Parque Warner Beach is a popular waterpark in Madrid, operated by Parques Reunidos and located next to the operator’s Parque Warner Madrid theme park. Like the neighbouring park, it is home to a range of attractions based on Warner Bros. IP and features rides themed around favourite characters from the DC Universe, from Harley Quinn to Batman. This summer, two new water slides arrived, Aquaman and Black Manta, created by ProSlide Technology Inc., an industry leader in water ride manufacturing and design.
Black Manta is a 120-meter-long, 14-meter-high TornadoWAVE 60 slide, and Aquaman is a FlyingSAUCER 45. Together, these highly themed new rides form a ride tower that serves as a new anchor attraction for the water park, as well as being the first TornadoWAVE 60 and FlyingSAUCER 45 complex in Europe.
ProSlide’s TornadoWAVE features the industry’s only curved wall and is currently enjoyed by guests at more than 50 water parks and resorts around the world. Riders drop into the ride’s imposing curved wall and then sweep across the top, experiencing zero-G thrills. Meanwhile, the FlyingSAUCER is a high-speed experience that redefines how to turn in a water ride. To date, FlyingSAUCER has been installed at over 40 water parks across the globe.
To find out more about this new addition at Warner Beach, and how ProSlide worked with Parques Reunidos to help the international entertainment operator achieve its goals with the project, blooloop spoke to Aaron Wilson, ProSlide’s VP of business development for Europe & Latin America and Diego Gracia, general manager at Warner Beach.
A long-standing partnership
ProSlide’s relationship with Parques Reunidos dates back to 2015 when the two firms collaborated to bring a new family water ride to Aquopolis Villanueva de la Cañada, a popular waterpark near Madrid, Spain.
“This was our Hybrid TORNADO24 with a BehemothBOWL 40, which is still their biggest family ride at the park,” says Wilson. “Since then, we’ve evolved the ProSlide team here in Europe and particularly in Spain, where our European office is based. That’s helped us to develop a closer relationship with Parques Reunidos.”
This led to a further project at Aquopolis of Villanueva de la Cañada, adding a new KidZone that opened in time for the park’s 35th anniversary in 2022, complete with six kid-friendly versions of popular rides in the main park: Waikiki, Zigzag, Pistas Blandas, Turbolance and Río Rápido, alongside the new Tiki Island spray park and Kangaroa, a six-lane mat slide.
The partnership also continued with the project at Warner Beach, the addition of Black Manta and Aquaman. Both projects began in 2019, and opened to the public in 2022, following COVID-related delays.
Warner Beach: a special park
Speaking about what makes Warner Beach unique, Gracia says:
“It is a water park that has attractions for the whole family and what makes it special is that it is themed with the most popular Warner characters, such as Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera or DC comics.”
Warner Beach is helping to raise the standard of water parks in mainland Spain, adds Wilson. “Siam Park is an enormous reference for us – they’ve set the bar for waterparks globally. But the Spanish mainland region is a little bit different. Adding these new rides will certainly boost the profile of the park.
“These two rides are iconic. They incorporate some of the newest innovations and technologies in water rides. They’re five-person family rides, which is also new and different for the region. And of course, particularly for Madrid, and for Warner Beach, it gives them an iconic ride tower for the waterpark, which is something that was previously missing. Now they have that home for these new anchor attractions.”
Meeting the water park’s goals
This was, says Wilson, the goal of the project, specifically to install an anchor ride tower.
“The theme park next door, which is their other gate, has several coasters and a number of iconic attractions. But it was an element that was missing in the waterpark. So, this is the objective that led them to choose ProSlide. Essentially, our focus, and where we add the best value and differentiation for our clients, is with our big iconic attractions. That’s where we continue to reinvest in new innovations and new technologies, and that’s what we’re most known for in the region.”
“The types of experiences that the guests will find on these two rides are unlike anything you’ll find in a lot of other parks in Europe.”
Gracia adds: “We wanted to have two new family attractions that had a lot of capacity and fit the characters from Aquaman and Black Manta. When ProSlide presented us with its proposal, we were convinced that it was what the park needed.”
An iconic ride tower
Going into more detail about what visitors can expect from the first TornadoWAVE 60 and FlyingSAUCER 45 complex in Europe, Wilson says the guest journey is very intentional.
“When ProSlide does an iconic ride tower with two rides like this, where they both use five-person tubing rides, we want to make sure that we’re offering rides that are suitable for all types of guests and meeting all the types of experiences that guests might be looking for.
“Firstly, the TornadoWAVE 60 is your big high-thrill attraction on the tower. That’s going to provide maximum thrills and zero gravity sensations. So that would be more suitable for thrill seekers.”
