Nemesis Nick at Sandcastle Water Park Blackpool April 2019

Date: Friday 26 April 2019
Venue: Sandcastle Water Park (Blackpool)
Who Went: Just me

N.B. Any use of "today" in this report means Friday 26 April 2019.

Rationale for Trip

As some of you may have gathered, I enjoy water parks, including Splashdown at Tower Park, Poole and Sandcastle Water Park, Blackpool. Having travelled to Blackpool during Thursday 25 April for the RCCGB Blackpool Bash 2019, Friday daytime was an ideal opportunity for me to visit Blackpool's Sandcastle Water Park.

Welcome to Sandcastle Water Park

Just like Blackpool Pleasure Beach the rest of the weekend, it was only a short walk from the hotel where I stayed to Sandcastle Water Park. I got there around 10:40. At the reception, someone from the RCCGB reminded me about the members' discount which was only available on Friday 26 April 2019, and led me to a desk which was dealing with this particular discount. I showed my RCCGB 2019 membership card and got this members' only deal, consisting of entry and a Hyperzone wristband (which covers the Master Blaster, Sidewinder, Montazooma and Aztec Falls). The receptionist warned me that the Master Blaster was only going to be open from 12:00 to 16:00, but the other slides were open all day.

In the Pool Area

Once past the foyer, bar and changing rooms, the water park itself is vast. Since this was my ninth visit to-date, I remembered the layout quite well. When I entered the pool area just before 11:00, I began with Montazooma.

Montazooma

One of the two Hyperzone slides which opened in February 2012. This slide requires a special mat with handles and a curved front. On this occasion, I was lucky enough to obtain a mat without having to queue. Having collected a mat, I had to go up some steps, into a tunnel which had a special effect at the entrance, through the tunnel and up several flights of stairs to the top of a tower which was built when the Montazooma and Aztec Falls slides were installed. As I neared the top, there were two queues: one for Montazooma and one for Aztec Falls; I joined the Montazooma queue, which was very short. When I reached the launch point, I had to place the special mat, curved end facing forwards, on the slide top and lie on the mat head first on my belly, holding the handles at the curved end. Once launched, I set off really quickly and continued quite rapidly all the way to the end; I managed to stay on my mat all the way down. Altogether a fun slide. Oddly enough, this was my first go on a water slide anywhere in England for 2019. Afterwards I enjoyed three more goes on Montazooma; since the place was quiet, I was able to keep the same mat for all of them. The waiting time at the top was also very short for each of those goes, and I managed to stay on my mat during all of those goes.

Aztec Falls

The other Hyperzone slide which opened in February 2012; this requires use of a tyre. I can't remember whether or not there was anyone else in front of me wanting a tyre at the time, but anyway, I soon had a tyre. Having obtained one, I had to go through the same tunnel and up the same stairs as I did for Montazooma. The Aztec Falls queue, on the stairs, was longer than the Montazooma queue, but I didn't mind waiting. When it was my turn to slide, I had to sit on my tyre and grip the handles tightly. This was so amazing; I went down a dark closed tube slide. Halfway down I entered a giant bowl; this time it was lit by very dim red and yellow lights, and thus quite dark in there. Whilst in the giant bowl, I was whirled at speed twice around the outer edge, followed by once around the inner edge into another dark tube slide, which took me the rest of the way to the slide exit. Another exciting ride. Afterwards I enjoyed three more goes on Aztec Falls; I think I had to give up my ring and wait for another at least once, but at worst faced only one or two in front of me wanting a ring; the queuing time at the top was similar to on my first go.

Sidewinder

One of the four Hyperzone slides; this requires use of a tyre. Bathers collect a tyre at the bottom and go upstairs to the launch point at the top. Once there, one has to sit on the tyre and grip both handles tightly before being pushed over the edge by the lifeguard. There's a very steep drop (a long way down) into a ravine. Following the first drop, you go quite a long way up the other side, then down and back up the side you first came down, and so forth until you run out of momentum and grind to a halt at the bottom of the ravine, before exiting.

