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WATER PARKS
Alottawata Water Park (Ottawa area, Canada)
2012 - New Park - (11/9/09) The park’s official website has now confirmed that they will not open until June 2012.
(1/20/09) First Calypso has pushed back their opening and now AlottaWata has also pushed back their grand opening until June 2010 as well. This has been confirmed by the AlottaWata website as well.
(3/24/09) According to this news article, the new Alottawata Water Park project is on track for a June 2009 grand opening. Currently workers have already cleared most of the park’s site as Proslide prepares to build “one of the most unique water parks in the world”.
The Beach (Cincinnati, OH)
 NOW CLOSED - (3/13/12) Sad news for the Cincinnati area as the 27 year old “The Beach” waterpark located just across the freeway from Kings Island, has announced that they are likely closing for good and will not be able to open for the 2012 season. While attendance at the park had been flat in recent years, operational and maintenance costs have increased to the point of eating away the profits. Unable to secure new financing to keep the park running, they have been forced to close and lay off their few full time staffers. There is a slight chance that if they are able to work out a new financial deal over the next several months The Beach could reopen for 2013.
Calypso Park (Ottawa, Canada)
Park News -
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
Camelbeach Waterpark (Tannersville, PA)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
Cowabunga Bay (Utah)
2012 - New Attraction(s) - (8/12/11) The Cowabunga Bay Facebook page now has a teaser image that says “Coming in 2012 More, More… MORE”. Sounds like a big expansion is in the works.
Fun Spot Waterpark (Orlando, FL)
2013 - NEW PARK - (11/28/11) Orlando Parks News has dug up an article reporting that Fun Spot has decided to use their new land next to the original Orlando location to create the new Fun Spot Waterpark with their partners at SplashTacular. They claim at the park will be loaded with next-generation waterpark attractions that you wont find anywhere else in Orlando when it opens in 2013.
One such new slide concept is Splash Rally, a new take on the “racer” slide concept. 360 Rush is a new take on the bowl slide concept, where they drop two sliders into the bowl from opposite ends at the same time so they can chase each other around. They also have a Double BowlsEye… a double-rider raft take on the 360 Rush concept.
 Great Wolf Lodge - California (Garden Grove, CA)
2014 - In Development - (4/10/12) A reader went by the construction site for the new Great Wolf Lodge in Garden Grove, CA and sent back some pictures. Lo
oks like the site clearing clearly is now nearly complete, so hopefully they will be ready to push forward fairly soon in order to meet the proposed 2014 opening date. As I seem to recall, construction on a new Great Wolf Lodge takes at least 18-22 months, so they should be starting soon.
(2/2/12) Garden Grove has moved the last residents from the now closed RV Park off Harbor Blvd to make way for the “once-in-a-lifetime” project that will see a new Great Wolf Lodge added to the city, just a hop skip and a jump down the road from the Disneyland Resort. This link includes a bit of concept artwork showing off how the new resort may look.
(4/15/11) Good news for the proposed Great Wolf Lodge Resort, the local City Council voted unanimously to approve $51 million in bonds to fund the construction of the waterpark resort. Right now the plan is to break ground in 2012… and typically it takes over a year or so to build a GWL Resort, so look for it to open in 2013 most likely.
(8/28/10) The Great Wolf Lodge showed off what the new California resort down the road from Disneyland could look like in a meeting with community members this week. It seems the plan is to place the waterpark building right up on Harbor, with the Howlin’ Tornado slide living large as a visual icon.
(6/29/10) Great news for Southern California… Great Wolf Lodge is now planning their first SoCal resort about 1 mile from Disneyland in Garden Grove. Yep, it looks like Garden Grove’s long-time desire to bring in their own major attraction has finally paid off as Great Wolf is the company behind that top secret waterpark resort story that came out back in mid April. All I can say is… ABOUT TIME! If Disney isn’t going to build their own indoor waterpark, I’m glad Great Wolf Lodge is coming to do it instead.
The new Great Wolf Lodge California is planned to have a 100,000 square-foot indoor waterpark, making it the largest in the entire GWL chain, and one of the largest in the world. Plans for the resort side of things include 600 suites plus 30,000 sqft of meeting space, plus all the other great things you can expect from a GWL Resort like a Spa, restaurants, MagiQuest, mini-golf, arcade games and more. Look for it to break ground in 2011.
(4/17/10) The city of Garden Grove has long felt left out from the glitter and glory bestowed upon nearby Anaheim because of Disneyland. Over the years the city has tried to lure in various other theme parks and developers to build their own projects on the outskirts of Disneyland, but to no avail.
