An indoor water park is a type of water park that is located inside a building. An indoor water park has the ability to stay open year-round, as it is not affected by weather conditions.
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The first ever indoor water park was built in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1985 at the West Edmonton Mall. It is called the World Waterpark and is over 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m2). It was a success for the mall. The first indoor water park in the U.S. was built in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin at the Polynesian Hotel. They built it in 1994 so it could make the Dells a "year round destination", as the Wisconsin Dells tourist season was from Memorial Day to Labor Day before it was built.
Since the opening of the first park, the indoor water park business has become increasingly more popular, especially for the Edmonton area in Canada, and in the Wisconsin Dells in the U.S., which proclaims itself as the "water park capital of the world". The Dells has five Water park Resorts that have at least one water park bigger than 55,000 sq ft (5,100 m2). This includes the Kalahari Resort (Wisconsin's Largest Indoor Water Park), Chula Vista Resort (Lost Rios), Great Wolf Lodge, Wilderness Territory (Wild West, Klondike Kavern, Wild WaterDome), and the Hotel Rome at Mt. Olympus. Wisconsin has the most indoor water parks in one state. Other states in the U.S., especially in the midwest, are building more indoor water parks separate or to existing hotels so they can become a year-round destination. More water parks are also being built in Canada, Europe and Asia.
Most major indoor water parks over 50,000 sq ft (the average size for an indoor water park in July 2008) have:[1][2]
(As of 8/09)
1. Wilderness Territory's 3 indoor water parks in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin (240,000 sq ft total & North America's Largest Indoor Water Park Resort by Total Water Park Square Footage)[4]
2. World Waterpark in Edmonton, Alberta (217,000 sq ft & is North America's/Canada's Largest Indoor Water Park under one roof, the first one ever built)[4]
3. Kalahari Resort's Water Park in Sandusky, Ohio (173,000 sq ft total & Largest Indoor Water Park in U.S. under one roof)[4]
4. Fallsview Indoor Waterpark Resort in Niagara Falls, Ontario (125,000 sq ft)
4A. Kalahari Resort's Water Park in Wisconsin Dells (125,000 sq ft)
5. Great Wolf Lodge Water Park in Niagara Falls, Ontario (103,000 sq ft)
6. Splash Lagoon in Erie, Pennsylvania (102,000 sq ft)
7. Avalanche Bay Indoor Water Park at Boyne Mountain in Boyne Falls, Michigan (88,000 sq ft)
8. Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park in Concord, North Carolina (81,000 sq ft)[6]
9. Chula Vista Resort's Lost Rios Indoor Water Park in Wisconsin Dells (80,000 sq ft)
10. Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park in Grapevine, Texas (80,000 sq ft)
11. Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park at the Pocono Mountains in Scotrun, Pennsylvania (78,000 sq ft)
12. Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio (78,000 sq ft)
13. Great Wolf Lodge 3 Water Parks in Wisconsin Dells (76,000 sq ft total)
14. Wilderness at the Smokies's (Owned by Wisconsin Dells' Wilderness Resort) Indoor Water Park in Sevierville, Tennessee (75,000 sq ft)
15. Water Park of America in Bloomington, Minnesota (70,000 sq ft)
16. Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park in Williamsburg, Virginia (67,000 sq ft)
17. KeyLime Cove's Indoor Water Park in Gurnee, Illinois (65,000 sq ft)
18. CoCo Key Water Resort at the Crowne Plaza Boston North Shore in Danvers, Massachusetts (65,000 sq ft)
19. CoCo Key Water Resort at the Holiday Inn Omaha Convention Center in Omaha, Nebraska (65,000 sq ft)
20. Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park in Grand Mound, Washington (60,000 sq ft)
21. Wild Bear Falls Indoor Water Park in Gatlinburg, Tennessee (60,000 sq ft)
22. Fort Rapids Waterpark Resort in Columbus, Ohio (60,000 sq ft)
23. Sahara Sam's Oasis Indoor Water Park in West Berlin, New Jersey (58,000 sq ft)
24. CoCo Key Water Resort at the Courtyard by Marriott in Fitchburg, Massachusetts (55,000 sq ft)
25. CoCo Key Water Resort at the Holiday Inn Sports Complex Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri (55,000 sq ft)
26. H2Oasis Indoor Waterpark in Anchorage, Alaska (55,000 sq ft)
27. Medusa's Indoor Waterpark at Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park in Wisconsin Dells (55,000 sq ft)
28. CoCo Key Water Resort at The Hotel ML in Mt. Laurel, NJ (55,000 sq ft)
29. Caribbean Cove Indoor Waterpark in Indianapolis, Indiana (50,000 sq ft)
30. CoCo Key Water Resort at the Crowne Plaza Cincinnati North Hotel in Cincinnati, Ohio(50,000 sq ft)
31. Grand Lodge by Stoney Creek Resorts in Rothschild, Wisconsin (50,000 sq ft)