Master Blaster
A slide that pushes you uphill on jets of water, billed by the park as the world's longest indoor roller-coaster water slide.
Gerald England — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Gerald England — CC BY-SA 2.0
On Blackpool's South Promenade, where the Irish Sea wind blows all year, sits a low building that promises nothing from the outside. Inside it is warm, humid, planted with artificial palms, and fitted with what the park counts as eighteen slides and attractions. The famous one is Master Blaster, a slide that pushes you uphill on jets of water rather than simply dropping you; the park bills it as the world's longest indoor roller-coaster water slide. It opened in 1986 on the site of the old open-air baths and is still owned by Blackpool Council, which has taken the running of it back in house. The wave pool, the lazy river, the children's play areas and all the slides are covered by one admission price, and there is no longer a separate wristband to buy for the big rides. What gates those is size rather than money: Master Blaster, Montazooma and Aztec Falls are 8 and over with a 1.20m minimum, the vertical-drop Sidewinder takes 6 and over at 1.10m, and all of them cap riders at 18 stone, about 114kg. If your children are smaller than that, work out what they will actually get to ride before you book. A ticket is not a day pass but a three-hour session starting at a time you pick when you book. Booking online saves £2 a head and is not optional but required: capacity is capped and sessions sell out, so turning up on spec is a poor plan. Opening hours swing a lot by day and season — in the shoulder months it may run 10:30 to 14:30 and close entirely on Monday and Tuesday, Friday can be an evening session from 4pm to 8pm, and school holidays bring longer days and more sessions. Check the calendar before you drive over. Honestly, this is not a reason to travel to Blackpool. It is the best answer to a rainy day with children, and Blackpool supplies plenty of those. For exactly that reason it fills up when it rains and during half-term, and the queues for the big slides stretch. The pool is mixed and there are no women-only or family-only sessions, so if that matters to you, this place does not offer it. The tram stops right outside, Blackpool South station is about a fifteen-minute walk, and council car parks are close but fill in summer.
A slide that pushes you uphill on jets of water, billed by the park as the world's longest indoor roller-coaster water slide.
It is kept at tropical temperatures all year, which makes it Blackpool's first answer to a wet day.
The park asks everyone to book online, sessions sell out, and booking early saves £2 a head and locks in your session time.
South Beach, South Promenade, Blackpool FY4 1BB
South Pier, BlackpoolThe shortest of Blackpool's three piers and by some distance the loudest: 149 me3 minutes walk4.1
Blackpool Pleasure BeachIn 1904 Sir Hiram Maxim bolted his Captive Flying Machine onto the sand of Black6 minutes walk4.4
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Madame Tussauds BlackpoolWax figures have stood on this stretch of Blackpool's Promenade since 1929, but 25 minutes walk4.5Usually not. On a clear day the beach, the Pleasure Beach and the piers are a better use of your time and money. Keep Sandcastle for the wet day or the afternoon the weather collapses, which in Blackpool it often does.
No. The pool is mixed at every session and the park runs no women-only times. It does advertise accessible sessions for guests with additional needs, but that is not segregation. If segregation is a condition for you, look instead for a local council pool that advertises women-only sessions.