Siam Park is one of the top attractions in Tenerife in the Canary Islands. If you visit Tenerife, especially with children, you MUST visit Siam Park. However, there are some things you need to know if you want to avoid incredible frustration. The park doesn't have a very informative website, so we only learned by experience how to have a successful visit. I hope some people may find this post and I can spare them the disappointment we endured.
First, I'll describe our July experience, e.g. how NOT to do it. I'll start by saying that Carter and I visited the park together in October of 2017 when he was about 12 years old, and we had a wonderful time. It was crowded but not so much that we didn't get our money's worth, and Carter couldn't wait to take the rest of the family there. But when we got the chance to go in July 2022 it was completely different.
Our first hint that we had done something wrong was that the parking lots were already full when we arrived at about 9:45, even though the park wasn't supposed to open until 10:00 a.m. By the time we found a parking spot in the mall across the street and walked back to Siam Park, the line to get in was enormous. We had pre-purchased our tickets online, but so had everyone else so it didn't save any time in the line. When we finally got in the gate, we were surprised to once again be queued in a long line. Eventually we discovered that the line was due to the fact that the park forces everyone to funnel through a staged photo area, where they take your group's picture and try to sell it to you later. This, along with the terrible lines out front, was some of the first evidence that customer experience isn't high on the list of Siam Park's priorities.
The next line we waited in was for a locker. There are several different locker areas in the park, each named for a park feature nearby. The staff will try to direct you to a specific locker area, but my advice is to ignore them. We made the mistake of changing our course to go where a staff member sent us, only to be told after waiting in line there for several minutes that they were out of lockers and we had to go somewhere else. The staff approach people in the locker line and offer to sell you locker keys. We weren't sure if this was legit or if we should keep waiting until we reached the front of the line, but we discovered that the people who continued waiting in line were waiting to purchase Fast Passes, and those who just needed a locker could buy one and get on their way. I really didn't want to pay the 50% uncharge for a Fast Pass, plus Carter and I had done just fine without one on our previous visit, so we decided to skip it and try our luck.
Big mistake. When we finally got in line for our first ride we were shocked to see that we were standing by the "your wait time is 45 minutes from here" sign. Our excitement deflated, we inched our way to the front of the line and did our first slide, then returned to the locker area to break down and buy the fast pass. Nope - they were sold out. We thought, maybe every ride doesn't have a long line? No, the lines were just getting longer everywhere. The next ride we tried the wait time started at the 60 minute sign. My feet were killing me from standing and walking barefoot on concrete. People everywhere. Every lounge chair filled. Every path crowded. Every restaurant at capacity. It was suffocating. We lasted about 3 hours and then reluctantly decided to bail and try to salvage our day by doing something else.
On our way out, we paid $20 each for a pass that would allow us to come back another day if we wanted to try it again. After a few days had gone by and we had recovered from the trauma of our botched visit, we decided to try it again but to do it differently this time.
So here, dear Reader, are the tips for visiting Siam Park in the peak months with your sanity (and feet) intact:
2. I'm sorry, to say it, but you must have a fast pass. I really hate the concept of paying to get ahead in line. It feels elitist and unfair. But if you don't have a Fast Pass during the busy season there's really no point in trying to ride the rides (you could just spend your day at the wave pool or in the lazy river).
There's not much/any information on the website about Fast Passes, so here are the basics. It allows you to skip to the front of the line of most major rides one time each, plus a bonus ride on the ride of your choice. You can choose whether you want your Fast Pass to be valid in the first or second half of the day. During whichever half of the day you didn't choose, your pass isn't valid. You can't buy Fast Passes online ahead of time; you must queue at one of the locker houses to buy them, and they only sell a certain number per day so if you're late they'll be gone.
3. Probably you'll want to store your valuables in a locker. You can buy this in the locker house, same as the Fast Pass. Lockers are cash only, because part of the payment is a deposit that you get back in cash at the end of the day when you return your key. So make sure you bring cash. There are both large and small lockers, although they don't bother to ask you which kind you want. If you need a certain size be sure to ask for it.
4. It hurts to walk in this park! It's large and spread out so you will be walking and walking and walking on textured concrete pathways, and standing and standing in lines on textured concrete stairs. If your feet are young and padded you'll probably be okay, but I would guess most adults won't be able to tolerate it without shoes. If you have water shoes, great, you can wear them all day. If you don't, flip flops or water sandals are the next best thing. You can't wear them on the rides but you can walk around the park in them and then just kick them off at the base of the ride and pick them up after you slide down.
5. If you come with a group you will inevitably split up at some point and it may be impossible to find each other again. Come up with a specific plan on where to meet if you get separated. Alternatively, you are allowed to bring cell phones on the slides if you have them in a waterproof case that hangs around your neck. They sell these at the park for a hefty fee, but if your group wants to keep in touch during the day via phone then it would be cheaper to bring your own.
6. The closing time of 6 p.m. is when they cut you off from getting in line for another ride. So if you want to stay until the bitter end, you can still ride whatever ride you're in line for, as long as you got in line before 6.
If you come armed with this knowledge, you should be able to ride lots of rides and have a great time. The rides really are special at this place, and really long for waterslide rides. Another plus of this park is that it's really well landscaped and there's lots of shade; notably many of the lines for the rides are at least partially shaded, for which we were very grateful. Have fun, and make sure you try the Tower of Power!
