Volume 3, No. 7. April 11, 2003
New
Arrivals
It’s
a waterpark!
The Alaska Waterpark Company, Inc. in Anchorage, Alaska, announces the
arrival of H2Oasis Indoor Waterpark, March 20, 2003. Measurements: 40,500 square
feet (3,763 square meters) with a 16,000-square-foot (1,486-square-metes) mezzanine,
350,000 total gallons (1,325,000 total liters), 505-foott-long (154-meter-long)
Master Blaster, 150-foot-long (46-meter-long) enclosed body slide, 575-foot
(175-meter) lazy river, a wave pool, interactive play structure, kiddie pool,
a “Texas-size” hot tub and a two-times larger “Alaska-size”
hot tub, and a snack bar. Delivered by Faulkenberry and Associates, Murphys
Waves, NBGS and North Beach Engineering.
Dennis Prendeville has been actively building his 6-year-old dream for two years
now. He had hoped to open by the winter of 2002, but various construction and
permitting issues delayed him to the summer of 2002, then the winter of 2003,
and finally this spring. He lost a year of anticipated operational revenue,
but at least he opened in time for the Anchorage schools’ spring break
week. Could anybody be more anxious than Prendeville to get Alaska’s first
waterpark open?
Apparently, yes; a lot of people. From the moment Anchorage Mayor George Wuerch
cut the ribbon during a light snowfall on that Thursday afternoon, “It’s
been hectic ever since,” Prendeville said. “It was actually hectic
before he got here that day. We’ve got a very popular waterpark here in
Anchorage.” Despite strong media coverage throughout the construction period,
the city’s residents were apparently expecting little more than a large
pool with a slide, Prendeville said. “They come in and they go ‘Wow!’”
he said. “We ended up building a better park than I expected. It’s
busier than I expected.”
H2Oasis’ main “Wow!” is the Master Blaster. It was supposed to
be the first indoor Blaster in America (Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells opened
its Master Blaster in December, THE
LOOP, January 10, 2003), but being the first in Alaska—and a wholly
foreign concept to many in this population—prompted all the popularity
it could handle. “The Master Blaster is right in front of them when guests
enter on the mezzanine and somebody would be squealing as they go by on the
ride,” Prendeville said. The Blaster saw consistent 90-minute queues in
the first week of operation, and even on a school day some 50 kids were waiting
to board.
Wrapped around a large portion of the park, the Master Blaster offers a short
ride—less than a minute—from launch to splash down in the lazy river,
but it delivers sufficient thrills in air time and a tight, enclosed helix near
the midpoint. The Blaster also enhances the lazy river experience; every time
someone exits the Master Blaster it creates a surging wave through the river.
With a castle theme on the exterior and a tropical island feel on the inside—including
palm trees and a pirate statue overlooking the entrance—H2Oasis aimed to
deliver more than an oddity to the Alaskan natives but a quality waterpark in
its own right. “There’s probably a handful of great waterparks in
North America. This is one of them,” he said, sounding more surprised than
boastful. Truly, he sounded more overwhelmed than any other emotion. “You
try to run everything right but it’s difficult to do when it’s so
busy,” he said. “We probably looked better than we felt.” So
it helped in smoothing out the operational wrinkles that the native population
was so stunned at H2Oasis’ offerings. “The way people vote is when
they buy tickets,” Prendeville said, “and they’ve bought a lot
of tickets.”
—Ian Minton contributed to this report.
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
©2003, Minton Enterprises
LLC
All rights reserved
