Fantastic Froggy Fun!At The Splash Pad at The Florida Aquarium Extreme Waterpark MakeoverCanada’s Wet’n’Wild Toronto rebrands with a $25 million renovation Building Castles In The SandHow LEGOLAND® Dubai rose from the desert

Capturing The Outer Banks VibeH20BX Waterpark, North Carolina, U.S.A.

The Official Magazine of the World Waterpark Association

SEPTEMBER 2017

PRECONVENTION ISSUE

FOLLOWING A $25 MILLION RENOVATION, WET’N’WILD TORONTO HAS BECOME A MUCH-NEEDED ENTERTAINMENT VENUE FOR TORONTO FAMILIES.BY STEVE MAYER

EXTREME WATERPARK MAKEOVER

BEFOREWORLD WATERPARK MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 201756

here’s nothing quite like imagining a new waterpark from the ground up, designing it, building it and then open-ing it for wide-eyed children and parents to come enjoy together. Of course, not every waterpark story begins from the ground up. Some waterparks are the product of intense, even extreme, refurbishment work that, once completed, reveal something fresh and just as exciting as a completely new project.

This is exactly the case with Wet’n’Wild Waterpark, lo-cated in Toronto. Thanks to a $25 million renovation and

hours upon hours of hard work by a diverse and dedicated team of professionals, the park is now providing plenty of entertainment to thousands of Canadians on a daily basis—when weather coop-erates, of course!

NEW OWNERS IN TOWNTo kick off this renovation story, Kieran Burke, owner and CEO

of Premier Parks, and his right hand and COO, Hue Eichelberger, had been eyeballing the debunked Wild Water Kingdom for years. The original Wild Water Kingdom opened in 1986, but had fallen out of favor after the facility ceased updating the park by not add-ing new rides or amenities.

Burke had always had an affinity for the Toronto market with its population of 8 million, one of the only North American markets without a standalone waterpark. Wet’n’Wild Toronto is physically located in Brampton, which is on the borders of Toronto and mul-tiple suburbs.

So, Premier acquired Wild Water Kingdom in July 2016. In De-cember 2016, the park was renamed Wet’n’Wild Toronto to take advantage of the iconic big brand. Premier also owns Wet’n’Wild Splashtown in Houston along with the Wet’n’Wild parks in Phoe-nix, Palm Springs and Hawai’i.

Along with the purchase, the 100-acre property came with a sports dome that operates all winter primarily for soccer with its three in-door fields. About half the property is devoted to the waterpark.

FOLLOWING A $25 MILLION RENOVATION, WET’N’WILD TORONTO HAS BECOME A MUCH-NEEDED ENTERTAINMENT VENUE FOR TORONTO FAMILIES.BY STEVE MAYER

EXTREME WATERPARK MAKEOVER

Many of the park’s existing buildings had to be salvaged to avoid heavy permitting fees and stay on budget.

AFTER

TTHE MAKEOVER BEGAN WITH RENOVATION OF THE OLD SLIDES, THE WAVE POOL, THE LEISURE RIVER, THE POOL AREAS AND BUILDINGS.

57WORLD WATERPARK MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2017

There’s also a driving range and outdoor picnic areas. The land is conservation land owned by the province of Ontario, making the To-ronto Regional Conservation Authority the park’s landlord.

WINTERY CONSTRUCTIONWell before the purchase of the existing park, Premier enlisted

Ken Ellis, Jim Dunn and Aquatic Development Group (ADG) to design and manage the over $25 million construction check, new design and development.

The makeover began with renovation of the old slides, the wave pool, the leisure river, the pool areas and buildings. The buildings were in dire shape, but had to be saved. If not, the city’s develop-ment fees and permitting would have cost in the millions and not fit the timeline.

To help with this part of the renovation, Premier recruited old time master carpenter, Leroy Pope. He re-made Splashtown a few years back and many other Six Flags parks over the years. Pope worked 80 hour weeks to finish. Premier also had professional help in various operating areas by bringing in expertise from its sister parks in Darien Lake, Florida and Oklahoma.

