UK’s once-biggest water park with 9 ‘thrill-factor’ rides seen abandoned – as fans call for it to reopen
BRITAIN’S once-biggest indoor water park with nine ‘thrill-factor’ rides lies abandoned and decaying – with fans calling for it to re-open.
Wet ‘n’ Wild in North Shields, Tyne and Wear, closed in 2020 due to financial difficulties.
It was home to attractions like star ride The Black Hole – a two-person tyre slide, The Kamikaze, Calamity Canyon, The Mistral, The Cyclone, The Hurricane and The Tempest.
One of its main selling points when first opening was the controlled indoor climate, heated to a ‘tropical’ 29C.
Photos from February this year show it in a sorry state, with the slides themselves still in place and the surrounding vegetation growing out of control, and glass facades boarded up.
The once-bright rides are now cracked and dull, with the pools empty.
Many fans on social media have called for it to spruced up and re-opened.
Amie Tiffin said: “Bring it back, please. We need this, loved this food court… awesome times I’ve had there.”
Wayne Fenwick added: “Hope they will do it back up.”
Rachel Belk said: “Loved Wet n Wild. Needs bringing back!”
Cheryl Brittain said: “Fabulous memories, wish it would re-open!”
Lisa Pearson said: “Fantastic day out. Wish it could still exist to take my kids. They would love it.”
The park, located in the Royal Quays complex and which opened in 1993, was a major employer in the area.
Final operator Serco Leisure said declining visitor numbers outside of school holidays and weekends meant it was not sustainable.
The park also boasted a wave machine, rapids and a lazy river.
A Space Bowl slide was ordered in 2012, but the construction was eventually scrapped.
Serco took over the lease in 2014 after the previous operator went into administration the year before.
Despite initially investing in a refurbishment, eventually similar financial challenges arose.
The climate control element was quickly abandoned to save money.
Serco purchased the building outright in 2020 for a reported £3.2 million but it remains unclear what the future of the site is.
An urban explorer ventured inside the abandoned site in October 2023, and tried to go down some of the slides, describing the experience as “amazing”.
Writing on TripAdvisor, they said: “It was a bit dark in there as all the windows were boarded up but we didn’t let that bother us.
“The changing rooms were a bit dusty and half way through our experience an alarm went off.
“We had to find some sort of panel to turn it off.
“After that I was excited to go and try the slides. Unfortunately, they were about grubby and boarded up. Some of the track was missing.
“That was unfortunate. I didn’t let that stop me though. I went down this elephant slide in the baby area and I went in this wave pool.
“There was even a little boat slide still open but had no water.”
The Sun has approached Serco for comment.