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There will be not one, but two new water parks to open in 2013 in Las Vegas, USA. Indeed, after the recent announcement of Wet'n'Wild Las Vegas supported by the Australian attractions operator Village Roadshow Theme Parks, a second project has just been formalized by a group of local developers: Cowabunga Bay Las Vegas.
Under construction in Henderson, located southeast of the city, this second water park will be operated by the Huish Entertainment Group that already owns the Cowabunga Bay Water Park in Draper, Utah and several family entertainment centers in the country.
For an investment of $23 million (about €17.5 million), it will cover an area of 23 acres / 9.5 hectares and will be divided into three themed zones inspired by the surf and beach scene of the 1950's and 60's. “Not only does this park include all the elements of a world-class waterpark, but I wanted to capture the fun images of the beach. This unique themed experience is what will set us above others,” said Shane Huish, the park designer and one of the owners.
Polin, manufacturer of slides and attractions for water parks and market leader in Europe, has been selected as the only supplier by the developers. The company will provide a total of thirty attractions including a 35,000 sqft / 3,250 sqm wave pool (one of the largest in Nevada), a Lazy River, a themed children water playground structure (with a dozen of mini-slides) and three waterslides complex.
Among these waterslides, Polin will deliver a 6-lanes Multislide (mat racer type with an original upward slope at the end of the path), a Space Boat (raft slide ending by a whirl), a Looping Rocket (high speed slide with an horizontal 360° helix and a launched start through a trap door) and a Space Shuttle (raft slide with giant cylinders).
Cowabunga Bay Las Vegas will also host a world first with the newest waterslide of the manufacturer: Surf Safari. Visitors will board on 4-people rafts for a ride that will begin with long turn in the dark followed by a 17-meters/ 55-foot drop and ending with a gigantic structure shaped like a double wave where they will move back and forth several times.
This will the largest waterpark project to date in the USA for Polin. “We are so proud to be a part of Cowabunga Bay Las Vegas,” explained Sohret Pakis, Marketing Manager of Polin. “The location is wonderful and project owners are very open minded, innovative and dynamic. This is reflected in their very nice selection of waterslides with our new concept of Surf Safari as well as with our new generation of water play structure that will be fully themed.”
In addition to the slides and attractions, the park will have two restaurants and offer rental of private cabanas. Two queuing reservation systems will also be proposed, one using a app for mobile device, and the other using waterproof RFID wristbands.
The waterparks will thus make their comeback in Las Vegas after an absence of nearly 10 years, the last one having closed in 2004. Despite its status of entertainment destination benefiting of excellent climatic conditions, the city has indeed suffered from the sluggish U.S. economy which has kept away the investors for some time.
Cowabunga Bay Las Vegas is expected to create 500 seasonal jobs. The opening is scheduled for the weekend of Memorial Day in May.
NewsParcs will do a full coverage of the IAAPA Attractions Expo 2013 in Orlando to have a look at the latest trends and developments of the global theme park industry.
