Attention thrill seekers! The Amesbury Sports Park will be opening for the summer season on Thursday, June 21st. The park, located at 12 South Hunt Road, offers ZORB rides and summer tubing Thursdays through Sundays from June through September.  Guests bringing a non-perishable food item this season will receive $3 off a combo pass (2 hours of summer tubing and one ZORB ride).
“Globe riding” or “sphering” is the sport of rolling down a very large hill while encapsulated in a ZORB. The ZORB is an 11 foot inflatable sphere, like a giant hamster ball for humans. There are two different types of ZORBS that guests can ride – the ZORBIT and the ZYDRO. The ZORBIT is a dry rideÂ… guests strap themselves into a harness. The ZORBIT is then rolled down, the longest ZORB run in North America. “Even if you’re not adventurous enough to ride the ZORBIT, it’s a ton of fun to watch,” said MaryCarol Fowler, President at the park. “You can hear people laughing and screaming as they go head over heels all the way down the hill!” The ZYDRO is a good alternative for the slightly less adventurous. There is no spinning involved with the ZYDRO – riders enter the ball with 5 gallons of water and slip and slide their way to the bottom. Think of it like a self-contained water slide. Up to 3 people can ride the ZYDRO at a time, making it an ideal choice for moms and kids.
“We’ve operated a similar attraction at the Amesbury Sports Park for the past 4 years, but decided to switch the brand of ball we use, so we traded in the OGOs (Outdoor Gravity Orbs) for a fleet of brand new ZORBS,” said Kinsella. The ZORBS are made in New Zealand by the original company that founded the sport.
The summer tubing lanes offer all of the fun and excitement of snow tubing but without the frigid temperatures. Guests hop on a canvas covered, hard bottomed inner tube and zip down the track, reaching speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. Kids aged 4 to 6 years old can ride with an adult, and kids 7 and up can ride solo. Tubing passes start at just $12 for a 2 hour pass per person.
For the past few years, the park has offered discounts on their ticket prices for guests who bring a non-perishable food item. “We’re happy to support local families in need, and our season long food drive will benefit many who rely on Our Neighbors’ Table to supply nutritious food and personal hygiene supplies,” said Dennis Kinsella, the Park’s general manager. “Our food donations were down dramatically during the winter season. Normally, we’d expect to fill a truck each week with food donations, but numbers were low this past winter due to the unseasonably warm weather. People just weren’t thinking about snow tubing, and therefore, the amount of canned food items donated was also lower than we had hoped for. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for good weather this summer, and we’re hoping to keep the pantry shelves full.”
The Amesbury Sports Park opens to the public on June 21st and will be open Thursdays through Saturdays from 10 am to 7 pm, and Sundays from 10 am to 5 pm. More information is available on the website at www.amesburysportspark.net or by calling (978) 388-5788.