Water PArk

INCLUSIVE DESIGN

Posted on May 16, 2024

The best aquatic play spaces offer indoor and outdoor aquatic activities, incorporating swimming pools, splash pads and flumes. Ustigate Waterplay are partnered with Vortex Aquatic Structures International Inc and wiegand. waterrides, enabling designs and concepts of every variety and an aquatic play favourite for every age and ability.

A flume with a number of game options and special effects is a popular and exciting attraction but it does have to limit rider descents for safety reasons, so it is important to have other aquatic activities on offer too. In a one pool, one flume scenario, the flume would be in great demand and the queues would be long.

Adding a splash pad that provides a variety of water play activities will entertain a number of guests at every given time. Elevations™ are also a great option for a water park and a holiday park because they spontaneously entertain many friends and family in the same footprint and heighten and enhance the play experiences as a whole.

The Vortex Elevations™ available from Ustigate Waterplay, provide the ability to generate multi-level play and to add climbing and sliding to the activities involved. They are available in all shapes, sizes and themes with a multitude of play items on board. All designs and projects carried out by Ustigate Waterplay are led by inclusivity, accessibility and sustainability and are proven to last.

GUESTS CAN RACE against time and each other with attractions like the Speed Racer.

FLEXIBLE FRIENDS
An indoor and outdoor splash pad maximises the offering of water play facilities at a holiday park because no matter what the weather holds, a good time can be had by all. The benefit of a splash pad is that it uses a lot less water than a pool making it less costly to run in terms of water usage, water treatment and energy.

Also, as all aquatic activities are provided without any water depth on a splash pad, there is no need for a lifeguard and these water play facilities are 100% safe and accessible for all ages and abilities. Generally, where space allows it, Ustigate Waterplay will design and establish a splash pad with zones that cater for those that arrive with water confidence and those that prefer their water play served at a nice, gentle pace.

A splash pad is sustainable because of its inclusive appeal and its efficiency in terms of its design. The majority of Ustigate’s Vortex Splashpad® products are manufactured from recyclable stainless steel and provided with a proven 25- year warranty. Many of the products include Seeflow™, a translucent material made from pre-consumer recycled materials that casts colourful, sensory reflections around the environment when water and sunshine are present.

The Vortex Splashpad® collection invites all children to interact with each other and to interact with the products themselves. There are technologies that require children to work together to create a bigger splash and many products with 360° rotation ability that places both exercise and the water direction into the water player’s hands.

THE OPEN FLUME from Ustigate is a guaranteed water winner.

SHIVER ME TIMBERS!

Posted on April 27, 2022

SHIVER ME TIMBERS!

Jason Nash plunges into the magical world of aquatic water play…

SPICE UP your visitor appeal with investment in water play.

Aye, Me Hearties!’ I am adopting my best Captain Jack Sparrow voice, because pirate themes remain among one of the top design themes for aquatic water play. Dolphins are a bit old hat these days but, no doubt buoyed by blockbuster movies like Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid, nautical themes are still a very popular creative trend and never forget the ever-popular dungeons and dragons!

“When we design for any site, we have to look at the space,” advises Nicholas Creis, one of the expert design team of global water play specialists, ProSlide. “A resort or holiday park generally has less space available than a full water park, so we have to take that into account,” Nicholas acknowledges.

WATER RIDES have a known record of being excellent ways to attract guests to a location. Pic. ProSlide.

LIMITED SPACE

Fitting in to a limited space has resulted in many holiday operators opting for popular body slides like ProSlide’s TWISTER or RallyRACER® that can be customised to fit smaller sites. Water rides have a known record of being excellent ways to attract guests to a location for their summer holidays, while being relatively low maintenance. But it is vital to work with a supplier that can assure differentiation, an incredible ride experience, and a safe, on-time opening.

