Waterpark Developments

[DubberDom]

Originally Posted by harls

Salt water would be cheaper than chlorine to keep the water clean, wouldn't it? (just thinking of my neighbourhood pool where they use salty water).

I guess the salt would corrode the equipment and slides faster though.

Ocean water is about 36grams per litre salt, while a salt water chlorination pool is 2-3gpl

Corrosion should not be an issue if the parts are designed for salt (galvanized steel, titanium heater cores etc.)

I've had salt water chlorination pools for a years, it should work in this application

Not sure if it would be "cheaper", because it is not, salt water is "better" and "easier"

[c_speed3108]

I guess this got built when we all were not looking

Limoges waterpark nearly ready for summertime fun

More than 6,000 season passes already sold for Calypso Waterpark

By David Gonczol, The Ottawa CitizenApril 6, 2010




OTTAWA — April’s soaring temperatures came too soon for Canada’s largest waterpark, which is to open June 7 near Limoges, east of Ottawa.

Calypso Waterpark owner Guy Drouin says there is still some work to do at the 450-acre site and, besides, the warm breezes will likely be gone as quickly as they came.

“It won’t stay at 27 or 28 degrees. We are going to have cold weather in April and May for sure and it’s just not possible to open yet,” Drouin says.

He says he believes the $45-million facility will break even in its first year of operation, if sales of season passes and reservations from as far away as Montreal and Kingston are any indication.

More than 6,000 season passes have been sold already, with a total of between 8,000 and 10,000 season passes expected to be sold by opening day.

“People are anxious for the park to open. We had 12,000 visitors during an open house last October and it was cold and windy,” he says.

Although most of the interest comes from Ottawa, there has been a steady stream of reservations from Montreal and the Seaway Valley.

“It’s looking very good. We have more school groups reserved at Calypso than we have at my other park in Quebec City,” says Drouin, referring to Village Vacances Valcartier, his original park.

Most of Calypso has been completed since last fall. All that is left to do is landscaping and finishing touches on restaurants and the Hawaiian Beach Bar, expected to be the scene of evening concerts and dances.

When the park opens, visitors will find 80-foot long extreme-style waterslides, a half-kilometre jungle river winding past a 52,000-square-foot wave pool (the size of three National Hockey League-size rinks), a beach, restaurants, shops, splash pads and pools for toddlers, and enough picnic tables and green space for 12,000 visitors a day. Calypso’s millions of litres of water will be kept at a constant 27 C and filtered every 90 minutes — every 30 minutes in toddler areas.

The trained engineer helped design the park and he says his favourite is a ride along an elevated river that simulates a bumpy rafting experience for the entire family.

Another favourite is the Boomerango, where a raft that holds six plunges into a dark tunnel before whipping around and up a 90-degree vertical slide before splashing to a stop in a large pool.

One innovation that Drouin has brought from Valcartier will allow visitors to make purchases at restaurants or other facilities without having to carry money or cards. All they need is their fingerprint.

If they choose, a person can put funds into an account at the park, either with cash, credit card, or debit card, and then have a fingerprint recorded electronically. Then, all that is needed to make any type of purchase in the park is to have the fingerprint scanned again to access the account.

Unused cash in the account is returned when the visitor leaves the park, or it can be maintained throughout the summer.

“When you are with a bathing suit, you cannot carry a wallet or money. It’s hard to do that. If you want to buy anything you have to go back to your locker, take some money, buy something, and go back to your locker. That’s a long trip,” Drouin says.

The fingerprint payment system was developed by a Montreal company called Soft Ticket.

This winter was busy, he said, spent hiring about 75 per cent of the 500 staff required, including 125 lifeguards.

“We are surprised, but we had a very good response from people around the park and even from Ottawa,” Drouin says. “All winter long we did interviews, and it went very well.”

Some staff will start work this month, setting up hundreds of benches, tables and garbage cans and planting hundreds of flowers throughout the sprawling site.

“All the hard things have been done so now all that is left is fine tuning,” Drouin says.

The pools, slides and splash pads were filled with water last fall. Between now and opening day, that water will be filtered and heated.

