When the temperatures surpass 30 degrees you know it is time for a day in a water park. Unfortunately, the same idea usually hits another half million people. But luckily we have two water parks close by to choose from. The last few times we went to Aqualandia so this time we decided to choose Aqua Natura (and no, that ‘2 for 1’ coupon had nothing to do with it:).
As regards the price Aqua Natura is cheaper than Aqualandia and often has special promotions or discount vouchers available. Box office price for Aqualandia is 38 euros and if purchased online the ticket costs 32 euros (29 and 25 for kids respectively). It also offers afternoon tickets valid from 3pm for 25 euros (21 for kids) and this is how we usually visited it: not only that it costs cheaper to enter, but you also save on the lunch which as a rule is overpriced in the park and is of mediocre quality. Aqua Natura, on the other hand, costs 30 euros for adults and 24 for kids and has no special price for the afternoon visits. But it often has 10 euro discount vouchers available a
t McDonalds, gives away ‘2 for 1’ coupons (the last one I found at Cepsa gasoline station) or has offers on Groupon (there is currently one selling adult ticket for 19 euros). The only discount I ever encountered for Aqualandia was at Alicante airport and it was 8 euros discount from the box office price.
But the most important are of course the slides and here undoubtedly wins Aqualandia. It is much bigger and has much more slides to enjoy, larger children play zones and less rigid height limits. In fact in Aqua Natura almost all slides but two the smallest ones required minimum 120cm height. On top their measures were not very accurate since Tilius is 126 and when measured he seemed to be just on the limit making him anxious every time if he is allowed to go or not. And poor Elin was confined to a small children play zone and two ‘babies’ slides. In Aqualandia the bigger sli
des require measuring 125 cm but there are numerous slides and two big play zones for smaller kids. On the other hand Aqualandia counts many more visitors than Aqua Natura resulting in longer queues and lost time in waiting.
So I would say that Aqualandia is better for the families with pre-school kids for having nicer playzones. Once they reach 120 cm (or 125 to be on a safe side) it could be more interesting to go to Aqua Natura as the rides are rather moderate (making me question whether such a rigid height limit is necessary for some of them) and the queues are short. And when the kids are teens, then they will find Aqualandia more fun as it has some more extreme rides.
And the final note: parking at Aqualandia is free and it is 5 euros at Aqua Natura. The rent of seats is 4 euros at Aqua Natura and those seats are necessary since all the park is covered in concrete while in Aqualandia the rent is 5 euros but there are numerous green zones where you just can extend your towel or you can sit at picnic places with tables and benches.
Photo: on cover Elin in Aqua Natura children play zone; the two little slides in Aqua Natura that Elin could use
which we buy anyway, just maybe not four packs at a time. So far sounds like a good deal, right? However, this supposed saving meant that we had to drive 300km to get to Teruel, book a hotel for two nights and still pay for adult tickets (28 euros each!), not to mention eating out, etc. But I can’t say we regret it! It was a great weekend that transported us to Jurassic.
t the entrance price is not adequate to what you get inside. But who am I to judge because our little explorers said that it is the best dino park ever! Indeed, regardless of apparent lack of entertainment (for us, adults) we have spent the whole day in the park and our exploresaurus still wanted more.
ve 120cm so Elin could not join us though I have to say that it was not scary or extreme and I would believe that the restriction is too high. On the other hand Tilius was not allowed on two rides for smaller kids where the maximum set was 120cm. So all in all they were equal. We all loved palaeontology museum with numerous fossils and reconstructions of skeletons. And we all hated the food. But I guess it is a standard in this type of establishments:).
ing towns and looking at the buildings, they loved the place. Actually later, in Cuenca which is famous for its hanging houses, they said that it is just a copy of ‘that other little village’.
re biscuits…
trance and is located in the former salt factory. It has (obviously) lots of salt in big and small pieces and kids loved to touch it and to check out various factory equipment. There are also several binoculars to look at flamingos fishing in surrounding salt pools and some of them can be seen up close in the pond outside the museum’s entrance.
(or not) on the ride depending on the category of the bracelet. Thus it may make sense to round up the age to a higher category to avoid disappointment that your ‘almost 8 year old’ is not allowed to go on, e.g. go carts. It may also allow you to escape the necessity to accompany the kids on the rides as on some rides the younger ones need to be accompanied by an adult. While the park has a lot of different rides, including huge slides, a rollercoaster, trampolines, horror room, etc, it is mostly amusing for the boys since they can go on quads, go carts and spend hours on electric bumper cars (our boys were always on the move making it impossible to make a photo:).