According to the OC Register, Garden Grove is at it again and is said to have agreed to pay a waterpark resort developer $42 million if they are able to open an attraction about a mile away from Disneyland on a 10.c acre site near the intersection of Harbor and Garden Grove Blvd. An announcement is expected within a month or so and the project could break ground in 2012. I’ve got no solid lock on this, but looking at an aerial map, if I had to guess I’d say that this empty field and the trailer-park next door are a good possible location for this project.
Great Wolf Lodge Charlotte / Concord (Concord, NC)
2012 - Ten Paw Alley - (3/19/12) During a visit this week to the Great Wolf Lodge – Concord, I discovered that it had opened a new ‘dry’ attraction on Friday called the Ten Paw Alley, a half-size six-lane bowling alley right next to the Arcade.
Great Wolf Lodge at the Mall of America (Bloomington, MN)
???? - In Development - (1/26/09) The massive Mall of America has announced that they still plan on expanding the property, though the speed of the expansion may be done in phases rather than all at once. According to the article it’s unclear how the previous plans to build a Bass Pro Shop or a Great Wolf Lodge resort would fit into the proposed smaller first phase expansion.
(7/27/07) The Mall of America has signed a letter of intent with Great Wolf Resorts to incorporate one of their indoor waterparks as part of the Phase II expansion of the MOA. The inclusion of a Great Wolf Lodge is contingent on the final approval of the Phase II plans that need state approval for about $181 million in infrastructure funding.
Great Wolf Lodge - New Baltimore (New Baltimore, NY)
???? - In Development - (12/12/11) Plans to build a $115 million Great Wolf Lodge indoor waterpark resort near the New York State Thruway in New Baltimore were unveiled last Thursday. Click here to read more.
Great Wolf Lodge - Niagara Falls (Niagara Falls, ON / Canada)
2012 - (12/1/11) The official website for the Great Wolf Lodge: Niagara Falls has confirmed that the waterpark resort will add MagiQuest at long last in January 2012. This kind of caught me off guard, as I had previously thought that every Great Wolf Lodge already had MagiQuest up and running for the last several years.
Great Wolf Lodge - Pittsburgh (at The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills)
???? - Under Consideration - (4/6/12) According to a message sent in, the proposed Great Wolf Lodge for the Pittsburgh area is still on hold. There is interest in the project, but it seems the parties are not ready to move ahead just yet. I’m also going to assume that nothing more is going to happen until the pending purchase of Great Wolf Resorts by Apollo is completed.
(10/27/10) The once announced plan to build a Great Wolf Lodge waterpark in the Pittsburgh Mills mall stalled the project for a time, but according to the developer the project is getting back on track and could break ground as early as June 2011. The park will be built and owned by Zamias Services, but will be managed by Great Wolf Resorts who will also hold a minitory stake in the project. Great Wolf has also confirmed that they are still onboard with the project, and that it would be include about 300 rooms and a 65,000 square foot waterpark. One unique aspect to the park however is that it would be attached to the mall, allowing mall guests to look into the waterpark from the outside.
(1/14/10) Great Wolf Lodge has confirmed that they have signed a letter of intent with Zamias Services to build a new resort which will be connected to The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills in Tarentum, PA. No timeline was given at this time.
Hawaiian Falls (Texas: Garland, Mansfield, The Colony, Roanoke and Waco)
2012 - Hawaiian Falls Waco - New Park -
(2/8/12) Hawaiian Falls reports that the new Waco park is on schedule to open this Memorial Day weekend. On Monday they had over 100 cement trucks roll into the park to deliver a payload of over 800 yards of concrete, forming the park’s new wave pool which is the size of a football field.
(10/3/11) Hawaiian Falls will grow again in Texas, and will perform a ground-breaking ceremony for the new Hawaiian Falls Waco on October 12th. From the sound of things, the new Hawaiian Falls will take the place of the former Waco Water Park.
2012 - New Attractions - Confirmed - (2/3/12) According to BlooLoop the new slide coming to Hawaiian Falls The Colony will be a 360Rush from SplashTacular.
(1/26/12) Hawaiian Falls Roanoke will add the world’s first Double BowlsEye attraction in
2012. The $1.55 million attraction was designed by SplashTacular and will simultaneously drop two different double-rider rafts from the 60 foot tower, down opposite enclosed chutes, where they will then pop out into a single massive bowl from each side and chase each other round and round until each exits through a unique porthole leading down to the splashdown finish lane. This will be built in addition to the Cyclone Fury 4-slide project that was announced for the park back in December.
