Volume 3, No. 6. March 28, 2003
New Arrivals
It’s
a waterslide!
West Edmonton Mall’s World Waterpark in Edmonton, Canada, announces the
arrival of Tropical Typhoon, February 14, 2003. Measurements: 10.12 meters
high (33 feet), 20-meter-long (65 1/2-foot-long) slide, six-meter diameter (19
1/2 feet) on the inside of the bowl and 8.4-meter diameter (27 1/2 feet) on
the outside curve. Delivered by Van Egdom.
West Edmonton Mall did not schedule any fanfare for the opening of the latest
installation in an ongoing $1.2 million makeover of its 18-year-old waterpark,
even though the big blue Tropical Typhoon is now the park’s eye-catching
centerpiece. Turns out the park got something of a media boost anyway. Just
a week before the opening, a certain romance-based reality show on television
featured a bowl slide at another waterpark. “Hey, free publicity,”
said Kevin Hanson, the mall’s operations manager. “It didn’t
hurt my feelings a bit.”
Tropical Typhoon opened on a cold Valentine’s Day, with the outdoors
thermometer hitting minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit). “It
was 30 degrees Celsius where we were,” said Hanson, who spent the day inside
the 86 degree Fahrenheit waterpark watching reaction to his new slide. “From
the minute it opened there was a constant line for the whole day.” Since
then, “It’s been lined up throughout all the busy days. It’s
obvious that it’s the busiest slide.”
West Edmonton Mall’s waterpark “in the last few years was getting
tired,” Hanson said, so the mall has undertaken several changes. All the
fiberglass slides are being resurfaced, some of the slides have been revised
with new effects, and others are being replaced. Tropical Typhoon, Western
Canada’s first bowl slide replaced Cannonball Run, an enclosed slide with
a free-fall drop into the pool. Typhoon in fact uses the same pool for
its splash down pool. This summer should see the opening of a renovated Raging
Rapids tube river slide on which Van Egdom is adding an enclosed runout
featuring strobe lights.
While much of the makeover is intended to integrate more family activities into
the park's offerings, the mall wanted to keep thrills in the mix and chose the
bowl slide for both its popularity and visual appeal. Tropical Typhoon
is located near several viewing platforms where people can look down into the
bowl. “It’s a big thing not only for the riders but the people watching
it,” Hanson said.
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
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