Fifteen days had passed since the summer vacations had started. Excessive work pressure and relentless travelling added to my being absent from home over long periods of time resulting in incessant complaining from the kids and a feeling of acute helplessness that any father feels in such a situation.
Somehow, the universe conspired to make things fall in place for me as my wife had to go away from home for a day and the same day I was invited to check out the one year old water park from the Adlabs-Imagica family – Aquamagica.
So on that hot, sweltering morning, dad and daughters headed to Aquamagica located around 68 kilometres from Mumbai on the Mumbai- Pune Highway. The drive from home was a lot of fun due to a relatively less crowded expressway leading to Aquamagica and the kids crooning their favourite numbers from their latest favourite boy group One Direction and in the process, trying to convert their aging dad into liking them as well.
On entering the complex, and after braving the chaos of the changing rooms, we entered the main patio of the water park. The patio has been given a look that seems inspired by the colour scheme of Santorini in Greece. The buildings are painted in bright white and blue colors and beautiful wall art adorns these buildings; this area houses shops, candy shops and a small restaurant among other things.
The first look into the complex may make you feel that it is quite small but on entering and exploring the place properly, we discovered it to be quite expansive and with some very interesting rides for children and adults alike.
The first area is a water playground where kids and adults can frolic in the water and has simple water slides. The pool has been made to look like a beach with loungers lining the side of the pool. However, the dearth of umbrellas make lounging in this area quite painstaking and people are better off enjoying themselves inside the pool where giant buckets of water gush down on unsuspecting crowds at regular intervals. By the time I could take a few pictures and get my bearings, I had already lost my kids to the playground. Running up the stairs and down the slides and playing with their water cannons they were rolling in laughter and excitement. It took me some coaxing and promises of ice lollies before they finally agreed to move on to the next zone.
We passed a couple of roller coaster like slides to our left and headed towards the Last zone in Aquamagica which houses the wave pool. The pool, keeping up with the theme, is inspired by Greece replicating Greek ruins. Giant speakers and a DJ station overlook this pool and dance numbers are played to match the rhythm of the waves. It’s fun to see the crowd’s frenzy in the pool – adults and kids alike. The kids, who were cribbing earlier, had found a new friend and enjoyed the wave pool immensely, monkeying around and jumping to the music along with the rest of the crowd.
Once the wave cycle was over, we headed to the Lebanese-Italian restaurant called Sunbeatz next to the pool and ordered our meal of pizza and garlic bread along with large cups of ice laden sodas. The sun, the heat and the water had by now made us quite hungry and we devoured the food in no time. I must say the pizza was quite good – it had a cheesy, crispy base and was sufficiently big for its price. Similarly, the drink portion was also quite apt for Rs.70.
Satiated, the kids rushed to the other slides and after finding a good shaded spot, I headed forward to check out some adult rides. Of the ones I loved I must mention three the first of which is called Loopy Woopy and is an adult free falling slide where one is made to stand in a small capsule at the top of a three storied climb and just when you least expect, the floor of the capsule gives way. What follows is a sheer free fall drop of about 15 feet followed by a 360 degree loop and several twists and turns through the water chute culminating in a splash into a rye water channel. The adrenalin rush of the initial fall is good enough to give you a high for the next few hours and you would surely want to go for more.
The second and third rides were rides on rafts, namely Swirl Whirl and Boomeranggo, which go through water tunnels, fall into cylindrical chambers going through a centrifugal motion and eventually fall into a pool. Both rides have different falls and the adrenalin rush in each is quite different and equally exciting.
Instead of age or height limits, the adult rides here have weight restrictions hence some kids can also be allowed in them at times depending on their individual weights.
Juggling between the rides and running after the kids under the hot sun made me crave for some chilled beer which incidentally is not served in the park. My kids, on the other hand, were somehow super energized and were running from ride to ride non-stop.
As the sun started to descend, I tried calling them out and convince them to head home. Before leaving, we grabbed a quick bite of a nice juicy chicken burger and sodas at Red Bonnet express and got the kids their promised ice lollies plus some candies as well.
On our drive back, the first statement from my younger daughter was “Papa we should come back again soon” followed by another by my elder kid “but this time we will also bring mom and ALL our friends”. Watching their excited faces in the rear view mirror, I silently thanked the almighty for small mercies and to Aquamagica for providing me the much needed bonding time with my daughters over a day very well spent.
