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FAQs

SPLASHDOWN POOLE FAQ'S

Below are some of our most commonly asked questions about visiting Splashdown 

BUYING TICKETS TO THE WATERPARK

Should I buy my tickets in advance?

All our tickets must be purchased in advance. We have a fantastic online booking system which allows you to easily book and tailor your visit with extras! We do NOT accept walk-up admissions. 

What is the busiest time of day?

This depends on the time of year you wish to visit. Compared with pre-pandemic levels, we are still running with reduced capacities, as we found it benefitted our customers with a better experience. However, during the Dorset School Holidays we would always expect the demand to be high. It is not unusual for whole days to sell out often a few days in advance. If you have a time and date in mind when you wish to visit, we would recommend booking in advance.

If you are visiting with younger children, we would recommend visiting first thing as soon as we open before we reach capacity.

Can I book over the phone?

Unfortunately, not, all admissions must be purchased online before arrival. However, if you wish to book a Group visit you will need to enquire before hand by calling our groups and parties co-ordinators on 01202 711570 or via email at groupsandparties@lemurattractions.co.uk

 

I want to add a spectator or under 5 to my booking but the arrival times don't match?

Our fully priced admissions have arrival windows in 15 minute time slots, however under 5’s and spectator tickets are different. They both have arrival windows, you should match this with the 15 minute time slot on your other tickets. Both under 5 tickets and spectators can then stay for the duration of your fully priced tickets.

What extras can I add to my booking? 

That depends on what tickets you are purchasing. All tickets have the option to add a meal deal, which is cheaper if purchased online compared with on site. Regular admissions you can also add a souvenir locker token so you don’t have to worry about that £1 coin when you arrive or glasses bags

Glasses are NOT permitted to be worn on the slides, for the safety of yourself and others. If you wish to wear them while moving around poolside, in queues or in the jacuzzi/bubble bench you will need to purchase a glasses bag so you can safely contain them when on the rides. We do not make any money on the sale of these bags. If you rely on your glasses we would strongly encourage you to wear prescription goggles.

On under 5 tickets you can add on swim nappies and armbands as extras, we have various sizes available on site.

Why do I have to pay a booking fee? 

We charge a nominal fee per booking (opposed to per ticket) to cover the cost of providing the booking system. 

Do you offer any discounts on standard admissions?

Yes, babies-in-arms (under 1) are free, you will just need to purchase a ticket for yourself at the reduced rate of £9. Children under the age of 5, who are not using the slides can use our other facilities for the reduced rate of £9 and their accompanying adult will be charged the same, £18 in total for the two admissions. You can see a further breakdown of our under 5 ticket types here.

We do NOT offer carer admissions, if you need additional accessibility information please follow this link

How much will it cost if I want to spectate and not swim?

Splashdown Poole is a family experience and so we encourage all the family to take the plunge when they visit. We do offer limited seating in our cafe and on our seasonal sun terraces. However, lots of spectators affects our building capacity and restrict the number of people we can allow in who want to use the flumes, and so we do charge a Non-Flumer (spectator) admission of £6 per person. This does include a complimentary hot drink, dispensed fizzy drink or bottle of water.

These are ‘dry clothes’ admissions with no wetside access except to the outside sun terraces. Non-Flumer (spectator) tickets can be purchased online. Please note, there is only limited availability for these tickets, if there are none left online they are sold out. No more can be purchased and you will need to select a different admission time.

Are my tickets refundable or exchangeable?

If you create an account when making your booking, you will be able to amend the date and time of your visit up to 120 hours in advance of your visit. If you wish to change closer to your visit or if you have not made an account, at the management’s discretion, with a minimum of 24 hours notice, emailed requests to ticketadmin@lemurattractions.co.uk to alter date and time of visit will be considered.

If you do not communicate with us in good time we will not be able to help you change. No shows will NOT be refunded under any circumstances.

Tickets purchased are taken from an allocation that has a maximum and your purchase will prevent them from being purchased and used by other visiting customers if you change your mind after booking.

Do I need to print off my online ticket confirmation?

No, your email confirmation will include a barcode which we will scan on arrival. This can be scanned from either a printed confirmation or on your smartphone. We can also locate your booking via using the name or email it was booked under, although scanning the barcode will always be preferred. If you have not received your booking confirmation, please check your junk/spam folders before calling us. You can also contact us via Google or Facebook if you have any issues outside of the hours of our phone service, we are often able to answer these out of normal office hours.

 

Why do I need to decide what food I want on my meal deal when booking?

We ask for you to choose what food item you want with your meal deal in order to help our team accurately prepare food each day and minimise food wastage. If on the day of your visit, you wish to have a different item of food and it's available you may swap. 

