Sandcastle Water Park (Blackpool)

Sandcastle Waterpark is an indoor waterpark in an 84-degree tropical climate located at South Beach in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It opened in 1986 on the site of the former South Shore Open Air Baths as a joint public/private partnership.

Sandcastle Water Park
Sandcastle Blackpool Logo
Location	Blackpool, Lancashire, England
Coordinates	53.7941°N 3.0574°W
Owner	Blackpool Council
Opened	26 June 1986
Water slides	18 water slides

Sandcastle Waterpark

Sandcastle Waterpark is also home to slides like the world's longest indoor roller-coaster water slide, the Master Blaster,[1] and the first vertical indoor drop slide Sidewinder.

Family attractions include the Ushi Gushi Action River, the Shimmering Shallows and the Typhoon Lagoon Wavepool.

For younger visitors there is a Caribbean Storm Treehouse which is an interactive adventure play area with a giant tipping coconut that cascades 600 gallons of water over unsuspecting guests. There are also a range of water cannons, mini slides and jets within the HMS Thundersplash and Fort Riptide areas.

Operation of the centre was taken back into Blackpool Council ownership in 2003. Reductions in costs and increases in visitor numbers and spending have since followed. A significant investment in new attractions costing £5.5M was also agreed, which was delivered in two phases, with the second opening in 2006 on time and on budget.[2]

In 2012, the water park opened two new Aztec theme slides, one with a chamber called 'Aztec Falls', and a toboggan like slide called 'Montazooma.'[3][4]

In 2016, Sandcastle Waterpark celebrated its 30th birthday with a monthlong series of events involving a wide variety of local charities and community groups. On 26 June 2016 as part of these celebrations, Sandcastle Waterpark regained the world record for most riders down a waterslide in one hour. The previous record had stood to a Dutch Waterpark at 396 riders. Sandcastle Waterpark smashed this record with a new official world record of 529 riders.[5]

Slides and attractions

Key

Colour	Target Audience
	Thrill ride
	Family ride

Slides and attractions

#	Name	Opened	Description
1	Masterblaster	2004	This was the first water slide in the park. It is the world's longest indoor rollercoaster waterslide.
2	Sidewinder	2009	A unique combination wet and dry raft ride by Aqua Leisure that propels riders from side to side within the Half-pipe in a single or double person raft. Water spray jets provide a frictionless surface on the large U-shaped slide as rafts are channelled to the bottom
3	Aztec Falls	2012	A water slide which starts from the rooftop and plunges through darkness into the swirling chasm before a thrilling corkscrew exit.
4	Montazooma	2012	A water slide with 360-degree loops and back to back turns which starts from the rooftop and races from beginning to end in just 20 seconds!
5	Ushi-Gushi River Creek		An action Lazy river running anticlockwise.
6	Thunder Falls		Two 300 ft waterslides - These are the original slides, opened in 1986.
7	Fort Riptide		A rock based fort stocked with water cannons and slides
8	HMS Thundersplash		A marooned galleon decked with waterjets and cannons
9	Caribbean Storm Treehouse		Interactive adventure play area and 600 gallon giant tipping coconut
10	Treetops Water Chutes		Family friendly water chutes where 3 riders can race together
11	Dueling Dragons		Two fast closed tubes; one called Barracuda (green) and the other called Serpent (red). On 26 June 2016 the red slide was the slide used in the successful world record attempt for most people down a waterslide in one hour with 529 riders, comfortable beating the previous record of 396 people.
12	Lagoon Bay		A shallow water area with hidden water cannons
13	Shimmerin Shallows		A sleepy lagoon haven for little mermaids and pint sized pirates
14	Typhoon Lagoon		A Wave pool which replicates the movement of the ocean
15	Coconut Bay		A seating area used for people.
16	Sea Breeze Spa		Sauna, Steam Room, Aromatherapy Room, Salt Inhalation Room, Heated Foot Spa's, Heated Tile Loungers.
17	Barrel Blast		Push the plunger to "blow-up" the barrels over the unsuspecting people below in the Ushi Gushi Action River.
18	Monkey Island		A themed seating area used for Birthday Parties and functions
19	Super Soaker		The UK's biggest water cannon

Other attractions

• Swim Shack – Swimwear and accessories shop
• Bongo Bongo – Food and drink outlet
• Waterfalls – Food and drink outlet which is accessible to non swimmers from the Promenade
• Treetops Trading Post – Souvenirs and branded merchandise

World records

• 2016: Sandcastle Waterpark sets a new world record on Sunday 26 June 2016 for the most people down a waterslide in one hour when 529 people smash the previous record of 396.
• 2014: Sandcastle Waterpark took part in the World's Largest Swimming Lesson, helping set the record at 36,564 participants over 22 countries.
• 2013: Sandcastle Waterpark took part in the Worlds Largest Swimming Lesson. As part of the event Sandcastle Waterpark was recognised as hosting the largest number of participants in the UK. The Guinness World Record was set at 24,873 participants, 432 facilities in 13 countries.
• 2012: Sandcastle Waterpark was an official host location for The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson, which set a new world record on 11 June 2012 for the largest simultaneous swimming lesson ever conducted.
• 2008: Ten soldiers set a new world record for the longest distance spent on a water slide. Signaller Mark McCluggage and 9 other soldiers raised over £10,000 for charity by spending 24 hours continually sliding down the Thunderfalls slide[6]

In popular culture

• Mr Tumble and Justin Fletcher from CBeebies filmed at the Sandcastle for the TV series, 'Something Special' in June 2012.
• The Dandy Warhols used footage filmed outside the Sandcastle Water Park in the music video for their Autumn Carnival single.

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 July 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "Sandcastle Waterpark". BLACKPOOL.NET. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-people-down-a-water-slide-in-one-hour/
6. "World record broken at Sandcastle". Blackpool Gazette. 18 February 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2012.