2021 New Rides & Attractions: Water Park Roundup
Andamanda Phuket
Phuket, Thailand
Opening this year, Thailand’s new Andamanda Phuket water park is a showcase for WhiteWater water slides and attractions, including the company’s AquaDrop, Bubba Tub, Boomerango, Whizzard, FlowRider Double, WaveOz, Speed Slide, Rattler, Surf Wave Pool, and more.
“We have selected crowd-pleasers, like the six-lane Whizzard, as well as the more thrilling slides like the Bubba Tub, the Boomerango and the AquaLoop with AquaLaunch, making sure that we have something for everyone,” says Proudputh Liptapanlop, executive director of Vana Nava Co. Ltd. (Andamanda Phuket’s owner). “We also wanted to focus on the leisure or ‘non-water slide’ experience of the park. Hence, we decided to go with a surfing wave pool, as well as a double FlowRider. These leisure experiences will help us to appeal to a wider range of patrons, increase the time spent within the park, and provide a platform for doing events and competitions in the future.”
AquaCourse 240
OCT Wuhan
Wuhan, China
OCT Wuhan opened an AquaCourse 240 complex from WhiteWater, a play structure that integrates water play into a ropes course. To double the capacity of WhiteWater’s 120 model, the AquaCourse 240 has an additional second level of decks and bridges for harnessed guests to enjoy. This attraction allows participants to spray and splash each other by pulling ropes, pushing buttons, and stepping on foot-activated water elements.
Aquashow Park
Quarteira, Algarve, Portugal
Portugal’s Aquashow Park launched a ProSlide MammothBlast water coaster and Tornado water slide this season. “The MammothBlast is a slide where practically all the family can go together and offers in its design the experience of a roller coaster, which makes it unique,” says Juri Tietzen, the park’s operation manager. “Tornado was chosen because it offers nearly the same experience (family slide with some thrill), and it fits perfectly in our indoor park project.”
“The MammothBlast is a big success,” Tietzen adds. “The clients love it, and we have been getting very good feedback.”
Dueling Water Coaster
Cafalandia Water Park
Bogota, Colombia
Cafalandia Water Park unveiled ProSlide’s Dueling PipelineBlast/FlyingSaucer Water Coaster to guests in Bogota, Colombia. Winner of the 2019 IAAPA Impact Award, this competitive water coaster-style slide pits riders against each other through high-speed straightaways and six FlyingSaucer swirling turns. The new slide also uses ProSlide’s patented Blast water nozzles in two sections to propel riders up inclines. To respect Cafalandia’s robust and lush vegetation, ProSlide’s ride design team adapted the water slide’s ride path to preserve as much of the landscape as possible.
Evergrande Ocean Flower Water Park
Danzhou, Hainan, China
The new Evergrande Ocean Flower Water Park—located on an artificial archipelago off the coast of Danzhou, Hainan, China—is home to 15 ProSlide water rides, including a 359-meter-long ProSlide RocketBlast Water Coaster. According to ProSlide, this ride uses eight high-powered water jet sections to propel riders higher, faster, and longer than conventional “blaster” coasters. The park is also home to TornadoWave, which sends each six-person inflatable across a large curved wall.
Kids Area
Aquadiver
Platja d’Aro, Girona, Spain
Located on Spain’s Mediterranean Coast, Aquadiver water park opened a new Kids Area with ProSlide’s assistance. “There is a new pool with five kids’ slides, including a green-and-white Kidz TornadoWave and an orange-and-white Kidz Tornado,” says Aquadiver co-owner Joan Cama. “To have those two slides in the same pool makes it special, and what really makes it special for our young visitors is that they have two slides that the adults don’t have yet in our parks.”
Riptide Race
Aquatica
Orlando, Florida, United States
As spring break got underway across the U.S., Aquatica opened “Riptide Race” by ProSlide, a tall dueling racing slide. The battle begins atop a 68-foot tower, where a pair of two-person rafts zooms down a 650-foot flume through tunnels, twists, and turns.
“Low walls throughout the ride experience allow racers to see other as they race side by side,” says Aquatica Vice President Brad Gilmour. “There has been a lot of buzz around the fact that riders who are racing each other can see each throughout the slide experience, and it’s common to hear lots of ‘competitive chatter’ at the finish line.”
