H&LA’s David Sangree got a chance to weigh in with Phoenix Magazine for an article about some recent plans for waterpark attractions in the area. Arizona remains poised for future waterpark opportunities but development costs and water usage are prime concerns for any water attraction.
Published by: Phoenix Magazine/Jimmy Magahern
Published date: July, 2024
By rights, Phoenix should be the big kahuna in water parks. After all, we did have the first inland surfing facility in North America with Big Surf (see sidebar). Our lingering summers provide outdoor water parks the perfect climate for longer operating seasons.
Yet Arizona’s two privately owned outdoor waterparks, Golfland SunSplash in Mesa and Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Phoenix, along with our five resorts with outdoor water parks and one, Great Wolf Lodge, with an indoor water park, trail far behind Texas’s 34, Florida’s 18 and even Wisconsin’s 17.
That may soon change. At least three major water parks are planned for the Valley, as well as expanded water attractions at resorts.
“With your warm weather, you’d think there would be more water parks in Arizona,” marvels David Sangree, president of the Cleveland-based Hotel & Leisure Advisors, who’s done more than 700 studies on water parks. “Other developers have tried, but there’s the water issue, and getting together the land and the money.”
The “water issue”: Arizona’s increased conservation efforts in light of the drought stressing the Colorado River. Although water parks are fairly efficient, as they recycle the water they use, the Arizona Department of Water Resources regulates how much water they can fill their basins with. (For water parks and resorts, the limit is 43,560 square feet of water. If there are multiple pools, only one can have a surface area greater than 12,320 square feet.)
One planned property, Cactus Surf Park in Gilbert, is back to the drawing board to come up with a more efficient design ahead of its 2025 opening. The new plan will use 60 percent less water and will draw not from the Colorado River, but from purchased water credits through Gilbert’s potable water system.
Slowdowns have plagued other parks. Cannon Beach, a mixed-use development under construction in Mesa, will be anchored by Revel Surf, a 3.3-acre surf lagoon that will debut a new wave technology developed by professional surfers. Glendale’s VAI mega-resort (opening pushed to 2025), is being built around VAI Beach, a “swimming oasis” with a white sand beach and a “party island” meant to mimic the EDM vibes of Ibiza.
To counter these upstarts, JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa completed its $18 million AquaRidge WaterPark last November, offering three water slides, a 22-person whirlpool hot tub and an adults-only party area. And Six Flags, which took over WaterWorld Safari in 2019, has expanded Hurricane Harbor’s activity pool, adding to its 30 attractions that include a multi-flume slide and a “dueling” water coaster.
“There certainly are opportunities for another genuine water park in Arizona,” Sangree says. “We’ll just have to see which developer gets there first.”
Hailed a mechanical engineering wonder when it opened in 1969, Big Surf sported a wave pool invented by former Del E. Webb construction manager Phil Dexter. The pool was famously described as a giant flush toilet, generating waves 5 feet tall every minute.
After Dexter’s patent expired in 1987 (the year the surf movie North Shore immortalized the park in its opening scenes), a booming water park industry rippled across the U.S., loosening Arizona’s hold on the technology.
“Now there’s a number of manufacturers of different surf park equipment,” says industry analyst David Sangree. “But when Big Surf came in, it was pretty unique.”
The park closed for the season in 2019, but never reopened after the pandemic. Bob Pena, Big Surf’s general manager, blamed the post-2020 labor shortages that forced leisure properties to increase wages to compete for workers. The original Big Surf sign is now housed at the Tempe History Museum.
