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WhiteWater is celebrating following the launch of its most ever new products at an IAAPA show, as well as two Brass Ring Awards for its Walhalla and Mini Blaster attractions
Tom Anstey | 11 Dec 2024
WhiteWater’s Mini Blaster was recognised during this year’s Brass Ring Awards Credit: WhiteWater
WhiteWater is celebrating following the launch of its most ever new products at an IAAPA show, as well as two Brass Ring Awards for its Walhalla and Mini Blaster attractions.
Recognised as runner-up in the Best New Product: Class A (over US$2M) category, Walhalla is a combination of two attractions - Whitewater’s Boomerango and Manta slides.
Showcased at Meryal Waterpark in Lusail, Qatar, the six-person ride has been dubbed the fastest of its kind in the world, with some of the highest climbs and biggest thrills in the WhiteWater portfolio on offer.
Included in the attraction, Walhalla features a drop of 11.4m (37.4m), a top speed of 50kmph (31mph), and weightlessness sensations. In addition to offering a high-octane thrill, the ride is also designed to operate with low energy and low water consumption, with a low operating cost for an attraction of this size.
In addition to Walhalla, WhiteWater’s Mini Blaster also was named a runner-up in the Brass Ring Awards, this time for Best New Product: Class B (under US$2M) for Mini Blaster.
A kid-sized version of WhiteWater’s Master Blaster, Mini Blaster allows children over 91.4cm tall to experience the uphill blasts and water coaster drops that the larger version is famous for.
For Mini Blaster, the first of which opened at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels in Texas, US, the ride reaches speeds of up to 25 kmph (15.5 mph), a less intense ride versus the Master Blaster, which reaches 48 kmph (30mph). The Mini Blaster also features a shorter ride time at just over 20 seconds, with the run-out lane intentionally placed at the entrance to the ride so kids can line up repeatedly for high throughput. This layout and slide path, says WhiteWater, is also ideal for a park with a limited footprint.
In addition to picking up Brass Ring Awards, WhiteWater announced six new products at this year’s IAAPA Expo - a company record.
The first product, Topspin, is a high-banking corkscrew descent available either as an open or an enclosed model. The product will make its official debut at Parrot Island Waterpark in Arkansas.
Also debuting at Parrot Island is Nautilus, which “makes for an ideal fusion slide because of its adaptability to differing incoming slide paths and speeds”, with the ride offering specially designed 90-degree turns.
Coming first to Yas Waterworld in Abu Dhabi, Slingshot gives riders a rapid change of direction for high-banking curves with the product featuring an eye-catching sawtooth finish.
Another innovation is WhiteWater’s Covered Boomerango, which takes the zero-G Boomerango wall and offers the ability to extend it outside the building of an indoor waterpark.
The final slide on the list is Fiesta Slide, which allows up to six adults to slide down an undulated ramp side-by-side. Available in varying heights and thrill levels, the slide’s wide surface allows for creative theming and park branding. The slide first debuted at Evermore Resort in Florida in 2024.
The final innovation showcased at IAAPA was SmartPay by Vantage - a system that empowers a venue’s customers through shared payment access and offers the ability to set personalised spending limits per person. The first implementation of the system will be at San Antonio Zoo in Texas, US.
"These awards and new products demonstrate WhiteWater's continued commitment to providing both unique attractions and clever solutions to serve diverse market needs," said Onno Meeter, WhiteWater's president, Waterparks. "As we head into 2025, we are excited to bring these new innovations to life."
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