Forbes: Why The World's Most High-Tech Water Park Is Making Waves With 3D
26 November 2018 - Forbes
Thrill rides don’t come more basic than water slides. Formed from a tube with water rushing through it, the format hasn’t changed much since it was invented in 1923. The latest slides are longer and faster but rarely make a splash. That requires taking the plunge with something completely new as one water park in Abu Dhabi found out.
Although the Middle Eastern city is a relative newcomer to the industry it has quickly cast a spell on it since the début of its flagship Yas Waterworld park in 2013. Water parks are amongst the few forms of outdoor entertainment which are appealing in Abu Dhabi’s arid climate where summer temperatures can soar as high as 120 degrees. Yas Waterworld makes the most of it.
Slide exits are shaped like snake heads to fit into an elaborate Emirati themeYas Waterworld
Named after Abu Dhabi’s leisure hub Yas Island, the sprawling park spans 150,000 square meters and is awash with rides. There are 45 in total and perched high above them all is a giant white sphere which appears to be balanced on a rocky outcrop. Just below it is a huge bird’s nest with a slide flowing from it whilst the tubes of others slink down the mountainside and have exits shaped like snake heads. There is good reason for it.
Like the leading water parks in the United States, an elaborate theme has been infused into Yas Waterworld. Based on the local tradition of diving for pearls, the park tells the story of a giant one which was washed onto the mountain in a storm. The slides are meant to represent snakes in search of the pearl which is being watched by a falcon – another strong symbol in local culture. That’s just the start.
The entrance to the park is themed to a sand-colored Arabian souq, complete with shops selling plush toys of the Disney-esque characters who are looking for the pearl. Throughout the park there are forts, full-size wooden galleons and signs hung on what appear to be Persian rugs. The burning sun above, palm tree-lined sandy paths and actual dunes visible in the distance add to the Arabian Nights experience.
The park is home to almost every kind of water slide you can imagine. One lot looks like a tangle of massive multi-colored spaghetti and allows riders to race alongside each other. The ones which have snake heads at the end are all enclosed tubes and each has a different effect inside.
One emerges into a giant bowl before the rider slides into the middle and down the finishing straight to the exit. Some have sharp turns and are psychedelically-colored whilst others have sudden drops in pitch darkness. Music even plays in the background of one as you zip downhill.
Of course there’s a lazy river, actual pearl diving, a wave pool in the center of the park and a treasure hunt around it. There’s also an artificial wave for surfing which peaks at three meters tall making it one of the largest in the world. Another record is held by Yas Waterworld’s take on a family raft which is propelled uphill faster than down thanks to some high-tech wizardry.
Magnets underneath the raft repel against ones with opposite poles on the floor of the tube whilst high-powered water jets give it an added boost. It is known in the trade as a tornado water slide and this one is understood to be the world’s longest and fastest. So fast in fact that the floor of the raft has to be padded so that riders don’t sit on the rubber that is scraping along the tube at speed.
Despite these record-breakers, the park’s management realised from the start that it needed to think outside the box to stay ahead of the game.
If you think that water parks just involve tubes with water running through them then think again. Yas Waterworld has a roller coaster snaking through the middle of it and was the first in the world which allows riders to blast water from on-board hoses at unsuspecting guests below. They can even return fire with water cannons cunningly-placed on the ground along the ride route.
An innovative roller coaster rockets through the canyons in the parkYas Waterworld
The ride is no slouch and races along up to 60 kilometers an hour at the dizzying height of 35 meters above the ground. The track weaves between the mock mountains in the park making it seem like a real-life version of the Death Star trench run from Star Wars.
It has helped the park earn more than 30 industry accolades including being voted the second-best themed water park in the world by the Los Angeles Times in 2013 and being given a Leading Edge award by the World Waterpark Association. Earlier this year it was inducted into the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame and was named the Middle East’s Leading Waterpark at the World Travel Awards. To stay on the crest of this wave Yas Waterworld had to come up with something even more unexpected than its roller coaster.
In summer it swung open the doors to the world’s first 3D theater which actually floods. It may sound unnecessary but if you’re someone who remains unconvinced by 3D films, the water effects in this show will make all the difference.
Called Cinesplash, it is a computer-generated tale themed to the story of the storm which threw the park’s centerpiece pearl from the depths of the ocean to the top of the mountain.
