Hundreds of yards of concrete. Thousands of feet of steel rebar. Highly engineered steel tower structures. When people visit a waterpark, they tend to look at the colorful, swooping slides, and not what lies beneath. The structure of a water element, much of which is underground, is massive.
The opening date for Massanutten’s WaterPark is still to be determined; it’s a Phase Three re-open and will likely operate at reduced capacity for a while after the State of Virginia authorizes the WaterPark to open. But it looks like it will be worth the wait. Crews this autumn have added some major new attractions to the Outdoor part of the park.
The showstopper is an enclosed flume with unique twists of a striped aqualucent light, all before the last big turn into a steep drop, transitioning to a wall summit where riders can reach zero gravity.
The second new slide is another enclosed slide featuring tight turns and step-backs; an aqualucent section of polka dots introduces an array of colors before the next tight turn or steep drop.
A third major new feature rounds out the complex as the park’s only open-flume slide. It provides hairpin turns from start to finish.
Younger guests will find new features, too. The splash pad has been updated with a bright new look and three new toddler-sized slides.
The Chill Grill, which opened in 2016, is expanding too.
Names for the slides, produced by a contest hosted by the resort, will be announced shortly.
“We set ourselves a goal that these new features would be ready to go by July 4,” said Massanutten’s Mike Shiflet, who oversaw construction. “That was an ambitious schedule, but the new features themselves will be ready by then.”
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