Martin Aquatic Design & Engineering, a world-class aquatic firm, designed the River Falls Waterpark at the Orlando World Center Marriott, which is now open. The new outdoor amenity deck features a three-waterslide tower, as well as a lazy river pool.
Now guests at the world’s biggest Marriott property can enjoy three fun new multi-person raft rides or simply relax on the 575-foot-long lazy river, which drifts past palm trees, new lounge areas and rentable cabanas. For the youngest visitors and their families, there is a zero-entry portion of the river pool, where they can play with bubbling nozzles and spraying leaf elements.
Martin Aquatic Design & Engineering was responsible for the design of this new poolscape. Alongside WhiteWater, the company brought the three slides together, featuring elements like the enclosed spins of the Aquasphere, the open bowl of the Tailspin, and the big drop before the wall of the Boomerango.
Something for the whole family
“Our expertise designing these types of attractions for resort and park renovations has allowed us to create a comprehensive package in this compact area at Orlando World Center Marriott,” says Josh Martin, president & creative director of Martin Aquatic. “There is something for every member of the family to enjoy at River Falls Waterpark.”
The company first got involved in the project in 2018 and was tasked with reimagining the site of an underused pool area, creating a space that would engage families as the hotel’s demographics shifted.
“We worked together with the owner to realize the incredible opportunity for Orlando World Center Marriott: by introducing one-of-a-kind rides with vibrant colors and exciting drops and turns, it creates the demand for a waterpark attraction without families ever having to leave their hotel to go to one of Orlando’s many ticketed waterparks,” says Martin.
“And what better way to spend a family vacation than on a multi-person raft ride where you can share the experience together.”
New Falls Pool Oasis
Orlando World Center Marriott is owned by Host Hotels & Resorts, the USA’s biggest lodging real estate investment trust with 80 properties in the Western Hemisphere. The hotel’s rooms were renovated in 2020, and Host Hotels then followed this up by transforming the main pool area. Last September, the newly renovated Falls Pool Oasis, also designed and engineered by Martin Aquatic, was opened to guests.
The Falls Pool Oasis features a beach-style “zero-entrance” where guests can wade in, and also includes submerged sun shelves around the edge where they can relax in the water. Martin Aquatic changed the shape of the pool to allow for more shallow sun shelves as well as more surrounding deck seating and five rentable cabanas.
In addition, the pool’s waterfalls were re-designed, adding an elongated modernized stainless-steel spout. With the addition of the hotel’s nightly Laser Light Show, the redesigned Falls Pool Oasis has a new LED lighting system that can illuminate the water and change colours in time with the music and can be lit up for special occasions and holidays.
On the recent River Falls Waterpark project, the Hardy Group was the owner’s representative, DLR Group managed the building architecture, and the landscape design was provided by Innovations Design Group (IDG). The water park is open every day to resort guests. In June the hotel will also open an extra 60,000 square feet of meeting rooms, meaning it will be able to offer over 500,000 square feet of flexible convention space.
Last year, Martin Aquatic was part of the team of consultants that created VinWonders’ spectacular new nighttime fountain show, Once: An Enchanted Storybook Spectacular, which is now entertaining audiences at the park in Phu Quoc, Vietnam.