First, rain sprays down before waterfalls gush onto the stone floor from beside the screen. It floods the theater up to the level of the plastic seats which sway in time to the waves on screen in a mesmerising motion. Water jets under the chairs even give the impression of the current. 3D splashes on screen make their way into the theater as fountains spring up next to the seats and mist rolls in when the journey heads on to land. No expense has been spared and the same is true behind the scenes.
There aren't many water parks which have 3D cinemas inside and there's only one which floodsYas Waterworld
According to local newspaper The National, Yas Waterworld cost $245 million to build and was designed to attract 6,000 guests a day with a queuing time of 10 minutes per ride. Design firm SNC-Lavalin Atkins reportedly spent time visiting forts, souqs and historic villages in the region. Then came construction.
Building the rocky crag which the giant pearl sits on alone required 1.2 million kilograms of steel. In total, 50,000 square metres of rock-work was created for the park which turns over 5.6 million liters of water per hour.
To compensate for the searing heat, chilled water is brought in from the nearby cooling plant and stored in 12 kilometers of insulated underground pipes. It might not sound green but thanks to the use of natural gas for boilers and water reycling, the park is able to meet Abu Dhabi’s Estidama Pearl sustainable development standard.
“Yas Waterworld heralds a triumph of innovation in design,” says Atkins which was also the architect and engineer on the park. “The first hybrid park of its kind, it has evolved the water park into an adventure attraction complete with questing adventures and an interactive roller coaster normally associated with theme parks.”
It adds that “the project involved detailed design work, such as the Pearl Crag mountain which required hundreds of tonnes of hand carved rockwork and 1.2 million kilograms of supporting steelwork, all of which were modelled in 3D and then interwoven with the rest of the park.”
Atkins says that its key remit was to maximise sustainable design standards throughout the park “in order to achieve an Estidama Pearl One sustainability rating...Atkins design ensured native, low water use landscaping was employed throughout with a subsurface irrigation strategy to minimise evaporation loss. Specialist aquatic filters, on-site chlorine generation and extensive use of shade all contributed to a sustainably constructed and operated theme park.
“During the build process, the Atkins team implemented a strategy for diverting more than 60% of constructional and operational waste from landfill...An integrated energy metering system monitors energy consumption of the facilities and using orientation, insulation and shade has reduced the total energy required for cooling by 18%.” Few guests will ever be aware of this but it shows that just as much thought went into the infrastructure as it did into the rides and that really is a magic touch.
Although the Middle Eastern city is a relative newcomer to the industry it has quickly cast a spell on it since the début of its flagship Yas Waterworld park in 2013. Water parks are amongst the few forms of outdoor entertainment which are appealing in Abu Dhabi’s arid climate where summer temperatures can soar as high as 120 degrees. Yas Waterworld makes the most of it.
Slide exits are shaped like snake heads to fit into an elaborate Emirati themeYas Waterworld
Named after Abu Dhabi’s leisure hub Yas Island, the sprawling park spans 150,000 square meters and is awash with rides. There are 45 in total and perched high above them all is a giant white sphere which appears to be balanced on a rocky outcrop. Just below it is a huge bird’s nest with a slide flowing from it whilst the tubes of others slink down the mountainside and have exits shaped like snake heads. There is good reason for it.
Like the leading water parks in the United States, an elaborate theme has been infused into Yas Waterworld. Based on the local tradition of diving for pearls, the park tells the story of a giant one which was washed onto the mountain in a storm. The slides are meant to represent snakes in search of the pearl which is being watched by a falcon – another strong symbol in local culture. That’s just the start.
The entrance to the park is themed to a sand-colored Arabian souq, complete with shops selling plush toys of the Disney-esque characters who are looking for the pearl. Throughout the park there are forts, full-size wooden galleons and signs hung on what appear to be Persian rugs. The burning sun above, palm tree-lined sandy paths and actual dunes visible in the distance add to the Arabian Nights experience.
The park is home to almost every kind of water slide you can imagine. One lot looks like a tangle of massive multi-colored spaghetti and allows riders to race alongside each other. The ones which have snake heads at the end are all enclosed tubes and each has a different effect inside.
One emerges into a giant bowl before the rider slides into the middle and down the finishing straight to the exit. Some have sharp turns and are psychedelically-colored whilst others have sudden drops in pitch darkness. Music even plays in the background of one as you zip downhill.
