Schlitterbahn Makes Two Exciting Announcements

Our week of surprises continues today with two unprecedented announcements from the chain of Schlitterbahn Waterparks for their Kansas City and South Padre Island, Texas locations.

Up first is the news that Schlitterbahn Kansas City will build the "world's tallest, fastest, and most extreme" Meg-a-Blaster water slide in 2013.

The park is keeping almost all details on the new attraction a secret at this point, saying only that "the new four-person raft Meg-a-Blaster speed-slide combines the best elements of Schlitterbahn’s patented Master Blaster™ technology with the insane drops of a speed slide"

The park is quick to point out that currently the tallest water slide currently is Insano, located at Beach Park in Brazil which stands 134 and a half feet tall and hits speeds of 65.2 miles per hour - both records will be smashed by the Meg-a-Blaster.

“To ensure the record-holding statistics of this new extreme attraction, we are not going to release final height and scope of the project until we are ready to welcome our first guests,” explained Jeff Henry, Schlitterbahn co-owner and award-winning designer of world-class attractions. “This new Meg-a-Blaster speed-slide is going to wow our guests and is going to be a game changer for our industry. Our greatest challenge will be to find thrill seekers brave enough to ride.”

While full details will have to wait until next May, it sounds, the park does promise to reveal a bit here and there as opening day draws closer.

On South Padre Island, Texas, Schlitterbahn has plans to connect their new Beach Resort hotel and indoor water park with their existing Beach water park.  To do so might be easy since the properties are adjacent to each other, but Schlitterbahn has more unique plans in mind.

How about an underground tunnel? The "new water transportation system that will take riders between the existing waterpark and the new resort and indoor waterpark via a series of slides, rivers and conveyors. Guests will board four-person rafts at either of two loading stations—one at the outdoor waterpark and the other at the nearby indoor waterpark—then drop nearly 25 feet into a 380-foot-long underground cavern filled with fog, sound and lighting effects. A conveyor system will then return guests to ground level and their destination."
It appears as though the indoor waterpark and hotel are separated from the outdoor water park by a small road, which leads to a nearby hotel.  I'm guessing the underground tunnel will pass beneath that, connecting the two parks.

During the winter guests may enjoy the heated indoor slides and rivers, and in the Summer with the properties connected they will essentially get two water parks for the price of one.

If there's one thing for sure it is that Schlitterbahn is not afraid of innovation, and for that we are grateful!