On The Up: Rotorua gets new mega waterslides just in time for summer

Rotorua has a new way to cool off – and tire the kids out.

Two “mega slides” open at 10am tomorrow at Adventure Playground in Ngongotahā.

Rotorua riders will have the option of a 150m or 90m slide, which Adventure Playground operations manager Helen Nicholls said would deliver a “complete bang” of an experience.

The slides would run in two-hour sessions, giving riders the chance to go down as many times as they liked within their allocated time.

This was the first time the slides had operated in Rotorua, Nicholls said.

She said some kids had the opportunity to test run the slides during a one-hour session. The children were “laughing” and having a “whole heap of fun”.

They managed to fit in about eight runs, Nicholls said, and by the end “they just wanted to keep going”.

Nicholls had a test slide herself and said she “just wanted to keep going as well”.

One question Nicholls said she was repeatedly asked was whether riders needed to walk back up the hill after sliding down. The answer is yes.

Nicholls said it was not a hard climb, with kids sprinting back up the hill.

And while the weather would always have its say, Nicholls said light rain would not stop play, as “you’re going to get wet regardless”.

The slides will operate on weekends until December 26, before switching to seven-day operation for the peak summer holiday period.

Four sessions are available each day, with all bookings required to be made online through wipeout.co.nz.

Sessions are priced from $19.90.

Nicholls said the slide was built in 30m modular sections, allowing it to be extended to around 600m. The full slide was last operated in 2019 during an attempt to break the world record for the longest waterslide, with thousands flocking to ride it down a long slope at Jonkers Farm near Bethells Beach on Auckland’s west coast.

Clips of the slides in action are available on Adventure Playground and Waterworld Waterparks’ Facebook and Instagram pages.

Adventure Playground’s other activities include archery, airsoft, clay bird shooting and four-wheel-drive buggy tours. With hopes of warm weather and school holidays looming, Nicholls said they were bracing for a busy summer.

Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.