With waterpark operators gearing up for the Spring 2013 season just around the corner, we take a look at some of the new rides lifting the bar in the waterpark industry this year
By Jennifer Harbottle | Published in Attractions Management 2013 issue 1
New water attractions for Center Parcs Center Parcs has debuted two new water attractions at its Elveden Forest holiday village. With an investment of £4m (E4.75m, $6.3m), its Tropical Cyclone™ water ride has been created by a partnership between Holder Mathias, Water Technologies International, Inc and SDC Builders Limited. It was officially opened in November by Paralympic swimming star Ellie Simmonds.
Tropical Cyclone™ combines a Behemoth Bowl™ and a Tornado™ in one ride – a technology that is the first of its kind. The ride consists of four-person rafts, which twist, spiral and zigzag at speeds of up to 30mph, reaching zero gravity before returning to the main pool. For Holder Mathias, the installation proved challenging for various reasons.
“As well as exploring new technologies, the challenge was that the existing pool remained open throughout, while construction went on next to it,” explains senior partner Peter Gamble, whose company has also provided water-based attractions for both Whinfell Forest and Woburn Forest Center Parc villages.
Elveden Forest has also just opened a heated, aerated and illuminated Lagoon Pool. Based on the concept of a Mexican Cenote, the family-orientated pool includes plant-covered rock walls.
Ellie Simmonds opened the new ride, which offers twists, spirals and zigzags
IAAPA Award for ProSlide IAAPA 2012 was quite a show for Proslide. Its HydroMagnetic Mammoth™ water coaster took the award for Best New Water Ride Product, as well as an Industry Impact Award, which recognises a product that will have the most impact on the industry. The six-person Mammoth was recognised for the fact it enables a face-to-face water ride experience and can also accommodate large capacities of more than a thousand guests an hour.
The six-person Mammoth water coaster can carry a thousand guests per hour
Get ready for a Surf Safari Polin has revealed its brand new waterslide called Surf Safari for the 2013 season. The high-capacity waterslide attraction features a 40-degree sloped entrance and a streamlined, parabolic bowl-shaped design, which results in four-person rafts zooming through twists and turns as well as unexpected changes in momentum. Its specially engineered slide gives riders a longer ride.
Surf safari’s first installation will be at the upcoming Cowabungo Bay Waterpark in Las Vegas, USA.
Surf Safari is a high capacity waterslide experience using four-person rafts
2013 set to be a blast for Whitewater There’s no slowing down for Whitewater this year. In early 2013, Donetsk waterpark in the Ukraine will feature a Whitewater Triple Charger™ waterslide. The Triple Charger allows riders to race each other through a series of twists and turns. Its configuration offers increased throughput, with a tight compact footprint.
At the much anticipated Wet ‘n’ Wild Sydney, Whitewater is supplying a Whizzard™ Twist – a high-speed mat racer that sends riders through enclosed AquaTubes that twist, then serpentine alongside each other, transitioning into the traditional side-by-side multi-lane configuration. Meanwhile, at Dubai’s Atlantis The Palm, Whitewater is installing a Family Anaconda™ ride, due to open in October 2013.
The Whizzard sends riders along enclosed tubes at high speed
Santorini Water Fantasy launches in spring Santorini Water Fantasy, near Hua Hin in Thailand, is gearing up for its Spring 2013 opening with some exciting new water rides. As part of its US$3.25m (£2m, E2.4) investment, the park’s developers Pena House Public Co Ltd is purchasing four major water rides from Polin. These include a 15m (50ft)-high King Cobra slide, a Looping Rocket drop ride as well as a Space Shuttle waterslide and a Windigo multi-racer lane mat ride.
Santorini Water Fantasy is being built alongside the existing eight-acre Santorini amusement park. The four-acre waterpark will be part of a larger expansion of the existing facilities that will include a three-star, low-rise resort.
The Santorini Water Fantasy near Hua Hin will unveil four major new water rides
Rain dance Brand new from Arihant is the Aqua Disc attraction. Aqua Disc is shaped like a spaceship, which guests enter in order to dance under disco lights, fountains, fog effects and water jets.
Holding up to 130 people on the dance floor at one time, this music-based water attraction is an alternative to traditional waterslides.