Rides that cater for families are particularly popular, like the ones found in ProSlide’s WaterKINGDOM line of attractions. Budgets can vary even more. It is not uncommon to see investments starting at £150,000 for KIDZ Rides and going up to £1 million for an entire tubing or body slide complex. “At ProSlide, we’re always squarely focused on working in collaborating with our client, assessing their needs, and designing what works best for their budget,” says Nicholas.

“Timelines and budgets are rather variable and dependent on a number of things,” he continues. “We need to consider whether we’re looking at an existing site, where the client wants to do an expansion, or whether we’re looking at a completely new site. “For an expansion, many clients are looking at approximately one year before their ride opens – though it can be less for a smaller attraction. Newer sites tend to have more to consider and it can be two to three years before their rides open.” ‘Avast!’ Oh, I am off again. It costs nothing to have an initial friendly ‘Parley’ with ProSlide on how to spice up your visitor appeal with investment in water play. So why not make contact today.

ProSlide
www.proslide.com

GAME CHANGERS

Posted on May 5, 2021

GAME CHANGERS

THE BRIDLINGTON CENTRE has proven to be a huge success with an estimated 50,000 plus people visiting the facility in the first six weeks alone.

With more than 100 aquatic installations under their specialist belt, Ustigate’s aquatic play schemes are assembled for a variety of budgets. Experience and expertise enables Ustigate to respond efficiently to all enquiries, carrying out prompt site surveys, calculations and designs to allocated budgets for all sizes of projects both indoor and out. In conjunction with long term aquatic partner Vortex International, Ustigate’s product portfolio includes waterslides, Elevations™ play structures, the award- winning Water Journey™ collection and over 300 individual and interactive Splashpad® play items, with the majority being available with the Safeswap™ Anchoring System. Particularly thought-provoking for holiday destinations, the Safeswap™ Anchoring System provides clients with the ability to exchange features for alternatives in the future, without the need to break the ground again.

FRESH APPROACH
This system enables all water play facilities to stay fresh and modern for years to come and it also enables a water play facility to be built in phases. Each anchor can be capped, provided with a ground spray or home to an above ground feature. The Safeswap™ system is particularly helpful when building a water play project according to budget constraints as it enables the infrastructure to be placed in year one and an array of aquatic play products can be purchased annually and assembled over the course of, for example, a five year plan. A multi-site holiday park operator can also alternate products of the same flow rates between locations to keep visitors intrigued and entertained. Alternatively, or additionally, the joy of Splashpad® is a trend that has encompassed the nation and its popularity continues to grow. An area dedicated to a multitude of water play items, a splashpad is set in a zero standing water environment, making it entirely inclusive and 100% safe without any lifeguard requirement. The trend is fuelled by the inclusive pleasure involved and the fact aquatic play product development has come on a very long way. Twirltec™ enables children to turn products 360° and Orbs and Twistnozzle™ feature widely throughout the award winning Explora range, enabling children to move, twist, spin, splash and change the direction of the water jets.

DIPPY’S SPLASH ZONE has been successful at extending the length of a visit and has increased park revenues through added value sales

WATER JOURNEY
Ustigate Waterplay and Vortex have also recently added “bouncing and splashing” to their offered activities via “Hop” from their Water Journey™ collection. Hop encourages children to physically jump on three soft, padded stepping stones to be rewarded with a bigger and higher splash from the ground up. Water play has been proven to promote water confidence, happiness, excitement, exercise, cognitive behaviours and group play. All factors that aid and promote good health and social development. Interactive aquatic play is being incorporated indoors and outdoors to promote water confidence at a young age and to deliver good health and wellbeing for all ages and abilities. Being with friends and families and being active indoors and outdoors is what makes us happy, fit and strong and the pandemic has taken its toll on everyone’s physical and mental wellbeing because we have never spent more time at home indoors and away from our loved ones and activities. The negative impact of Covid closures has been great on humanity and the leisure, hospitality and aviation industries given all was brought to a standstill in 2020. The roadmap out of the Covid pandemic must also remain cautious to ensure we continue to move in the direction of a healthier and more positive future. Exercise and staying outdoors have been recommended the whole way through. An outdoor Splashpad® with several features and a recirculation system is certainly a safe, clean and exciting place to be. Inclusive water features such as the KirkleathamWalled Garden set the scene for peace and tranquillity, a shining example of Ustigate’s inclusive aquatic play schemes promote happiness and physical fitness for everyone involved.

