At WhiteWater we’re always working on innovations. Many of them have to stay under wraps at the moment, but one thing I can tell you about is the leaps forward we’ve made in designing attractions that keep families in waterparks longer. After all, that’s the goal of pretty much every waterpark operator. We want to provide those key stakeholders with products that help them achieve their business goals.

APX, the next generation of our AquaPlay product, is an innovation which has reimagined a waterpark classic. Every waterpark needs an interactive waterplay structure for children. With AquaPlay APX, we’re introducing to the industry new ways for families to interact together with an open-concept play structure and a variety of brand new inter actives.

The play structure has five unique zones, each of various thrill and skill levels for guests of a variety of ages. There are 80 interactive elements on a single structure, including water elements with action and reaction events to teach cause and effect.

APX provides an engaging experience full of interactive elements that entice, challenge and reward guests. Our “playologists” – waterpark design veterans who are also qualified child psychologists – designed APX specifically to support childhood development by exercising skills that contribute to coordination, understanding cause and effect and creating proud moments of achievement.

WhiteWater’s playologists have carefully crafted APX from the perspective of a child in order to encourage interaction and maximise fun. The system is designed using the philosophies of play and interaction to increase play value and boost the staying power of the structure.

Elsewhere at WhiteWater, Slideboarding has initiated a conversation about gaming and technology within a waterpark. You’ll see more of this integration in our products in the future, with games designed into other products – potentially with the ability to interact with guests beyond their time at the park. It’s just the tip of the iceberg and the potential is extraordinary.

We’re also making some exciting modifications to existing products and reimagining other spaces within our range. Everything we create is centred on the guest experience and how we can help our customer’s parks enhance that. Even safety can be innovative and sexy, but you’ll have to wait to find out more.

Our most notable innovation is the Skycaliber, a patented world-record-breaking slide. This 100-foot (30-metre) slide has a 45-foot (14-metre) true vertical drop that heads straight into an inverted loop. It uses an ISO 13849 Safety System, an integrated spray system and an innovative conveyor system that ensures every rider – inside a single-occupancy capsule-style raft – gets around the loop.

Skycaliber is the first waterslide in the world where riders free fall and go upside down safely. Due to the patented innovations we’ve developed, riders reach faster speeds, spin freely within the flume and safely slide through unprecedented slide paths that previously were only possible on rollercoasters. Other “looping” waterslides on the market have a high downtime when riders do not make it through the loop and issues with friction burns. Our innovative design means there’s no skin contact with the fibreglass, so we ensure a burn-free guarantee.

PATENTED RAFT
The patented closed cell foam raft allows riders to rotate 360? within the slide. With quick load times and a rollercoaster-inspired restraint system and perforated airflow screen, safety and experience are second to none.

We’ve been working on development of this concept for several years and gone through many stages of engineering, design and manufacturing. We focused on making the ride as thrilling as possible while maintaining the highest level of safety and operational efficiency. Once we successfully achieved that, we worked on modifications and improvements to the raft to improve the manufacturing processes and usability for both rider and operator. We’ve added mounts for GoPro cameras, increased its comfort, improved the door and latch mechanism to increase the loading and unloading time, improved the airflow and reduced the overall weight.

There are always challenges when developing innovative products, but one of the major barriers we face in this industry is developing methods of integrating technology and electronics into a water environment. Developing and testing an innovative new product but an outdoor or indoor waterpark is a particularly challenging space.

RECORD BREAKER
Coming to Cowabunga Bay in Las Vegas this summer is our patented Water Jet Propulsion Mat Racer technology, which harnesses the power of water through a computer controlled ISO 13849 safety system to launch mat racer riders uphill with 20 pounds of thrust. We also have a line of new interactive waterpark products hitting the market this year.

We want to break the world record for the tallest waterslide with a 200-foot-plus-tall (61-metre) version of the Skycaliber that has a variety of slide paths that have never been attempted on a waterslide before. The sky’s the limit with Skycaliber.

