Mill River Park — Attraction in Stamford

On a day of epic hot weather, we had been sitting in stop and go traffic on our way deeper into CT for longer than the entire trip normally takes, when we got off of 95N to try and find a bite to eat. I glanced out the window when passing near the campus of UConn Stamford, and saw park space. As we passed closer nearby, I spied an oasis in the distance - an arc of water reaching high into the sky, and tiny people running in between the towering jets! We had our 5yr old's swim suit and plenty of towels in the car, so we pulled over and found street parking. We live in NYC and are huge fans of "splash pads": park and playground spaces where the city has installed water features of various kinds to keep cool in the summer heat. Excited to find more of them outside the NYC as well!

Once out of the car she instantly needed a bathroom, and low and behold, adjacent to the simply giant splash pad were bathrooms: men, women, and one family. The bathroom was hot and stale enough inside to toast bread, but it was reasonably clean for a park bathroom and everything was there: hand soap, toilet paper, flushing worked, running water, clean enough floor to sit a waterproof bag of swimsuits and towels.

After the potty and outfit change, our 5yr old charged out into the towering jets of water and had a ridiculous amount of fun!! A wonderful mix of ethnicities and ages of kids and happy people greeted us. There were stone and wood benches along one side to sit, and Adirondack chairs also sprinkled around as well nearby grassy fields where one might picnic. The middle of the splash pad accommodated a number of parents like us who wanted to cool off without absolutely getting soaked. And the water there was about 4inches deep to cool off tired feet and exhausted kids who occasionally knelt, sat, or laid down in that middle section. I managed to get splashed just enough to feel cooled down. And we were so happy that, although the sun was beginning to slip low, we could still stay and let our daughter play more even though it was 7pm.

Overall we are so pleased with our discovery and will make use of this as a stop on our way East during the summer days when somehow we are an hour from home and still an hour to our destination during a trip that should only take a little over an hour total! My husband mentioned that the only thing missing were food trucks and ice cream to make the place perfect and maybe those are things that come later in July? We were there June 28th I think. Bring towels and snacks and leave happy with...

I attended a birthday party at the carousel- the employees were some of the laziest people I have ever experienced. It’s terrible when someone purchases your party packages and the people you hire don’t even like kids or want to be at work. They’d much rather be on their phones and not attending to their guests or party. I personally got annoyed because this was a party for 3 year olds. The so called host was no where to be found and I ,a guest, had to coordinate activities for the children so they didn’t run off. I also had to initiate handing out the ice cream before it melted. All of this is unacceptable for paying customers.

It was hot as hell and no water was provided for the adults until I said something.

I personally enjoyed the special touch of yarn blocking off the area where the party was allowed to be. That really kept the kids in place with all the activities that were provided. If you can tell this is sarcasm.

Is there no protocol for events? Do you just hire anyone to work there?

Advice: Clean the bathrooms. Hire enthusiastic people who want to work with kids...

Lovely little FREE park. Though I don't think there is a parking "lot" there are many spaces surrounding the park, especially on the Mill River Street side. The park is pretty small and can be walked through quickly, but offer some lovely scenery of greenery and the stream. There are some seating throughout the park, a dog run area, and a giant sprinkler area in the center. Ofcourse there are signs that say "do not run in sprinkler" but on a 90-degree day...there wasn't one person there that wasn't. There is also an indoor carousel area which had two food trucks (one food, one beer) there at the time I visited on a Sunday afternoon. There was also a local school putting on a band performance that day as well! A Dunkin Donut is right behind the carousel which is convenient. Lots of large grassy areas throughout the park to sit down, spread a...