Golfland Sunsplash — Attraction in Mesa

Read to the end.... Super fun place l. I've been going here since I was a child and have always loved it. But.... last time my family and I went we had fun but were treated so rudely for no reason, I feel they are racist or just straight rude. Yesterday 9/2/23 when we went, same thing but even worse. We haven't gone in two years because we were treated bad last time so we thought this time would be better but it was worse with the rude staff that is there. First we got there and we're greeted, she was nice and told us where to go because we were using our pogo pass, which was outside to the left or the prize counter, so we went to the prize counter because she said it would be faster. When we got to the prize counter the staff was busy with the kids so we went to the girl at he little security type looking desk area and double checked where we were supposed to go and she said that "the prize counter is not where you should go, it's outside" and then my hubby said what the girl at the door said and she like almost yelled and said to "go outside to the left the prize counter won't help you just go to the left." My husband told her that we were confused because we were told the prize counter was faster and she basically was yelling at us. So we went outside and waited in he line to get out wristbands, and went back in the castle and played the arcade. After the arcade we went to get water at they charged us for the cup which I guess is fine but when we went back to ask for a refill about an hour later, the girl was so rude and said to use the fountain and we were telling her we also wanted ice so we needed to come here, she told us to wait, so she went to another worker in dark blue and asked if she can fill our cup and she told her if we had a cup which we did, she filled them up and gave it to us and walked away. I told her thank you ma'am and she walked away, it was wierd and uncomfortable. Then when we went upstairs to play laser tag because my daughter has never played before the guy that was working the desk totally ignored us for like 2 minutes as we're standing there waiting and the entire area smelt like bad B.O. My husband was even saying hello sir how are you, then the guy walked in the back to the game area totally ignoring us. On the counter he had a book about how to cast spells and sorcery and witchery which creeped us out, but besides the point. When he came back he just yelled at everyone there and said *wristbands!" We all were like ya we got them and he just held the scanner in the air rolling his eyes, it was award for everyone. We get our bands scanned and go in to play. Once in the laser he area he yelled at everyone to pay attention and wouldn't help anyone get their vests or anything so all the players were just helping eachother out, when my daughter asked if her gun should make noise like mine he was like "no" and she asked if it was broken cuz it doesn't vibrate like mommy or daddies does and he said "no" there was no eye contact and he just rolled his eyes at her, he was just straight rude. Then at the end he didn't help anyone put their vests away, us players helped each other and left the door ourselves cuz we did there unsure if he was to let us out or we just go out, so we just left. It was wierd. We went to get our golf stuff and the girl at the outside desk with curly hair, thick, and a nose piercing was so kind to us even when we lost one of our golf balls, she gave us...

Ahhhh....25 years later I returned to Sunsplash. So for the positives; There are many more slides than there were before. I lost my sunglasses hitting the splash pool off of a slide and was able to get them back at the end of the 'shift'. The employees were pretty nice, they all seemed respectful and genuinely kind. Mmmm kayy now... The tickets were a little pricey for the condition of the property, it hasn't been maintained well at all. Glad a slide didn't break or one of the many concrete towering structures of stairs fail while we were there, the general disrepair made me a bit squeamish about quality and the potential of cutting corners. The surfaces of the wave pool and entrances of the lazy river were in complete disrepair, (upon walking up to the steps of the river it reeked of urine, that was a no thanks for me) chunks of plaster were missing and haphazardly painted over year after year. So much so there was black-greenish growth in the sunken grooves of the painted over portions that were missing material, could have been just straight filth too, not sure. Im not a snobb but this place needs to redo those 2 areas this winter. The snack bar game was also horrendous, dont get me wrong the employees were in there working hard for hours churning out plates of 'food'. The quality for the price was absolutely worse than terrible. The hamburgers were pitiful, the burger 'meat' was 2/3 the size of the bun, can buy a little bit better of patty to make a really big difference for the pricepoint. Can't screw up a slushy. The fry bread was surprisingly good, asked for an Indian Taco and was stared at blankly by the person behind the counter 😆. The salad was pitiful and its just sad that they even have it on the menu, the 'salad' provided was actually less than the amount of garnish given with the hamburgers, which my burger didn't even come with because they forgot it on the second order. The lines were long and the service was pretty slow. Had a cabanna too, the locking ice chest was not fit for food or drink, hose em out every once in a while jeez, my chicken coop is cleaner than that. The final disappointment was the prepaid personal pizzas they 'allow' you to add on when youre purchasing tickets online. Thought I was taking care of our lunch order by getting these in advance, nope, just part of the rackett to get you into the arcade after they shuffle you out in preperation for the evening shift. The pizzas aren't available at the snackbar you have to go inside to the arcade to order them which wasn't clarified upon purchasing. We spent over $200 for 2 people for admission and 'snack-trash' food. Jee whiz. Definitely won't be something Ill plan to do at least for another 20 years. I may have to read this review to remind myself again of...

ONE STAR – Overcrowded, Disorganized, and a Total Waste of Time

I visited Golfland Sunsplash in Mesa on a Saturday, having purchased our tickets online for the advertised discount. While the mini golf was enjoyable and the check-in was relatively quick, everything else about our experience was extremely disappointing and frustrating.

First problem: parking. The place was completely packed. We had to circle around for quite a while to find a spot. Once inside, the chaos continued. We went to use the lockers, but the first locker station was an absolute mess — the touchscreen pinpads were frozen, and it kept saying there were no available lockers. We spent nearly 20 minutes just trying to get one to work, with no success.

Eventually, we were told there was a second locker area. That one was slightly better, but still glitchy and slow. We managed to get one small locker, and then had to get another large one because not everything fit. Even then, when we forgot to put our hats inside and tried to reopen it, the screen froze again. We had to go to another kiosk just to get it to respond.

Now to the water slides. After waiting in line to get an inflatable tube, we were hoping to ride one of the big yellow slides that require a four-person raft. Since we were just two people, we opted for the smaller blue raft that is allowed for pairs. After waiting a long time in that line, and then in another long line up the stairs, we were finally about to go down — only to be told by the attendant at the top that we were over the weight limit (339 lbs combined, with a posted limit of around 300 lbs).

Nobody at the bottom said a word about this. They let us take the raft, didn’t weigh us, didn’t even warn us. After two long lines, we were told to either go back down and start all over or wait around and hope a group of four was willing to share a yellow raft with us. Honestly? That was it for us. We were done. No communication, no flexibility, and no willingness to solve the problem. We left immediately, frustrated and disappointed.

The mini golf was the only redeeming part of the day. The security guard near that area was very kind and helpful — shout out to him. But the rest of the experience? Total chaos, overcrowded beyond reason, broken equipment, and no regard for the guest experience.

We will not be returning. Do yourself a favor and skip this place, especially on weekends. The lines are longer than Disney, the staff is poorly coordinated, and the facility simply can’t handle the number of people they let in....