Singing in the Rain & The Magic of Wet Weather Adventures

From torrential downpour, sporadic showers to light drizzle, at an inflatable water park not only does it not matter if you are getting wet, it enhances the fun!

A wet Wednesday in August. This is a sentence that can still spike my stress levels even seven years after it’s impact was first felt. Growing up in a county steeped in tourism, I had many, many, many frantically busy summer jobs catering to this industry. The population of my small village triples in size every summer season. Overnight, the campsite that stretches along the length of the local beach will turn from entirely empty into a full and thriving site. Like swallows returning to roost, the tourists will return for their season in the sun. The sun, however, does not always keep such a faithful promise. 

I served ice-cream to families who were standing in front of me on the harbour wall, staring in utter bewilderment at the torrential rain splashing off their flip-flops and chocolate flakes. I poured coffees and the most decadent of hot-chocolates to families, frantically marching around picturesque villages during downpours, as they strived desperately to somehow keep the morale high. I would watch as teenagers sullenly traipsed behind parents, who were gritting their teeth at the weather and trying to keep a firm hold on soggy children whose pent-up energy could not be abated by the sight of yet another fishing boat. I thought, as I served lunch and dinners in cafés and restaurants across the county, that I had seen and handled it all when it came to hundreds of people whose dream and desire for a fun and relaxing holiday had been drowned by the Great British weather. That was until I worked at one of the UK’s biggest tourist attractions, The Eden Project.

The Eden Project

It transpires that this is one of the places that families and visitors flock to on rainy summer days. Peak flocking occurs in August, in the middle of the week, when the only place that seems remotely appealing on a rainy Wednesday, is the place of big bubble shaped shelters. I was there the summer that Eden also threw an incredible and slightly terrifying dinosaur exhibit into the mix. By the end of such a day, about ten thousand people will have been on site, marching through the biomes like rainforest ants. Children will have been lost and found, baobab smoothies will have been bought, hair will have frizzed from the humidity of the rainforest biome, people will have fainted from the heat, souvenirs bought, pasties bought, plants bought (and tree frogs probably not seen as we allowed them to hide after being poked so many times) and inevitably tempers newly frayed at the stress of so many people exploring an enclosed space. 

It really is an interesting, educational and fun place to visit. Except, on a wet Wednesday in August. Then it is a very niche and particularly humid kind of hell. 

The thing is, what makes that place seem like the perfect solution to a rainy holiday is actually the problem – running and hiding indoors. Instead, the very best thing to do is embrace it! What is the perfect thing to do on a rainy summer holiday in the south-west? When the weather is wet, hit the water! For a day out in Dorset this summer holiday, you can have fun activities with kids, friends and family with your own outdoor Dorset adventure. When you are outside, even the busiest of peak seasons do not feel as overcrowded as they do when you are doing indoor activities. Everyone still has room and fresh air to breathe. Swap battling with an umbrella for zipping into a wetsuit provided at Dorset Adventure Park and play in the rain. 

From torrential downpour, sporadic showers to light drizzle, at an inflatable water park not only does it not matter if you are getting wet, it enhances the fun! Wet weather makes for the perfect pairing for a water adventure. You can dive into the lakes, comforted by the watchful eyes of trained lifeguards, you can battle each other on our total wipeout inflatable course, and you can charge through the mud obstacle course on our mud trail. When it is raining it only heightens the excitement, hilarity, drama and fun of playing in the mud. Slip, slide and splash your way through a wet and rainy day, at an outside water park, you’ll do it all with a genuine smile on your face.

The rain is something that can make a day, a moment, a memory and an experience better. When we stop fighting against it and embrace it, that is when those magic moments in life can really happen. Don’t believe me? Then I present to you, Exhibit A: Movie Moments Made By Big Rain Scenes. Snappy title, I know.

The Notebook

The Notebook

The rain scene in this film prompts the emotional outpouring of the lost lovers finally admitting their teenage romance  STILL ISN’T OVER. A scene so iconic it burnt into the brains of ‘00’s girls the western world over and became the movie poster.

The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption

Another movie moment so seminal that it is one of the scenes most associated with the film and again, makes the movie poster. The liberation of the character in that moment is epitomised by the rain running on his face, skin and outstretched arms. There is nothing more liberating than the freedom found in embracing the rain with open arms.

Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers

The Two Towers

This may not be such a classic example and yet it is arguably one of the most epic movie moments in what is quite literally, an epic movie franchise. The Battle at Helms Deep is a turning point in the story and one of the most dramatic moments in the three films. The first big battle of good vs evil and just as the two sides are about to face off and the tension is drawn tighter than Legolas’s bow string, the rain begins to fall. The rain releases all that pent-up tension and heightens the drama of such a high stakes and wild movie moment. You can barrel through the mud obstacle course in Dorset Adventure Park and really imagine battling through the mud against the Uruks and Orcs of Mordor!

Singing In The Rain

Singing in the Rain

A movie scene so magical that it is the movie title. The legendary Gene Kelly dances down the street in a torrent of rain. His euphoria, excitement  and bliss can not be contained and needs to bubble out like the rain running down. He sings and splashes into puddles with aplomb and performs the most iconic dance scene in movie history. It says a lot when a tap dance is still stuff of awe and legend. 

Let these magical movie moments inspire your own splash adventure and don’t stress about searching for indoor things to do with kids, friends and family but make your own water world at Dorset Adventure park – perfect for a wet Wednesday in August.

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