Woodie Warrior Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 It really is looking great! Thanks for all the updates, especially the ariel photos! Here's another Ariel photo for yah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jray21 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Haha! Awesome. Totally screwed up that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Are Dippin Dots still the ice cream of the future after 20 years? I think they've dropped that slogan finally. It's not featured prominently on their website or on the cart that was delivered to the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondbacker27 Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Last time I saw a Dippin' Dots stand it said they were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy T. Koepp Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Well, I heard from the Dippin' Dots guy that it was, in fact, still the ice cream of the future. But that was a several weeks ago and he said his time machine was down, so someone may have discovered them by now and he is living in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_koppen Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 An update on my favorite project for the year! It's shaping up nicely, but still a crapload of work left. The slides will go vertical next week. Speed slide with drop box. Nice! Theming? The wave pool is getting a whacky pattern. VIP pool. Mat racer! Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jray21 Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Looks like it's coming along rather nicely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster1227 Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 (edited) Polin has sent us a press release regarding the opening of Cowabunga Bay Las Vegas. Construction issues may have delayed the opening of Las Vegas' newest waterpark. But when Cowabunga Bay opens early this summer, guests will get to experience a ride never before offered anywhere else in the world. Among its many attractions will be the world's first Surf Safari waterslide. Cowabunga Bay is marketing the ride under the name Wild Surf. Polin designed and created the attraction exclusively for Cowabunga Bay. The giant slide features a four-person raft that begins with a long, rushing trip through the dark followed by a dizzying 55-foot drop into the world's largest manmade parabolic "wave." Riders twist and turn along the ride's path, speeding through unexpected changes in momentum until they shoot through the wave's crest, get drenched by a water shower spilling from the lip of the wave and slide from side to side, forwards and backwards, before splashing into the pool below. Shane Huish, one of the original investors in Cowabunga Bay who is now the park's general manager, is also general manager of the Cowabunga Bay Water Park in Draper, Utah. His family runs three family fun centers, two in suburban Seattle and one near Portland, Ore. He says he was excited about the Surf Safari's unique slide path, plus the fact that the attraction gives guests a longer riding experience compared to slides with similar features. "It offers a creative twist to a ride that already offers lots of great heart-pounding excitement," he said. "Plus, it presents an added thrill to guests waiting in line at the top of the slide tower. From their vantage point, they get a bird's-eye view of what's in store as they look down into the funnel and see the riders zipping around inside." Construction Back on Schedule Originally, Cowabunga Bay's owners planned to open the park on Memorial Day 2013. But soon after the $23 million park's December 2012 ribbon-cutting, crews digging into the site hit a layer of caliche. This naturally occurring sedimentary rock is similar to concrete, and its presence slowed construction as workers labored to dig through the hardened material. To complicate matters, the delivery of critical steel-support structures for the slides was delayed. As management looked at the construction schedule, it became clear that they would be unable to open until late in the summer at the earliest. Thus, rather than maintaining the original fast-paced construction plan, only to be open for a short time before having to close for the season, those in charge decided to postpone the park's inauguration until the following year. While the park also underwent changes in ownership that August, those issues never impacted the park's planned opening for summer 2014. Zoned for Fun Segmented into three areas, the 23-acre site near Galleria Drive and Gibson Road in the city of Henderson will include: Aloha Shores, a Hawaiian-themed family-friendly area that includes the Cowabunga Kids Cove, a large play area for kids. The kids' area will feature a giant, heated shallow pool with 10 mini waterslides, waterfalls, tipping buckets and the Guppy Racer, a scaled-down version of the park's giant racer slide. The area is accessed via one controlled entrance and exit and will feature seating, shade and rental cabanas for adults. Surf City U.S.A., a retro-inspired zone reminiscent of 1950's California beach-themed movies. The Boardwalk, which pays tribute to Atlantic City and the Jersey Shore. The park, which is being master-planned and plumbed for future expansion, will feature dozens of other rides and attractions in addition to the Wild Surf. The attractions include: Surf-a-Rama Wave Pool.Set amidst a 1950's drive-in theater, this 35,000-square-foot wave pool-one of the largest in Nevada and the centerpiece of the park-will rock heated water into waves up to 4 feet high. Little ones can splash and play as waves break on the beach. Zuma ZOOMa. Designed for thrill seekers, this slide (Polin's Looping Rocket) the park's tallest attraction features a unique "launch capsule" 73 feet in the air with a trap door on which riders stand. When the door drops open, riders are sent on a thrilling adventure via a high-speed horizontal 360-degree loop. Point Panic. Riders on this slide (Polin's Black Hole) experience a midnight surf-run down a fully enclosed, pitch-black water slide that features Polin's unique Natural Light Effect technology. Surfin' USA. This one-of-a-kind racing slide (Polin's Uphil multisurf)- allows six guests