Of course there’s a lazy river, actual pearl diving, a wave pool in the center of the park and a treasure hunt around it. There’s also an artificial wave for surfing which peaks at three meters tall making it one of the largest in the world. Another record is held by Yas Waterworld’s take on a family raft which is propelled uphill faster than down thanks to some high-tech wizardry.
Magnets underneath the raft repel against ones with opposite poles on the floor of the tube whilst high-powered water jets give it an added boost. It is known in the trade as a tornado water slide and this one is understood to be the world’s longest and fastest. So fast in fact that the floor of the raft has to be padded so that riders don’t sit on the rubber that is scraping along the tube at speed.
Despite these record-breakers, the park’s management realised from the start that it needed to think outside the box to stay ahead of the game.
If you think that water parks just involve tubes with water running through them then think again. Yas Waterworld has a roller coaster snaking through the middle of it and was the first in the world which allows riders to blast water from on-board hoses at unsuspecting guests below. They can even return fire with water cannons cunningly-placed on the ground along the ride route.
An innovative roller coaster rockets through the canyons in the parkYas Waterworld
The ride is no slouch and races along up to 60 kilometers an hour at the dizzying height of 35 meters above the ground. The track weaves between the mock mountains in the park making it seem like a real-life version of the Death Star trench run from Star Wars.
It has helped the park earn more than 30 industry accolades including being voted the second-best themed water park in the world by the Los Angeles Times in 2013 and being given a Leading Edge award by the World Waterpark Association. Earlier this year it was inducted into the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame and was named the Middle East’s Leading Waterpark at the World Travel Awards. To stay on the crest of this wave Yas Waterworld had to come up with something even more unexpected than its roller coaster.
In summer it swung open the doors to the world’s first 3D theater which actually floods. It may sound unnecessary but if you’re someone who remains unconvinced by 3D films, the water effects in this show will make all the difference.
Called Cinesplash, it is a computer-generated tale themed to the story of the storm which threw the park’s centerpiece pearl from the depths of the ocean to the top of the mountain.
First, rain sprays down before waterfalls gush onto the stone floor from beside the screen. It floods the theater up to the level of the plastic seats which sway in time to the waves on screen in a mesmerising motion. Water jets under the chairs even give the impression of the current. 3D splashes on screen make their way into the theater as fountains spring up next to the seats and mist rolls in when the journey heads on to land. No expense has been spared and the same is true behind the scenes.
There aren't many water parks which have 3D cinemas inside and there's only one which floodsYas Waterworld
According to local newspaper The National, Yas Waterworld cost $245 million to build and was designed to attract 6,000 guests a day with a queuing time of 10 minutes per ride. Design firm SNC-Lavalin Atkins reportedly spent time visiting forts, souqs and historic villages in the region. Then came construction.
Building the rocky crag which the giant pearl sits on alone required 1.2 million kilograms of steel. In total, 50,000 square metres of rock-work was created for the park which turns over 5.6 million liters of water per hour.
To compensate for the searing heat, chilled water is brought in from the nearby cooling plant and stored in 12 kilometers of insulated underground pipes. It might not sound green but thanks to the use of natural gas for boilers and water reycling, the park is able to meet Abu Dhabi’s Estidama Pearl sustainable development standard.
“Yas Waterworld heralds a triumph of innovation in design,” says Atkins which was also the architect and engineer on the park. “The first hybrid park of its kind, it has evolved the water park into an adventure attraction complete with questing adventures and an interactive roller coaster normally associated with theme parks.”
It adds that “the project involved detailed design work, such as the Pearl Crag mountain which required hundreds of tonnes of hand carved rockwork and 1.2 million kilograms of supporting steelwork, all of which were modelled in 3D and then interwoven with the rest of the park.”
Atkins says that its key remit was to maximise sustainable design standards throughout the park “in order to achieve an Estidama Pearl One sustainability rating...Atkins design ensured native, low water use landscaping was employed throughout with a subsurface irrigation strategy to minimise evaporation loss. Specialist aquatic filters, on-site chlorine generation and extensive use of shade all contributed to a sustainably constructed and operated theme park.
“During the build process, the Atkins team implemented a strategy for diverting more than 60% of constructional and operational waste from landfill...An integrated energy metering system monitors energy consumption of the facilities and using orientation, insulation and shade has reduced the total energy required for cooling by 18%.” Few guests will ever be aware of this but it shows that just as much thought went into the infrastructure as it did into the rides and that really is a magic touch.
Source: Forbes
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