Because we are the most disorganized people in the known world, a blizzard that had been threatened for weeks made it virtually impossible for us to host Eilis’ 9th birthday party at our house as planned. So just days before the party, Jim came up with the idea to head to CoCo Key Water Resort in Mt. Laurel. He had wanted to take the girls there before, but I am not a fan of water parks. Hosting a birthday party there was downright terrifying to me.
To begin with, I worry about the basics. Will there be enough food and drink for everyone? It would be an absolute nightmare for me to host a party and run out of food. Will people want to come? Who knows what other parents have this irrational water park fear that I harbor? And it’s the dead of winter. Are there parents who won’t allow their kids to come because of the fact that they will be leaving in the sub-freezing temperatures with wet hair? I worry about these things.
It turns out, that none of my worries were well founded. Not that other issues didn’t arise, but the things I most worried about were well taken care of. Eilis ended up with 18 children who’s parents didn’t care about the pneumonia they would get for walking outside with wet hair (that is how you get pneumonia, right?). We also brought home two whole pizzas and nearly half of the birthday cake. Honestly, the kids would have skipped the food altogether to spend more time in the water. They really didn’t want to come when it was time to sing Happy Birthday.
The water park itself was awesome. It seemed like all of the kids, from the adventurous to the Granuaile has something to do and enjoy. The pizza was Pizza Hut pizza, and the cake was from a local bakery, so there wasn’t anything to complain about in the food department. We had ordered an extra tray of fresh fruit, and it was delicious – but they failed to provide plates or silverware when they put the fruit out, so it was picked at by many hands. They didn’t go home with pneumonia, and let’s hope the cholorine killed any nasties on their hands.
The kids loved the party, and Eilis thought it was, by far, the best party EV.ER.
My list of complaints –
Bathrooms were disgusting. There wasn’t enough hand sanitizer on the planet to make me feel comfortable changing Granuaile in this bathroom. I get it. The park was crowded. So’s Disney. I never feel skeeved in a Disney restroom.
We didn’t have a party host for most of the evening. We had kids without wristbands, parents wandering around not knowing where our tables were, and me running up and down the stairs to make sure people could find us and get in without their wristbands.
Other than that, this really was an awesome event for Eilis. She loved it, from the minute she laid eyes on the place.
Now someone clue me in on how to break the news to Granuaile that she can’t have her birthday party there, too?
Great review Anna! My kids love Coco Key, and if it was closer, it would be a great party option. My one complaint is the surface underneath the water play area at the one in Boston – it’s concrete. I saw several kids with bare feet slip and fall; it seemed like a recipe for a concussion.