Amusement Today, April 2024

Shipwreck Island in Panama City, Florida, is partnering with Houston-based Pyek Group to help oversee the management of the water park, including staffing, operations, marketing and other areas.

The Pyek group was formed in 2021 from the management team at Typhoon Texas in Katy (a suburb of Houston). It includes the original three founders, all graduates of Texas A&M University, who decided to build a water park which opened in 2016 as Typhoon Texas.

Possessing good business acumen, but knowing very little about running a water park, the trio hired highly-qualified and experienced water park managers to serve as consultants and to run the park.

Following the success of the original in Katy, the three founders acquired a Hawaiian Falls water park in north Austin the following year and renamed it Typhoon Texas.

In addition to the two Typhoon Texas parks, the Pyek Group manages two Cowabunga Vegas water parks in Nevada.

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The Riverside Family Aquatic Center in Moline, Illinois, is getting ready to reopen following a $6.8 million project. The modernization project, which started in April of last year, kept the facility closed for more than a year.

The upgraded facility will open with a new name — Riverside Riverslide. Updates to the facility included three new waterslides, a lazy river, a splash pad, new shade structures, updated concessions, nighttime lights, a shared park shelter, and family rest rooms.

The City of Moline Parks and Recreation Department, which owns and runs the facility, maintains a partnership with Two Rivers YMCA. Members of the YMCA will have full access to the improved Riverside Riverslide complex as part of their membership with no additional cost.

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In February, the City Council of Northport, Alabama, approved the first step toward an ambitious $350 million water park, with plans that include a lake, hotels, water park and even rentable private islands.

The council approved entering into an agreement with a Texas developer to build a $350 million Crystal Lagoon lake and water park. Amenities at the facility include a sand beach, a waterfall, five slides, and a floating obstacle course, along with paddleboard and kayak rentals.

The Crystal Lagoon is the first phase of the project. The developer is planning to acquire another 85.61 adjacent acres.

Eventually, the project would encompass 10,000 square feet of indoor dining, a concert venue, two hotels, restaurant and retail space. There would also be 64 single-family residences surrounding the development.

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The newest Great Wolf Lodge in Naples, Florida, has announced that it will make its debut on September 25, 2024. It will become the 21st resort in the Great Wolf Resorts family.

As part of its grand opening celebration, the lodge is booking rooms now at 30% off for a limited time for stays from September 25, 2024, through January 2, 2025.

“Anything can happen with construction, but we feel really strongly about that date being open and welcoming our first families,” said Jason Bays, general manager of Great Wolf Lodge South Florida, which is the name the company has given the Naples lodge.

The $250 million resort includes 500 themed suites, a 92,000-square-foot indoor water park, along with an activity center, convention space and meeting rooms.

The activity center includes many of the attractions that Great Wolf has become famous for, including MagiQuest, Oliver’s Mining Co, Ten Paw Alley short-lane bowling, Howlers Peak ropes course, Northern Lights arcade and Howl in One mini golf.

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Toronto’s only city water park is getting a facelift with multiple pools and waterslides. L’Amoreaux Kidstown Water Park, the only water park operated by the city, is currently home to a splash pad, wading pool and tipping bucket.

The site is set to undergo a redesign and replacement to become bigger, better and more appealing to wider age groups.

New additions include a large spiral waterslide, a waterfall installation with indigenous theming, a new lookout platform above the waterfall, wading and leisure pools, a water tunnel, designated spaces for birthdays and events, and more.

There will also be designated junior and senior splash pads, along with cognitive areas for the youngest visitors and full accessibility features throughout.

The park will be closed during the 2024 season, but should reopen in 2025.

Major expansion coming to Denmark's Aquapark

AT: Jeffrey Seifert

jseifert@amusementtoday.com

Blokhus, Denmark — The Aquapark at Fårup Sommerland, Denmark’s largest water park, is getting even bigger. A major expansion in 2024 will add two of the highest waterslides in Denmark, a new children’s water park and new changing facilities.

Two of the new water slides will be both higher and longer than anything else in Denmark with heights of 18 and 21 meters (59 and 69 feet) respectively and lengths of 172 and 195 meters (564 and 640 feet). One of the slides will combine a tailspin element and a Boomerango element, making it the first in the world to combine these two elements. In addition to the two new slides, the children’s water park is also being expanded with a larger pool and three new water slides.

“The Aquapark is without a doubt one of the biggest draws in Fårup Sommerland during the summer months, and therefore we also have high expectations for the massive upgrade we are making to our water park [at the end of] the 2024 season,” said Niels Jørgen Jensen, director of Fårup Sommerland.

Along with the expansion, the park is investing in a thorough renovation and upgrade of the existing infrastructure. The changing facilities will be completely renovated and expanded in order to handle additional capacity. The existing slides are getting recoated and the water purification system will be updated.

“This is the largest investment and renovation in the Aquapark’s lifetime, where we have focused on creating new activities for both young and old. In addition to larger pools, larger slides and better facilities around the water activities, we will also upgrade the infrastructure in the Aquapark. This applies, among other things, to coating and water purification systems, so our guests from 2024 will experience a water park in a completely new version and scale all around,” said Jensen.

“We know that this kind of investment pays off,” he added. “We saw this, among other things, last season, when we made the biggest investment ever in Fårup Sommerland with the Fønix ride. It has created unprecedented attention at home and abroad, and it emphasizes that it is with investments like these that we can continue to offer Danish and foreign guests a strong product that benefits both ourselves and Danish tourism as a whole.”

The renovation and expansion of the Aquapark will begin when the summer season in Fårup Sommerland comes to an end in September. The amusement park opens its doors for 2025 season at the end of April, while the Aquapark itself traditionally opens June 1.