The Aqua Disc is a music-based water attraction that features disco lights, fog effects and water jets
Six Flags goes big in 2013 Six Flags New England waterpark, Hurricane Harbor, is adding a 65ft (20m)-tall waterslide featuring six-drop hatch slides to its attraction. Bonzai Pipelines will join the park’s existing line-up of 27 slides.
Six Flags America in Maryland has purchased the same ride for its park, following the success of Apocalypse – its 10-storey stand-up coaster introduced in 2012.
Bonzai Pipelines is a six-storey structure that features six looping slides set atop a 65ft (20m) tower. With clear launching tubes, spectators will also feel part of the action. Both rides open in Spring 2013.
At Six Flags White Water, a new Typhoon Twister ride will debut in late spring. The attraction will see riders enclosed in a five-storey drop before shooting out into a 67ft (20.4m) bowl.
For its La Ronde park in Montreal, Six Flags has invested in an Aqua Twist ride, manufactured by Mack. The circular attraction is comprised of nine boats seating up to six passengers. Before the ride starts, the floor disappears and is covered with water, allowing each boat to flow and rotate. Boats carry six water pistols so passengers can interact with guests on the other boats and with spectators.
Thrills and spills at Schlitterbahn Claiming it will be the world’s most extreme waterslide ever built, Schlitterbahn Kansas City Waterpark will open its new four-person Master Blaster water-coaster uphill waterslide next season. As well as being the tallest and fastest, its patented technology is aiming to be the highest and fastest slide, a record currently held by Insano at Beach Park, Fortaleza, Brazil. The park isn’t announcing the dimensions of the ride until it opens in Summer 2013.
In at the deep end
Chris Warhurst, general manager of Wet ‘n’Wild Sydney tells us about the new waterpark
Warhurst says Wet’n’Wild will deliver a world-class waterpark to Sydney
Why was Sydney chosen as the location for Village Roadshow’s new waterpark? Sydney is a world-class city that deserves more world-class entertainment. The new Wet‘n’Wild Sydney will deliver that, with 43 slides and attractions. Our aim is to make it among the world’s best waterparks.
What stage is the park at now? The NSW Government zoned the site for a leisure development and requested proposals via a public tender. Village Roadshow won it and we’ve progressed from tender, through public consultation and approval into construction.
Tell us about the new waterpark Wet‘n’Wild Sydney will be a contemporary, world-class attraction located 30kms from Sydney’s central business district. Covering 27 hectares, it’ll have brand new attractions, wonderful eating facilities and lush landscaping around our central feature – the largest wave pool in Australia. We’re creating a beach that’s within reach for all of Sydney.
How many rides will you be purchasing for Wet‘n’Wild Sydney? A total of 43 slides and attractions have been purchased and designed to build, including four Master Blasters, Boomerango, Constrictor, Rattler, Double Bowl and a half-kilometre adventure river. We’ve been working closely with ProSlide and WhiteWater in order to procure the best slide products from both of these companies.
Sydney will have the world’s tallest double Sky Coaster, the world’s first Aqua Loop and Whizzard combination, Australia’s first Dark Tornado, Tornado Wave and Triple Tantrum Alley.
We’ll have Australia’s first Flow Barrel and, of course, Australia’s largest wave pool. The park will also have dedicated zones for 0- to 9-year-olds, called Wet‘n’Wild Junior. Toddlers will have their own dedicated splash pad and attractions, while older kids will have a splash pad zone with attractions, a kids lazy river and 11 slides.
What’s the ratio of family: thrill rides? We think all of the rides are thrilling! There’s a great mix of attractions for all types of guests. In addition to the 11 slides dedicated to our Wet‘n’Wild Junior guests, the park will have six family raft slides and eight lanes of mat racers.
Thrill-seekers will have four aqua loops, eight lanes at our tube complex, the world’s highest double sky coaster and of course the flow barrel.
What’s the biggest challenge of building Wet‘n’Wild Sydney? Sydney doesn’t present challenges as much as it presents the opportunity to create something stunning. The executives of Village Roadshow planned this project extremely well. We’re on time, on budget and on brief to deliver the world’s best waterpark.”
