Sliders Lining Up to Ride

The district’s hottest new attraction has them lining up for more!

Last Thursday the new hydroslides at the Todd Energy Aquatic Centre opened for public use, and nearly every session has been booked out by children and adults alike.

“We’ve had 250 people going down the hydroslides every day since they opened, and people keep coming back for more,” says Manager Aquatic Recreation Operations Mike Roberts.

“We limit the number of users to 50 each session so that the queues aren’t too long and people can get between eight and 10 slides in an hour.

“We give users a wrist band for each hour-long session, and we’ve noticed that some kids are ending up with several bands on their arms – making a competition out of how many times they go on the hydroslides.

“They’ve taken to these hydroslides like ducks to water – the users come out with beaming faces and it’s fantastic for the staff to see their enthusiasm.”

Both the turboslide and the family slide are proving to be very safe when they are used as directed – with users lying on their backs feet-first for the entire ride – with only a few minor bumps among the thousands of customers so far.

“Generally those bumps are from people not lying down for the entire ride. If they make like a needle from go to woah, they come out wide-eyed from the ride and almost certainly bump-free,” says Mr Roberts.

A minor modification on the way is additional lighting within both the turboslide and the family slide so that night-time sessions can be run.

Users must be eight years or older and at least 120cm tall to ride the turboslide, while the family slide takes children 5-7 years who ride with an adult and eight-year-olds and up who ride on their own.

The opening special of $2.00 per session has been particularly popular, and after the school holidays the price will increase to $3.50 per session.

During the school term the hydroslides will operate for one public session on weekdays at 4.30pm, and five public sessions on Saturdays and Sundays from 11.00am.

The hydroslides are also available on weekdays for group bookings during the school term.