What if I booked a ticket on your old booking system?

You will know if you booked via our old system, as there won't be a barcode on your email confirmation (which will be from Lemur Attractions)

WATERPARK FACILITIES

Is there anything for younger children to do apart from the slides?

At Splashdown waterpark, Poole we offer a great selection of facilities suitable for our younger visitors, under-confident or novice swimmers to enjoy. Whilst little ones aged 6 and under can enjoy Ricky's Reef toddler pool, under 7's can splash about in our interactive water play area, Buccaneer Splash and enjoy our seasonal outdoor splash area, Buccaneer Beach.

We recommend that families with small children visit at the quieter periods of the day during school holidays i.e. first thing in the morning or later on towards the end of the day, by buying a Sunset Splash ticket in peak times or visit during off-peak seasons – this will ensure your maximum enjoyment. For more information please see our VISITING WITH UNDER 7s page.

Under 5 tickets do NOT give access to the slides. 

Can we use our own tyres?

No, we have a large selection of tyres onsite for our indoor and outdoor tyre rides. We ensure daily that we have enough to cater to the capacity of the rides.

What changing facilities do you have?

We offer a unisex changing village with individual private cubicles. There is a selection of larger family changing cubicles, some with baby changing facilities in them.

Is smoking allowed onsite?

No, the use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes is strictly prohibited on the premises.

Do you have lockers and how much are they?

Yes, there are sufficient lockers in our changing rooms. These are operated with a £1 coin, returned on the re-opening of the locker. If you don't have a pound with you please ask at reception on entry and they can add £1 to your order and you can take home a souvenir Splashdown locker token, that can be used in supermarket trollies too!

There are also change machines at the entrance to the changing rooms opposite the vending machines.

If you are visiting with a group larger group lockers are available please ask for the key for one of those, if required.

Do you have a swimming pool?

No, we do not have a conventional swimming pool at Splashdown although we do have Ricky's Reef a toddler pool suitable for children aged 6 and under with adult supervision.

Can I bring my own food?

No, we do not permit picnicking at Splashdown Poole but we do offer a wide variety of food and drink options ( please ask about special dietary requirements) on-site. All food and drink consumed at Splashdown must be purchased on the premises. Please do not be offended if you are asked to put your own food and drink away.

Can I use my camera in the waterpark?

Sorry, no, the use of any equipment capable of recording still or moving images is strictly prohibited without prior permission from the waterpark management.  As you can appreciate public bathing areas are sensitive and we must maintain the privacy of our other customers as much as possible.  If you really would like to take a picture to remember your time at Splashdown you can do outside the doors or ask if you can use the party room which has a Splashdown branded backdrop for pictures and we have our very own social media hashtag - #splashdownwaterparks

WATERPARK SAFETY & SWIMWEAR

How tall do I need to be to use the rides?

Visitors must be at least 1m tall to ride the flumes and 1.2m to ride Infinity.

Do your slides have a weight limit?

No, but we do offer advice on the slides based on the individuals BMI. If an individuals BMI exceeds 30 we recommend that they talk to one of our duty managers before purchasing tickets to the waterpark. A BMI of 30 or more may make the individual more susceptible to injury and compromise the rescue procedures outlined in our emergency action plan. 

Mesasure your BMI using the NHS Healthy Weights calculator

If I am pregnant or have health problems can I ride the flumes?

Our rides are not suitable for visitors who are pregnant, recovering from recent surgery, injury or suffer from heart, back or neck problems OR recent or recurrent dislocation OR received advice from a medical person that they should avoid exercise.  The waterpark is a physical environment and you should be reasonably fit to enter the slides.

Visitors who have recently suffered from sickness and diarrhoea symptoms should wait 48 hours since their last episode before visiting the waterpark. 

PLEASE DO NOT COME TO THE WATERPARK IF YOU HAVE ANY OF THE KNOWN SYMPTOMS OF CORONA VIRUS - FOLLOW THE NHS GUIDELINES.

Do I need to be able to swim?

Ideally yes, we strongly recommend that visitors using the flumes have an adequate swimming ability but you can still have fun and be safe if you feel that you are confident in the water. We have a variety of flumes with water depths ranging from 0.5m - 2m.

We strongly recommend that weak swimmers  do not ride Infinity as it has a 2m deep exit tank and make sure that you check the water depth at the exit of any other slide before you ride. Black Thunder, Colorado Coaster, Baron’s Revenge all have deeper water exits and Mississippi Drifter is just over 1m deep throughout.

