During the hot summer months, indoor water parks can be a welcome oasis for those needing a fantastic, refreshing break from the heat. These amazing indoor water parks are open all year long, allowing guests to swim, surf, slide, and spa in everything from wave pools and super loops to tipping buckets and hot baths.
The Tropical Islands Resort in Krausnick, Germany, opened in 2004 inside a former Soviet military airship hangar. Various lodging options, from beach tents to five-star hotels, a beach, lagoons, waterfalls, exotic flower gardens, restaurants, water slides, evening entertainment, saunas, and an adventure park, are all available to resort guests. The Washington Post reports that the building is kept at a constant 79 degrees year-round and that the eight football fields’ worth of landscaping may be enjoyed barefoot thanks to an under-floor heating system. The resort is estimated to be the world’s largest free-standing hall, with massive dimensions of 1,181 feet in length, 689 feet in width, and 351 feet in height. The size is such that it would accommodate even the Statue of Liberty.
China’s Happy Magic Water Cube
According to the Daily Mail, China’s National Aquatic Center, also known as “Water Cube,” in Beijing, once served as the site of the Olympic swimming competitions, where Michael Phelps set records and won eight gold medals, is now home to “Happy Magic Water Cube Water Park,” which features several water-rides, spa pools, wave pools, a lazy river, and 13 water slides, including the Bullet Bowl and Speed Slide.
The “Tornado,” an enclosed water slide built like a four-leaf clover that includes a 90-degree turn before going into a speedier 180-degree turn and a thrilling loop in a funnel before descending to the pool below, is the tallest tower in the park, according to the official website. According to CNN, the temperature-controlled water park, which has an undersea theme and opened in August 2010, took nearly a year to complete and cost around RMB 350 million (about $51 million).
Canada’s Fallsview Indoor Waterpark
There are 125,000 square feet of 6-story-high water slides, a wave pool, a plunge pool, and a 1,000-gallon tipping bucket at the Fallsview Indoor Waterpark in Niagara Falls.
However, Fallsview offers more than simply splash-happy kids. In one of the two spacious, adults-only whirlpool tubs at Horseshoe Hot Springs, jets swirl warm water to calm aching muscles.
Avalanche Bay in the Michigan Boyne Hills
Avalanche Bay waterpark in Boyne Hills, Michigan, takes visitors to a winter wonderland enjoyed at 84 degrees and is themed as a Swiss-Austrian village struck by an avalanche. The 12 aquatic attractions at the 88,000-square-foot waterpark also have kiddie pools, a surf simulator, and an arcade with more than 100 games, including an intense body slide. (Image via Boyne Mountain Resort)
An Austrian-Swiss community in Michigan? Boyne Mountain Resort’s Avalanche Bay Indoor Water Park imitates a sleepy European village with its water slides, wave pools, lazy river, hot tubs, and raging wall of water from “Splasherhorn Mountain.” And guests participate in the raucous, splashy activities in water that is kept at 84 degrees throughout the year.
The Big Couloir, a ProSlide SuperLoops, was the newest attraction in Avalanche Bay in December 2013. Visitors enter a launch capsule with a trap door at the bottom to begin the trip. The floor abruptly collapses, sending visitors flying into the tiny, confined tunnel at a top speed of 38 feet per second. The tight 360-degree SuperLoops’ G-Forces bind the rider to the wall the entire way around before the wet runout pulls them to a stop at the bottom.