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Bounce Below, in the mountains of north Wales, is a subterranean world of trampolines and slides
Bounce Below is a feat of imagination, let alone engineering. There’s something rather Alice in Wonderland about disappearing through a tunnel into the depths of a disused slate mine, to arrive in a surreal subterranean world of giant trampolines and slides.
Located in Snowdonia, north Wales, Bounce Below opened in the summer of 2014. Created within a cavern twice the size of St Paul’s Cathedral, it’s essentially a huge playground, with three vast net-style trampolines slung one above the other and linked via walkways, tunnels and 60-foot (18-metre) slides. To add an extra touch of magic, the whole space is illuminated by a multi-coloured LED light show.
Bounce Below has been designed to bring out the child in you whatever your age, and most of the hour-long sessions allow everyone to pile in together. However, there’s also Bounce Below Junior for kids aged three to six, while Bounce Below Family sessions run at weekends and during school holidays, allowing families with kids aged between seven and 18 to enjoy their bounce away from any adult-only groups.
But while it might be fun for all the family, it isn’t one for the faint-hearted: the whole thing is suspended over an 85-foot (26-metre) sheer drop onto the rocks below. Luckily the lights mostly disguise that fact and once you get into it and realise the nets are pretty much impenetrable, the fun factor takes over.
The attraction – the first of its kind in the world – is currently ranked as the number two thing to do in Blaenau Ffestiniog. That places it second only to Zip World Titan, said to be the only four-person zip line in Europe, which is run by the same company.
Bounce Below, Zip World Titan and Zip World Velocity – a solo zip line where speeds in excess of 100mph (161kph) can be reached – together represented an investment of £1.2m ($1.7m, €1.6m).
New for 2015 is Zip World Caverns – underground zip lines, rope bridges, balance beams and tunnels which you can watch people playing on from your vantage point above them on the trampolines.
Welcome to the playground We visited Bounce Below on an August summer bank holiday weekend. On the nets: my boyfriend’s four children – aged between eight and 16 – and me.
First up, before even entering the cavern, was the safety briefing and the provision of helmets – a legal requirement when going underground rather than anything to do with the trampolining itself. We’d also had to sign everyone in individually on arrival, each being provided with a paper wristband with our personal number on it so we could be checked in and out again at the end of the session. The briefing was relaxed but thorough and the checks very much adhered to – but this was done in such a way that it didn’t impinge on the fun. Once you were let loose on the trampolines, you really did feel you could let your hair down.
Big reveal The excitement started to build as we walked in through the tunnels, but nothing – not even the photos on the website – had prepared us for the Bounce Below cavern itself. Coloured lights made the huge enclosed net trampolines glow in the dark, with the three levels broken up by slides and ramps. If you’re trying to visualise this, you need to put trampolining centres out of your mind, because Bounce Below is something totally different: not really trampolining as you know it, but rather an adventure playground that happens to bounce underfoot as you run (and occasionally stumble) across it.
Once we were given the nod to go – wow, what an experience. The hour absolutely flew by. We all bounded straight across to the net walkway taking us to the next level, from where there was a brief moment of hesitation before we threw ourselves down the first slide of the day – essentially just a netting tube that drops almost vertically down. At that point you’re hooked. Next, another slide, and finally a huge spiral ramp, lit in changing neon colours like a psychedelic spider’s web, to climb back up to the entry level and start all over again.
The nets weren’t overcrowded – no doubt for safety reasons, but it really added to the fun not to have to queue to go down slides or up walkways.
The whole thing really was utterly fabulous, and loved by everyone from the youngest kid (aged eight) to me, the big kid (age not supplied!). The kids have all been working out how far Bounce Below is from home, and whether they can go back to have their birthday parties there.
There’s a maximum weight for bouncing, and also no disabled access, but you don’t need to be good at trampolining.
Food and beverage Food and beverage on-site is surprisingly good. The café has a decent menu of hot and cold food, including daily specials, as well as takeaway options including cakes and sandwiches. Most dishes are crowd pleasers – burgers, jacket potatoes, chicken goujons and so on – but there were also soups and quiches and other less expected options. Soft drinks and hot drinks are available – as well as alcohol, should you need to calm your nerves after a 100mph zip ride.
It’s also very good value: we fed two adults and four children, including non-alcoholic drinks, for £40 ($57, €53), and the food got thumbs-up all round. It was busy even though there are plenty of tables, but we were warned in advance of a 25-minute wait – good management of our expectations. My only slight criticism of the café was that the staff seemed young and inexperienced – fairly helpful if you could get their attention, but mostly keen to avoid eye contact.
Vending machines selling soft drinks are also available in the cavern, should you work up a thirst while bouncing.