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With waterpark operators gearing up for the Spring 2013 season just around the corner, we take a look at some of the new rides lifting the bar in the waterpark industry this year
By Jennifer Harbottle | Published in Attractions Management 2013 issue 1
New water attractions for Center Parcs Center Parcs has debuted two new water attractions at its Elveden Forest holiday village. With an investment of £4m (E4.75m, $6.3m), its Tropical Cyclone™ water ride has been created by a partnership between Holder Mathias, Water Technologies International, Inc and SDC Builders Limited. It was officially opened in November by Paralympic swimming star Ellie Simmonds.
Tropical Cyclone™ combines a Behemoth Bowl™ and a Tornado™ in one ride – a technology that is the first of its kind. The ride consists of four-person rafts, which twist, spiral and zigzag at speeds of up to 30mph, reaching zero gravity before returning to the main pool. For Holder Mathias, the installation proved challenging for various reasons.
“As well as exploring new technologies, the challenge was that the existing pool remained open throughout, while construction went on next to it,” explains senior partner Peter Gamble, whose company has also provided water-based attractions for both Whinfell Forest and Woburn Forest Center Parc villages.
Elveden Forest has also just opened a heated, aerated and illuminated Lagoon Pool. Based on the concept of a Mexican Cenote, the family-orientated pool includes plant-covered rock walls.
Ellie Simmonds opened the new ride, which offers twists, spirals and zigzags
IAAPA Award for ProSlide IAAPA 2012 was quite a show for Proslide. Its HydroMagnetic Mammoth™ water coaster took the award for Best New Water Ride Product, as well as an Industry Impact Award, which recognises a product that will have the most impact on the industry. The six-person Mammoth was recognised for the fact it enables a face-to-face water ride experience and can also accommodate large capacities of more than a thousand guests an hour.
The six-person Mammoth water coaster can carry a thousand guests per hour
Get ready for a Surf Safari Polin has revealed its brand new waterslide called Surf Safari for the 2013 season. The high-capacity waterslide attraction features a 40-degree sloped entrance and a streamlined, parabolic bowl-shaped design, which results in four-person rafts zooming through twists and turns as well as unexpected changes in momentum. Its specially engineered slide gives riders a longer ride.
Surf safari’s first installation will be at the upcoming Cowabungo Bay Waterpark in Las Vegas, USA.
Surf Safari is a high capacity waterslide experience using four-person rafts
2013 set to be a blast for Whitewater There’s no slowing down for Whitewater this year. In early 2013, Donetsk waterpark in the Ukraine will feature a Whitewater Triple Charger™ waterslide. The Triple Charger allows riders to race each other through a series of twists and turns. Its configuration offers increased throughput, with a tight compact footprint.
At the much anticipated Wet ‘n’ Wild Sydney, Whitewater is supplying a Whizzard™ Twist – a high-speed mat racer that sends riders through enclosed AquaTubes that twist, then serpentine alongside each other, transitioning into the traditional side-by-side multi-lane configuration. Meanwhile, at Dubai’s Atlantis The Palm, Whitewater is installing a Family Anaconda™ ride, due to open in October 2013.
The Whizzard sends riders along enclosed tubes at high speed
Santorini Water Fantasy launches in spring Santorini Water Fantasy, near Hua Hin in Thailand, is gearing up for its Spring 2013 opening with some exciting new water rides. As part of its US$3.25m (£2m, E2.4) investment, the park’s developers Pena House Public Co Ltd is purchasing four major water rides from Polin. These include a 15m (50ft)-high King Cobra slide, a Looping Rocket drop ride as well as a Space Shuttle waterslide and a Windigo multi-racer lane mat ride.
Santorini Water Fantasy is being built alongside the existing eight-acre Santorini amusement park. The four-acre waterpark will be part of a larger expansion of the existing facilities that will include a three-star, low-rise resort.
The Santorini Water Fantasy near Hua Hin will unveil four major new water rides
Rain dance Brand new from Arihant is the Aqua Disc attraction. Aqua Disc is shaped like a spaceship, which guests enter in order to dance under disco lights, fountains, fog effects and water jets.
Holding up to 130 people on the dance floor at one time, this music-based water attraction is an alternative to traditional waterslides.