“Secondly, we also want to make sure that we’re offering something that is suitable for those guests that are looking to ride with their family or their friends but maybe are a little bit more hesitant to go on to those types of rides. And that is the FlyingSAUCER 45.
“In terms of how we look at those attractions, we make sure that we provide both the family thrill, which is the TornadoWAVE 60 and then also more of what we would call the family adventure, which is the FlyingSAUCER 45.”
Detailed theming for new Warner Beach rides
One of the things that make these new rides appealing to guests, in addition to the curated blend of thrills, is the theming. As the names suggest, the water rides evoke favourite DC Comics characters Aquaman and Black Manta, creating a striking pair of attractions.
“Theme parks have been around for a long time,” says Wilson. “But themed waterparks, not so much. There are very few examples globally of themed waterparks. Probably the best example in Europe would be Rulantica at Europa-Park, or maybe Siam Park, in terms of parks that have a consistent theme. But for the most part, you’re going to find the typical tropical idea with palm trees and things like that, rather than an immersive storyline.”
“This project provided new opportunities for Warner Beach and Parques Reunidos to leverage the Warner Bros. IP in their waterpark. It was something a little bit new and different for us as well, which was really cool.
“It was clear that they wanted to incorporate into the design this idea of Black Manta and Aquaman weaving in and out, like they’re fighting. That was very intentional. And that was a request from Parques Reunidos to have this kind of visual integration between the two. So, how they carried out the colour scheme and the design was very specific to that vision as well. It was unique in including the theming element and the IP into the rides.
Low points and high points
When it comes to the challenges of the project, it was, like so many others over the last two or three years, delayed because of the pandemic. Despite this, Wilson says it was an exciting project to be a part of:
“Parques Reunidos is taking a massive step in their ride portfolio, in terms of iconic attractions, and I think it makes a big difference for what is being offered in this city. Madrid is a major European capital, Parques Reunidos has three parks here in Madrid and they have the only two water parks. In terms of what was missing, I would say there was a need to have a big family iconic ride that guests could all enjoy together.”
“That was a huge and exciting moment for us and credit to Parques Reunidos because they knew that that was something that that they that they needed, something that was missing.”
Warner Beach visitors enjoy the new attraction
The ride tower opened this summer and has already proved popular with guests, says Gracia:
“Customers are very satisfied with the two new attractions as it is the perfect balance between what families (Aquaman) and teenagers (Black Manta) are looking for. All the comments received have been very positive.”
Wilson adds that the Warner Beach & Parques Reunidos teams were also involved in the ride testing before it opened:
“They were super excited to be involved. They had their whole team there, some of them had never ridden the ride before. And everyone loved it, particularly the thrill of the TornadoWAVE 60. We received tremendous feedback.”
“Then, in terms of the guests, our European team went down to ride the rides at Warner Beach, and we saw guests come down the ride and then get straight back into line so they could ride again, which is the best testament to the performance of the rides. They landed on the floor and then just kept running back to make the line again.
“That was great to see, and of course, that means the customer is happy. So, they will probably repeat, they will increase the traffic to the waterpark, and that is then going to make the operator very happy.
What’s next for ProSlide?
Following the success of the new ride tower at Warner Beach, ProSlide currently has several other projects underway in Europe, including at Land of Legends in Antalya, Turkey.
“That’s a big one,” says Wilson. “I think that it is going to be one of the game-changing rides for the region. It’s the longest of its kind in the world. If you’ve been to Siam Park, there we have an award-winning ride called Singha. And the ride going into Land of Legends uses the same RocketBLAST water coaster technology, however, the design has been incorporated into the existing infrastructure of the park.”
Singha, which opened at Siam Park in 2015, was a world-first at the time – a new hybrid waterslide based on the company’s FlyingSAUCER and RocketBLAST technology. The new ride at Land of Legends is the world’s longest four-person RocketBLAST water coaster at 424 metres long. The RocketBLAST slide can take four guests at a time and features four FlyingSAUCERS, as well as several other ride elements.
For this project, ProSlide has once again collaborated with Berlin Creative Studio, following a previous successful partnership working on the Rulantica water park, Europa-Park’s second gate.
“It’s our longest RocketBLAST water coaster yet, and it reaches a huge maximum speed,” says Wilson of the new attraction at Land of Legends. “It goes really fast! So that is going to be exciting.”
Meet the team
Continuing to look to the future, Wilson adds:
“We are also continuing to see a huge trend for water coasters and that’s where we can best leverage a lot of our technology. We opened the world’s first five-person family RocketBLAST, which we call MammothBLAST, in AquaShow in Portugal last July, with more to come. So, keep your eyes open for more water coasters!”
The ProSlide team will be exhibiting at IAAPA Expo 2022 in Orlando, Florida, which takes place from 14 – 18 November. The company will be at booth #2254, where it will be showcasing its latest projects and innovations.