One of our newest innovations is Space Race, an eight-person bowl slide with a design that brings the adrenaline rush of competition to the waterpark. The ride's geometry is similar to other bowl slides, but Space Race pits two four-rider family rafts against each other. The rafts enter the bowl from opposite directions at a speed of more than 43kph (27mph) and the special design allows the racing teams to see each other as they career around the bowl. Riders lean, bend and tilt to gain the advantage over their opponents. The first opens at Tetusa Oasis Waterpark in Izmir, Turkey, in June.

At Polin, investing in new technologies is always on the agenda and that helps us make a difference in terms of theming and storytelling. Our Fusion waterslides are always popular since they offer different ride experiences in one. Clients love the flexibility they offer. We are also investing in gaming technologies – but, that is all I can say for the moment.

Lastly, we’ve set a new standard for waterslide manufacturing with a material technology innovation that turns waterslides into works of art, with both interior and exterior designs embedded into the production of the slides. Inspired by the look of mosaic, graffiti, natural wood and metal, the new slide material brings endless possibilities.

Picture: Polin’s first Space Race opens at Tetusa Oasis in Turkey in June

We’ve been developing our Mat Racer slides. We have the typical open, straight multi-lane Mat Racer, but have also developed new designs for different clients. For example, Oasis Waterpark in Isla de Maipo, Chile, asked us for a four-lane Mat Racer that started with two straight enclosed lanes on the sides and two straight open lanes in the centre. Halfway down the slide, the enclosed lanes open and the slide turns into a straight four-lane racer. Splashway Waterpark in Sheridan, Texas, asked us for a four-lane Mat Racer that was one-third covered.

In 2015, we did a different design at Raging Waters Waterpark in San Jose, California. Two lanes start enclosed and curve away from the centre of the ride, while the other two lanes start open and straight. The lanes take turns to curve and twist. One of our designers decided to name it the SnakeRacer, so we added four snake heads, one to each lane, and used different colours for the slides. We patented a totally new Mat Racer design.

We have also been working with new non-corrosive materials to create our children’s play structures. This means almost no maintenance is required. We’re able to manufacture our play structures with any story or theme the client wants.

As far as challenges go, meeting all the different standards in the industry is an important one. Sometimes it’s necessary to design two models of the same ride to meet different measures in the US and EU.

Our latest development is Aquatropica, a new line of interactive water features with a tropical theme. The new features are leafy flora and zany fauna with tropical trees and flowers, caterpillars and butterflies, bugs and snails, monkeys and birds – all intended to provide an exciting and unique water playground for kids up to the age of 12. Interactive Aquatropica waterplay structures with slides are also available to create a dynamic, tropical-themed centrepiece.

Aquatropica structures have lots of advantages. They’re fabricated from composite and speciality plastics offering a lifetime corrosion warranty. Unlike metal products, no elaborate foundations are necessary so the construction costs are lower. Low electrical and low heat conductivity are major benefits of our materials should they come into contact with lightning or hot sun. Empex is now able to manufacture a 20-foot (6-metre) structural fibreglass pipe which allows us to increase the size and the mass of the structures, helping the vibrant colours stand out even more. We are also constantly increasing the interactive component of our water features. It is important to empower the kids to make water work in various ways – thus not only fun but also educational.

In terms of challenges, the biggest one is managing to create products that are innovative without crossing the price resistance barrier.

Our newest product is the Big Top Soaker – an exciting feature to complete our Cirque aquatic play collection. This larger-than-life dumping bucket brings extra anticipation and visual excitement to a head-to-toe splash experience.

The transparent AquaLume bucket allows light to illuminate the water as it fills and tips out a show-stopping splash for waterplayers below. With a whimsical aesthetic and tall curving legs, it’s an eye-catching addition to any play space.

For us, as a global company, one of the biggest challenges in product innovation is balancing our designs to the needs of different continents and countries. To meet this challenge it takes a lot of research and planning and there are many moving parts in that process. Innovation is creativity leveraged with strong market research and development.

We continue to raise the bar in play value, collaboration, and interaction. In the coming year we’re taking our design philosophy to new heights in terms of evolution and innovation. We’re excited for people to see what’s next.