The countdown continues … after a deadline delay. Siam Park is now scheduled to open after unforeseen problems intervened, in the spring. But the wait will be worth it. The odds are that Costa Adeje and the great entrance-paying public won’t know what’s hit them when it does.
Touted as Europe’s largest aquatic theme park, it’s hardly a surprise that the complexities of its installations have caused a rescheduling of that original inauguration deadline.
But the hardest part, the actual installing of the machinery needed to drive the attractions, will be concluded by December or January by the latest, say Siam Park sources. After that it will be a matter of cleaning up and putting the artistic and botanical finishing touches to what promises to become Tenerife’s top tourist attraction after Mount Teide. And for not a few, possibly before it!
So if you’re still thinking Butlins-style water chutes, you’d better think again. Siam Park will be raising the bar on all that’s gone before when it comes to water parks, and that goes for the world, never mind just Europe.
Take, for instance, the Wave Palace where surfers will be able to do their thing, negotiating three metre high waves; then there are the tranquil charms of a lazy float down the tropical River Sawasdee; the more daring will be able to hurtle at speed through something called the Jungle Snake … then there’s the thrill of exploring a water-logged lost city, not to mention the scary allure of water chutes with names to strike terror into the timid: the Volcano, the Naga Racer, the Kamikaze, the Double Bowl and the Gigante.
Anyone who has ever been tempted to try their hand at white water rafting now has the chance to do so – on the Mekong Rapids – battered about in a five-seater boat.
As far as theme parks go, Tenerife’s latest will be a succession of superlatives. It will have the longest artificial slow flowing river in the world boasting the highest elevation in the world – up to 8 metres in parts. It will have the biggest artificial waves in the world; it will have the largest variety of chutes in the world and it will house the largest number of Thai buildings outside Asia in the world.
If the opening has been delayed, no matter. The timing, as far as island tourism is concerned, couldn’t be better. An attraction of this quality, on this scale and in this island represents a lifeline for Tenerife’s flagging tourism sector.
The vision, dedication and sheer hard graft behind the park is an inspiration. One can only hope that those in positions of power whose own vision and imagination seem sadly lacking by comparison take the message of Siam Park on board and that a bit of the inspirational magic rubs off on them.
For everyone’s sake.
Source: Tenerife News
New thrill -Vulcano
Momentum is so much cooler than gravity. Riders drop into a dramatic 60-foot bowl and swoop from side to side, half-pipe style, flying as high as 35 feet above the bottom of the funnel and getting vertical.