Photo by MI PHAM on Unsplash
Winter is the best time to think about water parks.
The glow of Christmas fades with the gray, drab promise of three months of coats, gloves, and scraping ice from car windows. This is the time of year I begin to fantasize about shorts, sandals, dinners on the patio, camping, beach trips, and yes, water parks.
Our two water-dog kids cannot get enough of swimming and splashing. It’s one huge reason we’ve been members of the Kroc Center since it opened. Its indoor pool keeps swimming and splashing an option for us even when its cold, wet, and yucky outside.
But there’s nothing quite like the thrill of a water park. Pools could be a place for exercise (gross). Lakes could have sharp rocks. We all know that sharks lurk right off every sandy shore. A water park, though, has one, safe job — kid fun — and it’s always close to a snack bar.
So, as water park projects have been announced in Memphis and places within a day’s drive, my antennae went up. While they’re not finished, or even started in some cases, I am already fantasizing about beating cabin fever with these three cool water park projects on the horizon.
Memphis Zoo
AquiFUR splash pad
Spring 2022
Memphis Zoo
Fences are up and construction equipment moves behind them at the Memphis Zoo for its upcoming AquiFUR splash pad.
The attraction is being built on the site of the former hippopotamus enclosure, close to the zoo’s main entrance. The Egyptian-themed splash pad is a tribute to the city’s namesake, the zoo’s furry animals, and the underground aquifer that supplies Memphis with its famously pure drinking water.
“The AquiFUR will be an immersive, zero-depth water play area with slides, dump-buckets, interactive water toys, and even a special section just for toddlers,” the zoo said in a December blog post. “The AquiFUR will feature luxury cabanas and party rooms great for families, groups, birthday parties, and other events. The AquiFUR is being built to accommodate children 10 years and under with their families.”
Former Tunica Harrah’s Resort
Unnamed so far
Late summer 2022
Dale & Associates
Water park planned for former Harrah’s Resort
In March, Tunica tourism officials announced a $140-million project to transform the former Harrah’s resort into a family-friendly attraction.
The attraction will have a hotel, convention center, spa, salon, lake, restaurants, and a golf course. But apropos to the topic at hand, this new resort will feature a massive water park.
It includes a lazy river, DownUnder drop capsule slides, a concessions area, two swim-up bars with tables and benches, restrooms and locker rooms, raft bowl slide, shallow sunning area with spray features, kids slides, floatable walk area, water volleyball area, water basketball area, flow rider area with bleachers, and more to be added at a later date.
Great Wolf Lodge
Jackson, Tennessee
Open date uncertain
Great Wolf Lodge/Facebook
Keep an eye on this water-park project and keep it in your back pocket.
State and local officials have been working hard (via a $20 million incentive package) to land the Great Wolf Lodge Water Park in Jackson, Tennessee. Some of the funding fell through due to the pandemic but a workaround was found.
Plans have been approved for the project in Jackson. Though, few details have been made public. However, officials have said the project could cost $150 million or more for a hotel (the “lodge” part) and the massive indoor water park (the “water park” part). But the best, earliest predictions put the construction start later this year with a possible open sometime in 2023.
While we can’t be certain what the Jackson park could bring, other locations offer clues. The Great Wolf Lodge in Atlanta, for example, offers a four-story water treehouse, a wave pool, a lazy river, a raft water slide, a play space for younger kids, enormous water slides, a water basketball area, an obstacle course, an outdoor swimming area, and more.