So far, I had been nervous about going on this, in the aftermath of my accident on this in 2014, but since Master Blaster was still closed, I decided to give Sidewinder a go. I only faced a very short wait for a single tyre at the bottom, but there was a queue for the launch point upstairs. When it was my turn, I felt nervous about going on this. Determined to try it, I sat on my tyre and gripped the handles as tightly as I could whilst waiting to be pushed over the edge. This time, the first drop and the rest of the ride didn't seem so bad as when I went on this the last couple of years, but even so, I was worried about losing my tyre, so I maintained my grip on the handles as tightly as I could from start to finish. At the end, I had to give my tyre up, but since I was keen to have a second go, I waited for another single tyre. Once again, the scariest moment was waiting to be launched, and the first drop, but I managed to maintain my grip tightly the whole time. Wow, I had already been on twice as many goes on Sidewinder as I did during the whole of my visit last year. I wanted go to on something else next, but I hoped to return to Sidewinder later.

The time was now just gone 12:00, and Master Blaster had just opened, so I was eager to go on it.

Master Blaster

One of the four Hyperzone slides, this requires use of a tyre. Unfortunately, a lot of people wanted to slide it at this moment, presumably because it had only just opened, so the tyre collection point queue downstairs was really long. Anyway, I joined the queue and tolerated waiting for a tyre. Having obtained one, and gone upstairs, I faced another queue for the launch point. Master Blaster is 250 metres in length and seems to go on for ever; there are several uphill sections. Part way along, you go through a tube slide, which exits the building, spirals around and re-enters the building. That's the blue spiral tube you can see sticking out of the left front corner of the building. Towards the end, there's a final climb and a very steep final drop into the landing tray. Altogether a thrilling ride, one of the best in the water park and worth the wait at the top. Having landed, and given up my tyre, I decided to have a second go. Thankfully, the downstairs queue for tyres this time was much shorter, and the queue upstairs was about the same as my first go. After I had completed my second go, I decided to go on other slides, but knew I'd return to Master Blaster later.

The launch point for Master Blaster has a label on its side with the following information:
Aqua Leisure International
Master Blaster Ride
Commissioned April 2006

One important question: Master Blaster is described as a rollercoaster water slide, in fact it claims to be the world's longest indoor rollercoaster water slide, but does that mean it's a rollercoaster or not?

Now that I had been on all four Hyperzone slides at least twice each, I tried some non-Hyperzone slides, starting with Treetops Water Chutes.

Treetops Water Chutes

A set of three wavy slides side by side, thus three sliders can race each other. Looking downhill from the top, the left hand slide is blue, the centre one is yellow and the right hand one is red. These were made by Aqua Leisure International, commissioned 2004. The waiting time for these was minimal if at all. I enjoyed these three wavy slides twice each in the following order: blue, yellow, red, blue, yellow, red.

Duelling Dragons

Two fast closed tube slides, which are classed as White Knuckle Slides, but they're not part of the Hyperzone. On this occasion, bathers had to wait by a lifeguard watchpoint near the pool side, and the lifeguard allowed two to proceed up the spiral stairs at a time. Anyway, the wait by the lifeguard watchpoint was quite short. I enjoyed the left and right slides (as seen facing their entrances from the top) in sequence twice over. Both slides were extremely fast, and the duration of each slide was quite short.

Thunder Falls Water Slides

Two water slides, one is blue and one is yellow. These are mostly open top, however there's a short, covered bit on the yellow slide midway. Both are fairly slow and quite long, thus they give long, gentle, relaxing rides. The queue on the spiral stairs was quite short, so I enjoyed the blue and yellow slides in sequence four times over.

Sidewinder

At this point, I decided to brave a few more goes on the Hyperzone slide Sidewinder. On the first go of this batch, the most nerve-wracking part was waiting to be launched, and going over the edge. Once again, I was worried about losing my grip on the first drop, or the rest of the ride, but I maintained my grip tightly and once past the first drop, the onward journey up and down, back and forth, was quite thrilling. After completing this go, I was determined to have at least one more go; amazingly, I managed to have three more goes, and I was able to keep my tyre between them. For each of these goes, I was worried about losing my grip at any time, but held the tyre handles tightly and once past the first drop each time, the rest of the ride was exciting. After my fourth go, I decided to go on something else, but I felt sure that I'd be back on Sidewinder before closing time.

