Ad disclosure: We were invited to this press event free of charge for the purpose of this blog post.
Saturday evening we picked up Lydia’s bestie and headed up the M6 to attend the VIP media event at Waterworld in Stoke-on-Trent. The girls both really enjoy swimming and Lydia especially loves a good water ride or flume. All three were very excited to get going, and with a pit stop to fuel them up at McDonalds in Stafford we were soon pulling into the car park at Waterworld.
I grew up around half an hour from the water park, so I have good memories of going swimming there when I was younger – my brother-in-law was actually a lifeguard there a few decades ago! This year is actually Waterworld’s 35th birthday and it was interesting to see how much has changed over the years.
First impressions as we entered the building were good; the lobby area has a Subway and dessert cafe area, along with a shop selling swim gear and souvenirs, as well as the reception desk. Once we were through the entrance barrier we headed into the unisex changing rooms, which are well equipped with plenty of large changing cubicles (including a number with baby/toddler changing stations), showers, lockers and everything you need in a changing area. The lockers use a wristband with contactless technology that you can hire for a £5 refundable deposit at reception, and are super easy to use.
Once we were all changed we headed into the water park, and the girls were straight into the pool as the waves were on and they were soon happily splashing and swimming around, having plenty of fun. The next two hours were filled with plenty of smiles and laughter as they explored the whole building full of water based fun; racing on the family multislide, speeding down the flumes, floating around the rapids, and relaxing in the bubble pools.
Waterworld has a large number of flumes, many of which are suitable for all ages. Some of them are height restricted, but the girls were tall enough to go on any ride they wanted too, so they tried almost all of them between them.
Heading up the stairs in the centre of the complex leads you to five different flumes:
- The Python – a recently refurbished flume that is as slithery as the name suggests. Guests under 1.1m can ride with an adult
- The Blackhole – a flume that has you sliding down in the dark. Guests under 1.1m can ride with an adult
- Superflume – a flume full of twists and turns. Guests under 1.1m can ride with an adult.
- Twister – a super speedy flume. Minimum height 1.1m
- Space Bowl – this flume ends in a bowl where you circle ‘down the drain’ into a 2m deep plunge pool. Eliza enjoyed this one! Minimum height 1.1m and only suitable for stronger swimmers.
Tornado Alley, which was added in 2019, has an additional four slides:
- Hurricane – a super fast flume with in slide lighting effects between stretches of darkness. Minimum height 1.2m
- Cyclone – this one was one of Lydia’s favourites, you slide down using a rubber ring and end up travelling through two bowl type areas between lengths of flume. Minimum height 1.2m
- Stormchaser – a looping flume with stretches of in slide lighting, you use a rubber ring to slide down this long ride. Minimum height 1.2m
- Thunderbolt – the UK’s first trap door drop water flume. Minimum height 1.4m
The family friendly area has a number of things for younger visitors in particular to enjoy:
- Interactive Jungle House – a climbing frame with water cannons, rope swings and a rope bridge
- Jungle Flumes – escape the jungle house down these two junior flumes
- Toddler Slides – some simple toddler friendly slides that end in shallow water
- Toddler Boat Slide – little ones can climb to the top of the boat before sliding down into knee high water
In addition, Waterworld has a good range of slides and areas to enjoy:
- Typhoon Lagoon Wave Pool – a decent size wave pool where strong swimmers can enjoy 1.4m waves in the deepest part, while toddlers can splash around safely in the shallows.
- Rapids – not for weak swimmers, the rapids propel you around & around – all three of the girls loved this area and I have fond memories of enjoying them years ago! Minimum height 1.1m
- Family Multislide – this wavy multislides lets four people race each other to the bottom. Guests under 1.1m can ride with an adult
- Nucleus – this ‘water rollercoaster’ has you riding a rubber ring up and down and was Lydia’s favourite ride overall. Minimum height 1.1m
- Bubble Pools – there are several bubble pools and they are the ideal place to relax
- Outdoor Pool – this is open seasonally, and includes a bubble pool and a lazy river
There is plenty of seating around the edge of the family area and in the Watersedge Cafe, where you can grab a drink or bite to eat.
You do need to pay for a ticket to sit inside the aqua park, so even if you don’t want to swim but want to sit & watch your family enjoy themselves you will need to pay to sit in the cafe. Non swimmers can wait in the large reception area, but there aren’t any observation areas like in many leisure centres. If you are supervising young swimmers, however, you are expected to be in the water with them, not just watching from the waters edge.
One thing I noted that I liked was this lost child area next to the toddler friendly area. A known spot to return to if you lose your parents is a great idea in such a large facility.
A day out to Waterworld isn’t very cheap, but locals can save money and grab annual passes if they want to visit often. I could easily see us making the (well over an hour) drive to go as a special treat, like a birthday outing, in future. They only limit your session time in very busy periods, so you can easily spend a day there, eating lunch in the cafe, and relaxing between activities in the bubble pools or beside the pools.
Lydia says: I think that Waterworld is AMAZING! There are so many fun things to do and flumes to ride. There are activities suitable for all ages and a wide variety of different actions required: whether its swimming, floating or sitting in an inflatable ring. If you go to Waterworld, you are guaranteed a fun time!
Georgie says: I would love to revisit Waterworld eventually, as I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular slides and wonderful wave pool. I particularly liked the remarkable rapids.
