skill game at Adventureland. How cool it must have been to be the owner of both of Long Island's only true amusement destinations!

This map was printed before Splish Splash's signature script logo was introduced. One of the older park logos used to be featured (and maybe still is...) on the wall concealing the wave machine for the Lazy River and can be seen here. A little on the boring side compared to the script logo that has now become instantly recognizable to Long Islanders and a classic! It captures the fun and adventure of the water park well.

Weldon Middlebrooks' Cheep Thrills Tropical Bird Show is still entertaining guests today. His shows vary year to year with different themes, and a quick snippet of one of Weldon's excellent shows can be seen here. Bird favorites such as Quickdraw Macaw have been at the park since the year this map was created!

This is one of the attributes that helps date this map so well. Adventureland still has its awesome Treasure Island Mini Golf course (you can still see the elephant from the train ride today!) which was removed for the addition of the Adventure Falls log flume in 2001. It's also interesting to note that Adventureland had been around for 33 years at the time of the printing of this map. Adventureland just celebrated it's 50th anniversary this 2012 season.

Some helpful hints...

...and of course, the map!

For comparisons sake, the 2012 Splish Splash park map has been posted below. It is amazing how many attractions have been added and how much the park has grown since 1994 and throughout its 21 year lifespan. The park and parking lot today account for a total of 88 acres and the park ranked #15 in the USA for water park attendance. That's quite an impressive number considering that the park is up against water parks in other states with weather that permits year round operations!

It's amazing to note that Shotgun Falls, one of Splish Splash's signature attractions, is making it's debut at the park in this season as shown on the map. Shotgun Falls has been a fan favorite for almost 20 years!

In 1999 the Gentiles, owners of Adventureland, sold Splish Splash to Palace Entertainment, an amusement park and water park chain that focuses on smaller regional family parks.


Tomorrow we'll be sharing some pictures taken from this 1994 visit to Splish Splash so be sure to stop back again!



Book Source: 
Amusement Parks of New York, Jim Futrell, Stackpole Books 2006