“Riptide Race’s” 42-inch height requirement is a plus with Aquatica guests. “They have been especially excited that the entire family can enjoy this slide,” Gilmour tells Funworld.
Building “Riptide Race” during the pandemic wasn’t easy. “At times, international travel caused delays, but we were very impressed with our team’s ability to work through each hurdle to ensure this new attraction opened up for spring break,” says Gilmour.
Storm Beach
Dragon Valley
Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Nanjing’s newly opened Huachang Dragon Valley complex is home to the indoor/outdoor water park Storm Beach. Outdoors, WhiteWater installed a high-thrills water ride area that includes AquaLoop and Flatline Loop Fusions, AquaLoops, and AquaDrops. The company also built attractions for younger water-loving guests such as the Mini Rattler, Mini Boomerango, and Mini AquaSphere.
Svalgurok
Rulantica
Rust, Germany
Phase two of Europa-Park’s massive indoor water park opened outside in 2021 with the debut of “Svalgurok.” The water play structure adds 10 outdoor slides to Rulantica.
“The feedback of our guests is very positive—especially the wide outdoor area—which was extremely well-received during the coronavirus crisis,” says Michael Kreft von Byern, director of Rulantica.
The monumental theming of “Svalgurok” includes a towering snake head—that’s animated—and moves along with an oversized bucket that pours water on guests below. ProSlide, in collaboration with Show Canada, created the serpent-like feature that coils around the 10 slides and 100 water play devices.
What guest don’t see while splashing? The subterranean city built under their feet.
“The whole area of ‘Svalgurok’ is built with a basement, which was not only built for pumps and electrical engineering, but also as a storage area that can be used by our food and beverage and shopping departments. The area is comfortably reachable via a delivery ramp,” explains Kreft von Byern. The underground lair allows for deliveries and employees to arrive outside of guest view, preserving the magic of Rulantica.
Trident Tower
Aquaventure Waterpark, Atlantis Dubai
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Aquaventure Waterpark at Atlantis Dubai added a full range of ProSlide attractions for the 2021 season, many of them anchored on their 48-meter-tall “Trident Tower.”
Attractions on the tower include “Odyssey of Terror,” a Double TornadoWave model, and “Shockwave,” a family rafting water coaster that uses Blast propulsion. “Trident Tower” also sports the “Medusa’s Lair” dueling slide, the “Blackout” vertical drop body slide, and “Hydra Racers” with four lanes of competitive racing.
“In addition to the new slides at ‘Trident Tower,’ we have opened the ‘Immortal Falls’ cliff jumping experience,” says Sascha Triemer, Atlantis Dubai’s vice president of marine and water park. “We also have ‘Raging Rapids,’ where guests can experience a number of roaring water elements and different zones of wave intensity while travelling around the water park.”
Fortunately for Atlantis Dubai, COVID-19 posed no significant challenges in readying the new attractions for 2021. “The restrictions on water park occupancy gave us rather the advantage on completing expansion to an existing water park on a faster pace and launching the tower on time,” Triemer says.
atlantis.com/dubai/atlantis-aquaventure
Tsunami Surge and Tidal Wave
Hurricane Harbor Chicago and Hurricane Harbor Rockford
Illinois, United States
Six Flags installed two new slides at their two water parks in Illinois in 2021. Hurricane Harbor Chicago, located next door to Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, opened the “Tsunami Surge” water coaster.
“Towering 86 feet high, ‘Tsunami Surge’ propels riders up three gravity-defying uphill blasts, through five hairpin turns, and down five breathtaking drops,” says Caitlin Kepple, communications and marketing manager for Six Flags Great America and Hurricane Harbor. Guests zooming through “Tsunami Surge” can reach speeds up to 28 mph.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Harbor Rockford in Cherry Valley, Illinois, opened the “Tidal Wave” water slide, a Tailspin model that WhiteWater says combines the high-banking rotations of a bowl with the rapid descent of a flume.
Hurricane Harbor Rockford’s new “Tidal Wave” “takes riders on a 43-foot swirling descent through three whirling high-speed turns,” Kepple says. Six Flags chose to use WhiteWater’s AquaLucent technology, which utilizes sunlight entering tube sections to create a speed-of-light sensation.
sixflags.com/hurricaneharborchicago, sixflags.com/hurricaneharborrockford
