Sugarworld Water Park reopens with a bang

Laura Packham

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

© The Cairns Post

AFTER an almost two-year hiatus and a $5.5 million overhaul, the gates to the revamped Sugarworld Water Park opened yesterday. 

A growing line of eager children and families stretched down the road outside Edmonton’s waterslide wonderland, as thousands of people poured in. Excited young faces queued in snaking lines to the three major slides, with a mat or raft in hand, ready to test-run the ride and give their verdict.

And the biggest show-stopper on opening day proved to be the Four Lane Racer. Children, teens and adults fired down the four 75m slides in a battle to the bottom, gaining plenty of air along the way. "It’s great," Redlynch student Chelsea Haben, 15, said.  "I never thought they’d ever do it."

The yellow Raft Slide was also hugely popular with one to two-seater person rafts shooting down three loop-turns, before a big-splash finale at the bottom. With no rafts required, the fast-paced red 100m Supajet Body Slide attracted plenty of thrill-seekers, who blasted down the two-looped adventure ride.

Sugarworld spokeswoman Ersilia Phipps said she was overjoyed by the opening day success. "Edmonton needed this and, more broadly, Cairns needed this too, given the economy at the moment," she said. Edmonton mother Sue Mann, who lives adjacent to the park, said her family would reap the benefits of the water park. "I’ve got two young kids so I can’t wait for the kids section to open," she said.

Kids Interactive Play Station is due for a February finish.

Open 10am-4.30pm, seven days a week over the school holidays

After January 22: Open Sat & Sun from 10am-4.30pm

Closes 3pm Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

Closed December 25 & 26.

Adults $15, Children 5-13 years (110cm & over) $12. Family Rate (2 parents & 2 children)

$46. Children 3-5 years (under 110cm) $4 (includes use of pools only).

Children under 3 free.

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