Sand Mountain Park — Attraction in Albertville

This review is specifically for Sand Mountain Skate at the Sand Mountain Ampitheatre. We love the rink, but when comparing the rink this year to the way it was run last year, it leaves a bit to be desired. We'll come back again, but I do hope they do better for the patrons next year. Things they changed that they shouldn't have: -Their check in system - There are four attendants at the check in desk, but only one person can operate the computers (there are two). Not to mention the waiver issues. It is only digital. I still do not own a smart phone and so when they decided to update their waiver (without notifying any patrons via Facebook or the website until you arrived at the desk) and the old ones became obsolete, we had to use someone else's phone to fill it out while the poor people behind us waited even longer. Two of the four attendants handed out skates. As an example of just how long their process takes even if you purchase your tickets online: we arrived before gates opened. They opened 10 minutes late. We filed in, but rather than directing everyone to come inside the heated tent, they let the line stay out the door, so I instead yelled back for everyone to swing around inside so that we could all stay warm while we waited. We were behind several families. Nearly everyone had purchased tickets online. Yet it took 20 minutes to get us to the check in counter. Since we had to redo the waiver, that was another 10 minutes. Half an hour of the skate session was wasted on checking in. -Skate Sessions - Last year they did not have limits on how long you could skate. This year, you can only skate for two hours. If you want to skate again, you have to pay admission a second time. My kids have been ice skating for years and have been known to skate 3-4 hours happily. I fully understand needing to maintain the ice between sessions. What I don't understand is their decision to make you pay again in the same day. I also thought it was in poor taste not to notify anyone of this very large change this year. No notice of it on Facebook or the website. Enough people asked and they finally posted a session schedule. -Prices - Raised the prices, but shortened the length of time you're allowed to skate....hmmmm. -Heaters - Simply, last year there were heaters, this year there aren't. Not a huge deal, though since they added a large tent.

What they do well: -Food - they moved the concession stand much closer to the rink. That was a fantastic idea! -Rink Size - They increased the rink size and it's great! -Large warmed tent - great for escaping the cold while you have a snack!...

The water park sucks. We got stuck in line for an hour because they “needed to do a head count”. After we watched probably 60 people leave, it was getting closer to time for us to get in then they said someone pooped In the pool. So even after another 30 mins passed and we finally got into the park, all of the pools and lazy river stayed closed for about an hour, only the splash pad was open. If what they said was true; I get it. But according to nearly everyone there (wasn’t that many people left) no one saw any poop in the pool, it was like all of the lifeguards jumped up at the exact same time from one end to the other and blew their whistles telling everyone to get out. Everyone felt like they just wanted people to leave since it was getting closer to closing time. We got there with plenty of time to enjoy everything, but after blowing 2 hours for what felt like no reason; and definitely paying full price for everything despite the massive inconvenience, we had to rush to do anything we wanted to do, and felt rushed out towards the end of it all. It gets worse, the indoor pool was wayy too cold, I have no idea how anyone was in there actually enjoying being in that ice bath. I witness dozens of people including me and my 2 children few the water and say no way.

WARNING!!!!! - I tried both of the big water slides and, not gonna lie, they’re pretty awesome. Until you reach the end of the enclosed water slide, if you’re a fully developed adult, you’ll probably hit the bottom of the pool at the end like me and my friend did. I hit the bottom HARD, really, really hard. The pool isn’t quite deep enough to break the speed of an average sized male adult. I’m pretty sure I fractured my elbow but I’m trying to ride it out to avoid insane ER costs. Unfortunately we did not have a good experience at all at this place, Drive a little further (depending on where you are) and just go to spring valley beach, or Alabama adventure. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. And it’s super unfortunate because it’s just down the road from us..

Only Pros this place had was there was an abundance of lifeguards who where all very nice, plenty of food and drink options for the millionaires who can afford it, they do provide floatation devices in many different sizes, the indoor ice bath is a cool plus that is well accommodating for super humans who can endure it, the kids really enjoyed the splash pad, and the water was clean and didn’t...

We went to a high school varsity softball tournament there. The fields were all artificial turf. So there was no dirt or mud anywhere. Very nice. It is a learning experience to play on that surface when you are used to regular fields. The balls tend to bounce a little more and when stealing bases you slide more and have to grab the base to stop your momentum.

The seating areas are fantastic as the bleachers were covered and the net was so high that no foul balls could not reached us. Depending upon the angle of the sun, you might be in the shade.

Only reason for a 4-star rating was the concession stand. I was surprised they didn't have a full menu. Only hotdogs, popcorn, nacho cheese and tortilla chips. No hamburgers, no chicken, no pizza, no french fries, no chili dogs. They did have a variety of drinks but I thought they were too expensive. Not enough people working the concession. One window, credit cards only, the other, cash only, and eventually correct change only and the windows were not marked that way so people got upset when they finally got to the window. Lines were very long. Maybe it was just a bad day for the concession stand but I was very surprised by the lack.

Concession stand, 1 star; Ball...