Entry Price UPDATE: Album Above
Latest as at Monday, January 25: Splash Jungle offers introductory rates at 1795 baht ++/adult and 1050 baht ++ /children (Height 100-130 cm). Free of charge for children under 100 centimetres and for Thai Residents 1500 baht++ Introductory rates valid to April 30, 2010. For more information or reservations, contact hotline: +66 076 372 111
Original Report
FINISHING touches are now being applied to Splash Jungle, Phuket's first world-class theme park, which will be open to the public from Saturday, January 30.
Phuketwan took the first exclusive tour. Our conclusion: we think islanders and visitors will be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the waterpark and take the plunge in droves.
The Splash Jungle waterpark is part of the West Sands Resort, on Mai Khao beach and so close to Phuket International Airport that the waterslide tower also provides a great view of aircraft takeoffs and landings.
A fleet of 12 colorful minibuses will soon be seen crisscrossing Phuket, picking up and dropping off guests in much the same way that FantaSea buses do now.
At first sight on a guided ''dry run'' this week, Splash Jungle is impressive.
We can't wait until the island takes the advice on the front of the brochures, now being distributed in their thousands: ''Phuket. Let's get wet!''
In preparation for the big opening, we took a walk on the wild slide with a man who probably knows more about the place than anyone: the director of operations and waterpark general manager, Christopher R. Stuart.
While the whole space is huge, capable of holding 2000 people soaking wet, the tower is what catches your eye instantly. Boomerango, the Super Bowl, the thrills and spills really start from up here.
Down below, jungle green scenes were being painted on walls near the large entranceway, which leads to a car park for 200 vehicles and a large changing room pavilion.
We resisted the temptation to take a dry run down one of the flume tunnels, having wisely left our Billabongs at home. If we'd been dressed for the occasion, the temptation might have proven too much.
''I've been doing water parks for 30 years,'' said Mr Stuart. ''This is a very exciting project because truly there's something for everyone. We have some innovative rides.
''First there's the Boomerango. There's a steep drop that goes into a back and forth oscillating ride, which gives the sensation of a fall out or freefall, then riders go clear up on a near vertical wall, then there's a back and forth sensation until it works out into a splash pool at the end.
''I would say it's exciting for the thrill-seekers. The one next to it is also high-thrill.
''You enter from the same height level as the Boomerango. There's a steep drop then you go into this bowl, we call it the Super Bowl.
''As the circumference reduces, the speed increases. You come out the bottom into a splash pool at the end. Both of these rides can be taken in a double or a single tube.''
We had to be restrained from taking the plunge right then and there. If only a double tube had been within reach.
From the top of the slide tower there are more conventional paths to the bottom, too, on the slide flumes.
You just jump in, and the water and gravity do the rest. Around us, the eight-storey condos of the West Sands Resort hem in the waterpark.
Owners and guests in that accommodation will have excellent views of the non-stop action and probably be within earshot of squeals of delight, too.
There are five giant slides and five smaller slides, squirt guns . . . you can't keep from getting wet. Height determines whether children can ride the more daring thrills.
At ground level are the Splash Jungle theme parks, surrounded by the Lazy River where those inclined to a more leisurely pace can do a circuit of 335 metres to investigate all that's on offer.
''We've done some preliminary tests . . . it should all be great,'' said Mr Stuart, who has been involved with waterparks since the industry's infancy.
''They've come a long way in the last 30 years,'' he said. ''Especially in the slide design, and the improvement in safety.''
Mr Stuart started out in the US and has opened several parks there, as well as in Korea and China.
''Right now the growth is in Asia,'' he said. ''Splash Jungle is probably medium size, but in rides and attractions, we're state of the art.''
Mr Stuart's last assignment was an indoor waterpark at a snow-skiing resort in Idaho. He has been on Phuket for two months.
''Next week we are going to do a sales blitz and visit some of the resorts and travel agents so we can introduce ourselves, and that will give me an opportunity to get out and see some of the island's attractions.''
He sees the location, to the north of the airport, as easy to reach for people using the shuttle bus service.
The technology behind the park, or more appropriately beneath the park, is also state of the art. A labyrinth of chambers and pumping systems will keep the waterpark functioning.
The perfectly formed waves in the Wave Pool, for example, will be generated by blower fans below.
''We have sophisticated infrastructure to support the waterpark,'' Mr Stuart said. ''Our filtration, circulation and disinfectant systems are all state of the art.
''Our system is automated so that we can continually monitor the chlorine and pH level and inject only the chlorine that we need to have crystal-clear water.''
The original water for the first real ''fill'' will be trucked in. After that, supplies will come from a water well.
''You might think that a water park is a water hog but that's not the case,'' he said. ''All the water is recirculated. We really only use what is evaporated and the small amount that people carry off on their bodies.
''Water conservation is important to us. That's why we recirculate all the water.''
So shake yourself off before leaving the pool . . . .
And Mr Stuart appears to be correct. There is something for everybody.
Fancy a dip in an ice-motif warm springs spa, or a sauna in an igloo? Hey, no problem.
Rent a Jungle Hut Cabana all day, try some Terrazona sunbathing, check out the Aqua Play Pool, swim up to the Splash Bar, or eat at the Coconut Cafe or the Jungle Deli.
The waterpark is equipped to light up at night, which would add another dimesion. But for now, it's daytime only, 10am-6pm.
Being open at nights during high season is ''very possible'' for the future.
Traditionally, the representative from the water slide manufacturer takes the first ride. We're assured that they haven't lost a ''slide pilot'' yet.
Resort managers, concierges and families are being invited to the waterpark this weekend, Saturday January 23 or Sunday January 24 between 10am until 6pm. RSVP via email: splashjungle@west-sands.com
WEST SANDS Resort has a new senior team, with Tony Cousens as Chief Executive Officer and Sean Boyle as Director of Resort Operations.
Splash Jungle hotline: +66 (0) 76 372111 www.splash-jungle.com
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Posted by Arom on January 16, 2010 11:13