at a time to plunge face-first downhill from the 55 foot start point, then it's up and over a unique speed bump finale. Beach Blanket Banzai. This giant raft slide (Polin's Family Rafting) allows up to four family members and friends to ride together down 600 feet of twist, turns and drops before a gushing finale. Rock-a-Hoola. Riders brave a 300-foot-long slide (Polin'sSpace Boat) before entering a giant bowl and whirling around for several revolutions before a thrilling splashdown. Surf-A-Go-Go. This 600-foot-long slide (Polin's Space Shuttle) features two giant "rebound chambers" that cause rider's to climb the walls and rebound from side to side. Cowabunga River. Riders floating on this heated leisure river will cruise by giant surfboards, water features and a groovy '67 VW bus. Boardwalk Bay. Relaxation rules in this care-free pool. Guests will splash in playful fountains or just enjoy the sun as they float their cares away. Cowabunga Splash.This water-play structure (Polin's Aquatower) designed with kids in mind features six stories of bridges, tunnels, net climb and water toys. (Phase 2 expansion) In addition to its aquatic attractions, Cowabunga Bay will feature two restaurants, Merchandise, locker rentals, an arcade and private cabana rentals. Designs That Stand up to Desert Conditions General Manager Huish said that an ongoing issue he had faced at the original Cowabunga Bay waterpark in Utah was oxidation of the slides' finishes. So when he saw the patented Magic Shine finish that Polin adds to all of its slides, he was immediately convinced he had found the right aquatics design firm with which to partner on the Nevada project. Polin creates the finish, which is smooth and shiny on both sides of each waterslide component, using resin transfer molding (RTM) technology, which is a specialized and the latest composites production technique using closed-molded technology. The important thing is that it is not only about the look, the RTM manufactured waterslides are also physically superior waterslides. Cowabunga Bay is Polin's first turnkey contract and largest waterpark project to date in the United States. Edited April 15, 2014 by jedimaster1227 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jray21 Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 It sounds and looks like it'll be a great park! Can't wait to visit sometime this summer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_koppen Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Slides went vertical last week, but now the fiberglass is going up. This is the insanely awesome looking tube slides complex. The family complex and the mat racer/drop slide complex should start to go up really soon as well. Here's some photos from last week, of non slide related stuff: Entrance American Flag themed mat racer Colorful Not much more to do on the wave pool. Put the plaster in place, and paint the rock/wood theme. Cabana pool Walls. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBrylczyk Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Shane was extremely awesome today and was kind enough to give me a hard hat tour of the property! Everything is moving along at a very brisk pace at this point and I can't wait to visit again in a week or two to see just how much more work has been done. Long story short, the park is looking more and more like a theme park rather than a cement lot with some fiberglass tubes thrown in it (like a certain other waterpark in town). There's fresh palm trees all over the place, too! Hello, shade! Shane, maybe you can give Rainbow Magicland a few pointers on what shade is, btw. Anyways, I'm not gonna bore you with endless text and I'll just let the pictures do the talking. Enjoy! The main entrance has one very bright paint job! Look at those colors! The front entrance is more or less in the finishing phase. They're laying the cement and making it all purty-like! According to Shane this last section of the parking lot will be done by the end of the week. Inside shot of the main ticket windows. I love all of the little details everywhere. This could have just been a boring purple desk but they went the extra mile and got a nice design. The attention to every last bit is astounding. Inside shot of the main kitchen's cashier area. The foreground is part of the main entrance to the lazy river. Rather than having just a simple staircase it's going to be a wading pool complete with fountains on the shallow end! This tower has the most progress so far. They've been battling the wind in the valley for a few days but they were able to get a few more pieces in place today! One of two footbridges to get onto the island. Speaking of which, that island will have the lazy river entrances, the mat racer/freefall slide tower, and a bunch of cabanas! Soon this area will all be cabanas. This is where one of the fountains in the wading pool will be. It won't be anything like Bellagio but it will be fun! The run-out area for the freefall slide. It is a trapdoor drop into a 360-spiral that leads into the run off. Which reminds me, this and the mat racer will be the only slides that end in run-offs. Every other slide will end in a splashdown pool the way they should! (that other park hasn't figured this out) Supports starting to form for the mat racer / freefall tower. Artsy support porn! Lazy river themeing for a waterfall feature. Looking back towards the entrance from the island. The second bridge leading onto/off of the island. Down in the wave pool dungeon, these are 6 of the 8 pressure chambers to create the waves out front. They will be capable of one large wave or multiple, mogul-style waves. Standing behind the wave pool facade. Electrical box porn! The wave pool's facade will be a drive-in theatre, keeping with the 50's theme around the entire park. According to Shane there will be prop cars sitting where I took this picture, as if they were at the drive-in. Of course they will be outfitted with water fountains spraying into the pool! Looking back at the entrance from the wave pool. Cranes and slides and colors, oh my! This will be the VIP pool. It will be surrounded by the VIP cabanas. The shallow sections on either side will have lounge chairs that sit in the water. On the left is obviously the stairs