Master Blaster

Now for a few more goes on Master Blaster. This time I think there were only one or two others in front of me waiting for tyres, and the queue for the launch point upstairs was shorter than earlier. I ended up having two goes on this rollercoaster water slide, both of which were just as much fun as my earlier goes.

Coffee Break

Around 14:10 I felt somewhat thirsty, so I went to the café to buy myself a large coffee. I also asked for a cup of tap water. However, I didn't want anything to eat, as even a sandwich would mean having to allow a rest period before returning to sliding. Thankfully I managed to get served much quicker than when I went there for a coffee mid-afternoon last year. Furthermore, I had no problem finding an empty table downstairs. Sitting down to drink my water and coffee gave me a much-needed rest. Once I had finished, the time was 14:30, so without further ado, I resumed sliding.

Aztec Falls

I decided to go on the Hyperzone slide Aztec Falls next. Although I managed to obtain a tyre straightaway, there was a longish queue at the top. Nonetheless, that allowed me some waiting time between drinking my coffee and getting on the slide. Whilst inside the giant bowl, the lighting effects were exactly the same as earlier. Evidently the lighting effects don't vary during the course of a particular day. Due to the queue at the top, I limited myself to one go for now.

Montazooma

Due to Montazooma being beside Aztec Falls, it made sense for me to slide Montazooma next. I ended up having four goes. On my first go, I managed to get a curved mat without having to wait. For all four goes, the queue for Montazooma was much shorter than for Aztec Falls. On each of these goes, the slide was really fast, and I managed to stay on my mat all the way down. The distance I travelled beyond the slide end varied between goes; on one go I stopped just short of the end and had to push myself the rest of the way out. I was able to keep the same mat for all four goes.

Aztec Falls

Back to Aztec Falls. Once again, I managed to get a tyre straightaway, but faced a longish queue at the top. Although the slide was great fun, I limited myself to one go due to the queue on the stairs.

Sidewinder

Sticking with the Hyperzone slides, I decided to have a few more goes on Sidewinder next. I managed to get a single tyre straightaway, and the wait at the top was now quite short. This time I had two goes. On both of them, the worst bit was waiting to be launched, and going down the first drop, but the rest of the ride up and down, back and forth, was fun. I managed to keep my tyre between the two goes. These two goes turned out to be my final two goes of the day on Sidewinder, but at least I had now clocked up eight goes on it during the course of my visit, which is a lot more than I had last year.

Master Blaster

There was now less than half an hour before this rollercoaster water slide was due to close at 16:00, so I was determined to have a few more goes on it before then. This was now so quiet, I managed to obtain a tyre straightaway, and the queue at the top was very short. I ended up having six goes, which was more than I expected, and was able to keep the same tyre for all of them. Unsurprisingly this was my final round of sliding Master Blaster, but at least it can be described as a coaster crazy final round.

Ushi-Gushi River Creek

A flowing river running anticlockwise. The last three years I've given Ushi-Gushi River Creek a miss, in order to maximise my time sliding, and thus achieve a high slide count each visit. However, since the place was generally much quieter today, and thus I already had a high slide count, I was keen to swim around this river run this time. I enjoyed four laps; I tried swimming breaststroke; however, the river run was a bit busy to swim properly.

Duelling Dragons

So far, I hadn't had many goes on Duelling Dragons, so I left the pool on the side nearest these white knuckle slides. Bathers still had to wait beside the lifeguard lookout, and were being allowed up the spiral stairs two at a time. I enjoyed the left and right slides (as seen facing their entrances from the top) in sequence twice over. Just like when I went down them earlier, both slides were really fast. This was my final round of sliding Duelling Dragons for this visit.

Thunder Falls Water Slides

From two fast slides to two slow slides, I wanted to have some more goes on the Thunder Falls Water Slides next. Just like when I went on them earlier, they gave long, gentle, relaxing rides. I enjoyed sliding the blue and yellow slides in sequence twice over. Each time, the queue on the spiral stairs was quite short. This was my final round of sliding the Thunder Falls Water Slides for this visit.

The time was now 16:05, and thus I had 25 minutes' sliding time left. To finish off, I tried to have as many goes as I could on Aztec Falls and Montazooma.

