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WATER PARKS
Adventure Landing (Jackstonville Beach, FL)
2008 - New Slide - (3/7/08) Adventure Landing has confirmed on their website the addition of a new double-raft slide connected to the Hydro Halfpipe tower.
Alottawata Water Park (Ottawa area, Canada)
2009 - New Park - (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)
2008 - Wyandot Lake’s Jet Stream - On Site - (7/23/07) The Annual Pass renewal letter being sent out by The Beach waterpark mentions only that a new ride will be going in for 2008 along with a message promising “more information to come”. Of course, we know the park bought an old slide from Wyandot Lake, the Jet Stream, that never made it into the park for 2007 so I’m guessing this is it again.
(2/20/07) A local reader sent in a new photo showing off pieces of the old Jet Stream slide from Wyandot Lake that is now sitting in the parking lot of The Beach waterpark.
Calypso Park (Ottawa, Canada)
2009 - New Park - (3/11/08) Due to some strange concern about the bilingual nature of the original park name, the Sunnyland name has been dropped in favor of Calypso Park. According to this article there were complaints “about the bilingualism”of the original name… but I’m confused. Is Sunnyland considered to be a bilingual name or not bilingual enough? It sounds like the next Super Mario game to me… a silly name that should work great for a waterpark concept in any language. Meanwhile I’m not sure how Calypso Park is any more of a English / French bilingual choice with a name that evokes a Caribbean flair to it but has Greek origins.
Now how about that Super Mario Sunnyland? It would work great as a Mario themed waterpark though, wouldn’t it? What with all those weird pipes sticking out of the ground they’re always jumping into. Hmmm… someone get Nintendo on the phone.
(1/9/08) Village Vacances Valcartier announced plans yesterday to build the Sunnyland Amusement Resort near Ottawa. The new “water amusement park” should open in June 2009 on a 460 acre site and at a cost of $50 million.
Camelbeach Waterpark (Tannersville, PA)
2008 - (2/20/08) Camelbeach will be adding a new $3 million water fortress structure for the 2008 season. The four story tall structure will also feature eight new slides and you can see artwork for it here.
 2010 - (2/21/08) Today we’ve got a small bit of artwork showing off the new Camelback resort with the indoor waterpark on the left side. From what we’ve been told it wont open until 2010.
(2/20/08) There is also a minor mention on the ski resort side of the website for a Camelback Mountain Resort project on the way that will have an indoor waterpark as well.
Castaway Cove Waterpark (Wichita Falls, Texas)
 2008 – Sidewinder - (5/2/08) Castaway Cove Waterpark has confirmed on their website that they will be adding a new Sidewinder style slide to the park this season.
CoCo Key Waterpark Resorts (Several Locations)
News - (4/16/08) I don’t thing I’ve mentioned too much about it before, but there is a new small chain of indoor waterpark resorts that has been slowly opening up called CoCo Key Water Resorts. While I can’t say this for certain, it seems most (if not all) of them are pre-existing hotels that have been converted into waterpark resorts. The first four location to open were in: Chicago, Boston, Columbus, and Rockford (IL) in 2006-2007. In the last six months they have opened two new locations in Cincinnati and Omaha and a new Kansas City location is set to open this Spring. Two more locations are set to open by the end of 2008 however in Mount Laurel (NJ) and Waterbury (CT).
Fallsview Indoor Waterpark (Niagara Falls, Canada)
Park News - (4/25/07) Screamscape has heard that Fallsview may be already planning some kind of expansion. Anyone know more? The new park just opened in late 2006.
Frogland USA (Rayne, LA)
2009/2010 - New Park - (5/8/08) The local news has posted an update on the Frogland project, which has yet to break ground.
(11/13/07) A new waterpark called Frogland USA is set to be built in Rayne, LA. You can read more here.
Glacier Lake Resort / Aquazonia (New York)
2008 - New Indoor Waterpark Resort - Confirmed - (10/11/06) A new indoor waterpark resort is on the way to New York and scheduled to open in Fall 2008 in the Farmington, Ontario County area near the Finger Lakes. You can read more about the resort at Glacier Lake Resort and waterpark information at Aquazonia.
Grand Isle Indoor Water Park Resort (Maryland)
2009 - New Indoor Waterpark Resort - Confirmed - (1/19/07) About.com tells us about a new $200 million indoor waterpark resort on the way to Maryland that will feature a 100,000 square-foot waterpark, a Boomerang halfpipe slide and an uphill water coaster.
 Great Wolf Lodge (Charlotte, NC area)
2009 - Under Construction - (4/11/08) I happened to find a back road that lets you get very close to the new Great Wolf Lodge going up
in Charlotte today. Unfortunately I only had my cell phone with me so the pictures are small… but better than nothing. Next time I’m out that way I’ll remember to bring the big camera. I can confirm that the building I shot previously is the one wing of hotel rooms and today’s pictures seem to be for the giant main central building that will house the lobby area as well as the waterpark.