(12/19/11) Hawaiian Falls has announced $6.3 million in expansion projects to their Ronoake, Garland, The Colony and Mansfield water parks for the 2012 season.
Roanoke will open Cyclone Fury, a $1.6 million six-story tall slide complex that will offer 4 new slides: Whirlwind (2-person tube slide), Wiki Waki Plunge and Lava Flow (60ft speed slides) and Hurricane (family raft slide).
Mansfield will get a $3 million expansion to add two major family slides: Cliff Hanger (3-person tubes with 40 ft drop) and a Boomerango (a 3-story tall half-pipe slide). The park will also add a 10,000 sqft Splashwater Harbor water playground area.
The Colony will spend $1 million to add Whirlwind, a new style dueling bowl-slide concept. Two rides are loaded into drop tubes at the top, dropped at the same time into different enclosed slide tubes, which shoot them out at the same time into a large bowl where they chase each other around and around before coming to a stop.
Garland will add The Abyss, a two-person tube dark slide that will feature a number of high-end special effects (lights, sound, projections, etc…). The park will also update their existing Splashwater Harbor area, transforming it into Keiki Kingdom, which will feature a floating obstacle course.
Kalahari Resort (Sandusky, Ohio)
Resort News - (1/25/12) Screamscape has been informed that the Zip Coaster slide at the Sandusky Kalahari Resort is now closed until February 4th, 2012 due to preventative maintenance.
2012 - Convention Center Expansion - (1/12/11) The Kalahari Resort in Sandusky has announced plans for a $22 million project to double the size of their convention center, with work to start on March.
Late 2012 / Early 2013 - Waterpark Expansion - Rumor - (10/7/11) A little bird has informed me that Kalahari Sandusky is preparing to start a large expansion of the resort that will add a new kiddie area, a tornado style slide and many of the same style body slides that the Dell’s resort is adding this winter. The plan is to try to have this expansion finished by Christmas 2012.
Kalahari Resort (Wisconsin Dells)
2012 - SuperLoop Sahara Sidewinders - (12/22/11) Kalahari has announced the SuperLoop Sahara Sidewinders, a pair of looping waterslides with trapdoor pods at the top. They will also be joined by the Screaming Hyena, a near-veritcal drop slide, also with a drop pod that will launch from the same tower.
(10/5/11) According to the Kalahari website the Wisconsin resort will add add at least three new waterslides that will feature a 65 foot drop, and start off by putting you inside one of those trap door rigged Sky Box chambers where you’ll drop out of this world without warning. The waterpark will also add a new Kid’s Play Zone. Look for it all to open by December 2011.
Magic Waters Waterpark (Cherry Valley, Illinois)
2012 - Double Drop Dare - (1/9/12) Magic Waters’ new Double Drop Dare slides are going up quickly and you can find some new pictures of them here.
(3/23/11) Magic Waters will add two new speed slides for the 2012 season. You can see the concept artwork here.
Mesa Golfland Sunsplash (Mesa, AZ)
2012 - New Bowl Slide - (1/18/12) Mesa Golfland Sunsplash has begun work on what appears to be a new Bowl style waterslide. See pictures on their Facebook page.
Nashville Shores (Nashville, TN)
(Purchased by Kieran Burke / Gary Story in 2010)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
Noah’s Ark (Wisconson Dells)
Palace Entertainment
Park News - (3/5/12) I was surprised to see this news come across my feed this weekend, but the infamous Noah’s Ark waterpark in the Dells has been sold to a California based company called Festival Fun Parks LLC, which is actually an affiliate of Palace Entertainment, which owns around 40 different water parks, amusement parks and FEC attractions throughout the country. Of course Palace Entertainment is actually owned by international attraction owner, Parques Reunidos, based in Spain.
2012 - Quadzilla - (2/9/12) Noah’s Ark has added new Quadzilla construction pictures to their Facebook page this week.
(12/19/11) A reader forwarded to me a Holiday Ticket Special e-mail they received from Noah’s Ark, which confirms the “Quadzilla” name for the park’s new attraction in a graphic on a park ticket in the background. Check it out.
(12/2/11) I’m told that the Noah’s Ark waterpark in the Dells will be added a 4-lane ProSlide KrakenRacer slide for 2012, possibly using the name Quadzilla. If true… the new attraction is also rumored to take the place of the park’s old Plunge slides.
Ocean Breeze (Virginia Beach, VA)
(Purchased by Kieran Burke / Gary Story in 2011)
2012 - Lazy River - (12/2/11) Ocean Breeze waterpark has announced that they will build a new 1000 foot long lazy river for the 2012 season. The new themed area will also feature a bar and grill, cabanas, restrooms and more deck space to relax on.