From the start, the park was in more disrepair than anticipated as not only had it not been operating for two years, but vandals and varmints had destroyed most anything they could. Being on conservation land owned by the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority (TRCA), protected wildlife, raccoons, skunks and even some Canadian Geese had taken over the park and buildings, making it their private zoo. In addition, the lack of plumbing and heating in every building became a daily topic of conversation and appreciation of normal comforts.

Under the direction of Dunn and his ADG crew, ProSlide Tech-nology and Soucy Aquatik, all crews worked at an aggressive pace to allow the park to open at the end of May. Some setbacks stacked up during a spring that had rain two to four days of every week for 12 straight weeks.

Yet, everyone working on this complete makeover remained committed to delivering a beautiful and exciting final product that would wow guests and become a community favorite. CONTINUED ON PAGE 60

CONTINUED ON PAGE 60

Rick Hunter of Proslide Technology, who hails from Ottawa, was tasked with delivering and installing a game changing ride package. New attractions include:• “BEARFOOTIN’BAY.” This water play structure is packed with

interactive features like sprayers, slides and a giant tipping bucket to make a super splash below!

• “HURRICANEANDTYPHOON.” These two high-energy waterslides provide serpentine curves, steep slopes and a wide-open bowl.

• “KLONDIKEEXPRESS.” Mat-riding competitors launch them-selves headfirst into side-by-side tunnels in a high-speed race through a 360˚ loop and gravity-defying drop to the racing lanes below.

• “KRAZYKANUCK.” Up to four riders can blast through these Wet’n’Wild adventure slides—one with back-to-back curves, drops, and vortex loops, and the other with a steep chute and curved wall that will leave riders hanging in zero gravity!

• “OH CANADA!” Standing in a capsule high above the park, thrill seekers feel the adrenaline rush as the floor suddenly drops out and they freefall through a near-vertical chute, plum-meting straight down before spiraling through a 360˚ loop.

• “WET’N’WILDJR.” Mini slides, spray toys, a tipping bucket and gallons of kid-sized fun await guests in this ultimate family oasis.In addition to the new rides, Jerry Johnson of J3 Design was

brought in to introduce updated theming and bright color schemes that would breathe new life into the park’s renovated buildings and existing ride structures.

NEW NAME, NEW BRAND & A NEW REPUTATION, EH’As the construction moved forward, there was massive under-

taking of rebranding the park through marketing and, more im-portantly, turning the reputation 180 degrees. Unfortunately, the previous park had a reputation of being a degraded waterpark which focused more on being a concert venue and party spot. Even the likes of Drake had performed at the park.

However, Premier quickly distanced itself from the park’s prior brand by placing focus on bringing the Wet’n’Wild brand to Canada.

WET’N’WILD TORONTO7855 FINCH AVE. W. BRAMPTON, ONTARIO CANADA L6T 0B2

WWW.WETNWILDTORONTO.COM

OWNERS: PREMIER PARKS, LLC

ADMISSION PRICES: UNDER 48” - $29.95 + HST / 48” AND OVER - $39.95 + HST

DATES OPEN: OPENED JULY 1, 2017 – SEPTEMBER 4, 2017

SIZE/ACRES: CURRENTLY 45 ACRES OF A 99 ACRE PARCEL OF LAND

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: YEAR-ROUND: 10 SEASONAL: 420

CLIENTELE (PERCENT LOCAL VS. TOURIST): 40 PERCENT LOCAL VS. 60 PERCENT TOURIST

UNIQUE PARK PROGRAMS: 2018 PARK PROGRAMS TO INCLUDE A DAY CAMP AND JUNIOR LIFEGUARD PROGRAM.

