WhiteWater, a leading waterpark manufacturer, has shared insights from Mark Weston, the firm’s playologist and aquatic play product manager, ahead of the IAAPA Education Webcast, Don’t Underestimate Your Kids’ Area, which is taking place on 18 October.
In this session, Weston, together with Claudia Diaz-Gonzalez, Royal Caribbean International; Rob Hutcheson, EDSA; and Jan Mahoney, LEGOLAND New York, will discuss the intricacies of developing a complete water play zone for families. Attendees will also learn about the latest trends in aquatic kids’ areas.
To register for this event, please click here.
Facilitating group play
In order to engage lucrative family audiences, attractions are finding that the kids’ area in their water park needs to work hard to capture kids’ imaginations and encourage them away from their devices.
But what factors make a good water park visit for families with young children? WhiteWater has 30 years of experience planning, installing, and assisting clients in realizing the full potential of entire aquatic facilities for kids. Weston, who is the firm’s in-house aquatic play specialist and grandfather of four, shares some personal observations.
“I’ve always enjoyed joining my kids and now grandkids in the play experience, so I especially like attractions that have been developed with parent/grandparent participation in mind. This means features that are right-sized so they fit kids, but also designed with consideration for a parent or grandparent, such as room to sit on or climb on,” says Weston.
Aquatic play structures and splash pads offer opportunities for groups to play together without long wait times. However, while children don’t mind getting wet, adults sometimes do. Guardians can join in the excitement without getting wet thanks to dry zones between the water play components. WhiteWater used this design feature at the Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.
Weston comments: “Kids love slides like the Mini Multi-Lane or Ramp Slide so that they can go down side by side with parents, siblings, or friends.” In addition to the body slides, attractions can create thrilling ride experiences for children with scaled-down inner tube slides. Mini Boomerango, Mini Rattler, and Mini AquaSphere are children’s models of the adult originals. These slides can accommodate a parent and a small child, or two children riding together.
Safe by design
In WhiteWater’s attractions, safety is built-in. Lifeguards are supplemented with carefully selected materials and designs.
The new children’s area at Aqualand Moravia in Czechia, for instance, is set in a shallow pool and includes an AquaForms 300, AquaSplash toys, and a Life Floor. With its monopole design and polycarbonate guardrails, the AquaForms allows unobstructed sightlines both below and on the unit. This means that parents may keep a close eye on their children without having to sprint after them all the time.
Weston comments: “Even better is visibility to where the youngest are playing and beyond to where the older kids may be.”
Eliminating the worry of injuries from slips and falls will increase guests’ sense of security in an aquatic area. For energetic kids, the foam-rubber flooring technology Life Floor greatly improves safety. “Little ones like to jump and test their physical strength, so features that allow children to do that are a plus, especially on non-slip, cushioned surfaces,” adds Weston.
Increasing time on site
The likelihood that visitors will spend money on site increases with the length of their stay, particularly for hotels and resorts. Offering activities that appeal to every family member is one method of encouraging them to stay. Pre-teens, for instance, often don’t want to play with babies, so it can be effective for a water park to have a large variety of activities.
Two aquatic play structures at Aqua Nick at Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya in Mexico cater to two distinct age groups: toddlers and children aged 6 to 12. Its RainFortress 5 with a SpongeBob theme has thrilling body slides for people 42″ and taller, larger interactive play features, and inside jokes about Bikini Bottom Beach.
However, it is not suitable for younger children due to their age or height. WhiteWater included the PAW Patrol-themed zone, which is designed for this younger demographic. With an AquaPlay 200 and AquaSpray toys, this area offers slides and play features that are ideal for their stage of cognitive development.
Weston says: “Young children love the magical nature of the water flow, surprise sequenced jets, and especially, the features they could activate themselves. Interactive features offer something to do together, like a game. With my grandkids, it would be a natural way to play together, enjoying a water battle or figuring out how to activate a water jet spray from the deck.”
Having a layout that allows children to easily see their parents for reassurance is just as vital as having good sightlines for parents. Additionally, you need enough shady viewing spaces where parents can watch their children play, convenient access to food, drinks, and other facilities, and adjacent cabanas for hosting children’s birthday celebrations.
“The significance of the layout in a kids’ area cannot be overlooked,” Weston explains, and shares a feature which is particularly important: “Bathrooms close by so it isn’t a journey and a mad dash to get little ones there in time.”
In addition, passive areas that are well-designed encourage visitors to dwell for longer, which increases the likelihood that they’ll purchase a meal while on site.
Enhancing accessibility
Kids adore stories, whether they are told them or invent their own. A well-themed kids’ area accomplishes both. It grabs their interest and piques their curiosity, transporting them to a storybook land, or a much loved-tale.
LEGOLAND Water Park in Gardaland, Italy, features a RainFortress 5 aquatic structure, which appears to be made from LEGO. Kids enter the LEGO world where they can build their own fun, using water toys, water slides and interactive elements, together with the famous bricks and distinctive LEGO-style flags, palm trees and fences, and Minifigures.
Little DUPLO fans have a dedicated area with gentle slides and AquaSpray toys, as well as life-sized DUPLO penguins, polar bears, a whale, and other creatures.
The kids’ area has the most potential for accessibility of all the attractions at a water park. Here, it is possible to add interactive play areas on the ground so that visitors of all levels of mobility can play together. Additionally, there are several play components appropriate for a range of cognitive levels.
In San Antonio, Texas, in the United States, Morgan’s Inspiration Island shows how a water play space can be created for children of various abilities and sensitivities, as well as for their guardians to play alongside them.
Weston concludes: “There’s nothing as fun as standing under a tipping bucket together with your kids or simply watching little grandkids gather the courage to do it and find that they survived.”
WhiteWater recently exhibited at IAAPA Expo Europe in Vienna, where the firm held a press conference to announce updates and share its highlights from 2023, as it celebrates the opening of almost 60 projects so far this year.
