BIG SPLASH

With regional water parks pouring millions of dollars into expansions, it’s clear the Inland Northwest is riding a national wave to offer sophisticated forms of water play.

Driving the trend is America’s thirst for ever-more elaborate aquatic recreation, say water park professionals.

And there’s lots of cold cash to be had.

A whopping 73 million people visited water parks in the summer of 2004, according to the World Waterpark Association. Attendance has annually grown by 3 to 5 percent in recent years, the association says. In North Idaho, when Silverwood Theme Park opened its Boulder Beach attraction in 2003, marketing officials expected attendance to rise by up to 15 percent. Instead, the number of visitors shot up by nearly 50 percent, spurring a $5.5 million expansion opening next month.

There are between 300 and 400 outdoor water parks nationwide. They’ve multiplied since 1977 when Wet ‘N Wild, considered the world’s first water park, opened in Orlando, Fla.

By the end of this year, an estimated 181 hotel water parks will lure water lovers year-round, up from 32 in the year 2000, said Jeff Coy, president of JLC Hospitality Consulting, which follows water park trends and advises water park owners nationwide.

“Water parks are definitely a growth industry,” said Dan Gundrum, of the World Waterpark Association. The most recent industry wrinkle, he said, is building enclosed water parks within resorts.

Two regional hotels — the Ramada Spokane Airport and the Holiday Inn Express in Hayden, Idaho— are ahead of that curve.

A couple of years ago, the Ramada installed a 108-foot Slide Winder water slide and four swimming pools. The Holiday Inn in Hayden, Idaho, joined forces with Triple Play family fun park, providing guest access to Raptor Reef Indoor Water Park.

And in Kellogg, Idaho, Silver Mountain Resort is poised to open the huge, enclosed Silver Rapids Indoor Waterpark in December as a companion to its slopes and a golf course resort now under construction.

“They can be good investments,” said Gundrum, who’s run several Midwest water parks. “If it’s developed properly, you can expect a 20 percent return on your investment … within three years. Or you can make it faster if all the conditions are perfect.”

They may look like all fun and games, but to stay afloat, water parks must overcome all sorts of challenges.

Cash flow and originality are tops on the list, said Coy.

“There’s lots of competition and there’s a driving force to always be introducing something new,” said Coy. “We’re getting enough of these now they’re starting to look like they have all the same thrills, rides and play toys.”

To continue to make a splash with the public, water parks are under pressure to add pricey, sophisticated attractions like surfing pools, rapid rivers and uphill water coasters.

Silverwood owner Gary Norton is upping the fun this year, nearly doubling the size of Boulder Beach. Among the additions is Avalanche Mountain, a 650-foot-long rafting ride that will zoom 1,200 people an hour through a rock-walled canyon. A second wave pool, new food venues and a tiny-tots play area are also on tap at the Athol, Idaho-based tourist attraction.

Wild Waters Waterslide Park in Coeur d’Alene is plunking $1.5 million into its new 1,200-foot-long Sunnyside Lazy River ride. Waterfalls, a dumping bucket and Wild Willy’s Tarzan Rope ride are also in the works. Another $2.5 million in improvements are planned for next year.

In Spokane Valley, the husband and wife who own the four-acre Splash Down Family Waterpark say they’ve sunk $600,000 on park fix-ups and the Cannon Bowl, dubbed the “toilet bowl” by park goers. Riders jump into tubes to race down an enclosed slide in the dark, reaching speeds of up to 35 mph before being flushed into a giant bowl.

Apparently, water parks appeal to everybody’s inner water bearer.

“People want to be entertained. They don’t just want to lay by a still body of water,” said Gundrum. “They want to do things that involve thrill and fun and interact with their family and friends.”

Creating an enjoyable family experience is one of the big pay-offs of the job, said Nancy DiGiammarco, Silverwood’s director of sales and marketing. Silverwood draws up to 9,000 visitors per day during peak weekends in August and about 65 percent of them spend time at Boulder Beach.

“We’re building memories,” she said. “When you stand there and see little ones come down the slides with their daddies and they’re laughing, those are the things children will remember all their lives.”

Following Boulder Beach’s debut in 2003, the park started selling more two- and three-day passes and its geographic draw expanded to Seattle and Portland, where Silverwood now sells season passes. The park also partners with Burger King to reach families with discounts and promotions.

In Spokane Valley, Geoff and Melissa Kellogg are the parents of six and the owners of Splash Down. They find the family-friendly aspect of running the water park to be gratifying.

“Everybody likes to get wet. Water, sun, family and fun have always gone together. And you take it to another level” at the water park, Geoff Kellogg said.

It gets trickier all the time to make a profit without pricing yourself out of reach, said regional water park experts. New attractions, increasing utilities costs and rising minimum wage requirements make it tough to balance the books, they say.

“Electricity, gas and water have been going up about 25 percent a year for the last three years. It’s getting very expensive,” said Stacey Lavin, a consultant to Triple Play.

Silverwood foots the bill for warming a million gallons of water a day to a comfortable 85 degrees to make up for chilly overnight temperatures.

Weather is one of the biggest factors outdoor water park owners battle.

“We’ve got 93 days to tap the asset. That’s the downside of a water park,” said Geoff Kellogg. “You hope the weather’s going to cooperate and that people are going to like it enough to come.”

A growing number of developers are putting new water parks under roof. In the Wisconsin Dells area, for instance, 50 indoor water parks have sprung up.

“It’s the indoor water park attached to lodging that’s creating all the fuss,” Coy said. “They draw from farther away. Families spend a much higher amount of money on lodging, food, beverages and souvenirs. And they stay two-to-four nights per get-away.”

Silver Mountain Resort is in sync with the pattern and will premier its new water park in time for the winter ski season.

“It adds a dynamic amenity to your resort. The biggie is the FlowRider surf wave. Two people can surf at the same time. It will give us that year-round balance and obviously will fill the hotel,” said Cathi Jerome, Silver Mountain’s marketing director.

Body and tube slides, a lazy river, a family raft slide and kids activity lagoon will complete the expansion, she said.

In conjunction with the water park and other resort amenities, Silver Mountain has sold 178 condos and will put another 99 units on the market in December.

By offering condos at water park resorts, investors pump their capital up and appeal to people who want to play in the pool with their kids and grandkids, Gundrum said.

Coy’s research shows: “Upscale hotel water park resorts generated a cash-on-cost return from 14 percent to 24 percent — compared to returns of 10 percent to 12 percent for comparable properties without water parks.”“Higher occupancies, capturing water park premiums and achieving higher levels of spending for food and beverage more than offset the cost of building and operating the water park,” Coy said.

Staff writer Becky Kramer contributed to this report.