(3/27/08) While I can be 100% sure… while visiting the Concord area the other day I snapped a couple of pictures of what I believe is the new Great Wolf Lodge resort under construction in the Charlotte area.
(1/28/08) Great Wolf Lodge has posted the first set of construction pictures from the new Charlotte, NC area location being built near the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord. In addition to scrolling though about 5 construction shots taken about a month ago, they’ve also posted artwork of what the resort will look like when finished.
(12/18/07) Great Wolf Lodge has confirmed that they have bought 37 acres of land in Concord, just east of Charlotte, and have started construction on the new 401-room resort that should open in 2009.
(8/29/07) According to this article, they will build the newest Great Wolf Lodge on a 37 acre site behind the Garden Ridge store. The latest financial report from Great Wolf mentions that construction on the new resort will begin this October and open in the first half of 2009, taking about 18 months to build the 401 room resort.
Great Wolf Lodge (Foxwoods Resort Casino, CT)
???? - In Development - (9/21/07) Great Wolf Lodge has entered into a partnership with the huge Foxwoods Resort Casino (Connecticut) to build a new indoor waterpark resort near the Foxwoods site. According to the article, it will be built off the reservation where the casino is, in one of the three neighboring towns: Ledyard, Preston or North Stonington.
Great Wolf Lodge (Grand Mound, WA)
Spring 2008 - Now Open - (3/12/08) Local sources tell us radio ads pointing out that the new Great Wolf Lodge: Grand Mound is now open have started playing. This may be some kind of preview opening however as the website still says that reservations now start on March 18th.
(10/18/07) The official website listing for Great Wolf Lodge now lists the Grand Mound location as opening in Early 2008 and says that it will feature six slides, one of which will be a Howlin’ Tornado. Typically two more are connected to the water fortress, which means that it will probably have two smaller tube slides and a bigger family raft slide, similar to the current attractions at the Williamsburg location. You can see new construction photos taken in Septmber posted to the official website.
Great Wolf Lodge (Grapevine, TX near Dallas)
Jan 2008 - Now Open - (3/17/08) Lone Star Thrills has posted a photo trip report from the new Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine.
(1/11/08) Great Wolf Lodge held their grand opening event for their newest resort in Grapevine, Texas. At the celebration Great Wolf Lodge announced that they will offer “Grand Opening Rates” to all visitors for a Family Suite (starting at $199 a night) between January 15th and May 22nd.
(12/18/07) Great Wolf Lodge has confirms plans to start work to add an additional 203 rooms and 20,000 squart-feet of meeting space to the new Grapevine, TX resort before it has even had the chance to officially open. According to the website, it looks like the resort is now offering rooms and has soft-opened, but the official grand opening ceremony to take place on January 10th.
Great Wolf Lodge (Lake Lanier, GA near outside Atlanta)
2010 - In Development - (12/18/07) According to the local news, the US Army Corps of Engineers have given their approval to build a proposed Great Wolf Lodge resort and indoor waterpark on Lake Lanier in Cumming, GA. Company officials have said to be in talks with the city for over 18 months about building a 600 room resort. The formal announcement could happen as early as January and construction starting as early as Summer 2008.
Great Wolf Lodge (Traverse City, Michigan)
2008 - MagiQuest / Howl-In-One - (5/8/07) The Great Wolf Lodge will be spending over $4 million on a new expansion of the resort that will add a 9,000 square-foot conference center, the MagiQuest live action interactive game, and Howl In One, an outdoor mini-golf course. The installation of the MagiQuest adventure will involve redecorating the halls of two of the hotel’s floors to fit the theme and the addition of interactive stations for the game. If you don’t finish the quest, you pick up where you left off the next day or even at a future visit. I know the Williamsburg site installed this last year.
Hawaiian Falls - Mansfield (Texas)
 2008 - New Park - (9/7/07) On Monday, September 10th there will be a groundbreaking and delivery of the first wave ceremony for the new Hawaiian Falls – Mansfield project. When it opens on Memorial Day 2008, the park will feature 12 waterslides, a football field sized wave pool, a lazy river, two children’s areas, water walkways and more.
(3/20/07) We’ve heard that the newest Hawaiian Falls park is expected to break ground in June and open in 2008.
Kalahari Resort (Fredericksburg, VA)
Late 2009 - New Resort - In Development - (1/7/08) According to Kalahari, the new Fredericksburg resort will be very different from their previous two resorts. For starters they believe the that the Virginia location will need a significantly larger outdoor waterpark section and are planning a 170,000 square-foot outdoor area compared to the 77,000 square-foot outdoor section at the Sandusky resort.
(12/31/07) While working out the terms of the deal with Kalahari, Fredericksburg is sending 14 various council and city officials to Sandusky, Ohio to see the Kalahari resort there in person to get an idea of exactly what kind of attraction it is. Apparently this is really going to take the town to a whole new level because they apparently don’t even have an escalator in Fredericksburg.
