Ray’s Splash Planet — Attraction in Charlotte

The place is very good for being run by the county. The lazy river is the bomb! The kiddie slides and pool are great. But...here are the drawbacks. First, while I am from out of town so I took public transit to get here (its about 5 minutes from the bus stop) I got here about 15 minutes before they opened and there were already people waiting outside. By 1, when they opened, there must have been at least 50 people in line. So get there early before they open! If you have little ones, be aware that there are only 2 family restrooms, which is NOT anywhere near enough since there are so many people bringing infants and toddlers. They run out of infant life vests very early so either come early or make sure you have your own if you are coming with a little one. Having read the other reviews before coming, we knew to bring our own lock for the lockers. So make sure if you have any valuables, use the lockers and bring your own lock. I did not have anyone else with me other than my 20 month old daughter, so being from out of town i had to buy a lock at Walgreens before coming here. I made sure to keep my purse and cell phone in the locker, especially with seeing people around who specifically kept looking at other peoples stuff and even some who moved it for no reason! I felt lucky my stroller and towels and diaper bag werent stolen! There are like 15 lockers in the family restroom area. The parking is atrocious and full before the place even opens, but luckily we did not even have to deal with it. Just beware of that if you need parking.

The lifeguards are fabulous! Friendly and very on task and there are a ton of them! What sucked was the population of people who came who refuse to suoervise their children. Children under 10 are supposed to be with an adult at all times. This place does not observe that and there were so many young kids splashing water all over us and bumping into us and cheating their way onto the kiddie slides instead of waiting in line. My poor toddler daughter was bumped into at least 20 times and people threw and splashed water on her just as many times. These young kids do NOT care and do not look where they are going and the facility should make kids under 10 wear a wristband so if they are not with a parent they get kicked out! Lack of parental supervision contributes significantly to juvenile delinquency and you can clearly see a total lack of parental supervision at this place. Thats the major drawback of it. Many of the clientele who come here are also extremely rude and have no consideration for the rules or other patrons. You hear the lifeguards blowing their whistles constantly because people do not want to follow the rules. So the water is great. But the people who visit here make it less than a 5 star experience and it is extremely noisy...

This place is VERY WELL managed. I’m super paranoid about my kids and swimming. Which is why they’ve all been taught to be strong swimmers but I STILL worry. Not here. They have so many lifeguards who are 100% on their jobs. A kids not splashing in the wrong direction without them seeing. And as a parent, I really appreciate that. I could actually see me buying swim stamps for my kids and just sitting in the chairs by the pools to watch. And I would literally not do that anywhere else! There’s locker rooms with showers, as well as 2 or3 family bathroom/changing rooms. Theres discount tickets for county residents so make sure to bring ID! They’re reasonably priced myself and 3 children went for around $35. There was no time limit either. They fit a lot of fun into a smaller space here! Theres a larger slide, deeper pool with basketball hoops, and a fun current tub that spins you in a circle! as well as an entire small children area with age appropriate slides. They’re all interconnected except for the small lazy river and big slide. They provide life jackets of all sizes as well. My only 2 complaints really aren’t negatives on the facilities itself. 1. Would be how massively busy it always seems to be on weekends. We went the minute it opened on last weekend and it already had a line forming. Since we were early though we did enjoy about 30 min before it was completely packed. By the time we left people were waiting to take our parking space bc there were no spots left in the smallish parking lot. BUT I’ve also been during the week when there’s absolutely no one but us there. So I highly suggest going during a non busy time. 2. Would be theft in cars that must be taking place. There’s a big sign as you walk in that says DO NOT leave valuables in your car. There are lockers, I’ve never purchased a key or even been offered to purchase one, they probably don’t offer them but Id suggest bringing your own or leaving what you can at home while bringing a bag to keep in the pool area on/under the chairs. It’s all one open space so I’d imagine theft is kept to a minimum inside the swim area, I’ve never had a problem inside or even in the parking lot but I thought I’d mention it.

Some other info: They have other events at rays during the off season. Like day camps and other children’s activities, there’s also a large playground that sits beside the building. And a little free library box to take and leave books! They have Extremely affordable birthday party packages too! For up to 10 kids splash pass with pizza/cake/goodie bags all included for only $200!!! And an option for just the 10 splash passes with party room but you provide the...

I booked a deluxe 20 kid party at Ray's Splash Planet for my son's 3rd birthday. Overall we had a good experience, but there were a few areas where the venue could improve. My biggest concern was the check-in process. Upon arrival, the staff couldn’t find our paperwork, and there was a lot of confusion. At no point did I feel reassured that our party was confirmed or that we had a room reserved. They asked for my name and my son's name multiple times and it took about 15 minutes to get everything sorted out. What was concerning was the lack of confidentiality. Because they couldn’t locate our paperwork, they had my entire party sign in on someone else’s chart, which gave us access to their full name, phone number, and child’s name. That's personal info that I feel should not be accessible to anyone other than staff. On weekends, the venue gets extremely crowded. Both the regular parking lot and the overflow lot were full, which made finding parking a hassle. Once inside the waterpark, the situation was pretty much the same. There’s simply not enough seating, so you’ll end up having to leave your items (like towels and shoes) just sitting on the floor. It wasn’t ideal, especially when trying to keep track of everything. It would be nice to see a smaller capacity on the weekends. That said, the kids had a blast at the waterpark, which was definitely a highlight. The party room was nice, and the cupcake cake was a big hit with the children! The venue also provided a small gift for the birthday child, which was a nice touch, but I think a return pass for a free future visit would be a great addition, as many other venues offer something similar. I hope the staff can improve their check-in process, both for security reasons and to make it easier on the host and guests. Overall the kids had...