The Aqua Disc is a music-based water attraction that features disco lights, fog effects and water jets
Six Flags goes big in 2013 Six Flags New England waterpark, Hurricane Harbor, is adding a 65ft (20m)-tall waterslide featuring six-drop hatch slides to its attraction. Bonzai Pipelines will join the park’s existing line-up of 27 slides.
Six Flags America in Maryland has purchased the same ride for its park, following the success of Apocalypse – its 10-storey stand-up coaster introduced in 2012.
Bonzai Pipelines is a six-storey structure that features six looping slides set atop a 65ft (20m) tower. With clear launching tubes, spectators will also feel part of the action. Both rides open in Spring 2013.
At Six Flags White Water, a new Typhoon Twister ride will debut in late spring. The attraction will see riders enclosed in a five-storey drop before shooting out into a 67ft (20.4m) bowl.
For its La Ronde park in Montreal, Six Flags has invested in an Aqua Twist ride, manufactured by Mack. The circular attraction is comprised of nine boats seating up to six passengers. Before the ride starts, the floor disappears and is covered with water, allowing each boat to flow and rotate. Boats carry six water pistols so passengers can interact with guests on the other boats and with spectators.
Thrills and spills at Schlitterbahn Claiming it will be the world’s most extreme waterslide ever built, Schlitterbahn Kansas City Waterpark will open its new four-person Master Blaster water-coaster uphill waterslide next season. As well as being the tallest and fastest, its patented technology is aiming to be the highest and fastest slide, a record currently held by Insano at Beach Park, Fortaleza, Brazil. The park isn’t announcing the dimensions of the ride until it opens in Summer 2013.
In at the deep end
Chris Warhurst, general manager of Wet ‘n’Wild Sydney tells us about the new waterpark
Warhurst says Wet’n’Wild will deliver a world-class waterpark to Sydney
Why was Sydney chosen as the location for Village Roadshow’s new waterpark? Sydney is a world-class city that deserves more world-class entertainment. The new Wet‘n’Wild Sydney will deliver that, with 43 slides and attractions. Our aim is to make it among the world’s best waterparks.
What stage is the park at now? The NSW Government zoned the site for a leisure development and requested proposals via a public tender. Village Roadshow won it and we’ve progressed from tender, through public consultation and approval into construction.
Tell us about the new waterpark Wet‘n’Wild Sydney will be a contemporary, world-class attraction located 30kms from Sydney’s central business district. Covering 27 hectares, it’ll have brand new attractions, wonderful eating facilities and lush landscaping around our central feature – the largest wave pool in Australia. We’re creating a beach that’s within reach for all of Sydney.
How many rides will you be purchasing for Wet‘n’Wild Sydney? A total of 43 slides and attractions have been purchased and designed to build, including four Master Blasters, Boomerango, Constrictor, Rattler, Double Bowl and a half-kilometre adventure river. We’ve been working closely with ProSlide and WhiteWater in order to procure the best slide products from both of these companies.
Sydney will have the world’s tallest double Sky Coaster, the world’s first Aqua Loop and Whizzard combination, Australia’s first Dark Tornado, Tornado Wave and Triple Tantrum Alley.
We’ll have Australia’s first Flow Barrel and, of course, Australia’s largest wave pool. The park will also have dedicated zones for 0- to 9-year-olds, called Wet‘n’Wild Junior. Toddlers will have their own dedicated splash pad and attractions, while older kids will have a splash pad zone with attractions, a kids lazy river and 11 slides.
What’s the ratio of family: thrill rides? We think all of the rides are thrilling! There’s a great mix of attractions for all types of guests. In addition to the 11 slides dedicated to our Wet‘n’Wild Junior guests, the park will have six family raft slides and eight lanes of mat racers.
Thrill-seekers will have four aqua loops, eight lanes at our tube complex, the world’s highest double sky coaster and of course the flow barrel.
What’s the biggest challenge of building Wet‘n’Wild Sydney? Sydney doesn’t present challenges as much as it presents the opportunity to create something stunning. The executives of Village Roadshow planned this project extremely well. We’re on time, on budget and on brief to deliver the world’s best waterpark.”
Off the back of the success of the first round of Everyday Heritage Grants in 2022, Historic
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Immersive entertainment specialists, Layered Reality, is creating a tribute to Elvis Presley
featuring a concert experience with a life-sized digital Elvis.