SUPPLIERSDEVELOPMENT/DESIGN: AQUATIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP

CONSULTANTS: AQUATIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP

CONSTRUCTION: AQUATIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP

THEMING: J3 DESIGN – JERRY JOHNSON

WATERSLIDES: PROSLIDE TECHNOLOGY

TUBE/RAFT /RIDE CONVEYOR: PROSLIDE TECHNOLOGY

WAVE POOL: AQUATIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP

WAVE GENERATOR: AQUATIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP

SURF SIMULATOR: AQUATIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP

RAFT/TUBES/MATS: TUBE PRO INC.; Z PRO WATERSPORTS

CHILDREN’S INTERACTIVE PLAY STRUCTURE: PROSLIDE TECHNOLOGY

FURNITURE: RESORT CABANAS

LOCKERS: BEST LOCKERS

POOL AND/OR DECK COATINGS: BOB NICHOLES PAINTING

FILTRATION EQUIPMENT: AQUATIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP; SOUCY AQUATIK

PUMPS: AQUATIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP; SOUCY AQUATIK

CHEMICAL: SOUCY AQUATIK CHEMICAL CONTROLLERS: SOUCY AQUATIK

SHADE SYSTEM: ANCHOR INDUSTRIES

ADMISSION SYSTEM: CORETECHS, LLC

UNIFORMS: NEW ERA GRAFIX

WORLD WATERPARK MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 201758

North America +1 303 953 8226 | Brisbane +61 7 3209 7701 | Dubai +61 414 596 462 | Johannesburg +61 414 596 462 Kuala Lumpar +65 9648 4367 | Birmingham +44 7401 917791 | Singapore +65 9648 4367

VLocker electronic locker systems are operating in major theme, water and trampoline park installations around the world. VLocker takes great pride in supporting American made products that convey high quality and superior craftsmanship.

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To help with that, WNW’s marketing team thought it important to distinguish the differences between the United States and Canada, so the phrase, “Authentically Wet’n’Wild, Distinctly Canadian” was adopted. For Canadians, the summer season and the ability to relax close to home in the good weather is a key element for recreation time, especially after the long winter is over. So, the marketing team worked hard to give the new park a resort experience. The end result: now guests see the park as a place where they can come spend the day, either floating in the leisure river, sliding down the new slides or bouncing up and down on the wave pool’s waves.

With the Canadian flavor in mind, the management team changed some features of the RideHouse to reflect Canada. Park menus now incorporate Canadian dishes that are not typi-cally found in the United States, such as Beavertails, Poutine and WNW’s famous Prime Minister Burger. It has a liberal size burger with a buttery true dough bun. The park’s food options also in-clude Pizza Pizza, a Canadian staple, along with a wide selection of domestic Oh Canabeers.

In addition to the food updates, Canadian artists were added to the in-park radio system. Staff uniforms were selected with a salute to Canada, especially with 2017 being the nation’s 150th Anniversary.

WNW also introduced a Polar Bear mascot, Berkeley, who is a fun seeking, adventure-loving polar bear—and a great dancer.

He spontaneously breaks into dance whenever he hears his fa-vorite Canadian artist—Justin Bieber. And kids hug him spon-taneously. ProSlide even Canadianized their massive Ridehouse, which the park calls “Bear Footin’ Bay,” by adding a body surfing Berkeley and even some blue jays.

WET’N’WILD TORONTO CONTINUED FROM PAGE 58

InstaInstaInstaInstaInstaInsta

952.445.5135 877.632.0503

aquatix.playlsi.com

We’ve gotnew designson water

Formerly Aquatic Recreation Company

©2017 Landscape Structures Inc.

THE RESPONSE TO THE NEW BRANDSince its opening, the response to the new Wet’n’Wild Toronto

has been tremendously positive. Local government, celebrities and media have all come out to see the renovations and have com-mented on how fantastic the park looks.

Also, guests have shared how happy they are to see the park come back after so many years of disrepair. For many in the lo-cal community, they have happy memories of the park from their childhood days and they were disappointed to see the original park become rundown. Now that the new park is open, they are anxious to bring their own families to Wet’n’Wild Toronto to en-joy all the fun that the park has to offer.

Of course, the Toronto weather is not always cooperative, but when it is, the park is filled with smiling kids, parents and grand-parents. Wet’n’Wild Toronto is even known to draw adults without kids to spend the day enjoying the sun, music, food and drinks.

Truly, Wet’n’Wild Toronto has become an authentically Cana-dian place to visit throughout the summer months!

To learn more about the park, please visit https://www.wetn-wildtoronto.com. •

The park introduced

a polar bear mascot,

Berkeley, who is a fun seeking,

adventure-loving polar

bear and has been a big hit

with guests.

WORLD WATERPARK MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 201760