The massive park will use 2,500 kilowatts to power all the fun, and there are 10,000 cubic metres of concrete sitting atop close to 25 kilometres of water piping.

The site contains 20 buildings totalling almost 53,000 square feet. The 35 waterslides would measure 2.3 kilometres if placed end to end, equalling the distance from Parliament Hill to the Vanier Parkway.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

http://www.calypsopark.com/

[toaster]

An extension of OC Transpo Route 232 could surely service the Waterpark, I'm guessing they would just run opposite the current rides (from Downtown Ottawa to Limoges in AM, and Limoges to Ottawa in PM). Or even new bus service altogether would probably better, running from Tunney's Pasture through Blair, then on the 417 there. (Much like Toronto has several buses going to Canada's Wonderland).

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by toaster

An extension of OC Transpo Route 232 could surely service the Waterpark, I'm guessing they would just run opposite the current rides (from Downtown Ottawa to Limoges in AM, and Limoges to Ottawa in PM). Or even new bus service altogether would probably better, running from Tunney's Pasture through Blair, then on the 417 there. (Much like Toronto has several buses going to Canada's Wonderland).

Great idea - except that such would require approval and funding from the Municipality of The Nation and perhaps the Township of Russell. (Although my idea of a metropolitan transit authority would make such possible)

[waterloowarrior]

Opening is next week Monday!

[eternallyme]

If successful, they should add an indoor area to make year-round operation possible...as opposed to the short seasons in our climate (2-4 months)

[waterloowarrior]

Big article in the Globe today
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...rticle1598930/

[aesthetic]

Just noticed on the Calypso site that they have a flickr photostream for the park including the construction pictures and the final product.

Some images:

Calypso Palace


Zoo Lagoon


Jungle Run


And here's a blog post with some pictures of the park.

[harls]

I've seen the new commercials out for this place now, looks like they spent a little more money on production value than your regular local establishment (all I can think about is those lame Newlook commercials with JJ Clarke and what's her face from A-Channel).

[harls]

..also, I noticed they have two slightly different commercials,

- one for the Ottawa market, where they describe the location as '20 minutes east of Ottawa' and 'Highway 417 east, exit 79'

- one for the Montreal market, where they describe the location as ' 90 minutes west of Montreal' and 'Highway 40 west, exit 79'

The Montreal ad sort of strikes me as bizarre.. are they trying to make people feel believe it's actually closer to the city than it is? ("hey, it's still on the 40, so it can't be that far?")

I noticed they don't make any mention of Limoges or Ontario in either ad, either.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by harls

..also, I noticed they have two slightly different commercials,

- one for the Ottawa market, where they describe the location as '20 minutes east of Ottawa' and 'Highway 417 east, exit 79'

- one for the Montreal market, where they describe the location as ' 90 minutes west of Montreal' and 'Highway 40 west, exit 79'

The Montreal ad sort of strikes me as bizarre.. are they trying to make people feel believe it's actually closer to the city than it is? ("hey, it's still on the 40, so it can't be that far?")

I noticed they don't make any mention of Limoges or Ontario in either ad, either.

There is no Exit 79 on the 40, and if there was, it would be right in Montreal just before the 25 interchange. I'm sure everyone would realize the truth.

[harls]

^ I know, that's why I found it a little bizarre.

I heard Calypso has had something like 100,000 visitors in only one month of business... that is crazy. Meanwhile Mont-Cascades is slashing prices to 10 bucks per person to compete (compared to $30 for Calypso). A friend of mine went during the heat wave and she said she waited 6 hours to go on 2 slides.

[IntoTheCore]

Originally Posted by harls

^ I know, that's why I found it a little bizarre.

I heard Calypso has had something like 100,000 visitors in only one month of business... that is crazy. Meanwhile Mont-Cascades is slashing prices to 10 bucks per person to compete (compared to $30 for Calypso). A friend of mine went during the heat wave and she said she waited 6 hours to go on 2 slides.

My wife and I went out there on the 4th -- an extremely hot day -- and it was crazy busy. We arrived around 11AM and had to wait in line for 45 minutes just to buy tickets. Over the course of five hours, I managed to get in five rides -- lots of time spent in line. However, the rides were all fantastic; my favourite was Adrenaline, a dark and fast ride, a great way to end the day.