(11/19/07) Looks like the rumors were right on the money and Kalahari did announce plans to build a $200 million indoor waterpark resort in Fredericksburg, VA. They hope to open the new attraction at the Celebrate Virginia site by December 2009. It will have a 10 story hotel tower, convention center, indoor and outdoor waterpark attractions, a spa and draw an estimated 1 million visitors a year.
(11/7/07) The latest buzz is that Kalahari, the indoor waterpark resort company, is finalizing plans to build a third resort. Currently they have two resorts, the original in the Wisconsin Dells and a second built in Sandusky, Ohio. If the rumors are right on the ball they will plop down their third property in the Fredericksburg, VA area. You can read a little more on this as well as see a map of where the park may go at CoasterCrew.
Kalahari Resort (Sandusky, Ohio)
2007/2008 - (2/5/08) Ever wanted to see just how these new indoor waterparks work? Coaster Crew has posted a video showing the inner workings under the the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio.
(1/15/08) CoasterCrew has posted new pictures of the Kalahari in Sandusky Ohio this week as well as their own trip report photos.
(12/26/07) You can see photos of the newly opened resort expansion here.
(11/26/07) All new construction photos of Sandusky’s Kalahari Resort giant expansion which will open next month have been posted to the official website.
(11/20/07) The new expansion at the Sandusky Kalahari Resort will be ready to open to the public on December 21st.
(1/9/07) It’s been a year since we’ve heard much about this but so far things are on track for the Kalahari’s 93,000 square-foot expansion to the existing 80,000 square-foot indoor waterpark. Combined together by Winter 2007, the new Kalahari will become America’s biggest indoor waterpark at 173,000 square-feet. You can see some of the details of the new expansion at the official website where they mention that the expansion will have a transparent roof system to allow for natural sunlight, a 13,000 square-foot wave pool, a Behemoth Bowl, Octopus Racers, A body slide Pro Bowl and a second FlowRider. Other new amenities include a huge sunbathing deck near, two new indoor/outdoor spas, a swim up bar, a basketball pool and a new children’s play area. (Update - The hotel itself will also add 288 new rooms.)
(1/13/06) About.com has announced that the Kalahari has begun work on a huge 93,000 square-foot expansion to the waterpark that is expected to be complete Christmas 2007. The expansion give the waterpark an estimated 160,000 square-feet of space and may give it the record for the biggest indoor waterpark resort in the world.
Keylime Cove Water Paradise (Gurnee, IL)
2008 - Indoor Waterpark & Resort - Under Construction - (11/12/07) Opening February 29th, the new KeyLime Cove indoor waterpark resort (Gurnee, IL) will become the first completely cash free waterpark with the use of Precision Dynamics Corporation’s Smart Band® RFID Wristband System. The system will use a series of Smart Kiosk touch screen systems to allow parents to deposit money into their children’s accounts with cash, credit cards or attached to the existing room’s credit tab. The RFID system will allow not only for cashless transactions but also keyless entry to lockers, hotel rooms, digital photography options, and in the arcades.
(1/18/07) Ground has broken for the Keylime Cove Water Paradise resort across from Six Flags Great America. The resort will feature a 4-story hotel tower with 414 rooms and 64,500 square-foot indoor waterpark. Read more here.
Knott’s Soak City - San Diego
2008 - Nothing to report at this time.
Liquid Planet Waterpark (Candia, New Hampshire)
2008 - New Park - (3/25/08) Liquid Planet Waterpark, a brand new small waterpark in Candia, New Hampshire, will hold their grand opening on June 14th. As far as new waterparks go, it is on the small size but apparently they have plans to really grow as time goes on.
Noah’s Ark (Wisconson Dells)
2008 - Tadpole Bay - (2/1/08) Noah’s Ark will be building Tadpole Bay Kiddie Kingdom for the 2008 season, a new mini water fortress for the little ones.
Raging Waters Sacramento (Formerly: Six Flags WaterWorld)
2008 - Nothing to report at this time.
Raging Waters San Dimas (San Dimas, CA)
2008 - Nothing to report at this time.
Raging Waters San Jose (San Jose, CA)
2008 - Nothing to report at this time.
Roaring Springs Idaho
2008 - (2/7/08) The owners of the Roaring Springs waterpark have signed a deal to buy the nearby Boondocks Fun Center with the hopes of merging the two experiences together and expanding their business opportunities.
Sahara Sam’s Oasis West Berlin, NJ
2009 - New Indoor Waterpark - (4/14/08) According to this update posted to the forums at GadvUpdates, it looks like the old Sahara Sam’s Oasis indoor waterpark project in New Jersey has solved whatever problems it had before and has finally started construction once again, promising an Early 2009 opening date. The official website has also posted new pictures from the “Ground Breaking Party” held earlier this month.
Schlitterbahn New Braunfels,Texas
2008 - Schatze’s Central Park / Dragon’s Revenge - (5/7/08) Schlitterbahn has posted a new construction gallery showing off their progress on Dragon’s Revenge.
(4/28/08) The new TV ad for Dragon’s Revenge can now be seen here.
(4/10/08) I’ve got some
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