5 Reasons Shipwreck Island is at the Top of My List

Ah, Labor Day, the celebration of the end of summer and a time to rest from labors and enjoy time with family and friends.  For my family, we spent the day at Shipwreck Island.  We go to the beach often, but knowing today was the last day Panama City Beach’s largest waterpark would be open, we rode some slides and enjoyed a perfect day at the park.

Read on for 5 reasons why my family and I LOVE Shipwreck Island.

Reason Number 1: The Lines are Short.

If you’ve ever been to Hurricane Harbor, Typhoon Lagoon or the late Wet ‘N Wild, then you know that you can spend a lot of time waiting in lines.  A couple summers ago, our family came home from a vacation in Dallas, TX with a new appreciation for our small waterpark.  After a whole 7 hour day and riding only FOUR rides, the short lines at Shipwreck Island were a real treat.

Reason Number 2:  Parking is Free.

Nothing kills the buzz of spending a day at the waterpark like finding out you have to pay to park your car.  I always found this ironic since my car was always carrying $100 plus in admissions and maybe even more for food.  I always felt like this was a cheap way to make an extra buck.  Parking at Shipwreck Island is free!  You don’t have to pay a dime to park your car on property.

Reason Number 3:  The Rides are Well Laid Out

If you’ve ever spent time at a larger “big-city” waterpark, then you know how much of a pain (literally, in the feet) it can be to walk from one end of the park to the other to ride rides.  This is especially frustrating when you are walking across tons of unused areas and hot cement.  Then, to make it worse, the park may or may not have sprinklers to keep the pavement cool, then the lifeguards, while wearing shoes continue to tell you to walk.  Hey Lifeguard, you take those shoes off and THEN tell me to walk.

At Shipwreck, the sidewalks are soaked (most of them), the rides are easy to get to and you don’t have to wind around tons of unused areas to get to the good stuff.

Reason Number 4:  Always Good Discounts

One of the big complaints I hear about continually is that Shipwreck Island is too expensive and they need to offer locals discounts.  While they may not offer a “local” discount, they do offer a plethora of other options, if you have a sharp eye.

• Facebook specials:  a couple times over the summer, they offered $10 off coupons to their Facebook fans.
• Lottery ticket offer:  All summer long, they offered $5 off if you brought in a losing $1 scratch-off lottery ticket, and the last two weeks, they were offering $10 off (limit, one lottery ticket per admission ticket)
• 2 Liter Pepsi bottle coupon:  All summer, at select local stores gas stations, there was a $3 off coupon around the 2 liter bottles of Pepsi.

Reason Number 5:  Fun for the Whole Family

Again, after reflecting on the long lines and paid parking adventure of the “big-city” waterparks, I have a whole new appreciation for our great local waterpark, Shipwreck Island.  The short lines, free parking and well run facility will always keep my family going back for more splashes every year.  There is a great kiddie pool area, the wave pool is awesome and the other rides offer the right amount of thrill and relaxation to keep everyone entertained.  This is all said without mentioning the top-notch management that is consistently praised by locals and industry leaders alike.

Shipwreck Island is a true gem for our area and my family and I always have a blast when we go.  They closed today at 4:30 pm for the 2010 season, but will reopen next year for the summer in 2011.  Keep an eye on their Facebook page and we’ll see you there next year!

To keep the FCC happy, I now fully disclose that Shipwreck Island is both a website and social media client of CYber SYtes, the company I work for.  Furthermore, I also manage the Shipwreck Island Facebook page and work closely with their management to let you know how awesome they are.