(2/1/11) A new attraction is already being planned for the 2012 season according to this news report.
Raging Waters Sacramento (Formerly: Six Flags WaterWorld)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time.
Raging Waters San Dimas (San Dimas, CA)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time.
Raging Waters San Jose (San Jose, CA)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time.
The Rapids Waterpark (Florida)
2012 - Nothing is known at this point in time.
Roseville Golfland Sunsplash (CA)
2012 - New Waterslide - (5/15/12) A picture of the new Roseville Golfland Sunsplash water slide has been posted to their Facebook page.
(1/24/12) A reader contacted Roseville Golfland Sunsplash and not only confirmed the new SuperLoop slides are on the way, but that they will be placed behind “six chuter and thunderfalls next to the wave pool.”
(1/23/12) Roseville Golfland Sunsplash (CA) is said to be adding what sounds like a new Proslide SuperLoop waterslide according to planning documents submitted. (See Page 5)
Sandcastle Waterpark (Penn)
2012 - Dragon’s Den - (4/5/12) Sandcastle made their announcement earlier today… and will add Dragon’s Den to the park, a large double-rider innertube bowl slide. Check out the video here.
(4/4/12) The Sandcastle waterpark has posted a couple of teasers on YouTube lately regarding the new attraction announcement being made later today. Take a peek at Teaser 1 and Teaser 2 first. Done? Yeah… really not much to go on as far as hints go. We see a “Top Secret” sticker on the park map at 56 seconds into the second video indicating the location. Then they visit “Dunkin’s House” which has a For Sale sign on it with a phone number, but don’t bother calling it… it’s just the park’s general phone number. Then we get some flashes of what seems to be an enclosed tube slide of some kind, but nothing really stood out to me either. There is also a third video which has a bit more slide footage and the planting of a large survey flag on a dirt lot.
I’ve never been to the park myself, but judging from the look of the attractions on the official website and park map, the park looks like it stopped adding new slides back in the last century, so any modern slide addition from Pro Slide or WhiteWater West would be a huge improvement. Maybe they’ll go for one of the new Tantrum Alley style slides with the mini funnels… but that’s just really a wild guess on my part. We’ll know more soon!
(3/5/12) I’ve been told that Kennywood’s PR Director mentioned at the ACE Coasterbash event that they would have a big announcement regarding a new addition coming to the Sandcastle waterpark for 2012 by the third week or March. Stay tuned!
Schlitterbahn Waterparks - These parks are so awesome, they deserve their own designated page. CLICK HERE.
Six Flags White Water (Atlanta, GA)
2012 - Nothing is known at this time.
Splashtown (Houston, TX)
Premier Attractions Management
2012 - Nothing is known at this time.
Splash Zone (Wildwood, NJ)
2012 - Nothing is known at this time.
Splish Splash (Long Island, NY)
Park News - (1/19/12) Lo-Q has signed a deal with Palace Entertainment, the owners of Splish Splash, to bring the popular virtual queue system to the waterpark for the next three years.
2012 - Nothing is known at this time.
SunSplash Waterpark ( Mesa, AZ)
2012 - Nothing is known at this time.
Water Country (Portsmouth, New Hampshire)
2012 - Dr. Von Dark’s Tunnel of Terror - (1/30/12) Just as predicted, Water Country did confirm the addition of Dr. Von Dark’s Tunnel of Terror for 2012.
(1/27/12) Screamscape sources tell us that in later today Water Country (New Hampshire) will announce a new ProSlide Tantrum style slide. We’ve seen this attraction pop-up at about 3 or more other Palace Entertainment waterparks over the last couple of years labeled Dr. Von Dark’s Tunnel of Terror (Wet ‘n Wild Emerald Point, Raging Waters, etc…)
(10/21/11) According to this article Water Country is planning on adding a new ProSlide Tantrum slide, that will also include audio and video elements, projecting images onto a wall of water within the slide.
Water World Colorado (Denver, Colorado)
Park News - (1/10/11) If you’re a waterpark fan, you’ve probably heard about the infamous Voyage of the Center of the Earth water attraction installed at Water World near Denver, CO. Since it is a dark ride / water flume combination, video footage of the attraction itself has always been a little hard to come by. Check out this combination of footage from the ride posted to YouTube by Sally Corp. It includes some marketings videos, the TV ad for the ride as well as POV footage of the attraction itself.
