Liquid Planet was a water park in Candia, New Hampshire. Fortunately or unfortunately,
depending on your perspective, I never made it to this water park before it was rebranded as
Candia Springs in 2016. The old website is still active…and it’s an absolute gem. This
park claimed to have a 272 foot tall water slide and free tickets if you called. So let’s dig in.
Candia, New Hampshire is roughly a half hour north of Canobie Lake Park. Liquid Planet opened
in 2008 with a series of pools and a single slide tower. It wanted to be a cheaper, more relaxing
alternative to the state’s larger water parks. But you’d think you were visiting something much
grander if you visited the park’s website, which is still active. Maybe the website was hacked,
but the content was all directed towards this New Hampshire water park.
First, let’s talk about Trevor’s Time Warp. This water slide was advertised as 272 feet or 83
meters tall. That would make it the tallest ride in all of New England. It would be over 60 feet
taller than Six Flags New England’s Superman and 50 feet taller than Funtown’s Dragon’s Descent.
Further, it would be over 100 feet or 30 meters taller than Schlitterbahn’s ill-fated Verruckt
and there would only be 10 roller coasters in the entire world taller than it.
How had I never heard of this record-breaking slide?
Well I’m guessing they meant to say 272 feet or 83 meters long.
Second, Liquid Planet’s website was weird. It featured massive walls of text with some
weirdly worded paragraphs. Some of the highlights included a statement that you should quote “Our
water slides are to die for! It is like you have hiked your way to the top of Mount Washington
and then plunging from the summit.” There’s also a statement that you
should quote “go out of your garage doors in Tampa and join us here for a different
type of fun.” I think if someone drove the 1400 miles or 22 hours from Tampa to Liquid Planet
they would be just a tad disappointed. Lastly, the site says if you call them,
you can get free tickets! Now that’s a deal! I’m not sure if anyone got these
free tickets though, but it’s quite the hook. But the best part of the website are the photos.
This is what Liquid Planet actually looked like. It was small and not too extravagant.
Meanwhile, look at the photos on the website. First, you have someone biking down a water slide.
It looks like a screenshot from one of those urban exploration videos when someone dangerously breaks
into a closed water park. I’m not sure why a water park would want to advertise that.
Second, you have a picture of Poseidon at Europa Park. Liquid Planet had no comparable flume ride.
Maybe they wanted to become Europa Park one day, but they certainly weren’t going to.
Third, you have these two body slides set in a tropical resort. While the body slides at Liquid
Planet were similar in size and scale, the park definitely didn’t have that type of greenery.
Fourth, you have a picture of one of the raft slides from Atlantis Aquaventure in Dubai.
Not only did Liquid Planet not have a single tube slide, but the park certainly
can’t compete with the overall atmosphere of what I think is the world’s best water park.
Fifth, you have some colorful water body slides and this
image was clearly ripped straight from Shutterstock. You can see the copyright tag.
Sixth, you have a picture of some body slides from the Legoland Water Park.
And it’s not subtle at all. You literally have a giant Lego brick floating in the water.
So what happened to this park and how did it become Candia Springs? Liquid Planet was
ordered to shut down in August 2015. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental
Services found high levels of bacteria and fecal contamination in the water. Ew.
And the park also opened its two speed slides without state approval.
After the bank foreclosed on the owner and announced they’d auction off the property,
the owner literally chained himself atop the slide tower. He wanted to raise awareness for the park
and convince another investor or business to pay off his 1.5 million dollars of debt.
Needless to say that did not happen. Jeff Woodward, who owns the nearby Whale’s Tale
Water Park and Alpine Adventures, purchased the park at auction and rebranded the park as Candia
Springs, opening it for the 2016 season. Whale’s Tale is my favorite water park in New England
so the park is in good hands. The park added a zipline and adventure course. And the website
is now more conventional and honest. While I haven’t yet made it to Candia Springs,
maybe I will this year since it is just 7 minutes down the road from Tuckaway Tavern,
aka the best restaurant in all of New England. I’m drooling just thinking about their steaks.
So that’s the story of Liquid Planet water park. It’s a tale of false promises,
false advertising, and an eccentric owner. Did you ever visit Liquid Planet or the Candia Springs?
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more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!