Liberty Lagoon — Attraction in Baton Rouge

Today was the third time this summer we've been to Liberty Lagoon, in about as many weeks. Needless to say, our family really enjoys visiting regularly. Before I list all the things we love so much about Liberty Lagoon, let me just explain the two singular things that made me give four stars instead of the possible five. First, the weekends are the busiest days obviously. That's not the problem at all. We totally expect that to be the case, for all the reasons that I'm sure I don't need to explain for any of you. Not the park's fault by any means, but the problem for me is that the park doesn't seem to anticipate the peak in visitors as much as we do. Every time we visit Liberty Lagoon on a Saturday or Sunday, we always show up a half hour before opening time. The line is usually already out to the end of the sidewalk, but it moves pretty quickly once the gates officially open. I see the dilemma though, when the line continues to just build outside the gate as the day goes on, with some visitors possibly not being able to enter at all that day. I think the solution for this would be a simple one. By selling time blocks instead of all day passes on weekends. The price is already very reasonable at 12 dollars per person, and we would gladly pay that to swim for four hours on a weekend, because we honestly never last till closing time anyway. The second reason that I only gave four stars out of five is only because of the food. It's not terrible to eat or anything like that. I mean it's not fine dining either, but just exactly the food you'd expect to find in a park. Mostly just frozen foods and snacks that can be whipped up in a concession stand setting. Basically, all the same things we get at our high school football games, but way less variety, and MMMUUUUCCCCHHHH more expensive. I love swimming there, but the food is just really priced a lot higher than what it should be for those types of items. Don't be mistaken. These two small issues will NOT outweigh all the things you'll love about Liberty Lagoon. One of the first things you're likely to notice about the park is that it's clean and well maintained. There are plenty of lockers to rent for your belongings, and they're even available in different sizes. Three shower rooms / restrooms are conveniently spaced around the outer path surrounding the pools. The largest is up front when you enter the gates, a slightly smaller one to the right, and the smallest at the rear of the park. The first two buildings are also where you'll find the two separate snack counters. They're are definitely plenty of shaded tables for everyone to enjoy, and several cabana areas, as well as shaded pavillions to rent for parties and events. The first pool you'll come to at Liberty Lagoon is the toddler pool. It's really beautifully done with a large playground centered in the shallow pool, and no doubt the first thing every little one spots are the countless colorful fixtures from which the water sprays, cascades, flows around the playground itself. The zero entry soft foam bottom pool is more than safe and adequate to entertain any properly supervised toddler, and it's a great spot for you to make your way into the lazy river that runs just behind the playground. There are several other entry points into the river, and it flows smartly around the park to meet each other attraction. Float your way down to the huge whirlpool, stop by the leap frog pool to try your luck at crossing the giant foam lilly pads, or even swim off into the biggest pool for a game of water volleyball. If the lazy river is not your style, you can even try the new surfing machine just like we've seen on the cruise ships, or take a ride down any one of the five different water slides. I've only tried three of them myself, but I'm sure some of you guys would really go for that adrenaline rush of the other two. Check out some of the pics if you like , but definitely make it a point to go and check out Liberty Lagoon for...

I'm giving BREC's Liberty Lagoon 1 star, only because I cannot give it 0. The entire experience was far below my expectations for a BREC park. The food was disgusting, the service was poor and it was overcrowded and chaotic. There were several lifeguards spread throughout the facility but they were aloof and did nothing to maintain control or enforce rules. To top it all off, there was an incident when my 4 year old son cut line for the kiddie slide. He was already setting on the top of the slide when the male lifeguard snatched him up by the arm with one hand and pulled him up out of the slide and into the air, scarring him and causing him to drop his goggles. When my mother confronted him about it, he started yelling at her and saying that "he (my son) shouldn't have broken the rules". I contacted management, they gave me the phone number to the corporate office...I called corporate, they said someone would call me back. So, I went to the corporate office where I spoke to someone who is part of the Liberty Lagoon management team (I'm assuming, he didn't really say what his "title" was). He offered a weak apology, told me he would "watch the tape" and then enthusiastically gushed about the mermaid who was going to be at the park on Monday (as if I would attend, after what happened). Overall, I got the feeling from both Management and BREC that my concerns weren't anything to be alarmed about. There was no sincere apology, no sense of empathy; no indication that anything that happened during my visit (bad service, lifeguards not paying attention and letting people break the rules, A LIFEGUARD PUTTING HIS HANDS ON MY CHILD) were unacceptable or out of the ordinary for BREC's Liberty Lagoon. I will never visit this park, again and I urge anyone who is reading this review not to, either. If you want a better experience, you can visit Aqua Pards in Denham Springs. It's priced similarly but everyone is friendly, the park is facilitated better, the concessions are A MILLION TIMES better (they even have a sno cone shack! Yummy!). It is a tad smaller than Liberty Lagoon but it is so much more fun that this park and it's worth it!

Let me just say here (about the incident with my son) that I am not writing this review because I'm angry that my kid got in trouble. My son was breaking the rules, I was watching when it happened, and I disciplined him for it. I would not have been angry at the lifeguard for telling me that he couldn't go down the slide anymore. More so, if he had picked my son up with 2 hands and handled him with care, I would not be angry but lifeguards in places like this one have a responsibility to facilitate safety and control, not to man-handle...

Dear Liberty Lagoon Management Team,

I am writing to express my deep disappointment with my recent visit to Liberty Lagoon Water Park. My family and I visited your park this weekend, and unfortunately, our experience was far from satisfactory.

Upon arrival, we were met with staff members who displayed a lack of understanding and empathy towards our situation. We were accompanied by a service animal for my daughter, and the way we were treated was completely unacceptable. As a general manager of a hotel myself, I have high expectations for customer service, and I must say that the customer service skills of your staff left much to be desired.

Furthermore, I was shocked to find that the pictures online were misleading, as they depicted animals in the water which led us to believe that service animals were allowed in the park. We understand the policy of not allowing animals in the water for safety reasons, and we had no intention of letting our service animal enter the water. However, the way we were spoken to by the management team was disrespectful and uncalled for.

We had driven an hour from our home in hopes of having a relaxing day in the sun at your water park, but the experience we had was far from enjoyable. I was particularly disappointed as someone who values excellent customer service in my own profession.

I urge you to address the issues we encountered during our visit and to ensure that all staff members are properly trained in handling situations involving service animals with respect and understanding. I hope that you take our feedback seriously and make the necessary improvements to provide a better experience for all your guests.

Unfortunately, based on our experience, I must say that we will not be returning to Liberty Lagoon Water Park...