This is a giant swimming pool and water-slide complex and loads of fun! Here’s what happened when we went there…
Water park tips and advice were invaluable on The Dibb, so it’s really worth reading the message boards before you go. Here’s a quick summary: Do wear water shoes; the concrete floor is hot and harsh on your feet and my shoes were really comfortable, even when swimming. If you need goggles, buy some by zoggs before you go; not the £6 speedos – we had 3 pairs between us and they all snapped – we think due to the sun; so you need a good thick solid strap. Go on a weekday to avoid the local kids, so queues will be a lot less. You need $5 for a locker, but they aren’t huge, so leave as much as possible in the car. Tips for glasses wearers: On most slides, all you’ll need is a neoprene type strap to keep them in place (useful to have anyway if you’re a rollercoaster rider). However, if you’re planning on going in the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon, please read my review of there too!
There’s a lot of debate as to whether to do Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon if you only have time for one. I’d say really try to do
both, but I preferred Blizzard Beach marginally because there seemed more to do and the lazy river was more fun for some reason. Definitely do the family raft ride – it was fantastic fun and was the longest water slide, so made the walk more worth it (when the queue for the ski lift is too long or closed due to the weather.) There is a ski lift to take you to the top of some of the slides, which is brilliant fun, though Jude was a bit scared.
At 3:30pm it poured with rain and everything closed. I can understand why some of the taller slides might want to close if there’s lightening risk, but I don’t know why we weren’t allowed in the pools or the lazy river. I have never in my life seen rain pour so hard. We sat on a picnic bench under an umbrella for nearly an hour, hoping it would stop and we’d practically have the park to ourselves – but we gave up and went home, which was the right thing to do as it didn’t stop raining. So we did go back at the end of our holiday to do the rides we hadn’t tried before. I’m sorry, I can’t remember the names of all of them now, but they were all good fun. I didn’t do the near-vertical ones though – I’m not that brave!