2012 - Mile High Flyer & Speed Tube Slide - (2/15/12) The local news talks a bit more about the Mile High Flyer waterslide going into Water World this season, which will feature hydromagnetic technology to propel the rafts up and over roller coaster style hills. Mile High Flyer will be built by ProSlide.
(11/8/11) The official Water World website has confirmed that the park will open two new attractions for the 2012 season, a new speed tube slide (orange & blue flames) and “Colorado’s only Hydromagnetic Water Coaster”.
(9/7/11) Water World Colorado website now confirms that a Hydromagetic Water Coaster is coming for 2012.
(8/31/11) A reader who passed by Water World Colorado this week claims have two new slides appear to be going up and into place this week at the park.
(8/16/11) A guest to Water World (Colorado) reports that preview signs have been put up in the park mentioning that a new “water coaster” was on the way for next season. Meanwhile the old announcement on the park’s website for the “Mile High Flyer” slide coming in 2011 nev er did take place. The announcement was removed form the website and nothing new was built after all. This is despite the fact that a picture was sent in back in April showing off water slide pieces delivered to the park for whatever it was going to be. I don’t know if the pieces were removed again, or put into storage or what. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if the colors of the 2012 attraction match up with the slide pieces intended for 2011. According to the old preview map for 2011, there was a “Coming Soon” graphic in place over the area of the park next to the park’s racing slide, so this may still be the location for the next project.
Waterworld California (Concord, CA)
Palace Entertainment
2012 - Nothing is known at this time.
Wet ‘n’ Wild Phoenix (Phoenix, AZ)
2012 - Wet ‘n’ Wild Jr. - (3/13/12) Wet ‘n’ Wild Phoenix has announced its latest expansion, Wet ‘n’ Wild Jr., a new mini-waterpark experience created for small children that will feature three new slides: The Tiny Typhoon, Screamin’ Streamers and Banzai Racers. The new expansion will be ready to open by Memorial Day Weekend.
Wet ‘n Wild Emerald Pointe (Greensboro, NC)
2012 - New Attraction - Rumor - (7/5/11) According to one insider Emerald Pointe will replace the Banzai Pipeline with a new attraction for 2012. No way to know if this is true yet, but just in case, be sure to get a last ride on it.
White Water (Branson, MO)
2012 - Nothing is known at this time.
Wild Rivers Temecula (Temecula, CA)
2013 - New Park - (5/10/12) Temecula has agreed to sell a 19 acre site of city own land for the building of Wild Rivers Temecula, which now plans to be ready to open in time for Summer 2013.
(5/9/12) The local news reports that the city of Temecula will vote on a deal to sell property to allow for the construction of Wild Rivers Temecula if the group can get their permits in order and start construction by this October and have the park ready to open by Summer 2013.
(2/15/12) The local news reports that the former management of Irvine’s Wild Rivers waterpark is in talks with the city of Temecula over a deal to build a new waterpark on 32 acres of city owned property at the NW corner of Diaz Road and Dendy Parkway. This group is not connected with the former Splash Canyon proposal group, but they do intend to revive the old Wild Rivers brand name for the new park if approved.
(1/4/12) Anyone want to build a water park? The city of Temecula is hoping to lure in a developer to take over the site they set aside for the Splash Canyon Temecula waterpark that died out in 2010 due to lack of financing. The city is apparently willing to re-approve the expired planning approvals for the project in order to lure a new developer to leap in and get the project moving. Good timing too as the SoCal area now has one less waterpark with the destruction of Wild Rivers in Irvine.
Wilderness Resort (Wisconsin Dells)
2012 - New Slides - (2/9/12) The Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells has reported on Facebook that they will open two new thrill sides in the Lost World Outdoor Waterpark that will be open by Memorial Day Weekend.
Wilderness at the Smokies (Sevierville, TN)
2012 - Dry Play Area - (10/18/11) The still fairly new Wilderness at the Smokies waterpark resort just outside Pigeon Forge, TN is now planning a different kind of expansion. Instead of more waterslides, they’re working on a 7 acre “dry park” section that will feature a mini golf course, arcade, bowling alley, ropes course and more. Many of the attractions here will also be open to the general public during most daytime hours, unlike the waterpark which is only for resort guests. Construction will start soon and they hope to have the first phase open as early as next spring.
Wildwater Kingdom (Aurora, OH)
2012 - Tropial Waters - (3/23/12) According to the Twitter of Wildwater Kingdom’s GM, the Ohio waterpark will be getting something new. Unfortunately, it wont be a new slide… but rather a re-modeled bar by the wave pool that will be called Tropical Waters.
Zoombezi Bay (Columbus, OH)
2012 - Nothing is known at this time.
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