into the deeper area. On the right side there will be bubblers, creating a sort-of cold jacuzzi. Really cool and original stuff! OK, this is awesome. It's the second dining option in the park and as you can tell by the shape it will definitely be sticking with the 50s theme. However, what you DON'T know is that this is Rocky's Diner. As is Rock the Flying Squirrel. From Rocky & Bullwinkle. I know. Awesome! There's going to be a large statue of Rocky atop the central pillar! Looking back at the wave pool you can really sense how INCREDIBLE the views will be on these slide towers! That's Frenchman Mountain in the background there. To its right is the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, full of otherworldly rock formations and all kinds of cool stuff. Can't wait to see how far I can see! Support steel for the family tube slides. This just looks like something out of a machine-apocalypse movie. Really they're working on the kiddie area. There will be ten, yes, TEN kiddie waterslides in this area alone. One of the reservoir tanks for the kiddie area and future play structure (2015). For those people who need construction photos to survive. Look, bolts and a toolbag. Now go get a room. The splashdown pool for both family tube slides. One will be a traditional, twisty slide. The other will be a halfpipe slide with waterfalls on either side. Both will be excellent! One half of the halfpipe slide will sit right here. Back at the entrance area again! Notice they're flying another section of the waterslide in place! Soon this room will be full of lockers. It was right around lunchtime by now so the construction guys were taking their breaks in the shade. Part of what will be the arcade. Skee-ball, tickets, prizes, all the stuff you'd expect! SHARKS! Going back to my comment about little details earlier, these little touches make all the difference! Back at this tower to get a little up close and personal as they add a section. I love how the supports, being silver, reflect what's around them. It's like camouflage. The runoff chutes into the splashdown pool. We kinda walked up the green slide to get these next shots... Try taking THIS picture in a few weeks! Airtime? Airtime. This gives you a good sense of the size of the island. There's still two slide to be added to this tower, including one with a bowl section! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Turbo Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 ^Great pictures. I am excited to see this finished and luckily I only live an hour and a half from Vegas so will be able to check it out when it opens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodie Warrior Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Is this on set to open Memorial Day? There is still a lot of work to be done, but I'm not a construction professional so I have no clue how much time it'll take to complete the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Coleman Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Everything is looking great. Love all of the little touches everywhere. This is going to blow that other water park across town away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtosc1985 Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 The fact they aren't going to open until Mid-June is really going to hurt this park with their cross town competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montezooma Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 The fact they aren't going to open until Mid-June is really going to hurt this park with their cross town competition. I doubt it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 The fact they aren't going to open until Mid-June is really going to hurt this park with their cross town competition. I doubt it! Shane - What makes you such an expert, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_koppen Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 What an absolute awesome photo report, can't wait to see your next one! and future play structure (2015). Can't wait to see this one take shape, I have no doubt that it will look even better than the one in Draper! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montezooma Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Photo update 5/1/14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArizonaGuy Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Wow! Great pics! Thanks Shane! These slides look like they're going to be so much fun. Can't wait to drive up from Phoenix to visit! Love all the colors being used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Great photos of how it's all going, Shane! And great to see you keeping busy. How far out of the city of Vegas is it? Sorry, I'm old. I forget. Boo hoo. I didn't even try and look. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montezooma Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 It is in Henderson. Just 10 minutes or so from the strip. Of course it will take you an hour to get off the strip, but then just a quick 10 minutes to the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcdude Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Looking good. I can't wait to check this place out when I visit Vegas at the end of June. Hopefully there are no more delays and the park will be able to open next month as planned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_koppen Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Love the colors of the tube tower! Love the colors for the buildings as well. Also love the look of the Space Shuttles. Hell, I think I really like the look of it all. Will the rock & wood theme on the wave pool be painted, or will it look realistic as it is now? It's a bit hard to tell from the photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montezooma Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Will the rock & wood theme on the wave pool be painted, or will it look realistic as it is now? It’s a bit hard to tell from the photos. Thanks everyone for all the great comments. Yes, everything will be painted. The rock will look like rock and the wood will look like wood. Here’s more: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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