Finally, there’s a shop on-site selling all sorts of souvenirs, which is on the right as soon as you enter and very much draws you in – especially as the rest of the welcome area is a little on the grey side. There were a few people milling around in there.
All in all, the whole Bounce Below experience is simply great fun, and also good value at £20 ($29, €26) a head and comes highly recommended.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Interview: Tony Butler
Tony Butler, executive director of Derby
Museums Trust, on how museums can
be a force for good in their communities
Attractions: Perfect Brew
At 15 years old, the Guinness Storehouse
has been voted Europe’s best-loved
attraction. Manager Paul Carty reveals
the secrets of the Dublin brandland
Profile: John McReynolds
IAAPA’s new chairman reveals his aims
for the year ahead, his vision for a
global association and how his role at
Universal Orlando informs his goals
Analysis: The Attractions Business
Business planning consultant
David Camp starts an exclusive eight-part
series, delving into the fine art of attractions
operation from a business perspective
Science Centres: How to Future-Proof a Science Centre
Peter Slavenburg of design agency
NorthernLight describes how invisible
technology, serious play, co-creation
and the digital experience will inform
the science centre of tomorrow
Promotional feature: Simworx Ventures
Simworx Ventures is bringing its expertise in cutting-edge media-based attractions
to a new audience of museums, heritage sites, zoos and aquariums
Technology: Beacons on the Horizon
Beacons have countless applications in
the world of attractions. A case study
from the Cleveland Museum of Art
illustrates the technology’s potential
Museums & Galleries: Art Attack
Some of the most exciting attractions
design is happening in new and
upcoming galleries around the world,
from firms like Kengo Kuma and BIG
Promotional feature: IDEA
2016 is shaping up to be an interesting year for the attractions industry.
IDEA looks at what it takes to win audiences and command attention
Mystery Shopper: Spring in Your Step
We disappear down the rabbit hole as we
pay a mystery shopper visit to Bounce
Below, a unique underground trampolining
attraction in Snowdonia, north Wales
Rides: The Ride Makers
Our ride makers series continues with
water rides, a firm favourite with park
guests. Three leading companies reveal
the latest trends in flumes and chutes
Technology: Tech Check
The industry technology unveiled at
IAAPA 2015: from VR to interactives, and
digital puppets to 20-storey LED giants
Location Bounce Below is located at Llechwedd Slate Caverns, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Snowdonia, Wales. Bounce Below is fairly easy to find, with large, bright signage from the main road. There’s plenty of free car parking, but perhaps a little more signage once in the car park – regarding which entrance is for what activity – might be an idea, as the zip lines are actually the first thing you see. Bounce Below has no disabled access due to health and safety restrictions regarding access to underground caverns.
Opening hours Opening times vary and depend on the time of year.
Admission prices There’s a universal price of £20 ($29, €26) per person, or £5 ($7, €6) to spectate. Bounce Below Junior costs £12.50 ($18, €16.50). Advance booking is recommended. This is easily done via a user-friendly website – www.bouncebelow.net – which also offers plenty of information about what to expect, what to wear and so on, but without spoiling the wow factor when you first enter the underground caverns.
what’s the score?
Toilets
7/10
Staff
7/10
Cleanliness
8/10
Experience
9/10
Value for money
9/10
Overall experience
9/10
Kate Cracknell is editor of Health Club Management magazine, a sister publication of Attractions Management magazine.
The cavern is lit with multi-coloured lights
Inside the cavern, three vast trampolines form levels linked by slides, tunnels and walkways
Zip World Velocity
Zip World Velocity
Bounce Below form the two parts of the Snowdonia attraction
In the fast-paced world of fitness and wellness, where high-intensity workouts push us to
our limits and the sweat pours, the importance of efficient recovery cannot be overstated. [more...]
In today’s premium spa environment, every detail shapes the guest experience – right down to
the softness of towels and the freshness of linens. [more...]
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Bounce Below, in the mountains of north Wales, is a subterranean world of trampolines and slides
Bounce Below is a feat of imagination, let alone engineering. There’s something rather Alice in Wonderland about disappearing through a tunnel into the depths of a disused slate mine, to arrive in a surreal subterranean world of giant trampolines and slides.
Located in Snowdonia, north Wales, Bounce Below opened in the summer of 2014. Created within a cavern twice the size of St Paul’s Cathedral, it’s essentially a huge playground, with three vast net-style trampolines slung one above the other and linked via walkways, tunnels and 60-foot (18-metre) slides. To add an extra touch of magic, the whole space is illuminated by a multi-coloured LED light show.