All other slides empty into shallow catch trays and are more suited to those who are less confident. Red River Roller is a good flume to start with. However, only you can decide how confident you are in your swimming ability in relation to the slide information provided, if in any doubt please speak to a member of the team.

Can younger children wear armbands?

Yes, if a child is not so confident in the water then armbands are the best option. 

What is the required adult to child ratio? 

Children aged 12 and above may enter the waterpark unaccompanied at the risk of their parent /carer

Children aged 9-11 may use the slides at the waterpark where they have an adult in the spectator area and are accompanied by at least one other slider aged 9 or above around the waterpark

Children aged Under 9 must be supervised everywhere in the waterpark including the slides by an adult (18+) as the supervising adult you should not be directly supervising more than two children 5-8 at one time

Children aged Under 5 must be supervised on a 1:1 basis everywhere in the waterpark at all times

Can I wear goggles? 

While we suggest you don’t wear goggles, as it can worsen impact injuries, however, goggles may be worn at the management's discretion. 

Can I wear glasses?

Unfortunately, we don’t allow you to wear glasses on the flumes as they can cause damage if sliders collide and can be easily lost.  Prescription goggles are allowed. Please see wearing goggles above.

Can I wear piercings and jewellery?

Noboth must be removed before entering the waterpark.  We recommend that you leave jewellery and any loose piercings at home. Please do not be offended if we ask you to remove these items. It is for your safety.

What is viewed as unacceptable swimwear?

Cut off jeans and trousers, baggy shorts beyond knee length and transparent/inappropriate costumes are not permitted and we ask that you do not wear swimwear with zips or buttons as these may damage the flumes. Please be aware that bikini tops can be dislodged.

We prefer that you do not wear t-shirts as it can slow you up on the flumes. However, in certain circumstances, discretion by the Duty Manager may be given, and should you ask about wearing a T-Shirt when entering, you will be given a disclaimer to sign. 

If you have specific dress requirements for religious reasons - speak to a Duty Manager. Any alternative attire must be appropriate to swim in e.g. Burkini

Please be advised white and luminous coloured swimwear does have a tendency to go transparent, management will ask those they feel to be dressed inappropriately to get changed. We also cannot guarantee the fastness of the colour of your swimwear, although we use normal pool chemicals it may affect the colour. Some costumes are simply not for swimming pool use.

Can I buy swimwear onsite?

Yes, we stock a limited range of swimming costumes, towels, armbands and swim nappies which can be purchased from our café. If your child is not regularly asking for the loo or has ‘accidents’ please make sure you do not enter the water without them wearing a swim nappy.

COVID-19

Can I still visit even if I have symptoms?

If you have Covid-19 or known symptoms you should NOT attend the waterpark.  Anyone with symptoms of vomiting or diarrhoea should not attend the waterpark until symptoms have been clear for 48 hours.

What is the arrival process? Will there be direct contact with staff?

Please arrive as normal through our main entrance. We have minimised all contact required. All staff will be issued with relevant PPE, and it will be worn as determined by our risk assessments, we will only be taking online bookings - so there should be no need for cash handling or using our chip and pin machines.

Do I need to wear a face covering?

Face coverings are a matter of personal choice in indoor venues. 

Are you still enforcing social distancing? 

Social distancing is no longer a regulation.  However, we have made a number of changes in the building's management and volume of visitors that should make this easier should you wish to make a bit more room for yourselves. Please respect anyone in front of you in the slide queues who has chosen to leave a reasonable gap in front of them.

Will capacity be reduced during my visit? 

A permanent change to how we manage our visitor numbers and building now means that the number of people in the waterpark at any one time is considerably less than our allowed building capacity and will remain to ensure a good experience for visitors.

How have you prepared against Coronavirus?

Waterparks are safe places to visit normally, however, we have made some additional changes to ensure our hygiene is of the highest standard. Key touchpoints and communal areas will be regularly sanitised. 

We continue to keep up with developments and react appropriately to the continued presence of coronavirus.

TRAFFIC & TRAVEL

How do I get to Splashdown Poole?

Splashdown Waterpark is located on Tower Park Leisure Complex, just off Dorset Way (A3049), north of Poole town centre and approximately 20 minutes from the centre of Bournemouth. Follow the brown tourist signs from all approaches to Tower Park. SAT-NAV should use the postcode BH12 4NY. Not travelling by car? Check out our Find Us section for details of public transport alternatives.

Do I have to pay for parking?

No, Tower Park provides FREE car parking day and night with 24 hour CCTV in operation. However, on busy days it can be difficult to find a space, and we advise that visitors arrive in good time for your visit to the waterpark to allow for parking congestions.

SPLASHDOWN GALLERY