Wednesday, May 23, 2012

2012 Waterpark Preview - Part 2


Casino Pier and Breakwater Beach, located alongside the ocean in New Jersey, is adding a two-for-one slide tower this season.  This is another attraction that doesn't have a name yet due to the park holding a contest for that reason, but it took quite a mighty effort to fit the new slides into the already cramped park.

© Breakwater Beach

One of the new slides will be a Tantrum, where there are different mini-funnels along the way down.  The other is a traditional bowl slide that takes guests on a bit of a spin cycle.

The photo here on the left really shows off how the park crammed the new slides into the existing park.  You can see that both of the new slides actually go out and over the lazy river, which is going to make for some great interaction!

Breakwater Beach also features a selection of existing slides and attractions, such as the uniquely themed Perfect Storm water play structure.


The Great Escape and Splashwater Kingdom is also building a new slide tower that features two different attractions.  The six story structure will offer two very different experiences in the form of a racing set of slides and a freefall drop.

© The Great Escape and Splashwater Kingdom

On the left of this photo from the park you can see the steep drop that makes up the Cliffhanger slide.  It will utilize a skybox start that will literally drop the floor out from under riders, sending them flying down the slide.  Fun!

The braided set of slides that are under construction above are the Twisted Racers, from the Proslide line of KrakenRacers.  Flying down on individual mats, riders race toward the finish through the undulating slides, along with a large final drop.

The new slides won't be quite ready for this coming weekend, but have a planned season pass holder preview on June 1st.


I wrote in a post earlier this Spring that 2012 should probably be named the year of the mat racer slide, there are so very many of them going in at parks across the country.

Take for instance the brand new Dragster Drench going into Martin's Fantasy Island.

The 4-lane ProRacer slide features a checkerboard pattern that will enhance the feeling of speed as riders race down.

The new slide will be an important addition to the park's growing water area, by adding some much needed capacity.  Unlike many other racing slides the Dragster Drench will be a straight shot down the multiple hills, without any twists and turns.

Another place to get your race on this Summer is Rochester, New York's Seabreeze Amusement Park.  They will open their new racing slide this year, named Hydro Racer.

The slide also has four separate lanes, each of which is navigated by one rider on a mat.  Each lane starts out by performing a large diving helix, at the end of which the lanes line up and it is a race to the finish line.

The blue, green, and white color scheme is a perfect fit for a park named Seabreeze!  The new slide is also provided by Proslide, and is of their Octopus Racer series.

Racing right along, another racing slide complex is currently going up at Soak City, adjacent to Cedar Point.  Part of an overall refreshing an renovating of the waterpark, the new slides will be named Dragster H2O, in honor of the park's famous 400 foot tall coaster.

Much like Hydra Racer above, Soak City's ride will feature a twisted start as all six lanes dive through their own independent helix.  Then after they meet up they plummet down smaller hills toward the finish.

Many of Soak City's existing slides were redone with new paint and vibrant colors, bringing a much needed upbeat feeling to the property.

Phew, and that's not even all of them!  Earlier we covered Lake Compounce's new Riptide Racer, as well.  DryTown Waterpark in California is also adding Dusty's Mineshaft Racer, and Noah's Ark will build the Quadzilla racing slide this year, too.  And I'm positive there are more that I'm missing!


Kings Island has been very busy this past Winter working on totally transforming their waterpark into Soak City, which includes several new attractions and many other renovations.

One of the biggest features of the newly renamed park is Tidal Wave Bay, a massive new wave pool:

© Kings Island

Tidal Wave Bay is actually Soak City's second wave pool, joining Breakers Bay.  The park has also built a totally new entrance to the waterpark so that guests can easily get in and out with a shorter walk.

The park's lazy river has been totally changed as well, and is now known as Splash River.  Packed with interactive features, the river is anything but lazy these days.  The rest of Soak City features additional lounging areas, sand beach volleyball courts, and plenty of paint on all the slides.


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