There are some areas that definitely need improvement though:

- Some of the equipment in the concession stands (drink machines, ice cream, etc.) broke down well before the end of the day. All of the soda machines throughout the park were out of order.

- They really need to get their young employees in line. Some of the concession stand workers were complaining loudly about how they are treated, while some of the lifeguards were more interested in flirting rather than paying attention to swimmers (especially in the Jungle Run). My wife noted that for many of these employees, it's their first job, and they need some supervision. For the ones who were complaining, where else would you be working if the park wasn't there?

- Beware when buying tickets at the entrance: there are two sets of ticket windows with separate lines. However, the one on the left has ten windows, while the one on the right only has seven (one being reserved for season ticket buyers). Nobody seemed to realize this, so equal numbers went to both lines; we probably would've saved 10-15 minutes had we known.

We'll give them the summer to iron out the kinks, then head back next year on a (hopefully) less busy day. Next time, we'll definitely remember to pack a lunch and lots of water -- kudos on the park for allowing people to bring food in freely.

[adam-machiavelli]

Regarding the post above:

If staff are unhappy, perhaps management should treat their employees better. Just because staff are young and inexperienced, and local job prospects are limited doesn't mean management should be free to treat them like dirt. Maybe their complaints weren't "out of line" but part of a concerted strategy to raise public awareness of poor working conditions.

[reidjr]

Originally Posted by adam-machiavelli

Regarding the post above:

If staff are unhappy, perhaps management should treat their employees better. Just because staff are young and inexperienced, and local job prospects are limited doesn't mean management she be free to treat them like dirt. Maybe their complaints weren't "out of line" but part of a concerted strategy to raise public awareness of poor working conditions.

You have to be careful when you hear young people complain yes some time its a legit reason.However some times its not and it comes down to some not wanting to work hard they just want to put in there hours with not doing anything above what there job calls for.I have worked with young people in the past and some of them did complain for really no reason.I am not saying that is the case with the water park but don't just assume its bad because some here some of them complaining.

[fireicedog]

Here are a couple aerial pics:


by viennatech from: http://www.ottawapilots.ca


by M Philippe from: http://www.ottawapilots.ca

Overall, not quite as big as I thought it'd be. Except for that wave pool, which is HUGE!

[IntoTheCore]

Originally Posted by adam-machiavelli

Regarding the post above:

If staff are unhappy, perhaps management should treat their employees better. Just because staff are young and inexperienced, and local job prospects are limited doesn't mean management she be free to treat them like dirt. Maybe their complaints weren't "out of line" but part of a concerted strategy to raise public awareness of poor working conditions.

That is a possibility, but my wife characterized their comments more as standard complaints rather than anything specifically harsh, immoral, or illegal. You are absolutely correct that they should not be treated like dirt, if that is the situation.

In any case, both management and the employees need to get together to stomp this out as it does not reflect well on the company as a whole. Just like OC Transpo, right?

PS- Speaking of OC Transpo, I heartily concur with past suggestions that they start running shuttles out to the park. I'm pretty sure many people would take advantage.

[adam-machiavelli]

I agree with the two people who responded to my comments. Complaints could be the result of both immaturity and needing to iron out some kinks that inevitably come up with a major new attraction.

I also agree with the need for an OCTranspo bus. That parking lot is perversely huge.

[MaxHeadroom]

Wouldn't OCT need permission from Prescott Russell to run buses or other approvals since it's outside of city limits?

Also the bus fare would probably be the same as rural expre$$, so I can't see many people opting to take the bus when they can pile three or four people in a car and park for much less.

[toaster]

Originally Posted by MaxHeadroom

Wouldn't OCT need permission from Prescott Russell to run buses or other approvals since it's outside of city limits?

Also the bus fare would probably be the same as rural expre$$, so I can't see many people opting to take the bus when they can pile three or four people in a car and park for much less.

I'm thinking mostly students or young adults without access to a vehicle would probably be the ones taking the bus there, or even teenagers who want to go while their parents are working. I couldn't see a traditional family of 4 opting for the bus to go all the way there.