Aztec Falls

I approached the tyre collection point for Aztec Falls, and managed to get a tyre straightaway. Its queue on the stairs was now very short, so I ended up having four goes. The lighting effects within the giant bowl were just the same as earlier. The place was now so quiet I was able to keep my tyre all those goes.

Montazooma

There was still enough time for me to enjoy three goes on Montazooma. Prior to my first go of this round, I took a mat, without having to wait, and I was able to keep the same mat for all three goes. Each time around, this slide was walk-on, and I enjoyed a fast, exciting slide, head first on my belly. The perfect slide to end the day on, the one on which I began at the start of my visit.

With about one minute of opening time left, I swam around part of the one of the pools (the one in which Ushi-Gushi River Creek is a part, but I didn't get as far as Ushi-Gushi River Creek), to make use of my remaining time. At 16:30, an announcement was made, telling bathers that the pool and slides were now closed. I returned to the changing room at this point. About 20 minutes after that, I finally left the building, and was back in my hotel room around 17:00.

Summary of my day in order of activity

Montazooma 4
Aztec Falls 4
Sidewinder 2
Master Blaster 2
Treetops Water Chutes blue, yellow, red, blue, yellow, red
Duelling Dragons left slide, right slide, left slide, right slide (as viewed facing their top entrances)
Thunder Falls Water Slides blue and yellow slides in sequence four times over
Sidewinder 4
Master Blaster 2

Coffee break

Aztec Falls 1
Montazooma 4
Aztec Falls 1
Sidewinder 2
Master Blaster 6
Ushi-Gushi River Creek flowing river 4 laps
Duelling Dragons left slide, right slide, left slide, right slide (as viewed facing their top entrances)
Thunder Falls Water Slides blue and yellow slides in sequence twice over
Aztec Falls 4
Montazooma 3

Cumulative Summary of Slides

Slide	Total
Aztec Falls	10
Duelling Dragons left slide	4
Duelling Dragons right slide	4
Master Blaster	10
Montazooma	11
Sidewinder	8
Thunder Falls Water Slides blue	6
Thunder Falls Water Slides yellow	6
Treetops Water Chutes blue	2
Treetops Water Chutes red	2
Treetops Water Chutes yellow	2
TOTAL	65

Outro

Highlights

Re-riding the thrilling Hyperzone slides Master Blaster, Montazooma and Aztec Falls, plus other slides.
Very high slide count.

Lowlights

Master Blaster only open from 12:00 to 16:00.

Summing Up

Altogether a wet and wild day of water sliding in the UK's largest indoor water park in Blackpool, in Granadaland. Surprisingly this was my first time of going water sliding anywhere in England for 2019, even though this visit happened close to the end of April 2019. By staying in all day, I certainly got my money's worth. The place was really quiet, so despite 16:30 being the earliest closing time I've ever known, I still had a high slide count. I'm amazed I had the courage to have so many goes on Sidewinder; after my accident on it in April 2014 I've been barely able to tolerate one go per visit on it the last few years. It seems my confidence in Sidewinder is restored at last. I also enjoyed plenty of goes on the other Hyperzone slides Montazooma and Aztec Falls (both of which were open all day), and Master Blaster (which, this time, was only open from 12:00 to 16:00), plus other slides. As for the non-slide features, it was great to swim around Ushi-Gushi River Creek flowing river for the first time since 2015. However, once again, I didn't go in the wave pool, whether the waves were on or not. One other attraction which I missed is the Caribbean Storm Treehouse. This is a play area with a number of features including water jets you can aim at other bathers, and a giant coconut which gradually fills and tips to spill its contents over you. For the third year running, I bought myself a cup of coffee mid-afternoon, but once again I managed to stay in until 16:30 without eating anything. My big breakfast around 08:45 set me up for the whole day. Some of the staff were amazed I was able to go that long without food. If you've not yet been there, and you enjoy water parks, I strongly suggest you pay it a visit. In order to get your money's worth, I recommend staying in all day. Going in after the ERS on Sunday of the RCCGB Blackpool Bash (i.e. around midday) may not give you sufficient time to do Sandcastle Water Park justice.

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