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K. F. Moffett, editor, Waterpark Report
With most seasonal waterparks opening this month and next, our trusted Waterpark Report correspondents have hit the road in search of the latest slide additions, as well as groundbreakings on parks set to open in 2005. With 2003 going down as a prosperous year for most U.S. waterparks, the smart money is on 2005 to see an abundance of new slides and water attractions.
Six Flags
Four Six Flags parks have confirmed that they will be adding ProSlide Tornadoes, an anchor attraction that premiered last season. It will be making its seasonal debut at Hurricane Harbor, Fiesta Texas, White Water, and Magic Mountain. Six Flags Fiesta Texas in Arlington, Texas, has begun construction on the Tornado—a striking 45- to 60-foot-tall yellow and blue funnel-shaped slide that sends four-person cloverleaf-shaped riding tubes spiraling down a steep drop and through a giant aperture—which will be the first addition in four years for Fiesta Texas.
“This will be an enormous water ride that will give our guests the sensation of being drawn through the eye of a giant tornado,” explains Gene Weeks, vice president and general manager of Six Flags White Water in Atlanta.
Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Calif., will also be adding a Tornado, (there’s also one at Paramount’s Kings Island), and there are more to come. Last year, Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Ind., was the first park to add one—which it named Zinga. The ride was purchased for $1.5 million and has received high praise from guests and other waterpark connoisseurs around the country. With its high through-put, it was the park’s most popular ride last season, welcoming 450,000 riders.
“It’s the best,” Will Koch, president and general manager of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, told the Star Telegram. “It’s just visually striking and different from any other water slide we have.”
This is the same attraction that won IAAPA’s 2003 Best New Product Award in the Waterpark Category.
Camelbeach
Camelbeach Waterpark in Tannersville, Pa., has undergone its fifth major expansion in as many years. This season it will premier Checkered Flag Challenge, a complex of eight new racing slides, giving the waterpark a grand total of 22 slides, the most in Pennsylvania.
With eight separate lanes in which riders plunge down headfirst, Checkered Flag Challenge brings a competitive element to the world of family waterslides. Racers will be assigned one of eight lanes; they will ride headfirst, facedown upon mats as they slide their way to the bottom. A “Christmas tree” countdown light will begin each heat, while an electronic sensor system will automatically declare a winner at the finish line.
Checkered Flag Challenge will be located to the west of the Blue Nile Adventure River and will anchor the far west side of the park. Riders need be only 36 inches tall to ride, making Checkered Flag Challenge an attraction with wide family appeal.
Other areas of Camelbeach will be improved for 2004 as well. New walkways and lounging areas have been constructed around Checkered Flag Challenge. More than 1,000 new lounge chairs will be added. The locker rental windows will be moved and expanded. New rest rooms will service the west end of the park, while some existing rest rooms will be expanded. A new indoor food location will debut, and a new games arcade will offer gamers a break from the sun.
“Camelbeach now has the most waterslides, and indeed the most well-rounded collection of attractions, of any waterpark in Pennsylvania,” says Sam Newman, president and CEO of Camelback Ski Corporation, operators of Camelbeach. “We look forward to making 2004 our seventh consecutive year of record-breaking attendance at Camelbeach.”
Also, look for new projects at Kalahari Waterpark, Wis., Sandcastle Waterpark, Pa., and The Beach in Ohio.
For 2005 . . .
In June, construction will begin on a Kansas City, Mo., waterpark that should be open by Memorial Day. The $8 million park will include a lazy river, low-impact slides, a kiddie area, and a few high-speed thrill slides. The city of Kansas City will contribute $2 million, which will be raised by local sales taxes.
Schlitterbahn III is set to begin construction in Galveston, forming a Texas triumvirate (the other parks are in New Braunfels and on South Padre Island). The price tag is projected at $30 million. The city of Galveston will maintain ownership of the 25-acre tract where the park will be built, renting it to NBGS.
The waterpark, scheduled to open in May 2005, is expected to provide 900 new jobs and should attract a half million people to its watery confines.
