Water fun whatever the weather (Wet 'n' Wild - UK)

Member Name: bluejules

Product:	Wet 'n' Wild - UK
Date:	21/09/09 (78 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, good slides,

Disadvantages: Cost, needs maintenance, gets busy in school holidays

Wet 'n' Wild is located in North Shields and is the UK's largest water park. It is located 1 mile from the north side entrance/exit of the Tyne Tunnel on the A187 North Shields road. It is located directly opposite Royal Quays Shopping Outlet.

== The Water Park ==

When you first go inside Wet n Wild you need to pay your entrance fee. You can hire a locker for 30p plus a £2 refundable deposit. The lockers are quite large and can easily be shared between 2 people. You cannot get into the water park until you've paid and entrance is through a turnstile. Once inside, you can see the swimming area and slides and you need to go downstairs to the changing area. The changing area is a unisex area with cubicles to get changed in. The cubicles on the end of each row are slightly larger and it says these can be used for family changing. There are a large number lockers so it's worth trying to remember where abouts your locker is so you don't spend ages looking for it.

The children's swimming area has a number of slides that appeal to young children. There's one that looks like a giant frog and the slide is the frogs tongue. Children must be younger than 10 to play on the slides and the staff are quite strict about this. They asked my nephew how old he was and when he said 10 they told him he could not play on the slides (much to his disappointment).

There is a swimming pool which periodically has waves (the start of which is signalled with a siren). There's a 'lazy river' which goes around most of the water park (including a little bit outside - next to where the picnic benches are) and there are rings in here so you can float gently around the river. There is a slight current so if you are on a ring you can float along quite easily. There are not very many rings though so when it's busy you have little chance of getting one. The water is not really deep enough to swim in (for an adult) but its quite pleasant walking around it if you fancy a break from the rides.

The slides are on a number of different floors and generally the higher the floor, the more extreme the ride. Floor one level rides are approximately twice the height of standard leisure pool slides. During off peak times the faster rides that need to be supervised at the top and bottom are only open at certain times. These times are displayed in a number of different places within the water park. I was there last week for about 2 hours and we were there when 2 of these slides opened and just missed the third one (me and my friend had to go to work) so they seem to be reasonably well timed.

Some of the slides you are required to go down on a ring. Two of the slides have double rings (The Black Hole and The Abyss) so two people go down together. Each slide has information at the start of the slide about how you can go down it, e.g on a ring, or without, sitting or lying down. On a couple of the slides you can take a child down on your knee. Some of the slides are lying down only and these ones the tubes are smaller. For many of them you can choose if you want to sit or lie (depending on if you want to go slow or fast). I found whilst sitting on some of them they seemed to slow down in the middle.

Showers are located next to the changing area and toilets are located on both floors. Spectators can sit in the café area which has a fairly limited view. You can go in the café area whilst in your swimming costume and then go back in the pool. I've just noticed that the website states that only food purchased in Wet n Wild can be consumed there but I never saw any signs there, and when I went with my sister and her children, we sat and ate our own sandwiches there and no one said anything.

== My experience ==

I live quite near here but only went for the first time this summer. I've now been twice, once with my sister and her children, and once with my friend.

It was my nephew's idea to go the first time as you are allowed to stay all day. My eldest nephew (12) didn't go on any of the rides but enjoyed swimming around the lazy river and relaxing in the Jacuzzi. I went on the canyon ride with my other nephew (10) and we both enjoyed it but as it was the school holidays we had to queue for about 15 minutes for the rings so we only went on once. My nephew didn't want to go on any of the other rides as he hadn't been on them before. My niece (3 at the time) enjoyed playing in the children's pool and slides in there as well as the lazy river (with me or my sister). I felt like the trip there with my sister and the children was a bit of a waste of money as it cost us around £50, we were only there around 2 hours and we hardly used any of the water slides. My nephew insisted that he would go on loads of the slides so it would be more worthwhile than going to a regular swimming pool. It didn't turn out this way but we did still have a good time.

The second time I went was just last week and I went with my friend. Some of our other friends think we're a bit childish going to Wet n Wild at 20 years of age but we both had a great time. We went on all the slides except the kamikaze as in all honesty neither of us liked the look of it at all. We both felt like we had done lots of exercise (in the form of swimming and walking up all the stairs) and it was certainly more energetic than our usually afternoon. We also had great fun on the all the rides and relaxing in the Jacuzzi. We enjoyed it so much that we are actually going back this week. We went on Thursday afternoon last week, and as it was during school hours it was fairly quiet so we didn't have to queue at all. Some of the staff started talking to us a little bit, as we were going round. There were other people there around our age as well as a couple of people older. Despite my friends thinking it's a childish place to go, we thoroughly enjoyed it!

Wet n Wild looks like it could do with being refurbished but it is still relatively clean. For example, my friend went about 8 years ago and she said the black hole was completely dark but when we were there last week you could see areas of light peering in, in parts where the tyres have worn the paint away. Overall though, this doesn't take away from the experience.


== Opening Times: ==
During the summer months Wet n Wild is open from 10-8pm (7pm on a Sunday). From September-June its open 12-7.30pm on weekdays (except Monday and Tuesdays when it's closed). The opening times vary sometimes so it's worth checking the website when you want to go or ringing up just to check that they are open.
== Admission Prices: ==

10am until 2 ½ hours before closing, Saturdays, Sundays, school and bank holidays

Standard: £9.95
Children under 1.2m, over 60's and registered disabled: £5.75
Spectators (limited viewing) £3.50

Weekdays outside of school/bank holidays:

Standard: £8.95
Children under 1.2m, over 60's and registered disabled: £4.50
Spectators (limited viewing) £3.50


Evening Special (everyday 2 and half hours before closing) £7.50 (£4.50 for children under 1.2m)

== Other Information ==

There is a large car park with parking areas for coaches too.
Telephone: 0191 296 1333
Address: Rotary Way, Royal Quays, North Shields, Tyne and Wear, NE29 6DA
Website: www.wetnwild.co.uk

== Overall ==

I would recommend Wet n Wild as it keeps the whole family entertained. It is quite expensive but bearing in mind that this is for a full day's entrance it is worth it.

Thanks for reading!

Summary: Fun for all the family