I remember when Sahara Sam’s was built. My mom lives mere minutes away so we drove past it several times a week, watching as it was gradually completed. We all talked about how we couldn’t wait to go there. I’m a huge fan of amusement and water parks, I was so excited. Just a few months after it was all finished, my husband and I moved to a different state so I didn’t get the chance to go! Now that we are back in New Jersey, I jumped at the chance to finally check it out and BONUS, take a peek at the new expansion!!

I invited my pregnant younger sister, not only because I knew she’d have fun with the kids but she also lives a few minutes down the road and I know she’ll want to bring my niece there! We walked in through the arcade, which was pretty fantastic! I’ve been to similar attractions but none of them ever had such an elaborate arcade. We didn’t even get a chance to play all of the games because there was so much going on inside, so we’ll most certainly be hitting the games next time!

The first thing we noticed when we walked into the water park area was the hot tub! It’s off in the corner and looked like a nice relaxing way to take a break from the kids! There’s a cute beverage area that resembles a tiki hut, next to ample seating options. I brought with me my youngest children (0-4 years) and they liked the Lizard Lagoon most, which has two little slides that they can go down on their own. It was pretty sweet to see my two year old son go down all alone and pop up all proud of himself afterward.

For the very wee ones, it has these seats that you can put them in to dangle in the water so we put my infant in there. The water is at a relatively low level so the kids were all able to walk around on their own, despite not being able to swim yet. They sometimes crawled from one end of the Lizard Lagoon to the other, which was adorable.

We also checked out Tim-Buk-Tu, which had my favorite part…a giant bucket of water that tips over periodically, drenching everyone beneath it! Tick-tock, tick-tock, when will it spill?! The kids went down a couple of the small slides there and really enjoyed the water table where you could direct the water different ways down a canal. There was just so much to do!

With limited time and only my younger kids present, we didn’t even get to every attraction in Sahara Sam’s! There was a surfing simulator, The Flow Rider, a cargo obstacle course, Crocodile Flats, and a water basketball court called Sam’s Slamdunker. We also missed Snake Eyes, which are the tube slides, Mount Kilimanjaro, a family rafting slide, and The Nile Mile, a body slide! We also didn’t have time to hit the Sahara Sam’s lazy river, called The Congo Bongo. Not to mention all of the outdoor attractions that we didn’t go to because it was still snowy season time! You could spend an entire day at this park and never run out of things to entertain you.

Also, I wanted to make sure to mention that I actually really enjoyed the food. To me, that is rare. I’ve been to umpteen amusement parks, indoor, and outdoor attractions all over the country and I never like the food. I always just figure it’s not a big deal as long as I’m having fun but the chicken fingers were especially good. My kids stole most of mine but I was loving them! So if I may make a menu suggestion, try the chicken fingers, but everything was pretty tasty!

Another thing I want to make sure I mention are the birthday parties. As this was a blogger event, there were portions of this visit where we worked together with Sahara Sam’s staff who are continuously improving upon the park, as all places should do! At the panel I was on, I learned a lot of things about how Sahara Sam’s does birthday parties. I want to tell you that as a parent of five who’s done a lot of parties, their prices are extremely comparable to other facilities except I feel like they have so much more to offer. Sahara Sam’s is approximately an hour from my house but since our visit, we’ve already talked about throwing my oldest daughter’s birthday party there next year because it’s really quite fun and affordable.

Last but most certainly not least, let us talk about the expansion we got to tour! Sahara Sam’s is building a 10,000 square foot expansion which will contain two colorful 55-foot-high mat racing slides, a family leisure pool, and additional seating. To keep the desert oasis theme with the rest of the park, Sahara Sam’s is calling this new section The Mirage!

BEFORE

The attractions within The Mirage, however, have not yet been named! The staff at Sahara Sam’s are holding their own competition to name the leisure pool but the park is looking for YOU to help name the two slides! You can submit your name suggestions to the Sahara Sam’s Facebook page for a chance to win four free tickets to visit during Memorial Day weekend! I just think it would be cool to be the person who named an attraction at the water park though, how cool is that?! The Mirage officially opens to the public on Friday, May 27th!

AFTER

BUY:

You can purchase tickets to Sahara Sam’s HERE!

Don’t forget to use the code CRUNCHY to save $6 off of your admission!*

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*Code is valid through July 31st, 2016. The Crunchy Mom Next Door received free admission to this event in exchange for her coverage and honest review. All opinions and experiences are her own only.