8 Great Indoor US Water Parks Where it’s Summer All Year Round
Just because winter is coming, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the thrills of a great water park. Around the country there are many enclosed water parks that maintain a summer ambience all year round, keeping the cold at bay during the winter months. This means that, no matter how inhospitable the outdoor conditions may be, you can still enjoy pools and waterslides as if it were midsummer. This is a subject OpenAire knows a lot about, and we decided to compile a list of America’s best indoor water parks. As we scoured the internet to find out which ones are considered the finest in the country, we were delighted to see that our projects turned up on every list – including the ones discussed here! This list is in no particular order. We also don’t claim that these are the best. There are many others and therefore, we encourage you to explore them for yourself.
- Big Splash Waterpark, French Lick, IN
Big Splash Adventure water park in Indiana is a 40,000 square foot indoor water park that is open in summer and enclosed in winter, thanks to its OpenAire retractable roof system. The whole family will want to try Buccaneer Bay, Scallywag Scuttle, and Pirate’s Plunder, among other attractions. - Watiki Waterpark Resort, Rapid City, SD
The largest water park in the Dakotas, this 30,000 square foot resort is a great place to enjoy some summer thrills, even when the area’s notorious winter weather has set in. - Avalanche Bay, Boyne Mountain Resort, Boyne Falls, MI
The largest water park in Michigan is 88,000 square feet of every imaginable water activity, from the lazy river to one of the world’s steepest water slides – the Big Couloir. - Zehnder’s Splash Village, Frankenmuth, MI
Set in the heart of a Bavarian village, this water park crams enough thrills into its 50,000 square feet to keep even the most demanding water park visitor happy. There are two six-story thrill rides, as well as smaller slides and plenty of swimming and floating areas for those who enjoy a more sedate experience. - Wilderness Resort, Wisconsin Dells, WI
This Wisconsin family getaway spot features, not one, but four indoor water parks, collectively totalling 250,000 square feet. In them, you will find everything you would want from an aquatic attraction, including a variety of slides, an indoor wave pool, and the only slide-boarding ride in the entire Midwest. - Epic Waters, Grand Prairie, TX
Another major job for OpenAire was the enclosure of this 80,000 square-foot, municipally run water park. Epic Waters was an ambitious project from the start and it shows in the sheer scale of the final result, with eleven slides, the tallest Aqualoop in the country, a lazy river and a 300-gallon tipping bucket, among other features. - Kalahari Indoor Water Park, Pocono Mountains, PA
At 220,000 sqm, this is the largest indoor water park in the United States. There is nothing that you would want from a water park that you would not be able to find here: slides ranging from tame to adrenaline-inducing, all sizes and shapes of pools, and various spa attractions. The OpenAire skylights built over the park make for an authentic outdoor feel. - Jay Peak Resort, VT
This ski resort, which has been running for nearly 70 years now, recently added a water park to its facilities as part of an ongoing upgrade project. OpenAire built its tallest enclosure yet to cover this year-round park, which includes a 55’ slide. Even in the midst of heavy snowfall (the area receives more snow than even some destinations in the Rocky Mountains) you can still enjoy the kind of water park experience you would get anywhere in high summer! The enclosure is specially designed to bear more than 80lbs of snow per square foot.
OpenAire has built enclosures for several major water parks across North America and elsewhere. We specialize in the engineering of the retractable glass roof systems that enclose these amazing, year-round aquatic entertainment centers. Many of these indoor water parks, such as Epic Water, now rank among the Top 30 in the world. Since 1989, OpenAire has created hundreds of customized retractable designs for water parks around the world, many of which have also earned awards for their owners. OpenAire is honored to have been involved in the creation of these lauded water parks and we continue to contribute to the construction of more great facilities around the world. Contact us for more information.