Indoor Water Parks
The first-ever indoor water park was built in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1985 at the West Edmonton Mall as part of the $1.2-billion-dollar Phase III expansion. Called World Waterpark, is the world's second largest indoor waterpark, over 217,800 sq ft (20,230 m2) in size. It includes the world's largest indoor wave pool, waterslides of varying degrees, tube rides, bungee jumping, and hot tubs. Tropical Islands Resort (Germany) with an area of 66,000 m² (710,000 sq feet) is currently the largest indoor water park in the world.
With 5 indoor water parks, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, is recognized as the "Water Park Capital of the World." It showcases several of America's largest indoor and outdoor water parks (see Noah's Ark Water Park). Indoor water parks in Wisconsin Dells debuted in 1994 after the Polynesian Resort Hotel built the first one in the U.S. The success in extending the tourist season and turning water park resorts into vacation destinations has resulted in tremendous industry growth. Usually resort hotels featuring massive indoor water parks that are often reserved exclusively for overnight guests, companies like Great Wolf Resorts/Great Wolf Lodge and Kalahari Resorts have branched out from their origin in the Dells to open new locations around the country. Mt. Olympus Theme and Water Park (formerly Family Land) is another huge water park in the Dells.
One of the most well-known indoor waterparks of the UK is Sandcastle Waterworld at Blackpool, England, which features a Master Blaster style attraction, similar to the Master Blaster at the Alton Towers Waterpark.
There are many water parks in Southern Europe where the climate suits a long season. For example in Portugal on the Algarve there are three main parks - Aqualand, Aquashow and Slide and Splash.
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Famous quotes containing the words indoor, water and/or parks:
“As a man grows older, his ability to sit still and follow indoor occupations increases. He grows vespertinal in his habits as the evening of life approaches, till at last he comes forth only just before sundown, and gets all the walk that he requires in half an hour.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“This sand seemed to us the connecting link between land and water. It was a kind of water on which you could walk, and you could see the ripple-marks on its surface, produced by the winds, precisely like those at the bottom of a brook or lake. We had read that Mussulmans are permitted by the Koran to perform their ablutions in sand when they cannot get water, a necessary indulgence in Arabia, and we now understand the propriety of this provision.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Perhaps our own woods and fields,—in the best wooded towns, where we need not quarrel about the huckleberries,—with the primitive swamps scattered here and there in their midst, but not prevailing over them, are the perfection of parks and groves, gardens, arbors, paths, vistas, and landscapes. They are the natural consequence of what art and refinement we as a people have.... Or, I would rather say, such were our groves twenty years ago.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)