Bounce Below has been designed to bring out the child in you whatever your age, and most of the hour-long sessions allow everyone to pile in together. However, there’s also Bounce Below Junior for kids aged three to six, while Bounce Below Family sessions run at weekends and during school holidays, allowing families with kids aged between seven and 18 to enjoy their bounce away from any adult-only groups.
But while it might be fun for all the family, it isn’t one for the faint-hearted: the whole thing is suspended over an 85-foot (26-metre) sheer drop onto the rocks below. Luckily the lights mostly disguise that fact and once you get into it and realise the nets are pretty much impenetrable, the fun factor takes over.
The attraction – the first of its kind in the world – is currently ranked as the number two thing to do in Blaenau Ffestiniog. That places it second only to Zip World Titan, said to be the only four-person zip line in Europe, which is run by the same company.
Bounce Below, Zip World Titan and Zip World Velocity – a solo zip line where speeds in excess of 100mph (161kph) can be reached – together represented an investment of £1.2m ($1.7m, €1.6m).
New for 2015 is Zip World Caverns – underground zip lines, rope bridges, balance beams and tunnels which you can watch people playing on from your vantage point above them on the trampolines.
Welcome to the playground We visited Bounce Below on an August summer bank holiday weekend. On the nets: my boyfriend’s four children – aged between eight and 16 – and me.
First up, before even entering the cavern, was the safety briefing and the provision of helmets – a legal requirement when going underground rather than anything to do with the trampolining itself. We’d also had to sign everyone in individually on arrival, each being provided with a paper wristband with our personal number on it so we could be checked in and out again at the end of the session. The briefing was relaxed but thorough and the checks very much adhered to – but this was done in such a way that it didn’t impinge on the fun. Once you were let loose on the trampolines, you really did feel you could let your hair down.
Big reveal The excitement started to build as we walked in through the tunnels, but nothing – not even the photos on the website – had prepared us for the Bounce Below cavern itself. Coloured lights made the huge enclosed net trampolines glow in the dark, with the three levels broken up by slides and ramps. If you’re trying to visualise this, you need to put trampolining centres out of your mind, because Bounce Below is something totally different: not really trampolining as you know it, but rather an adventure playground that happens to bounce underfoot as you run (and occasionally stumble) across it.
Once we were given the nod to go – wow, what an experience. The hour absolutely flew by. We all bounded straight across to the net walkway taking us to the next level, from where there was a brief moment of hesitation before we threw ourselves down the first slide of the day – essentially just a netting tube that drops almost vertically down. At that point you’re hooked. Next, another slide, and finally a huge spiral ramp, lit in changing neon colours like a psychedelic spider’s web, to climb back up to the entry level and start all over again.
The nets weren’t overcrowded – no doubt for safety reasons, but it really added to the fun not to have to queue to go down slides or up walkways.
The whole thing really was utterly fabulous, and loved by everyone from the youngest kid (aged eight) to me, the big kid (age not supplied!). The kids have all been working out how far Bounce Below is from home, and whether they can go back to have their birthday parties there.
There’s a maximum weight for bouncing, and also no disabled access, but you don’t need to be good at trampolining.
Food and beverage Food and beverage on-site is surprisingly good. The café has a decent menu of hot and cold food, including daily specials, as well as takeaway options including cakes and sandwiches. Most dishes are crowd pleasers – burgers, jacket potatoes, chicken goujons and so on – but there were also soups and quiches and other less expected options. Soft drinks and hot drinks are available – as well as alcohol, should you need to calm your nerves after a 100mph zip ride.
It’s also very good value: we fed two adults and four children, including non-alcoholic drinks, for £40 ($57, €53), and the food got thumbs-up all round. It was busy even though there are plenty of tables, but we were warned in advance of a 25-minute wait – good management of our expectations. My only slight criticism of the café was that the staff seemed young and inexperienced – fairly helpful if you could get their attention, but mostly keen to avoid eye contact.
Vending machines selling soft drinks are also available in the cavern, should you work up a thirst while bouncing.
Finally, there’s a shop on-site selling all sorts of souvenirs, which is on the right as soon as you enter and very much draws you in – especially as the rest of the welcome area is a little on the grey side. There were a few people milling around in there.
