Castaway Bay Reivew

Castaway Bay

February 19, 2006

If you are looking for a tropical vacation with the family, then you need to head to Sandusky, Ohio for Castaway Bay.  Castaway Bay has the tropical feel throughout the entire resort and its slogan is, “Year-Round Thrills, Year-Round Fun”.  That is truly the case at Cedar Point’s Castaway Bay.

Cedar Point opened Castaway Bay in November 2004 by adding on a waterpark to the Radisson Hotel in which Cedar Point owned and converted it into Castaway Bay.  Cedar Point dropped millions of dollars converting the hotel into a full-fledged tropical resort, giving the property a completely different feel over looking a harbor.  Mapquest claims Castaway Bay is 6 minutes, making it the closest Indoor Water Park Resort to Cedar Point and one of the closest over night accommodations in the area.  Castaway Bay has 237 rooms and a 38,000-foot water park.  This gives Castaway Bay a room per square footage ratio of 160.  Meaning that for every one room in the hotel, there are 160 square feet of water park space.

One of major features Castaway Bay pertains is that it is a Cedar Point Resort, which gives you many benefits during the summer.  One of these is early admission to Cedar Point of up to a half hour before the park opens to the public to ride select roller coasters such as Millennium Force or Top Thrill Dragster (when available).

When it is winter, Castaway Bay still offers many fun activities for the whole family, including restaurants, shops, and events.  However, some of the coolest aspect of Castaway Bay is the theming.  Cedar Point is not known from its theming, but it certainly did a spectacular job with Castaway Bay.  Before you even enter Castaway Bay, tropical music is playing.  Inside the lobby is a giant ship wreck, including a full mast going up to the ceiling, two talking parrots, and even a waterfall.

Castaway Bay integrates the restaurants and shops into the tropical theme as well.  The three stores Castaway Bay offers are Woody’s Tidepool Treasures, Nick Knacks, and Pearl’s Swimwear.  All of the stores are centrally located off the main lobby.  Woody’s Tidepool Treasures is located inside of shipwreck and offers souvenirs, collectables, clothing, and more novelty items.  Nick Knacks features convenience items such as food and inexpensive souvenirs.  Pearl’s Swimwear offers swimwear and other items that can make a water park adventurer better prepared.

There are four on-site food outlets at Castaway Bay and a fifth next door, that is connected.  The four on-site restaurants are Big Daddy’s Snack Shack, Gil’s Lookout Lounge, Ebb & Eddy’s, and Mango Mike’s.  Big Daddy’s Snack Shack is located inside of the water park and features pizza, hot dogs, deli sandwiches, salads, ice cream, and more.  Gil’s Lookout Lounge is located on the third floor overlooking the harbor and offers drinks, sandwiches, and pizza.  Ebb & Eddy’s is your quick stop snack shop right off of the Main Lobby.  It features freshly baked goods such as Krispy Kreme donuts, Starbucks coffee, made-to-order deli sandwiches, ice cream and more!  Mango Mike’s is features buffet style eating overlooking the harbor for breakfast, dinner, and brunch on Sundays.  I like to tell everyone it is named after me, but it actually is named after a different Mike who runs the Foods Department at Cedar Point.  TGI Friday’s is located next door and is accessible via a hallway connecting the two. 

Castaway Bay offers many other activities for the little ones!  Some of these activities include t-shirt coloring, PEANUTS Meet and Greet, Caribbean Games, Karaoke, Dance Party, Story Time with Snoopy, Cookie Decorating, and Late Night Craft.  Castaway Bay also offers an Activity of the Day, which is Face Painting, Balloon Animals, Fortune Telling, or a Magnificent Magician.  Be sure to pick up a Daily Island Times Newsletter for an event schedule and for a list of events for the day.

One of the major changes that took place with the transition from Radisson to Castaway Bay is the addition of The Spa at Castaway Bay.  For those of you who have stayed at the Radisson, you will recognize the location of The Spa, as it utilized the previous swimming pool area.  The Spa offers a tranquil setting overlooking the harbor and Castaway Bay.  Included in the Spa treatment are access to a private pool and hot tub.

Crabbie’s Quarterdeck Arcade features the latest games in arcade technology.  This includes swipe cards for all the games using a cash-less system, allowing parents to keep track how much their children are spending.  This 6,000 square foot arcade features many popular games to keep the kids busy for hours.  The arcade is located right next to the entrance to the waterpark and features several large windows looking to the water park.

In order to get into the water park, you must walk through a cave to get to your island paradise.  This intense theming puts you into the mood of visiting a tropical island.  After you scan your wristband and open the second door, it hits you.  80 degrees of paradise.  That is right, inside of the water park it is 80 degrees.  Once you are inside, you are not sure what to do, or even where you are.  There is a wave pool to the left, Rendezvous Run straight ahead, and a giant TV screen on the right.  There is a lot to do.

The Castaway Bay Wave Pool is 100,000-gallon pool generating waves of up to three feet tall.  At the front of this giant pool are several waterfalls pouring down into the waves.  Castaway Bay is the only indoor water park in Sandusky to have a wave pool.  Surrounding the wave pool are beach chairs allowing for parents to keep an eye on their children.  In the center of the water park is Toddler’s Tide Pool.  This small pool offers kids to play around in the water and have fun.  It features several small slides, water spraying toys, and spraying pipes. 

Kids also love Lookout Lagoon Family Funhouse.  This giant play structure features 1,000-gallon bucket dumping water every two minutes and more than 100 interactive features.  It also features four fun different slides for the whole family.  This slides are Mango Melee, Paradise Plunge, Pineapple Pipeline, and Tropical Twister.  Castaway Bay also offers three other body slides called Tropical Tube Slides. 

There are two activity pools located inside of Castaway Bay, Cargo Crossing and Creature Cove.  Cargo Crossing consists of floating pads shaped like pieces of cargo in which people climb across with a net hanging above.  Creature Cove features several basketball hoops and floating devices underneath a giant TV screen.  This screen usually shows kids shows, but it can be seen displaying a sports game or two.

The Grotto is Castaway Bay’s Indoor/Outdoor Hot Tub.  This hot tub features a trickling waterfall into the water inside, and outside a deck area allowing for sunbathers during the summer and brave kids in the winter.  Everyone enjoys having a small snowball fight, so at Castaway Bay have one while sitting it a hot tub!

The attraction everyone loves at Castaway Bay is Rendezvous Run.  This attraction can easily spark debate among families.  Is it a water slide, or a roller coaster?  Well, it is a water coaster!  Rendezvous Run shoots riders uphill using water twice over the 520-foot course.  This type of slide is the only kind in Sandusky, giving Castaway Bay another unique feature.  Rendezvous Run is 35 feet high and gets riders soaked.