10 new attractions at waterparks in 2007
By DERRIK J. LANG, The Associated PressSunday, July 08, 2007NEW YORK -- Big pools. Big slides. Big bowls.
This summer, water parks across the country are reaching new heights and depths to drench visitors with aquatic thrills. From a raft ride winding down a man-made mountain in Idaho to the world's largest enclosed bowl slide in Louisiana, many water parks are creating new attractions in 2007.
"If your family hasn't been to a waterpark for a summer or two, this year you'll find new, innovative rides that thrill the older kids and fun, interactive play features to keep dad and the little kids entertained for hours," says Rick Root, president of the World Waterpark Association.
Two entirely new water parks -- Kings Pointe in Storm Lake, Iowa, and CoCo Key in Danvers, Mass. -- are providing indoor water park experiences to entice visitors when rain clouds appear or after the summer sun sets.
Some parks are focusing on new ways to relax outdoors, like the lush lounge-worthy Cascade lagoon pool at Dollywood's Splash Country in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Others aim to scare riders out of their skull, such as the Brain Wash funnel slide at Wet 'n Wild in Orlando, Fla.
Whether the result is merely damp or totally saturated, these 10 brand-new water park attractions are sure to keep visitors across the country cool this summer.
AVALANCHE MOUNTAIN
Type: Raft Slide
Height: 40 feet
Location: Boulder Beach at Silverwood, Athol, Idaho
Details: Instead of traipsing up a staircase, riders hike up a hill before swishing through 650 feet of twisty slide aboard rafts that seat up to six thrill seekers. The improvised alp rises up 40 feet above the ground and ends in a canyon pool that reaches 30 feet below.
BAKULI
Type: Bowl Slide
Height: 73 feet
Location: Holiday World and Splashin' Safari, Santa Claus, Ind.
Details: Bakuli, the Swahili word for "bowl," immerses up to four riders on cloverleaf tubes inside a dark tunnel then twirls them into an open-air high-banked bowl measuring 60 feet across. An opening at the bottom of the bowl then drops tubers into one last tunnel before ejecting them into a pool.
BRAIN WASH
Type: Funnel Slide
Height: 65 feet
Location: Wet 'n Wild, Orlando, Fla.
Details: Riders plop 53 feet down a vertical tunnel in two- or four-person tubes then emerge inside a domed funnel, swishing side to side before being spit out below. The entire attraction, a sideways take on the bowl slide, is totally enclosed and painted black and white. Who knew a water slide could be so hypnotic?
THE CASCADES
Type: Lagoon
Size: 8,000 square feet
Location: Dollywood's Splash Country, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Details: There's probably something for everyone at this new watery enclave. Shady deck space for dads. Beach-style pool for moms. Four grotto slides for teenagers. And interactive aquatic elements for little squirts. There's one feature that all will be able to enjoy: a geyser that shoots water 20 feet into the air.
CLIFFHANGERS
Type: Plummet Slides
Height: 81 feet
Location: Schlitterbahn, Galveston Island, Texas
Details: Expect a wedgie! Cliffhangers are dueling open slides that launch riders on a near-vertical freefall with speeds approaching 40 mph. The two slopes are located in a new themed section of the park called Blastenhoff and are adjacent to the also new Twin Twisters enclosed spiraling slides.
CRYSTAL LAGOON
Type: Slide Complex
Length: 2,000 feet
Location: Magic Springs and Crystal Falls, Hot Springs, Ark.
Details: With two tubing bowls, three speed slides and four tube slides woven together on one huge frame, Crystal Lagoon looks like dripping multicolored spaghetti. The behemoth slide structure, now the largest in Arkansas, is part of a $5 million expansion that adds 10,000 feet of pool area to the water park.
DELUGE
Type: Rocket Slide
Height: 57 feet
Location: Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom and Splashwater Kingdom, Louisville, Ky.
Details: This hydromagnetic attraction -- yes, that means water and magnets -- thrusts up to four riders in rafts up and down 890 feet of slide through tunnels and around turns. Unlike most water slides, Deluge features roller coaster-like drops and uphill boosts.
FLOWRIDER
Type: Wave Simulator
Size: 1,400 square feet
Location: Raging Waters, San Dimas, Calif.
Details: The surf's now always up at Raging Waters. The water park is home to FlowRider, a popular surfing simulator that provides continuous thrills thanks to 36,000 gallons of thrusting water per minute. This jetpower allows riders to bodyboard and kneeboard without having to wait for waves at the beach.
TIDAL WAVE BAY
Type: Wave Pool
Size: 30,000 square feet
Location: WaterWorks at King's Dominion, Doswell, Va.
Details: WaterWorks expands with this second wave pool. Filled with 350,000 gallons of whooshing water, Tidal Wave Bay provides swimmers with flowing currents like clockwork and interactive water fountains. The new wave pool is also surrounded by 16 cabanas available for landlubbers' daily rental.
VOODOO
Type: Bowl Slide
Height: 80 feet
Location: Blue Bayou Waterpark, Baton Rouge, La.
Details: This is one tall tub. At 80 feet, the mammoth red-and-black Voodoo slide is the "world's largest" enclosed bowl attraction. Just like the Bakuli, riders in cloverleaf rafts are sent down a chute into darkness, swirling around before being released into an another tunnel below.