Ustigate Ltd - Water Display Specialists
Tel. 01322 424445
www.ustigate.co.uk
www.ustigatewaterplay.co.uk

CROWD PLEASERS

Posted on May 5, 2021

CROWD PLEASERS

PROSLIDE’S KIDZ RIDES can be accommodated in either indoors or outdoors

Keep ahead of the competition, with stand-out attractions….
In an often crowded market, holiday parks and resorts understand the need for differentiation. More and more destinations are setting themselves apart with attractions like high-performance water rides that deliver impactful return on investment and draw in the ever- important guest demographic: families. Water parks have been shown to differentiate parks and resorts by increasing guest satisfaction, occupancy rates, perceived value, and secondary spending on things like concessions. ProSlide’s KIDZ Rides are part of its WaterKINGDOM suite of water rides and attractions and are purposefully designed to cater to a park and resort’s family guests, leaving them with an exciting and memorable Experience that keeps them coming back. ProSlide’s KIDZ Rides provide families the excitement of a water ride with the comfort and safety envisioned and designed for kids. They offer a ‘graduated ride experience’ that allows younger guests to aspire toward a more advanced ride as they age, while still providing distinctive, high-performance water slides that also mirror their adult counterparts in design and experience. This ensures that no matter the age, there’s always a ProSlide ride for every age group.

SMALLER FOOTPRINT
ProSlide’s KIDZ Rides also boast an array of benefits that make them the ideal fit for holiday parks and resorts. The ride’s smaller footprint allows them to fit any vision and topography. Add to that an easily customisable ride path, ProSlide’s KIDZ rides can be accommodated in either an indoor space or an outdoor one. Being able to customize the rides means they’re also the perfect attraction to add to an expanding family entertainment area. ProSlide’s latest KIDZ Ride additions have made some of the most impactful debuts imaginable at world-class water parks around the world in the past 12 months. The world’s first KIDZ RallyRACER at Atlantis Aquaventure in Dubai, UAE, brings the pinnacle of a competitive water racing experience to young riders for the first time ever.
Utilising ProSlide’s patented RallyPOINTS – portions of u-shaped flume with low divider walls – that appear at multiple sections throughout the ride, young riders can see and hear their competition as they race side-by- side. The exclusive design merges the excitement and action of the original RallyRACER® with the industry-leading design considerations present in ProSlide’s KIDZ rides. The debut of the KIDZWAVE® at Soaky MountainWaterpark in Tennessee, USA delivered the park an iconic water ride purposefully designed for its family customers. Like the KIDZ RallyRACER®, its design and experience are inspired by its larger counterpart, the TornadoWAVE®. By incorporating ProSlide’s award-winning TORNADO® technology, the KIDZWave sends young riders on a thrilling journey up the arched wall.
During 2021, ProSlide has even more exciting installations of KIDZ Rides coming up in parks all over the globe. Europa-Park’s Rulantica in Rust, Germany is set to install an industry leading aquatic play structure with multiple ProSlide KIDZ Rides like serpentine TWISTERS and the competitive, multi-lane ProRACER®. UP AND COMING NovaHills in Mui Ne, Vietnam will also enjoy an array of KIDZ Rides, like the KIDZ ProRACER® and KIDZ TWISTER, with their brand new dedicated KIDZ Zone coming this summer. ProSlide’s KIDZ Rides are making a dramatic impact at hotels and resorts around the world, increasing guest satisfaction and ROI, while also cementing themselves as the ideal destination with world-leading water ride attractions to set any park or resort apart.

ProSlide
Tel. +1.613.526.5522
info@ProSlide.com
www.ProSlide.com