Success:

Willen Lake is Milton Keynes most popular park, attracting 800,000 visitors per year. The park offers a great choice of activities such as water-sports, fishing, archery, cycling, high-ropes,  a playground and since 2017, a pirate themed splash pad packed to the brim with sixty-plus Splashpad® products to entertain all ages and abilities.

Splash n Play’s splash pad design is pirate themed to entice imagination and to provide a truly immersive play experience. There are over sixty unique aquatic play products strategically placed between two sections to cater for all age groups. In the toddler bay there is a variety of products which give out soft water movements for young children to run their hands and feet through. This includes ‘Race’ from our award-winning Water Journey™ collection; a set of two watercourses that allow children to compete with with loose floating objects by manipulating the speed and direction of water via interactive weirs. This product is a lot of fun and highly educational, enabling children to learn the cause and effect of their own actions, whilst stimulating their communication and social skills through taking it in turns, and playing together nicely.

In the teen section you will find the Supersplash, Sea Serpent and Sail Boat, three iconic play features that give out intense water movements for a high octane play experience for older children. You will also find a row of run-through water tunnels, along with plentiful ground sprays and cannon fun to accompany Willen Lake’s great pirate scheme.

The colours blue and orange have been utilised for the EPDM  surface area; utilising the colour blue for the majority of the area to represent the ocean, and the colour orange to create island shapes to reinforce the pirate theme for Willen’s young adventurers.

The facility is inclusive with everybody’s aquatic play favourite provided in a zero standing water environment, surrounded by wide and easy to access paths that invite every age and ability to Splash n Play. The fully PWTAG compliant recirculation system guarantees children have the highest quality of water to play in.

The Parks Trust operate the splash pad seasonally between April and October, with the facility open for half-hourly sessions between 12pm and 6pm seven days a week in June, July and August. Due to popularity and a limit of 250 children per session, booking in advance is highly recommended. There is a small entry fee to the splash park which contributes towards the care and maintenance of parks and green spaces in Milton Keynes.

Project Update, with thanks to Robert Wood, The Parks Trust, Milton Keynes:

Question: What factor influenced your decision to venture into this project with Ustigate ?

We carried out an extensive tender process, but felt overall Ustigate offered an excellent design background and market leading reassurance in the technical offering. We also found the variety of features available through the Vortex range supplied by Ustigate to be superb.

Question: Have you noticed an increase of visitors to the park since installing your aquatic play facility?

It is believed we have seen an increase in footfall, but as there were other developments happening at the same time, its hard to attribute an exact increase due to the splash park. However in the 2018 season, we do know that we had over 44,000 entries for the splash park alone.

2018 Testimonial, with thanks to Robert Wood, The Parks Trust, Milton Keynes:

We are delighted with the state of the art and reliable facility that we have to offer, thanks to Ustigate. We were committed to offering the best outdoor splash park in the surrounding area, and we firmly believe we have achieved that.