The Water Park of America was home to the tallest indoor water slide in the U.S. It covered 70,000 square feet (6,500Â m2) with a slide tower nearly ten stories high. It opened in May 2006. Located in Bloomington, Minnesota, it was a half mile from Mall of America and close to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.
The water park was attached to the Radisson Hotel. Both the hotel and the water park were managed by Evolution Hospitality. In January 2017, it was announced that Great Wolf Resorts had purchased the property. The hotel and waterpark are currently closed for renovations and rebranding as a Great Wolf Lodge. Great Wolf said they expect the rebranded property to open in November 2017.
Water rides
Waterpark Of America - Took the kids out for some summertime fun.
The park had a slide tower containing several water slides, and an open area at ground level that contained water rides.
The slide tower contained three body slides, two tube slides, and one family slide (this was the tallest slide, that started at the tenth level of the building and ended at the bottom). Body slides were slides on which riders slid directly on their body, without an innertube.
Ground level
Below the slide tower was a wave pool, a lazy river, a swimming pool, a small pool with floating "logs" which children leaped across, a flow rider, two hot-tubs, and a children's area for smaller children.
The wave pool ran for ten minutes and then was turned off for five minutes to let the machine that produced the waves cool. The wave pool was a tapered pool that started with a beach entry and that got about five and a half feet deep. It was the beginning and end of the lazy river.
The lazy river was three-feet deep and made a circuit around the outer perimeter of the park. The lazy river was ridden on a one-person or two-person innertube through “caves,†under bridges and waterfalls, past pools. The ride ended in the wave pool.
The swimming pool, also known as the "activity pool," was four feet deep. One end had four basketball hoops for games of water ball, the other end was for general swimming.
Next to the swimming pool was a smaller pool that had floating cross-sections of “logs†attached to the floor of the pool like lily pads. Suspended above the pool was a cargo net for children to hold onto as they jumped from log to log.
The flow rider was a shallow but fast moving sheet of water, moving from 30â€"35 miles per hour, on which the rider could surf or "boogie-board". The flow rider was 3 inches (76 mm).
The park had two cave-pool themed hot tubs.
The children’s playground area contained a playground with stairs that led to towers, cargo netting, and slides sitting in a few inches of warmer water. At the top of the playground was a wooden bucket that filled with water. Once full, it dumped water on anyone below, resulting in laughter and excitement from the children. The children’s playground had three water slides for small children but which older children and adults could use. The playground contained numerous other water toys and devices.
Life-vests
The water park also provided free life-vests for children which could be brought as long as one was a Coast Guard approved flotation device.
Northern Lights Arcade
The Northern Lights Arcade was located between the entrance to the water park and the main lobby of the hotel. It was an arcade primarily consisting of redemption games. It included favorites such as Pac-Man, and Pinball as well as newer games like Initial D, Maximum Tune, and Pump It Up.
Controversy
Lawsuit
Shortly before opening day, the Mall of America filed a lawsuit against Water Park of America claiming trademark infringement. The Mall of America claimed the water park's name was too similar to the Mall of America's name and could cause some to associate the two. The Water Park of America filed a counterclaim in the matter accusing the Mall of America of, among other things, knowing about Water Park of America's use of the name since the fall of 2003, encouraging the use of the name, and encouraging the Water Park of America to spend millions of dollars advertising and promoting the name up until March 2006. Water Park of America went on to claim that the reason Mall of America changed its position became clear in a press release, in which the Mall of America announced it was going to build its own water park as part of Phase II. The parties have settled the dispute under confidential terms.
See also
- Incidents at independent amusement parks â€" list of significant accidents and injuries that have occurred at Water Park of America
- Indoor water park
- Water park
References
External links
- Official site
