The Memphis Zoo opened its much-awaited splash pad for zoo members this week for a week-long soft opening event.
The splash pad was expected to open this spring. However, zoo officials told WREG last month that the delivery of a critical piece of equipment was delayed, pushing back the open date. The splash pad was also introduced to Memphians as the AquiFUR splash pad but visitors will find the name has now been changed to the Monogram Foods Loves Kids Foundation Splash Park (MFLKFSP).
Toby Sells
The massive splash park sits on the former home of the zoo’s hippos, which were moved to the Zambezi River Hippo Camp in 2016. It’s nestled in a corner between the herpetarium and the China exhibit.
When the project was announced in December, it promised an immersive, zero-depth water play area with slides, dump-buckets, interactive water toys, and a special section just for toddlers. The park delivers.
A giant fort-style play tower has steps up to a viewing deck at the very top that is more than a story tall. Along the way, kids can find water toys and the entrances to four water slides of varying heights suitable for littles with their parents to bigger kids looking for a thrill in a twisty, enclosed slide. Topping the tower is an enormous (easily more than 100 gallons) bucket that slowly fills and tips offering an occasional (and enormous) splash for the patient kids who wait underneath it.
A jungle of spray towers, waterfalls, sprinklers, fountains, and more offer water experiences for kids of all ages. (The park is only available for children 10 and younger.) The toddler section is covered and features a shallow stream of water over fabricated stones that are easy to grip with hands or feet.
Only members are allowed in the MFLKFSP this week. Tickets are $8 for each person entering the park and are purchased at a booth there, not at the front entrance. The park’s hours are divided into two daily sessions. The morning session runs from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The park is then closed for an hour. It opens again at 2 p.m. for the afternoon session, which runs until 5:30 p.m.
Visitors can also reserve a cabana for their visit. The 11 cabanas ($80 each) have a small, foot-rest sized table, a few chairs, four electrical outlets, and shade. Cabana purchases are only good for one of the two daily session each day and are first come, first served.
The MFLKFSP does offer several tables, benches, and chairs for free. Several tables are covered with an umbrella, many are not, however. Shade and sun can also be found in the many lounge chairs spread around the area. All of the free amenities are first come, first served, too. So, arrive early if you need a chair or table in the shade.
Lockers are available in the splash pad. But the kiosk was not yet working on a recent visit. So, prices for the lockers are unclear. The lockers sit alongside the large bathrooms available for changing out of wet clothes.
Numerous lifeguards with whistles kept watchful eyes during a recent visit. They kept the sometimes long lines for the slide safe, civil, and moving along. Only a few times did a lifeguard harshly yell down for a little one to “get out of that water” as they dallied in the small pool of water at the end of the slide.
As the MFLKFSP opens to the public, expect the crowd sizes to be larger, wait times to longer, and, perhaps, access to tables and chairs to be more scarce (unless the zoo caps attendance).
If you want to experience the splash park and are a zoo member, take some time this week to check it out. If you’re working from home (as I am), take it with you. The zoo’s free wifi is solid, allowing you to work under a covered umbrella (as I am now).