Earlier on in the week we enjoyed a fabulous day out at Blackpool Sandcastle Waterpark. We had not been before so we were all excited about trying the exciting slides. We arrived and had our hyperzone bands strapped to our wrist then topped up the new splashcash wristband before heading down to the changing room to get changed.
The changing rooms can be accessed by lift or stairs, there is a pushchair park at the changing room level but your pushchairs are left at your own risk. What I did like about the changing rooms is that they have a family changing in addition to the regular male & female changing rooms. This made getting us all changed much easier. The cubicles were large enough to fit us in comfortably to get changed. If your not a fan of towel drying or you have done that much swimming that your arms would fall off they had to dry one inch of you, fear not, you can pop some money into the human(body) dryer and step in to be air dried. There is also a machine to wring out your bathing suit which I though was brilliant because 7 lots of wet bathing suits can be heavy along with the soaked towels.
All kids present and changed we head up to the pool area, walking up the slope we were shot with small jets of water on our legs which gave us a surprise especially the 2 year old, I presume this is to clean off your feet to stop and nasties coming into the pool.
The pool was warm, now I honestly think it is the warmest pool I have ever been in which was lovely as I normally end up dithering and wanting to go home. We spent a bit of time in Typhoon lagoon splashing in the waves before heading to Ushi-gushi the free flowing lazy river, the kids all really loved going round & round in the lazy river, I think they actually enjoyed it more that typhoon lagoon with the waves.
After a while of free flowing around the lazy river M & I decided to try out the slide, M is a right daredevil and not much scares her so I knew she would want to try out everyone. First up we tried the sidewinder(top right in the image above) we waited to collect our double dinghy and up the stairs we went, M insisted on going in the front so she would fall over the edge first as that is more fun according to her. The Sandcastle say the initial drop is free fall and negative G, the same as being dropped from a 3 storey building. I say don't let your bottom touch the slide because you swimwear will get friction marks. I really enjoyed this ride because it is different from the usual slides, going over the edge does flip your stomach and you are thankful when you land safely at the bottom of the slope but it is a must do ride. Little T took the safer option and opted to ride the thunderfalls water slides a few time, children ages 2 years and upwards can ride this slide when accompanied by an adult so it isn't a really fast paced slide but all the same it is enjoyable, little T went on the slide 3 times and each time he would have happily queued again. Little T & Big T enjoyed HMS Thundersplash, they were a little disappointed they could not fire canons at people but the small slides made up for that.
Caribbean storm is fun though, you can pour water over unsuspecting people or fire water canons at loved ones, or if you feel like you want gallons of water poured over you then wait in the area to have gallons & gallons of water come shooting out of the giant coconut every 10 minutes, I did witness a few peoples shorts being slightly pulled down by the force of the water so hold onto those trunks.
Masterblaster is another slide that you could lose your swimwear on if your not careful, masterblaster is the worlds longest indoor rollercoaster waterslide at 236 meters in length & 5 sections where you are propelled uphill, yes I said uphill. Going uphill is where the potential to lose your swim bottoms lies. Jets of water help to shoot you uphill on your dinghy, & the water that is used to push you around is enough to fill 5 swimming pools in 1 hour, that is some great water pressure pushing you about!
The last slide I tried out was Aztec falls, again M & I went in a double dinghy and again she insisted on going first. The 150 meter decent was dark, I screamed a few times, when we landed in the bowl and spun around I yelled "no" at the thought I was about to go backwards, thankfully a jet of water spun us around and into the darkness we plunged again going the correct way forward. This is the only slide that I have ever been in that was complete darkness for the majority of the way, you can not prepare yourself for the turns so that adds to the fun or fear however you look at it. This slide and sidewinder were my favourite. M tried out Montazooma when you go head first on a mat, she said it was not as fun as Aztec because it didn't have a bowl like that one did, you can't please them all! My children were not that pleased when I told them it was time to go home, they didn't want their watery fun to end and I can't blame them, we had a blast.
Prices start from £13.50 for a person aged 12 years and over, if you like adrenaline pumping slides then I would recommend that you purchase the hyperzone band for £6 as this then allows you on the Aztec falls, Montazooma, Sidewinder & Masterblaster. I would recommend Blackpool Sandcastle WaterPark to family and friends as we thoroughly enjoyed it. You can not take in your own food but their food is priced cheaper than I expected, we a large family of 3 adults and 5 children and spent less than £60 on food and drink for the whole time we are there.
We were given free access to the Sandcastle for the purpose of the review. All opinions are my own.
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