Water park plans major addition

Wild Waters is adding a $1.5 million lazy river this summer as part of an effort to appeal to the parents who bring their kids to the Coeur d’Alene water park.

“Our adult customers told us this is what they wanted,” said Stacey Lavin, park consultant. “They’ll be able to get a smoothie from the (non-alcoholic) float-up bar and take a tube ride.”

It’s a relatively relaxing way for parents to spend the day, he said, while their kids are screaming down water slides with names like the Black Hole.

The 1,200-foot Sunnyside Lazy River ride is tentatively scheduled to open on June 22, which would coincide with families visiting the area for the Ironman competition.

The lazy river is the first of $4 million worth of improvements planned for 25-year-old water park. Wild Waters will unveil four more new tubing-raft rides in the summer of 2008, Lavin said.

Sunnyside Lazy River includes simulated rapids and a 40-foot waterfall that tubers can float under or around. Tubers on the 15- to 25-minute ride will also get a view of people using a Tarzan-style rope swing to plunge into a deep-water pool.

Park officials spent about three years planning the improvements, which are expected to boost park attendance by 30 percent, according to Lavin. Prices for the 2007 season are currently under review, he said.

Silverwood Theme Park near Athol is also expanding its Boulder Beach water park this year. The $5 million addition will extend the park by 10 acres.Both water parks draw from the same demographic, which is parents with school-aged kids, Lavin said.