A first-hand experience taking on Halifax’s newest waterpark, Splashifax

When you go to Splashifax, get ready to fall — a lot.

The inflatable water park in Nova Scotia opened in mid-July in Hammonds Plains, N.S., in collaboration with Hatfield Farm.

For Dave Wolpin, the opening has been 18 months in the making.

“It’s just an idea that my friend came to me with a year and a half ago, because we planned this for 2020,” said Wolpin, co-owner of the water park.

“He just basically asked me, ‘Do you want to buy a water park, Dave?’ And I said, ‘Not no.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "He just basically asked me, 'Do you want to buy a water park, Dave?' And I said, 'Not no."

7:07 Splashifax Announces Official Location in HRM

But for Wolpin to buy in, he wanted to make the water park, as he puts it, “ridiculous.”

And it’s ridiculous, to say the least.

The park includes a giant, inflatable 50-foot unicorn, along with several trampolines, a jumping pillow, water slides, and even an inflatable, life-size version of the Theodore Too.

“There are just all kinds of obstacles, that basically everyone wipes out on,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There are just all kinds of obstacles, that basically everyone wipes out on," he said.

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Though mostly all the water park’s logistics are finally sorted out, it certainly didn’t arrive without controversy. Their first intended location was at First Lake in Lower Sackville, N.S., which residents of the area spoke out against.

They then changed their intended location to Lake Echo, but then came to the agreement with Hatfield Farm to install the park at Baptizing Lake, which is about a kilometre away from the Hammonds Plains Road.

“What I find in business … is every obstacle pushes you in a better direction,” he said. “This is a perfect example. I’m grateful for all the pressure and the challenges that we had, because every brick wall was an obstacle we had to overcome to find the best spot.”

Those who purchase tickets will also have access to Hatfield Farm, along with its petting pen, playground, mini gold and ziplining.

“We’re on the pristine lake, there are no homes on this lake, we’ve done water tests every two weeks and the water’s perfect,” said Wolpin.

1:49 Inflatable water park featuring 50-foot unicorn won’t be coming to Lower Sackville

For those in attendance, there was certainly a consensus on which part was their favourite.

“My favourite part was jumping off the unicorn, because even though there was a big line up in the water, and it was kind of a tricky ladder to get up, it was really fun jumping off,” said one attendee.

“I think the funnest one was either jumping off the unicorn or the pillow thing,” said another.