After our recent adventure to Ski Dubai, we were eager to try Wales’ next best thing, Supertubing at Festival Park Ebbw Vale.
Supertubing basically involves sitting in a large, reinforced inflatable tube tyre and being pushed down a ski slope at speed and is great fun for the whole family.
At 120m long the slope is the UK’s longest super tubing ride providing a roller-coaster-like ride down one of its 4 lanes. The surface is artificial snow with water sprinklers which increases the speed of the tube.
We paid £6 for 5 rides which I thought was good value, although occasionally Groupon and Living Social run special offers where you can get even better deals.
Before we could start we were fitted with a safety helmet and has a quick safety briefing. All of the staff were really friendly and before you start they tell you exactly how to sit and hold on to the tube, and they ask you if you want to be sent quickly or slowly, spinning or no-spin, down the slope below.
My eldest daughter, now aged 8 loved it, her face beaming with excitement after each run. It was great to see her having so much fun. My youngest daughter was the minimum age which is 5 and was a little scared to start with, as would I be looking down a 120m slope!
For younger children like my younger daughter, they have the chance to go with a member of staff and start from half way down the slope.
This helped ease her in gently and after 3 slides she was sliding from the top with her sister and their daddy who also enjoyed racing against the girls down the slope at high speed.
To make it easier to get back up the slope there was a rope tow pulley system that helps bring you and your tube back to the top of the hill so you can do it again and again.
When you are ready to take a break there’s a hilltop café where you can get snacks and meals.
As the tubing was so much fun, we bought additional tickets for more rides and spent around 40 minutes in total at the Supertubing attraction. It was brilliant watching the kids laugh and scream all at once and they all thoroughly enjoyed. We thought that Supertubing was good value for money and an inexpensive way to entertain the children on a Saturday afternoon.
After our fun on the slopes we headed to the Festival Park shopping outlet. At the entrance to the shops was a large castle-themed play area with plenty of slides and the girls had great fun there.
We had to coax them out with the lure of a hot tea and cake from Costa Coffee which was next to the play park which boasted great views of the Welsh Valleys below.
The retail outlet was a bit disappointing for me, the biggest brand names were M&S, Thornton’s and GAP. If you go there expecting a McArthur Glen Outlet experience like at Bridgend then you will be disappointed. It would be nice if the retail area could be developed further.
Supertubing at Festival Park, Ebbw Vale, is open daily from 10.30am to 5.30pm weekdays and 10.30am to 8pm weekends and throughout the summer holidays. Tickets can also be purchased using Tesco Clubcard exchange. For more information, you can visit their website or call 01495 304 035.