All in all, the whole Bounce Below experience is simply great fun, and also good value at £20 ($29, €26) a head and comes highly recommended.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Interview: Tony Butler
Tony Butler, executive director of Derby
Museums Trust, on how museums can
be a force for good in their communities
Attractions: Perfect Brew
At 15 years old, the Guinness Storehouse
has been voted Europe’s best-loved
attraction. Manager Paul Carty reveals
the secrets of the Dublin brandland
Profile: John McReynolds
IAAPA’s new chairman reveals his aims
for the year ahead, his vision for a
global association and how his role at
Universal Orlando informs his goals
Analysis: The Attractions Business
Business planning consultant
David Camp starts an exclusive eight-part
series, delving into the fine art of attractions
operation from a business perspective
Science Centres: How to Future-Proof a Science Centre
Peter Slavenburg of design agency
NorthernLight describes how invisible
technology, serious play, co-creation
and the digital experience will inform
the science centre of tomorrow
Promotional feature: Simworx Ventures
Simworx Ventures is bringing its expertise in cutting-edge media-based attractions
to a new audience of museums, heritage sites, zoos and aquariums
Technology: Beacons on the Horizon
Beacons have countless applications in
the world of attractions. A case study
from the Cleveland Museum of Art
illustrates the technology’s potential
Museums & Galleries: Art Attack
Some of the most exciting attractions
design is happening in new and
upcoming galleries around the world,
from firms like Kengo Kuma and BIG
Promotional feature: IDEA
2016 is shaping up to be an interesting year for the attractions industry.
IDEA looks at what it takes to win audiences and command attention
Mystery Shopper: Spring in Your Step
We disappear down the rabbit hole as we
pay a mystery shopper visit to Bounce
Below, a unique underground trampolining
attraction in Snowdonia, north Wales
Rides: The Ride Makers
Our ride makers series continues with
water rides, a firm favourite with park
guests. Three leading companies reveal
the latest trends in flumes and chutes
Technology: Tech Check
The industry technology unveiled at
IAAPA 2015: from VR to interactives, and
digital puppets to 20-storey LED giants
Location Bounce Below is located at Llechwedd Slate Caverns, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Snowdonia, Wales. Bounce Below is fairly easy to find, with large, bright signage from the main road. There’s plenty of free car parking, but perhaps a little more signage once in the car park – regarding which entrance is for what activity – might be an idea, as the zip lines are actually the first thing you see. Bounce Below has no disabled access due to health and safety restrictions regarding access to underground caverns.
Opening hours Opening times vary and depend on the time of year.
Admission prices There’s a universal price of £20 ($29, €26) per person, or £5 ($7, €6) to spectate. Bounce Below Junior costs £12.50 ($18, €16.50). Advance booking is recommended. This is easily done via a user-friendly website – www.bouncebelow.net – which also offers plenty of information about what to expect, what to wear and so on, but without spoiling the wow factor when you first enter the underground caverns.
what’s the score?
Toilets
7/10
Staff
7/10
Cleanliness
8/10
Experience
9/10
Value for money
9/10
Overall experience
9/10
Kate Cracknell is editor of Health Club Management magazine, a sister publication of Attractions Management magazine.
The cavern is lit with multi-coloured lights
Inside the cavern, three vast trampolines form levels linked by slides, tunnels and walkways
Zip World Velocity
Zip World Velocity
Bounce Below form the two parts of the Snowdonia attraction
A recent survey by the UK Spa Association (UKSA) into the industry’s approach to cancer care
has revealed that almost half of participating respondents (46 per cent) are unaware that
cancer is a disability and guests with a cancer diagnosis must be given
Mexican operator, Solmar Hotels and Resorts, is hosting a series of events in celebration of
Global Wellness Day, including a Temazcal ceremony at its Playa Grande Resort and Spa in Los
Cabos.
Mandarin Oriental has announced a standalone residence brand, Mansions, which will debut at
Emirates Palace, Mandarin Oriental Mansions, Abu Dhabi, in 2029.
Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai in Hoi An, Vietnam, has put together a Global Wellness Day
(GWD) agenda with activations rooted in nature and shaped by four pillars of Joy – in
alignment with the day’s theme #JoyMagenta.
The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the 2026 event in
Phuket, Thailand, later this year with the theme: The Science, Art and Soul of Wellness.
Auko, an all-inclusive development, is opening in Phong Nha in Vietnam in Q3 2026, with a
series of 30 tented eco-lodges and wellness hospitality operations by Lumina Wellbeing.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort, has opened a 2,800sq m spa called The Sanctuary,
with the design and concept inspired by the Native American people that populated Florida’s
Southwest coast – the Calusa.
Swire Hotels’ luxury hospitality brand Upper House has revealed it will roll out its two-day
House of Healing retreats at its three hotels in Hong Kong, Chengdu and Shanghai.
In the fast-paced world of fitness and wellness, where high-intensity workouts push us to
our limits and the sweat pours, the importance of efficient recovery cannot be overstated. [more...]
In today’s premium spa environment, every detail shapes the guest experience – right down to
the softness of towels and the freshness of linens. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Kemitron GmbH Our
portfolio is divided into four product areas; Technology, Fragrances, Disinfectant and Cleaners [more...]
